🇬🇷Athens
Twenty-five centuries of history under a hill you can see from almost anywhere in the city. Scruffier and far more alive than the ruins suggest, and one of the cheapest capitals in the eurozone.
Mid-range figures, per person
Per person, no flights — those are just below. The mid-range figure is researched; budget and comfort scale it, so treat the two as rough. The trip calculator and hotels below break the day down properly.
Fares are into Athens. Santorini adds a $60–150 hop or a ferry; direct Europe–Santorini charters exist in summer. Ranges are typical fares booked 1–3 months out, checked mid-2026 — school-holiday peaks run higher, and patient shoppers beat the bottom end.
Prices checked · how we work these out
Is Athens expensive to visit?
Somewhat: a mid-range day in Athens costs $70–130 per person, and its $100 midpoint is 11% above the $90 median across all 127 cities here. Within Greece it runs 20% below the $124 average of our 3 Greece guides. That makes it pricier than 70 of the 127 cities, with a cheap meal at $4–8 and a mid-range hotel at $70–130 a night.
How much does a trip to Athens cost?
| Trip length | Budget | Mid-range | Comfort |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 days | $120–240 | $210–390 | $390–690 |
| 5 days | $200–400 | $350–650 | $650–1,150 |
| 7 days | $280–560 | $490–910 | $910–1,610 |
| 14 days | $560–1,120 | $980–1,820 | $1,820–3,220 |
Per person and before flights, 3 days in Athens costs $210–390 mid-range, five days $350–650, a week $490–910 and two weeks $980–1,820; a week costs about $280–560 on a budget and $910–1,610 travelling in comfort.
Per person in US dollars, flights not included. Each total is a daily range from the band above multiplied out: mid-range is the guide's researched figure and already includes a mid-range room; budget and comfort scale it by 0.6 and 1.8, so treat those two as rough. The trip calculator lets you set your own days and group size.
Entry & visa
Greece is in the Schengen Area — US, UK, Canadian, Australian and most other Western passports get 90 days in any 180 visa-free. Check whether the EU's ETIAS pre-authorisation has taken effect before you travel; it has been delayed several times. Passport valid three months beyond departure.
Visa rules turn on your nationality and change often — always confirm the current requirement for your own passport with an official government source before you book.
Quick facts
Money & what things cost
Cards are accepted in most restaurants, hotels and shops, and a 2024 law pushed card acceptance much wider — but Greece still runs on more cash than Portugal or Spain, and small tavernas, periptera kiosks and markets often prefer it. ATMs are plentiful; use bank-branded machines (Alpha, Piraeus, Eurobank, National) rather than the standalone Euronet ones, which charge poorly. Athens is one of the cheapest capitals in the eurozone, and the gap between tourist-strip prices and neighbourhood prices is unusually wide — walking ten minutes from a headline sight regularly halves the bill.
What locals earn
| Earnings | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Average monthly salary | ≈ €1,180–1,470 gross ($1,290–1,600) | Sources vary by whether they use social-security records or OECD figures; the private-sector median sits at the lower end. |
| Minimum wage | ≈ €910/month gross ($990) | Among the lowest in Western Europe. |
| Typical hospitality wage | €800–1,200 ($870–1,310) | Waiters, hotel and shop staff — often seasonal contracts. |
Food & drink
| Item | Local price | ≈ USD |
|---|---|---|
| Souvlaki or gyros in pita | €3.50–5 | $3.80–5.50 |
| Taverna lunch, per person | €10–16 | $11–17 |
| Casual dinner with wine | €18–30 | $20–33 |
| Mid-range dinner, per person | €30–50 | $33–55 |
| Greek coffee / freddo espresso | €2–3.50 | $2.20–3.80 |
| Beer at a bar | €4–6 | $4.40–6.50 |
Transport
| Item | Local price | ≈ USD |
|---|---|---|
| Metro/bus 90-minute ticket | €1.20 | $1.30 |
| 24-hour pass | €4.10 | $4.50 |
| 5-day pass | €8.20 | $8.90 |
| Airport metro, one way | €9 | $9.80 |
| Airport taxi to centre (flat fare) | €40–55 | $44–60 |
| Ferry to Santorini | €40–80 | $44–87 |
Sights
| Item | Local price | ≈ USD |
|---|---|---|
| Acropolis ticket | €20–30 | $22–33 |
| Combined archaeological sites pass | €30 | $33 |
| Acropolis Museum | €10–20 | $11–22 |
| National Archaeological Museum | €8–12 | $8.70–13 |
Where to sleep & what it costs
| Tier | Per night | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hostel dorm | €15–30 ($16–33) | Good, cheap and plentiful around Monastiraki and Koukaki. |
| Budget hotel | €45–75 ($49–82) | Simple hotels in Koukaki, Exarchia or near Omonia. |
| Mid-range hotel | €65–120 ($70–130) | Plaka, Thissio or Koukaki. Rooftop bars with Acropolis views are common at this level. |
| Luxury | €200–500+ ($220–545+) | Syntagma and the grand hotels facing the parliament. |
Been recently? Check our prices
One tap per figure. Check-ins reset whenever this guide is re-priced, so they only ever vouch for the numbers you see here.
