How I Spent 3 Days in Athens: Itinerary

On my first trip to Greece I spent 3 days in Athens before moving on to the other islands, but I honestly felt like I needed more time.

I don’t know why, but before visiting I thought Athens would just be full of old streets and a place I stop at before heading to Santorini. And yes, you do get the Acropolis, the Parthenon, the museums, the Greek food, and all the history you expect. But Athens is also much grittier than I thought it would be.

There were graffiti everywhere. I walked more in Athens than I think I’ve ever walked in any other city. But somehow, that is also what made the city feel real to me.

This 3 day Athens itinerary is based on exactly how I spent my first trip. I did the major ancient sites, wandered through Plaka and Monastiraki, ate way too much Greek food, walked through gardens, had my first Michelin star dinner, and even made it out to Glyfada for a slower coastal afternoon.

So if you’re planning your first trip and wondering how to spend 3 days in Athens without overcomplicating or missing out on anything important, this is how I’d do it.

Is 3 days in Athens enough?

Based on how I felt after leaving, I really don’t think that 3 days in Athens is enough to experience everything Athens has to offer. But for a first time with three full days, you can visit the Acropolis, the Acropolis Museum, the Ancient Agora, Plaka, Monastiraki, Adrianou Street, Zappeion Gardens, and still have time for good food and a slower afternoon outside the historic center. That is a solid first Athens itinerary.

After staying here in Athens for 3 days, I honestly think 5 days would be better.

Athens is a very huge city. I remember seeing it from on top of the Acropolis looking down and thinking, “wow…there’s so much to explore”.

For me, I love exploring places on foot and Athens is one of those places where walking is half the experience. I found central Athens extremely walkable, especially around Plaka, Monastiraki, Syntagma and the Acropolis. Every day, I felt like I found another street, restaurant, ruin, viewpoint, or neighborhood I wanted to explore. I visited around winter time, so the crowds were not bad at all, and even then I still felt like I was rushing around trying to fit everything in because I would just see something new again and again.

What to do in Athens for 3 days

This itinerary is going to be busy, because that is usually how I travel. I like waking up early, walking as much as possible, and seeing a lot in a short amount of time.

You definitely do not have to follow this exact itinerary stop by stop. If you like slower travel, spread this over four days instead. But if you only have three days in Athens and want to see the main sights without wasting time, this route makes sense.

Here’s the basic plan:

Day 1: Acropolis, Parthenon, Theatre of Dionysus, Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Acropolis Museum, Plaka, Monastiraki, and dinner in the city.

Day 2: Ancient Agora, Temple of Hephaestus, Stoa of Attalos, Adrianou Street, Zappeion Gardens, National Garden, and dinner at Herve.

Day 3: Glyfada Beach, Glyfada shopping area, a slower coastal afternoon, and anything you missed before leaving Athens.

Obviously this itinerary is walkable if you stay somewhere central like Plaka, Monastiraki, Koukaki, or Syntagma. I used Uber when something was too far or when I was tired, but for the most part, Athens is a city you experience best on foot. Uber was cheap, it only costs $5 USD to get to and from most places within Athens.

Athens Itinerary Day 1

Visit the Acropolis

On your first full day in Athens get up early and prepare to be sent back thousands of years into the past of the ancient Greeks, because you’re going to the Ancient Acropolis. The Acropolis was by far my favorite thing to do in Athens. I really loved the end of the tour where we ended at the top of the Acropolis. It was windy and we could see the entire city.

We booked a tour with a really educated guy that explained everything really well. We had headphones on so that we could hear him even though he was in a completely different area and that made everything easier. Even though I visited in the off season, there were still lots of people here so try to book your tours a good few days in advance.

I recommend booking an affordable tour for the Acropolis. The reason for this is that not only do they guide you through the tour, but the tour guide will give you detailed fun and interesting historical facts about almost anything in the Acropolis. Out of all the things to do in Athens, this is the most popular.

The price of the tours are usually around €35. My tour company gave us headphones to be able to hear everything the guide was saying. We did it through Keys Tour company. You can check the prices of Acropolis tickets on the Acropolis-tickets website.

It opens 8am and the reason I said to wake up early is because the earlier you go the less crowded it will be. I traveled to Athens in winter and most of the prices were reduced because it’s the off season. The Acropolis closing time varies depending on the season. From 5pm to 7:30pm. The exact location of the Acropolis is 105 58 Greece. But you can just put Acropolis into Google maps and you’d be good. These are walking tours mainly. You start from somewhere nearby in Athens and just walk to the Acropolis with your tour group.

Here is a quick informative about the Acropolis of Athens:

Parthenon

The Parthenon is the main building that you want to see at the Acropolis. You probably see the term Parthenon tour or Acropolis tour. The difference between the Parthenon and the Acropolis is that the Parthenon is the temple and the Acropolis is the hill the Parthenon is located on. When you book an Acropolis tour it usually comes with seeing the Parthenon temple, the most popular structure on the entire Acropolis.

You’d see that there’s always scaffolding around it and it’s cautioned off. It looks like it’s constantly under construction and that’s because it is. It brings about 4.6 million people a year to Athens and is the most important ancient Greek structure. I assume they might want to keep it maintained and clean all the time.

