How I spent 7 days in Athens, Greece

The story of 7 days in Athens. It was not planned, but I’m glad we made it through it all safely.

It was a nice July evening; I was home alone and kinda bored. As I struggled to fall asleep, I decided not to try anyone. Opened my laptop, ran into that Ryanair email about their discount tickets, and booked a ticket to Athens for the end of September. Then September came, and here is how I spent 7 days in Athens, Greece.

When I first booked the tickets, and somewhere between that time and before I left for Athens, I checked the weather a couple of times. It said sunny, 28 degrees. I was fully prepared to embrace summer once more as an escape from the Romanian fall, which is not always sunny.

Before heading to Athens, you might be wondering What is Athens famous for?. It’s a good thing I wrote about that, too.

Packed my bags, dresses, and swimsuits, and the only jeans, sweater, and jacket were the ones I was wearing.

Day 1 in Athens, Greece

Arrived in Athens on a sunny but windy Wednesday morning around 10 am. I took the metro from the airport to get to the city. It was 10 euros for a one-way trip. There were 2 of us, and I asked at the counter if there was any cheaper ticket we could buy. The answer was ‘no,’ but later on our trip, we found out that it was a cheaper option. That’s a very warm greeting to Greece.

FYI, I was not aware I was about to spend 7 days in Athens, as I don’t watch the news and had no idea a cyclone was heading our way. I was dreaming of cute Greek islands.

I thought it was expensive, but I found it funny because Greece was supposed to be struggling with its finances. After a quick Google search, we discovered some painful truths about Greece. The high unemployment rate, one of the most expensive transport in Europe and overall inflation in the market.

Staying in Monastiraki, the centre of Athens

This might come as a shock to you (as it was to me as well), but the city centre of Athens is inhabited by immigrants and refugees. I don’t mind, but it was so unexpected, and there were so many that it looked like we had arrived in a bazaar: spice shops, mini-markets, and falafel restaurants.

In the middle of that, it was our hostel. I booked the hostel based on its location and price. And it was very cheap and within walking distance from the Acropolis. To put it as my boyfriend did, “it looked like a bad dorm room”.

The atmosphere was tense; we got briefed on the local pickpockets, and everything around seemed to be in a constant state of alert. I admit I got tense, too and it was not what I expected. Filth, people staring, having to hold tightly to my handbag.

But we went to eat at a nice vegan place called Vegan Nation. The staff was super nice, and we liked it so much that we went back there a few more times during our stay in Athens.

Check out all the vegan restaurants I loved in Athens. 

As the location of the hostel was central, everything was within walking distance. And it was amazing how, just after a few blocks, you would leave that dubious neighbourhood and get to the big boulevards with international brand shops and tourists.

We went on a self-made walking tour to explore the centre.

We also got to see the Acropolis, Syntagma Square, where the changing of the guards was a huge reason for the tourists’ enthusiasm, the Academy, the University, and the National Library. I liked these three buildings so much I decided to come back the following morning to take some photos.

Day 2 in Athens, Greece 

I fought the wind and the cold and took photos in a short dress while everyone else was wearing (at least) a jacket.

Yes, you can see where I am going with this. During our trip to Athens, there was a small weather problem. It was supposed to be summer, but all of a sudden, it was cold, windy, and rainy.

That’s why we decided not to visit any islands, as I first planned, and that’s what led to discovering two more neighbourhoods in Athens. I’m ready to bet money that this will not be your experience while visiting Athens, the capital of Greece.

Regardless of the season, Greece has warm weather and gets close to burning temperatures during the European summer. That’s why I planned this trip for September, but I had the most unbelievable misfortune with the weather.

Lycabettus neighborhood

Switching accommodations took about 35 minutes, within walking distance. After the morning photo shoot, we had to move as a result of the bad weather. We would have moved to an island if it hadn’t been for the storm that was coming our way.

