How to Spend 48 Hours in Athens, Greece
When people talk about Greece, most of the time you think of Mykonos or Santorini, and Greece’s capital and largest city gets overlooked or bypassed as a layover for the other islands. There’s so much more to Athens, Greece than a 3 hour layover. Here’s how to spend two days in this magical city.
How to Spend 48 Hours in Athens, Greece
How to get to Athens, Greece from the airport.
- By Metro: It goes straight into the city center and takes about 45 minutes. Tickets can range from 2 euros to 6 euros depending if you get a flat rate ticket or the 90 minute ticket. To get to the metro, you exit the airport through the arrivals doors and across the street is the entrance to the metro. You cannot miss it!
- By Bus: The bus is 6 euros to get into town and takes a little over an hour and half, if you exit the arrivals at the airport and turn right, go all the way down to the bottom and there’s a kiosk there where you can buy your bus ticket.
- By Taxi: A taxi will run you about 35 euros, but it’s also a straight shot to your hotel or Air BnB without having to figure out the streets once you get off the metro or bus.
Getting around once you are in the city center is really easy… you walk! If you are staying just outside the city center then you can take the metro for a few euros a day, but once you are there, it’s so much nicer to walk around the city and the Acropolis.
Day 1 in Athens, Greece
Your first day in Athens should be spent exploring the beautiful streets and tasting all of food…. literally all of the food!!
Start the morning off right with a Greek iced coffee.
Better known as Frappe in Greece, it’s literally coffee (ridiculously strong coffee – seriously – what do they use?!), sugar and ice.
I liked to add a little bit of milk to mine because I can’t hang with the big coffee drinkers, but it’s totally socially acceptable to add milk. Another one of my favorites was a freddo cappuccino which is espresso over ice and topped with frothy milk – SO GOOD!
Explore Plaka and Monastiraki.
Much like a majority of cities in the world, Athens is separated into sections, or neighborhoods.
Plaka is the main “tourist” area, but you HAVE to walk around the streets and check out the markets. Monastiraki has a beautiful square and a great flea market to check out (especially on Sunday). Don’t forget to stop and look at the street art that’s at every turn and down every alley.
Have lunch at a traditional taverna.
Did you even go to Greece if you didn’t go to a taverna? A taverna is a small, privately owned cafe or restaurant.
Some foods to try for lunch include a Greek salad, which is tomatoes, cucumbers, a big ol’ piece of feta (I’m talking HUGE), and drizzled with olive oil, or try spanakopita which is a filo pastry stuffed with spinach and feta. The Greeks love their feta and so do I!!
If you’re looking for a good starter to share, try some Tzatziki with pita bread. It’s a dip made with yogurt, lemon, olive oil, and garlic and even makes an appearance on a gyro.
Find Anafiotika.
This small neighborhood looks like someone cut out a Greek island and dumped it right below the Acropolis. It’s amazing and magical and you definitely have to hunt for this gem.
It gets its name from the people of the island of Anafi, who were brought over to Athens to restore King Othon’s Palace. That’s why it looks like a Greek island, they created their home away from home.
It’s not the easiest to find, which is why I wrote a blog post on how to find it, but you can spend at least an hour walking up and down and weaving in and out of the tiny white washed alley ways.
Related Post: How to Find Anafiotika in Athens, Greece
Rooftop Bar for dinner and sunset with an Acropolis view.
I’m not sure there’s anything more magical in Greece than watching the sunset with the last light bouncing off the Parthenon while you sip on a cocktail and snack on tzatziki, and then when the night falls and the Acropolis gets lit up with lights, it’s so unreal.
Day 2 in Athens, Greece
Your second day should be focused on the history of Athens and exploring the ruins scattered throughout the city. Immerse yourself in the history of the Greek Gods with a city that dates back about 3,400 years.
Traditional Greek breakfast.
Start your morning off with a traditional Greek breakfast that will give you energy for your busy day ahead. Think carbs. You’ll get a mix of breads, cheeses, yogurts, olives and olive oil. You can also get some scrambled eggs with tomatoes and feta…. if feta is an option, always choose feta!
One of my favorite breakfasts in Athens was a take on a grilled cheese sandwich. It was olive oil, olives, tomatoes, and feta in between rye toast.
Acropolis.
Time to walk off that breakfast. Head on up to the entrance of the Acropolis and start your journey.
Make sure you get there before they open, because IT GETS BUSY.
It’s also a lot of walking and a lot of sun and heat, there’s no shade at the top (except in the shadow of the Parthenon), so prepare yourself and since you’re going to be visiting all the ruins today, you can save money if you buy the all-in-one ticket… totally worth it!
For those worried about the climb to the top, it’s actually not that bad! It’s a gentle slope to the top entrance and there’s plenty of places to stop, take a breather and admire the view on the way up. There are stairs at the top entrance, but they are not steep!
Grab some street food (a.k.a souvlaki).
I’m sure you’re very hungry after climbing up and down the Acropolis, so it’s time to grab some lunch. Here’s your chance to try the street food here (which is also served in restaurants), but you’ll find waving flags and banners for souvlaki and gyros.
Take your pick, or get both! (I did… no shame).
Souvlaki is chicken, pork, or lamb on a stick and gyros are meat, tomatoes, lettuce, red onions, tzatziki, fries and feta in a pita. (Yes, they add french fries to their gyros – I didn’t think I was going to like it… but it made it ten times better).
Ancient Agora.
This is what’s left of the agora, or a community area, market square, or town center.
This is where the market was, the jail, the government… this is also the birthplace of democracy!!! How crazy is that?
Filled with monuments, temples and buildings, it’s easy to imagine what it was like back in 6th century BC when the agora was first founded. There’s also a museum on site with a collection of sculptures, pottery, and more, all dug up during the excavation of the agora.
Temple of Zeus.
Sixteen columns are all that remain of this massive temple and it’s original 104 columns making it the largest temple in ancient Greece. This temple was short lived and only lasted about a 100 years before it was run down beyond repair.
In later years, the ruins were used as building materials throughout the city after the fall of the Roman Empire and what you see today is all that’s left standing.
Hadrian’s Arch.
This is right outside the Temple of Zeus (opposite corner from the entrance though). It’s literally in the middle of the side walk by the side of the road.
No one really knows who commissioned it and many believe it was the people of Athens who built it to honor the Roman Emperor, Hadrian for his contributions.
This will take about 5 minutes of your time to check it out and get a quick picture.
Dinner and Beach Sunset.
Did you know the beach is only 20-30 minutes away from the city center of Athens? Yep, you can get that beachy, island feeling in Athens!
Grab a taxi (about 26 euros roundtrip) and head to the coast for the sunset, because you don’t want to miss a Greek beach sunset.
A lot of beaches you do have to pay for, so you can google free beaches along the coast or ask a local if you wish.
My personal favorite is the Bolivar Beach Bar… music, AWESOME food, strong drinks, bamboo straws and umbrellas….. AND THE SUNSET! I went a few days before the grand opening, so it wasn’t crazy busy, but now it’s a little more crowded. If you go on a night that’s not a special event, or a weeknight, then you’ll have less of a crowd and more beach to yourself.
What’s your favorite thing to do in Athens, Greece? Do have any more questions? Let me know in the comments below!!
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