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

If you want to feel extra fancy and sophisticated, you can buy a ticket for one of the performances at the Odeon. Imagine seeing a classical performance here. You’d have to just imagine being an ancient Greek aristocrat though.

The Odeon of Atticus is a typical part of Acropolis tours and are usually done when there are no performances.

Theatre of Dionysus

The theatre of Dionysus was where a lot of performances and religious festivals use to be held. You are now looking at and experiencing the world’s very first theatre. You get to see it and touch it. Amazing right?

Visitors are not allowed to sit on the marble seats. It’s too fragile and old and it needs to be preserved.

Temple of Athena Nike

The temple of Athena Nike is the first thing I recognized when driving into Athens city. It’s on all the post card images of Athens. Seeing it in person with the backdrop of the city of Athens looming below it was amazing.

Visit the Acropolis Museum

The Acropolis museum is like any museum and it showcases artifacts from the Acropolis archaeological site. You can get a more organized and overhead understanding of the ancient Greek history when you come here. I would not do the museum before the Acropolis.

The museum is open from 9 am to 8 pm and it costs about $30. There are still ongoing excavations being done and through glass floors, you get to see them. I thought that was unique and very cool.

You should visit the museum after walking through the Acropolis. This is because when you’re reading the items on display in the museum, you’ll now know exactly what each piece is referring to and where it’s from. You’ll have a better grasp and appreciate everything more.

I recommend visiting during a weekday, early in the morning at 9 am. I personally hate crowded places, it takes away from the immersion.

The easiest way to get to the museum is to just take a metro to Acropoli station or hire an uber.

The Acropolis Museum ticket is separate from the Acropolis archaeological-site ticket. You’ll have to get a totally different Museum ticket when you want to visit the museum.

Eat at a Nice Restaurant

After spending hours walking through the Acropolis, tasting some pristine Greek cuisine was probably on your mind a lot. There must be space allocated in your three day Athens itinerary for delicious Greek food. Now, there are a plethora of food places to choose from, this is Greece after all.

I like to discover things and places while on the move. While we were walking through the old towns of Athens we would just pop in anywhere that looks interesting or where the food looked and smelled delicious. Honestly, there were so many great looking places to eat I think just doing an itinerary surrounding food in Athens is in the works. One of the first places we ate in Athens was called Regal. A really cozy looking restaurant that wasn’t crowded. But, you can choose to eat anywhere that looks delicious to you or that’s near to where you’re staying.

Do a walking tour around Athens

In my opinion, the absolute best way to experience a city or a town to the fullest is to just start walking. If you’re central enough, meaning your hotel or Airbnb is in the city, then you can simply exit your hotel and start walking. I do this every single destination I visit. It’s an adventure traveler’s favorite thing to do. You don’t have to have a particular destination in mind at all because as you walk the streets with an open mind and a willingness to be curious, you’ll end up in places you didn’t even think existed. Remember Athens is extremely walkable.

Plaka

One of the areas we explored in depth is called Plaka. It’s the oldest neighborhood in Athens. I was surprised by how very narrow the streets were and to my surprise, still had cars driving through it. The little winding streets of cobblestone are lined with colorful white and blue shops and stores. It looks similar to the colors you see in Santorini. There are so many other amazing little parts of Athens to visit, that I did a blog post about the best neighborhoods in Athens.

Athens itinerary Day 2

Visit the Ancient Agora

The first destination on our itinerary on day 2 is the Ancient Agora. It opens at 8 am and closes at 5 pm every day. We visited at 8 am exactly to escape any crowds. You can easily buy tickets for the Agora right at the gates. Or, you can buy Ancient Agora tickets online to avoid any lines. When we went there was no line or waiting involved at all. It costs about $13 per person and you can stay as long as it’s open.

Honestly, I didn’t even know of the Agora until researching things to do in Athens . It’s not as popular and majestic as the Acropolis, but it’s something to do.

The main things you want to see in the Agora are Temple of Hephaestus, Stoa of Attalos and the Agora Museum. Of course there are other amazing statues and sites to be seen. There are also a large number of cats that really cutely beg for food. To fully walk around the Agora and take in everything took us about 2 hours and this was also including stopping to take videos and pictures all the time.

The Agora is laid out like a big open garden with lot’s of rubble and ruins spread around a maze like lay out. There are many hillside areas that can give you a panoramic view of the whole Agora and where you can take some clean pics.

My favorite part of the Ancient Agora was the Stoa of Attalos. It was way longer than I thought it would be and is a great reconstruction of an ancient building. This was a major commercial and political hub in ancient Athens. This is a great place to take some good pictures up close of the statues and carvings.

When you go inside the Stoa of Attalos there is a small museum shaped like a long narrow corridor. It’s quiet inside and full of more ancient artifacts.

This is one of my favorite pieces in the Agora. A sculpture of Plato and Confucius. There are many other photogenic places in the Agora to take pictures and see ancient items. Each site is marked with a reading of what it used to be in all it’s original glory.