Trip cost calculator
$100 per person per day · 4 nights of lodging (Mid-range hotel)
A rough estimate, not a quote. The daily budget already includes a room, so one traveler pays exactly days × that budget; lodging is the room’s part of it, priced from the hotels below but never more than 45% of the trip. Extra travelers share the room and add only their own spending. Flights use the midpoint of the Getting there ranges above.
Getting around
- From the airport
- Metro line 3 runs to Syntagma in about 40 minutes for €9 — more than the city fare but simple. The X95 express bus is €5.50 and runs 24 hours. Airport taxis have a regulated flat fare to the centre, around €40 by day and €55 at night; confirm the driver is using it.
- Public transit
- The metro is clean, air-conditioned and covers the sights well — three lines, easy to read. A 90-minute ticket at €1.20 covers metro, bus, tram and trolley with transfers. Validate your ticket at the machine; inspectors do check and fines are steep.
- Taxis & ride apps
- Yellow taxis are cheap but have a mixed reputation with visitors. Use the FREENOW app, which meters the ride and removes the argument. Uber in Athens dispatches licensed taxis rather than private cars.
- Ferries
- Piraeus is the main port and the metro runs there directly. Book island ferries ahead in summer; the fast boats sell out and cost roughly double the slow ones.
- On foot
- The historic core — Acropolis, Plaka, Monastiraki, Thissio — is compact and best walked, along a pedestrianised archaeological promenade. Marble and polished stone underfoot get slippery, and there is very little shade.
Map
Drag to look around, or open Google Maps ↗ · Apple Maps ↗
Neighborhoods to stay in
- Plaka
- The old quarter right under the Acropolis: neoclassical houses, cobbled lanes and the most charm. Also the most tourist-priced part of the city.
- Koukaki
- Residential, five minutes' walk from the Acropolis Museum, full of good cheap tavernas. The best balance of price and position.
- Monastiraki & Psyrri
- Flea market by day, bars by night. Central and lively; noisy if your window faces the street.
- Exarchia
- The anarchist-intellectual quarter — political murals, bookshops and the city's best cheap food. Grittier than it looks in photos, and much friendlier than its reputation.
Things to do
Ancient sites
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Museums
Neighbourhoods & views
Food & nightlife
Tipping & etiquette
- Meals run late. Greeks eat dinner from 9pm and tavernas stay open past midnight — arriving at 7 means an empty room.
- Coffee is a sitting activity, not a takeaway one. A freddo espresso can occupy two hours and nobody will hurry you or bring the bill unasked.
- You generally ask for the bill; it won't arrive on its own. Doing so is not rude.
- Sharing plates is the default in tavernas. Ordering one dish each and eating separately is the tourist tell.
- At churches and monasteries, cover shoulders and knees. Some hand out wraps; many don't.
- Nodding upward with raised eyebrows means no. A small tut is also no. It reads as dismissive to foreigners and isn't.
- Older plumbing in some buildings can't take paper — if there's a bin beside the toilet with a sign, it's there for a reason.
How to spend an trip to Athens
The historic core is small enough to walk end to end, so the constraint here is heat and light rather than distance — in summer the open sites are best before 11am and after 5pm, and the middle of the day belongs to museums and shade.
One day covers the rock and what sits under it, provided you start at opening. The Acropolis in the first hour is a different place from the Acropolis at noon.
- MorningThe Acropolis at opening, then straight down into the Ancient Agora while the light is still kind.
- MiddayThe Acropolis Museum, air-conditioned and the right place to be when the heat peaks.
- AfternoonPlaka and the island lanes of Anafiotika on foot, then Monastiraki for the flea market and a gyros.
- EveningPhilopappos Hill for sunset facing the Parthenon, then dinner in Psyrri.
Two days is the figure this guide gives for the city itself; three is the version worth having, because the third gets you out of Athens.
- Day 1The Acropolis, the Ancient Agora and the Acropolis Museum, finishing on Philopappos Hill at sunset.
- Day 2The National Archaeological Museum in the morning, then the Temple of Olympian Zeus and the rest of the combined-ticket sites, with Varvakios Central Market and Psyrri for the evening.
- Day 3A day trip: Cape Sounion for the temple above the sea, or Delphi, which wants a whole day rather than half of one.
Five days is more than Athens itself asks for — the guide's own answer is two to three. Rather than padding the city, use what Athens is best at: a base with a port, an airport and trains in both directions.
- Days 1–3The three-day plan above: the ancient city, the museums, and one day trip.
- Day 4The day trip you did not take. If you went to Sounion, Delphi gets its own day now, and the reverse if you started with Delphi.
- Day 5Leave. Piraeus is 25 minutes by metro and the Cyclades sail daily in season — Santorini is the obvious one — or take the train north to Thessaloniki, which eats better and gets a fraction of the visitors.
Safety & common scams
Athens is a safe city with a bad reputation it has mostly outgrown. Violent crime against visitors is rare and the centre is comfortable to walk at night in the areas you'll be in. Pickpocketing on the metro — especially the airport line and the Monastiraki–Syntagma stretch — is the genuine and persistent risk, and it is skilled. The other real hazards are environmental: summer heat that has forced the Acropolis to close mid-afternoon, and marble underfoot that is treacherous when wet. Protests and strikes happen and can shut transport or close streets; they are announced in advance and easy to avoid.
Scams to know
- Metro line 3 pickpockets — the airport route and the central stations are worked professionally, particularly at doors as they close.
- The friendly bar invitation — a stranger strikes up conversation and suggests a bar, where the bill arrives at hundreds of euros. Almost always targets solo men. Decline invitations from strangers to specific venues.
- Taxi meter 'broken' — insist on the meter, or use the FREENOW app. Airport runs have a fixed regulated fare.
- Plaka menu pricing — restaurants with a host outside waving menus charge tourist prices for tourist food. Walk two streets uphill.
- Petition and bracelet approaches — around Monastiraki and Syntagma, usually a distraction for a second person.
Emergency numbers: 112 for all emergencies. 171 is the dedicated tourist police line, English-speaking.
Phone & internet
Very good across the city and in the metro. EU and UK visitors roam at no extra charge. Otherwise Cosmote, Vodafone and Nova sell prepaid tourist SIMs from around €10–20 for 10–20GB, available at the airport and in any phone shop, and all support eSIM. Free Wi-Fi is standard in cafés, and the municipality runs free hotspots in the main squares.
First-timer FAQs
How many days do I need?
Two full days covers the Acropolis, the Agora, the Acropolis Museum and the old quarters properly. Three lets you add the National Archaeological Museum and a day trip to Cape Sounion or Delphi. Most people use Athens as a two-night bookend to island time, which works well.
Should I buy the combined ticket?
If you'll see three or more ancient sites, yes — the €30 combined pass covers the Acropolis, Agora, Roman Forum, Kerameikos, Hadrian's Library and the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and pays for itself quickly. Book Acropolis entry online with a time slot in high season.
Is the summer heat really a problem?
Yes. July and August routinely pass 38°C and Athens has closed the Acropolis during afternoon heatwaves in recent years. If you go then, do sightseeing before 11am and after 5pm, and take the heat seriously — there is almost no shade on the rock.
Is Athens safe at night?
Yes, in the areas visitors use. Plaka, Koukaki, Thissio, Monastiraki and Psyrri are all comfortable after dark. Around Omonia and parts of the area north of it feel rougher late at night. Pickpocketing on the metro is the crime you're actually likely to encounter.
Can I get to the islands from here?
Easily — Piraeus is 25 minutes by metro and ferries leave for most of the Cyclades daily in season. Santorini is 5–8 hours by ferry or 45 minutes by plane. Book ahead in July and August, when both sell out.
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