Mount Lykabettos
Mount Lykabettos is the highest hill in Athens and provides some of the
best views of the city, with a funicular cable car the easiest way to get to
the top.
Mount Lykabettos Seen from the Acropolis
The highest hill in Athens at 277 meters (908 feet), Mount Lykabettos dominates the city almost as much as the Acropolis, of which there is an excellent view from the top.
Lykabettos was once well outside the city boundaries,
because, as recently as the 19th century, Athens was merely a small cluster of
houses around the Acropolis. It’s hard to imagine that today, as you gaze out
from the hilltop and see the modern metropolis sprawling before you, all the
way to Piraeus on the coast.
Some of the offshore islands in the Saronic Gulf can also be
seen, including Salamis and, on a clear day, even Aegina. To the north you can
see Mount Parnes.
The View from Mount Lykabettos
Climbing Mount
Lykabettos
It's a stiff climb to get to the top of this chalk outcrop,
but a very pleasant one through pine-scented woods, often filled with
butterflies and birds, and even a few wild tortoises. There are several routes
up, plenty of benches on which to take a breather, a café half-way up, and a
restaurant at the very top, naturally with wonderful views, day and night.
Church of Agios
Georgios
Here, too, is the small, whitewashed 19th-century chapel of
Agios Georgios (St George), whose feast is celebrated on 23 April, so be sure
to go to the top of Mount Lykabettos if you’re in Athens on that date.
Our Pick of the Athens Guides
Mount Lykabettos Funicular
It’s also possible to take a funicular to the top and back,
and currently this operates every day of the year from 9am-3am, reflecting the popularity of the hill
at night. The address for the funicular station is Aristippou 1.
Mount Lykabettos is the perfect place for a late-night coffee or brandy, with the illuminated city spread out at your feet.
A few other Athens pages
The Athens War Museum is a fascinating look at Greek history through the lens of warfare from ancient battles to the Greek War of Independence and World War II.
Athens walking tours and other experiences like cookery lessons, ceramics workshops, dining with a family, and street art are available from Alternative Athens
Athens in the rain isn’t something you’re likely to experience but here are suggestions for things to do in the rain in Athens including museums and shopping
The Greece Travel Secrets website looks at the Athens weather, the chance of rain, the climate in summer and winter and the best time to visit Athens.
The Athens Byzantine and Christian Museum is housed in a beautiful villa with an underground wing and lovely gardens too.
Greece Travel Secrets picks the best time to visit Athens with a month-by-month account of the weather, hotel prices and any special events that are happening.
The Greece Travel Secrets guide to the original Athens Olympic Stadium, built for the 1896 Olympic Games and open to the public for jogging and photography.
Athens Airport hotels include the luxury Sofitel at the terminals, Holiday Inn near the airport, and others close by like the Hotel Pantheon.
If visiting Athens it helps to know when major events and public holidays take place, as some shops and attractions may be closed, but to be there at times like Easter can make for a magical trip.
This Athens dining guide doesn't list restaurants but gives practical advice on types of eating places, tipping, hotel breakfasts and picnics.
The Pnyx hill near the Acropolis is one of Athens' true hidden gems, a place to wander freely away from the crowds and discover ancient places and mysteries.
Athens, an Eater's Guide to the City, is published by Culinary Backstreets, who do walking food tours in Athens and the book recommends the best places to eat.
Greece Travel Secrets lists the ten best museums in Athens, with the top two being the National Archaeological Museum and the Acropolis Museum.
The Athens Acropolis has the city's most iconic building, the Parthenon, along with other historic buildings and is where the Elgin Marbles were taken from.
The best things to do in Athens, Greece, include top archaeological sites like the Acropolis and must-see attractions such as the National Archaeological Museum
Two of the best cocktail bars in Athens, MoMix Kerameikos and The Clumsies, are making creative cocktails using that most Greek of Greek spirits, Metaxa.
Pictures of Athens from the Greece Travel Secrets website
Greece Travel Secrets gives its choice of the best hotels in Athens from budget and moderate options through to 5-star luxury choices.
Syntagma Square or Constitution Square is the main square in Athens and has a metro station, the Greek Parliament building, hotels, cafes, and a post office.
In My Athens on Greece Travel Secrets travel writer Mike Gerrard describes what he loves about Athens including the Acropolis and eating!
Athens Airport car rentals include Alamo/National Car Rental, Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz and Sixt, all with offices at the airport.
The Athens Museum of Cycladic Art houses a remarkable collection of Cycladic figurines and other items and is one of the best museums in Athens.
This walk around the Kolonaki neighbourhood of Athens starts and ends in Syntagma Square and takes you to several museums, Kolonaki Square and Mount Lykabettos.
Easter in Athens is, like everywhere in Greece, the biggest religious celebration of the year and this page tells you what to expect over the Easter weekend.
Piraeus is the port of Athens from where many ferries to the Greek islands depart, and it also has an Archaeological Museum and the Hellenic Maritime Museum.
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