So I booked this apartment on Airbnb the night before, and it turned out to be lovely. I was surprised by how the city can change so much after a 30-minute walk. The apartment was on Lycabettus Hill, the best place in town to get a panoramic view of Athens.

This was an uphill neighbourhood with nice apartments and cars, and it was clean and quiet. It was so different from the first neighbourhood we got to know.

If you are like me, walking a lot when in a new city, then this is a very nice area to explore.

All the streets are packed with cute family shops, the view is spectacular, and you can walk all the way to the Acropolis.

We did it on Thursday, but decided not to visit because it was already raining. It was a rare sight in Greece: everything dark, with water pouring from the sky.

We bought the ticket for the Acropolis and the other touristic sights, a total of 7 places, which costs 30 Euros compared to the ticket for the Acropolis which is 20 Euros. These prices are from 2018, so I expect that the ticket is more expensive now. But we didn’t visit anything that day since we were already wet and tired of the rain.

The ticket is valid for five days and only allows one entry to each of the sights. When you buy it, you can choose the first day, not the day when you purchase the ticket.

We went to our cosy apartment, discovered a nearby supermarket, bought some stuff, and realised I couldn’t read anything from the bill. As I counted the things I bought, I realised they charged twice the most expensive thing on the list, which was 4 Euros. They gave us the money back in cash, although we paid by card. The guy didn’t seem surprised either.

Day 3 in Athens, Greece

On Friday, we explored the Kolonaki area, and also visited Aristotle’s Lyceum and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. All of this is just by walking. And the weather was not getting any better. I was cold, windy, rainy, and it reminded me of September days in Amsterdam.

That night, we went to another great vegan restaurant, Mama Tierra. Not far away from the restaurant, near Omonia Square, we found a nice vegan and organic supermarket.

We got inside, and when we wanted to leave, the shop owner closed the supermarket as the protesting crowd marched by.

He said they had been damaging some shops earlier that week, and a person died, and that’s why some of the shops were closed for a few minutes as they passed by. It happened again before we were able to get out. It seemed that it was an anarchist area, and people there had a weird relationship with the lawmakers.

Later that night, I saw a Greek weather report on the news, and it looked like something big and red swirling all over the map of Greece. It was a typhoon or cyclone (because I don’t know which is which), and they were talking about it and warning people.

I think they said not to get out of their houses unless it was absolutely necessary. That was when I understood why the weather looked so bad all of a sudden and why I was glad I didn’t go to an island. Probably, if we did go, we would have been trapped there for the entire weekend.

Day 4 in Athens, Greece

Saturday morning we climbed the Lycabettus mountain, and indeed there was the best view of Athens on top. But again, it was raining, and it started to feel dangerous. It was also almost deserted, so I guess people were following instructions and not getting out of their houses.

Later that day, we had to move again. This time, we took the subway because it was raining heavily. On the way to the metro station, we discovered a football stadium and some not-so-great apartment buildings. Like everywhere else, Athens has people struggling to live and feed their families.

The cyclone of Athens, ‘Zorbas medicane’, made me spend 7 days in Athens

That was the day of the cyclone.

As we arrived in the Koukaki neighbourhood, we walked for 7 minutes from the metro station. It was raining badly. But people still didn’t look too bothered by the apocalypse that was happening on the street. Cafes were open, and people were enjoying themselves inside.

We arrived at the Kyma Apartment, and I was pleasantly surprised by this apartment. By far, the best accommodation in Athens. We had one living room with an extendable sofa and TV, a bedroom, a kitchen, and a balcony. Everything was brand new.

The person who greeted us was also very nice, as he explained everything that was to be visited in Athens and the events happening that weekend in Athens.

After a short visit to the local Lidl supermarket, the storm was taking hold of the city, and there was water everywhere. I refused to leave the apartment for the rest of the day. Cyclone, they called it, and they even gave it a name for this natural disaster during my trip to Athens. Zorbas, they called it, and it sure was impressive.

