Districts Of Athens, Shopping fun and More

The sprawling city is bounded on three sides by Mt Hymettos, Mt Parnitha and Mt Pendeli; whilst inside Athens are eight hills (one more than Rome!), the Acropolis and Lykavittos being the most prominent. These hills provide a refuge from the noise and commotion of the crowded city streets, offering amazing views down to Saronic Gulf, Athens' boundary with the Aegean Sea on its southern side. The streets of Athens (clearly signposted in Greek and English) now meld imperceptibly into Piraeus, the city's ancient (and still bustling) port.

Syntagma: Most things of interest to travellers can be found within a relatively small area surrounding the city centre at Syntagma Square (Plateia Syntagmatos). This epicentre is surrounded by the districts of the Plaka to the south, Monastiraki to the west, Kolonaki to the east and Omonia to the north. Further afield is the port of Athens, the Piraeus.

Syntagma Square (Plateia Syntagmatos) - dominated by the old Royal Palace, Syntagma Square is the business district of Athens, complete with major hotels, banks, restaurants and airline offices

Plaka - gentrified during the 1990s (and now very popular with tourists), the Pláka is a charming historic district at the foot of the Acropolis, with its restored 19th century neoclassical homes, pedestrianized streets, shops and restaurants, and picturesque ruins from the city's Roman era

Acropolis - the ancient "high city" of Athens, crowned by marble temples sacred to the city's goddess Athena

Monastiraki - very bohemian district increasingly popular with tourists, with stores selling a variety of items including antiques, cookware, souvenirs, arts and crafts, movie posters, punk culture, funky clothing, and pretty much anything you can think of

Kolonaki - upscale residential area with many cafes, boutiques and galleries

Psiri - up and coming former industrial district, full of trendy or alternative restaurants, cafés, bars, and small shops

Omonia - a somewhat seedy district, sometimes notorious for pickpockets and prostitutes (be careful here!), Omonia Square (Plateia Omonoias) is nonetheless an important transport hub, especially for buses

Thissio - picturesque, historic district with restored 19th-century neoclassical architecture -similar to Pláka- located next to the Ancient Agora, and housing many restaurants and cafes

Piraeus - the ancient port of Athens, Piraeus is today an independent, heavily industrial municipality located southwest of Athens, whose modern-day port serves almost all of Attica's ferry connections to Crete and the Aegean Islands.

This page was last modified 16:15, 26 October 2006 by Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. Based on work by Matthew Reames, Eric G, Todd VerBeek, Wendy, Gobbler, Johny Canal, Ryan Holliday, Niels Elgaard Larsen, Darren Kirby, Denis Yurkin, Yannick Saunier and Yann Forget, Wikitravel user(s) Episteme, Jonboy, Dimitris, Wojsyl, InterLangBot, Bijee, Pjamescowie, Chris j wood and Nils and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel.