‹Plaka, Syntagma & historic centre›
The oldest, most walkable part of town under the Acropolis. Cocktail institutions hide in its side streets.
Vibe: ● Alternative · ● Trendy · ● Classic · ● Posh · ● Must-see Price: € cheap · €€ mid · €€€ expensive (Google's per-person range) ⏸ = temporarily closed on Google
🏘️ Neighbourhoods
🏘️ 13Plaka
The oldest quarter, right under the Acropolis: pedestrian lanes, neoclassical houses and the Cycladic-style Anafiotika hamlet. Pretty and very touristy, neither alternative nor posh (tourist-priced tavernas).
🍽️ Eat: tavernas & restaurants
🍽️ 14Dopios
🍸 cocktail €13 · 🍺 beer €6 · 🍷 wine €6 · 🍽️ plate €14
A modern Greek meze restaurant by chef Christoforos Peskias, a sit-down dinner place with a solid cocktail and wine list. It focuses on small producers from around Greece. It has run since about 2021 under plane trees on Agion Theodoron square, beside the 11th-century church of Agioi Theodoroi.
☕ Cafés & brunch
☕ 15Anana Coffee & Food
A specialty coffee shop and vegan-vegetarian kitchen on the corner of Praxitelous and Chrysospiliotissis, opened in 2019 by Panagiotis Xylas, Katerina Manola and Valantis Fragkos. It roasts its own coffee and rotates single origins, and the bright, Scandinavian-meets-Bauhaus room is smoke-free. Banana bread is the signature bake; reviewers rave about the brunch, especially a French toast with salted caramel and berries.
🍸 Bars: cocktails & wine
🍸 16The Clumsies
🍸 cocktail €14
A cocktail bar in a townhouse, open all day across several floors but mainly a cocktail destination, with a small food menu. Vassilis Kyritsis and Nikos Bakoulis founded it in 2014. It has been on the World's 50 Best Bars list every year since 2015, peaking at No. 3 in 2020.
🍸 17Baba Au Rum
🍸 cocktail €11
A rum-focused cocktail bar in Psyrri with 400+ rums and tropical, retro decor. No reservations. Open for over 15 years, it is a regular on the World's 50 Best Bars list (No. 27 in 2025).
🍸 18Blue Bird
A tiny (about 23 m²) cocktail bar on pedestrian Ipitou street near Syntagma, open evenings and nights. At weekends it spills onto the street and square with resident DJs and a street-party crowd. It calls itself a 'bar for exotic birds' and started out serving only spirits.
🪩 Clubs & late night
🪩 19Dybbuk
A large electronic dance club with house and techno nights, known for big production nights and winter-only seasons. Its last known home was the Stadiou 7 arcade near Syntagma, its third location. It opened around 2009 in a Kolonaki basement at Patriarchou Ioakeim 37.