Temple of Hephsestus

Another important site and one of the largest at the Agora is the temple of Hephaestus. Well, it’s a temple dedicated to Hephaestus, the Greek God of artisans, blacksmiths and other crafty people. This temple is in rather good shape compared to many other ancient buildings around Athens. It looks really similar to the Parthenope at the Acropolis, just a smaller version.

Zappeion Hall and Garden

Walk through the Zappeion Hall Gardens. There are a lot of beautiful statues and trees in the gardens. We even saw some type of shiny colored green bird. The garden is 83,000 square meters of planted area and trees. The Hall is near the national Gardens and was built in the 1800s for the first modern Olympic games. It’s a bit different in purpose today. It just hosts meetings and official ceremonies.

Surrounding the hall is the Zappeion Gardens, which blend in continuously with the National garden but is just more open. It’s a nice refreshing walk and scenery.

We walked through the gardens and took dozens of videos and pictures. There are plenty of orange trees in the garden and we wondered why no one picked and eat the oranges…until we tasted one just for fun. Super bitter and smells like poison.

The Garden walk leads up to the actual Zappeion Hall, we didn’t go inside the hall at this point as it was getting late. The Hall is a little pit stop that you can try to squeeze into your 3 day Athens itinerary.

Eat at the Michelin Star Restaurant Herve

Time to take the night down low and classy at Herve, a Michelin star Restaurant. I’ve never been to a Michelin star restaurant before. It was pretty amazing. For a fancy Michelin start restaurant it’s pretty cheap. Imagine putting a Michel star restaurant on your Athens itinerary and it only costs $105 for a 15 course meal with 2 main courses and wine.

Herve is located on Trion Lerarchon 170, Athina 118 52. It’s easy to Uber to from anywhere in Athens. It’s a quiet setting with dim lights and a very attentive staff that are just waiting to attend to your every need.

You receive your menu in a wax sealed envelope like it’s Game of Thrones or something. I was impressed by how much cooler that made the experience.

Here’s a look at the food we got that night:

I don’t know if there are any other Michel star restaurants in Greece that are this affordable and that give this level of quality in terms of food, presentation and service. Everything was amazing.

Exploring Adrianou Street

We did not look for this amazing busy street in Athens. We just stumbled upon it by accident while exploring on foot. That’s why I always start with walking around somewhere, you never know what you’re going to find.

Adrianou Street is a very long street connecting Plaka and Monastiraki and is one of the oldest streets in Athens. It draws quite a crowd. It was off season and it was still crowded, but not too bad. I guess since every tourist comes here, almost similar to the Acropolis, it’s sure to get crowded. I will certainly recommend you include this in your Athens itinerary.

There are dozens of shops selling linen clothing, leather accessories, clothing, jewelry, trinkets and snacks. There are also taverns and cafes that serve the best pies on earth. On this street you can indulge yourself in some shopping. I loved all the linen clothing stores as that’s kind of my style. This is also something you could do on any day of the itinerary because it runs through most of the interesting activities in Athens like the Ancient Agora. You can walk your way from the Acropolis down through Plaka.

Athens itinerary Day 3

Glyfada Beach

One of my friends from Athens told us about this part of the city where there’s a beach. Obviously this isn’t a must do Athens attraction by any means. It’s a different angle and an opportunity to see a different side to Athens and probably spend a few hours at most.

You’ll have to take an uber to Glyfada beach. It is located just along the southern coast of Athens and it took about 30 minutes to get here via car. The beach isn’t marvelous and pristine like other beaches in Greece or the Caribbean for example. But, it’s a change of scenery from concrete jungle to chill beachy vibe. It’s a long stretch that you can walk on and depending on the weather you might even want to take a swim in the ocean.

Around the beach there are cafes, restaurants and high end stores that you can pop into if you like. After having a go at the beach, you can easily grab something to eat. There are trains running parallel to the beach carrying you to different places in Athens. We wanted to go further inland to the nice shopping area. So we hopped on a train that took us to the main shopping area in Glyfada.

If you’re asking is Athens metro safe, I did an article telling you exactly how to be safe on the Metro in Athens and best practices.

Glyfada Shopping Area

Glyfada shopping area looked kind of like a fancy commercial area in Miami or LA. Stores like Gucci, Prada, Samsung, Apple, Zara, Rolex and others. Walk around and look at cool stuff or go in and spend $1100 on a t-shirt! Anything does, you’re on vacation right? Sure…

The Glyfada shopping area is about several blocks large very near the beach. There are weird little hop off points that the trains drop people off and they have to dart between them.

Most of the restaurants here are outdoor dining. and the streets are easy to walk. I think they do this to make the place look and feel more lively but I’m not sure. There’s lot’s of caffes, bakeries and ice cream shops for you to stop at to have a drink or something to eat.

We didn’t stay in the shopping area very long because we needed to get back to catch a flight to Santorini.

There you go. That’s my 3 day Athens itinerary. Of course, this will not break or fail to work if you split it up over more days like 4 or 5. You don’t have to do much walking if you cant or don’t want to. But do try to do some exploration and I can ensure you your travels will be better for it. I hope you got an opportunity to use this.