Plaka, Anafiotika and Monastiraki Walking Guide

Plaka is the part of Athens that looks the way people expect Greece to look: pastel neoclassical houses, bougainvillea, tavernas under vines. Parts of it are pure tourist trade, with the same sponge and sandal shops on every corner. The trick is to use the main streets as a corridor and keep turning uphill. This walk takes about two hours without stops, and works best in the late afternoon, ending at sunset in Thissio. It's mostly flat, apart from the steps of Anafiotika.

1. Syntagma Square. Start by the Parliament, then walk down Mitropoleos Street.
2. The Metropolitan Cathedral. The big 19th-century cathedral of Athens. Next to it, and far more interesting, is the tiny Panagia Gorgoepikoos (Little Metropolis), a 12th-century church built partly from ancient carved blocks. Look for the reused reliefs on the outer walls.
3. Adrianou and Kydathineon. Head south into Plaka's main streets. Kydathineon leads to a small square with cafés, and the Museum of Greek Folk Art is nearby if you want a break.
4. The Lysicrates Monument. A small round monument from 334 BC, put up to celebrate a win in a theatre competition. It's one of the oldest structures in the city still standing whole.
5. Anafiotika. Climb the lanes north of Lysicrates towards the rock. In the 19th century builders from the Cycladic island of Anafi, working on the new royal city, put up houses here in the style of home: whitewashed walls, blue doors, lanes barely a shoulder wide. People still live here, so keep your voice down and don't step onto doorsteps for photos.
6. The Roman Agora. Follow the path west along the slope and down to the Roman market, with the octagonal Tower of the Winds. Each of its eight sides has a carving of a wind god, and it once held a water clock.
7. Hadrian's Library. A few steps north, the remains of a vast Roman library and courtyard, built in the 2nd century.
8. Monastiraki Square. The Ottoman-era Tzistarakis Mosque on one side, the metro station, and the Acropolis above. Souvlaki shops line Mitropoleos Street here. It's loud and crowded and a lot of fun.
9. The flea market. Walk Ifaistou Street, all old records, army surplus, brass and copper. The real antiques and junk dealers are around Avissinias Square, busiest on Sunday mornings.
10. Adrianou to Thissio. Follow Adrianou west past cafés facing the Ancient Agora's fence, with the Temple of Hephaestus inside, to Apostolou Pavlou, the pedestrian avenue at Thissio. Finish on the steps of the Areopagus rock, or with a drink looking up at the floodlit Acropolis.

Psyrri, north of Monastiraki, takes over after dark with bars and music tavernas. For more across the city, see our things to do list, and for staying in these lanes, our where to stay guide.