Top Free Things to Do in Athens

Visiting Athens doesn’t have to make you a bankrupt. It’s a reasonably priced city so you will discover that if you choose a basic hotel, most money will be spent on dining in restaurants and drinking cocktails, it that’s what you like.

Need to travel on budget? There are lots of ways to see the Greek capital for free!
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Syntagma Square

In front of the Parliament building on Syntagma Square you’ll recognize the traditionally dressed guards by their short kilts and pom-pom shoes. They guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and perform a high-kicking ritual when they change every hour. At 11am on Sunday, the entire platoon marches down LeoforosVasilissisSofias to the tomb to a band music.

The Square itself is a great tourist attraction. Go downhill from the Parliament, with the historic Grand Bretagne hotel to your right hand, and you’ll see a seat on one of the park’s benches to watch the world go by…this main pedestrian crossroads is also the site of one of the busiest subway stations. At Christmas there is a Christmas tree topping it – a popular photo opportunity for tourists.

National Gardens

Located in the middle of the Athens center, National Gardens are wonderful, shady refuge during summer time. They are situated behind the Parliament (tough it’s possible to enter them from all sides) and were the royal gardens designed by Queen Amalia in the past. Palm avenues lead to plantings of orange trees; there is also a big playground for children and a shady cafe. Take bread crumbs to feed the ducks at the pond or look for the turtles in the little marble fountain.

2586757806_43b1922621Ancient ruins

The majority of Athens’ popular tourist attractions, such as the Acropolis and Ancient Agora, are available on a 12 euro joint ticket, but there are lots of others that tourists can see for free. Of course, you can see Acropolis from all over the city, sans ticket. The Panathenaic Stadium, Hadrian’s Arch and Temple of Olympian Zeus are also easy to see wandering the streets.

Lesser-known ruins can be seen from the landscape across Athens. The Roman Baths were found during the subway build, and are marked by placards all over the National Gardens. At Syntagma subway station, the dig turned up an ancient aqueduct and artefacts which are now displayed at the station. Monastiraki subway station also possesses a signed archaeological find.

mg_9729_trekAfter years of digging, in 2014 Aristotle’s Lyceum was opened to the public absolutely for free. Found in 1996, it’s the tourist attraction where, 2500 years ago, the great philosopher taught. Discover it in a little park between the Athens Conservatory & the Byzantine & Christian Museum.

Having visited Plaka, tourists can see historic Turkish Baths inside the gift shop of the Museum of Greek Popular Instruments. And all over town Byzantine churches give a sight at the heart of long-gone Byzantine.

Historic streets

The simple way to feel the atmosphere of the city while partaking of ancient tourist attractions and modern life, is to walk the historic city center. Begin with the old Turkish quarter in Plaka. Virtually all that existed when Athens was the capital of Greece, its narrow streets are located in the northeastern slope of the Acropolis. Once you get to the hillside, the neighborhood becomes one large tourist attraction, but it is still the most character-filled part of the Greek capital.

athmain_976817aNext, look for DionysiouAreopagitou which rings the Acropolis, not far from the Acropolis Museum. Follow it by Filopappou Hill (which is also a sightseeing) as it leads to Thisio with lots of Acropolis-facing cafes, before letting you out by the Monastiraki place. Walk through Monastriaki’s flea market and busy Monastriaki Square before you finish the loop by passing the Ancient and Roman Agora – some of which you can see from the street.

The hills of Athens

You can climb one of Athens’ central hills for breathtaking views and free workout. Filopappou Hill together with the adjacent Hills of the Pnyx and Nymphs was where the Amazons and Theseus had a battle. Inhabited throughout the prehistoric times and post-Byzantine era, nowadays the pine-clad slopes lead to amazing views of Attica and the Saronic Gulf and some of the very best points for making photos of the Acropolis.

25-06-2011Having approached the hill, don’t miss the brilliant Church of AgiosDimitriosLoumbardiaris at its foot, before going past Socrates’ prison and the Shrine of the Muses. On the hilltop, there is the Monument of Filopappos built in honor of Julius Antiochus Filopappos, a famous Roman administrator and consul. The entire hill is crisscrossed with the remains of ancient bastions.

Lykavittos hill – the Hill of Wolves – is another great central hill which was really inhabited with wolves in ancient times. These days a path leads to the summit from the top of Loukianou Street for fine panoramas of the city and the Attic basin. The small Chapel of AgiosGeorgious is floodlit like a beacon over Athens every night. You can also catch funicular railway from the top of Ploutarhou Street in Kolonaki, but it will cost a few euros.

AncientAgoraOfAthens1Free museums

Such tourist attractions as the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Roman Agora, Ancient Agora and Keramikos aren’t only included in the 12 euro joint Acropolis ticket, but are free every first Sunday from November to March, and are always free for teens under 18. National Archaeological Museum has the same free-admission rules.

Benaki Museum main building is one of the Greece’s best cultural museums, is free on Thursdays. But there are lots more to visit. The following museums are always free:

Kanellopoulos Museum is a nice cultural museum in a historic mansion in the foothills of Plaka. Museum of Greek Popular Instruments shows recordings of traditional instruments and costumes. The most important collection of Greek inscriptions is on a library of stone tablets in Epigraphical Museum. Center of Folk Art & Tradition is an amazing Plaka mansion with interesting periodic exhibitions.

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