Trees were falling, and water was pouring from the sky like there was nothing more to the world. There was one particular tree I was checking out on the window from time to time, and it was sure bending more than usual. That was my benchmark, and it sure didn’t look good.

Day 5 in Athens, Greece

Sunday was the museum’s day. As that weekend was European Heritage Day, all museums had a free entrance and everywhere was full. I don’t think I ever saw a museum that full, like that last day of September in Athens. I couldn’t breathe. I just wanted to go home.

We visited the National Archaeological Museum, which usually costs 10 Euros. I am telling you, that museum is huge. If you love ancient Greek history, you can easily spend half of the day there.

The second museum was the Acropolis Museum. The queue was about 200 people in front of the museum. They were all waiting patiently in the pouring rain.

I was sure at that point that I would catch it (which luckily I didn’t). We waited and got into the museum 1 hour before its closing time. Just enough to rush through it all and be kicked out 10 minutes before the official closing time. Just like everywhere else in Greece.

The locals’ neighbourhood of Koukaki

We discovered that our apartment was two tram stops from the Acropolis, which was pretty convenient. The area was nice and comfy, with cute family businesses all around and not so many tourists, although the InterContinental Hotel was just around the corner.

Day 6 in Athens, Greece

Woke up before sunrise, took a look outside, and it was still raining.

By this time, it had been raining for more than 72 hours straight. I had had enough. I got into the shower and then proceeded to get ready. It was my last full day in Athens, and I still hadn’t visited the Acropolis. By this time, I had watched more Netflix than in the last three months at home.

After about 1 hour, I was all ready; my make-up game was strong, but the rain was still not going anywhere. Went back to bed, waking up every half an hour to check the window. At 11 am, 3 hours later, the sky was grey, but no water was pouring out of it, so we got dressed and slowly made it to the Acropolis.

By the time we arrived at the Acropolis, clouds were starting to fade away, and in 1 hour, it was summer again. That was the weirdest day, but I am thankful for it because I was wearing a dress and I got some nice sun rays in my photos.

From cold and wet to sunny and hot in a few hours. Talking about extreme weather. The rest of the day was lovely but also tiring.

We had a lot of outdoor visiting to do. After the Acropolis, we got to see the Roman Agora and then the Greek Agora. These two sights are also included in the 30 Euros ticket (price from 2018).

I had another fast snack at the Vegan Nation joint, which is strategically placed near the ruins’ areas. This is one of our best discoveries from the list of vegan restaurants in Athens. Although it rained like crazy, we did go out to eat.

Day 7 in Athens, Greece

It’s our last day in Athens, and the weather is a dream.

Did you ever imagine living in a nice and cosy apartment with a balcony close to the seaside on a Mediterranean summer day? Well, it was just like that. We had a few hours to explore the seaside in the morning, and we did just that.

The seaside wasn’t busy, and not a lot of people were around. Just some older people were sunbathing and even swimming in the sea.

I also went in to check the water temperature. It was perfect!!! I was shocked, as only two days ago, the entire country was under severe rain and wind. And now, everyone was acting as if nothing had ever happened.

I was sad to go. But on our way to the airport, we stopped to check out another vegan joint, Peas & Vegan, which is indeed a hidden gem. So glad we did stop, as it is in the Koukaki neighbourhood and many locals hang out in the bars and restaurants in that area.

As a piece of advice, you can take the airport train from Syntagma Square. A ticket for the airport is 10 Euros. Please buy your ticket before you get there or from a different station because it’s really crowded there and you might miss your flight.

The airport train comes every 30 min or so, and it takes almost 1 hour to get to the airport. If you get a group ticket, it is 18 Euros, and one ticket is 10 Euros.

At Syntagma Square, there is also a bus to the airport that costs only 6 Euros. But I am not sure about the traffic, which can get crazy during workdays.

If Athens is on your European itinerary, make sure to check out my guide on how to plan your trip to Europe on a budget.

Is there anything I left out from my seven days in Athens story, aka ‘How I Survived a Cyclone” story?