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.
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
This beginner's guide to Greek architecture explains how to tell your Ionic from your Doric columns, and what to look for in temples and Byzantine churches.
Athens walking tours and other experiences like cookery lessons, ceramics workshops, dining with a family, and street art are available from Alternative Athens
The Athens Agora or ancient market is a must-see site and one of the best things to do in Athens with its restored arcade building, the Stoa, and its museum.
Athens Food Tours are being introduced by new company The Greek Fork, and will include tours of the Central Market, and the best street food.
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.
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.
Greece Travel Secrets visits the Monastiraki Flea Market, followed by Sunday lunch at Sigalas on Monastiraki Square
Greece Travel Secrets lists the ten best museums in Athens, with the top two being the National Archaeological Museum and the Acropolis Museum.
Athens is a top vacation destination. The Greece Travel Secrets Athens guide has information on hotels, museums, Athens airport and all the best things to do.
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.
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.
This Athens dining guide doesn't list restaurants but gives practical advice on types of eating places, tipping, hotel breakfasts and picnics.
Athens International Airport is east of Athens city centre with its own Metro train station, buses to Athens and Piraeus, taxis and car rental offices.
The Athens National Historical Museum is in the former Greek Parliament building and houses an archive of historical artefacts and documents.
There's all kinds of entertainment in Athens whether you're interested in theatre, dance, classical music, jazz, Greek music, rock music, disco, opera or movies.
The National Archaeological Museum is one of the best things to see in Athens, and the best museum in the world for seeing Greece's archaeological treasures.
The best views in Athens include views from the Acropolis and of the Acropolis from the top of some of the city’s several hills and from hotels and restaurants.
The beach resorts of Athens are easily reached from the city and also close are Cape Sounion with the Temple of Poseidon, ancient Marathon and Rafina's port.
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
Athens' Benaki Museum is one of the city’s top museums with an outstanding collection, especially of Greek and Egyptian artefacts, in a beautiful mansion.
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.
There are lots of flights from Athens to Santorini as well as a ferry service from Piraeus, with flights to Santorini leaving from Athens International Airport.
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
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.
Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...
Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?
- Click on the HTML link code below.
- Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment,
your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.
-
Greece Travel Secrets picks the best time to visit Kos, with a monthly summary of the weather, plus hotel prices and special events to help plan a visit.
Read More
-
Greece Travel Secrets picks the best time to visit Samos, with a monthly summary of the weather, plus hotel prices and special events to help plan a visit.
Read More
-
The Council of the European Union on Monday agreed on the directive establishing the European Disability Card and the European Parking Card for persons with disabilities. The announcement follows the…
Read More
-
A coastal pedestrian-bicycle lane from Kallithea to Voula along the Athenian Riviera is the next big project to be implemented after an agreement signed this week between the Region of Attica and the…
Read More
-
Boosting investments and the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece are at the top of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ agenda for his visit this week to London.
Read More
-
Greece Travel Secrets picks some of the best things to do on Naxos in the Cyclades, including discovering the beaches, villages, and ancient ruins.
Read More
-
Greece Travel Secrets picks the best time to visit Naxos, with a monthly summary of the weather, plus hotel prices and special events to help plan a visit.
Read More
-
Greece Travel Secrets picks the best time to visit Kefalonia, with a monthly summary of the weather, plus hotel prices and special events to help plan a visit.
Read More
-
Greece Travel Secrets picks the best time to visit Zakynthos, with a monthly summary of the weather, plus hotel prices and special events to help plan a visit.
Read More
-
Greece Travel Secrets picks the best time to visit Lesbos, with a monthly summary of the weather, plus hotel prices and special events to help plan a visit.
Read More