Greece · stays
Hotels in Athens
Find hotels, apartments, and vacation rentals across Athens, Greece. Powered by Expedia — availability, prices and cancellation terms shown per property.
- ✓Real-time availability across thousands of Athens properties
- ✓Refundable rates labelled per property — flexible plans for changing trips
- ✓No booking fees — the price you pay on Expedia is the price you get
- ✓Honest reviews from real travelers who stayed in Athens
What first-timers get wrong in Athens
The 1.20 euro ticket covers ninety minutes with unlimited transfers but is explicitly not valid to the airport, which needs a separate 9 euro metro ticket. Daily spend caps at 4.10. Validate on entry every time. Touts near the Acropolis sell queue-skipping that does not exist for an entry you can book yourself. Rounding up five to ten percent is the tipping norm.
Athens after dark
Dinner at ten, bars filling after midnight, and a genuine expectation that a night runs to four. Psyrri and Gazi are the concentrated bar districts; Koukaki and Petralona are residential and calmer. Rooftop bars charge for the floodlit Acropolis view. In summer the crowd migrates to the coast at Glyfada, and open-air cinemas like Cine Thission screen with the rock lit behind the screen.
What things cost in Athens
Ninety minutes of transport is 1.20 euro, a day pass 4.10, five days 8.10, and a three-day tourist ticket with an airport return 20. The airport metro alone is 9 euro, or 4.50 reduced. The Acropolis is 30 in high season. A gyros in pita stays around four to five euro, and a freddo espresso under three.
Athens with kids, realistically
Go to the Acropolis at the eight o'clock opening: there is no shade on the rock and the marble is worn slick. The changing of the guard at Syntagma happens on the hour and the full ceremonial version on Sunday morning. The Hellenic Children's Museum and the Eugenides planetarium are indoor fallbacks. Metro stations are modern and lift-equipped; the Stavros Niarchos park runs free family programming.
When the weather turns in Athens
The Acropolis genuinely closes in heavy rain because the polished marble becomes dangerous, so hold the Acropolis Museum and the National Archaeological Museum in reserve rather than as afterthoughts. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation library and the covered Varvakios market both work. Athenian rain tends to be short and violent, and the streets around Omonia flood at the kerbs before draining within the hour.
When to go to Athens
| Best months for hotels-in | Avg daily high | Rain days |
|---|---|---|
| October | 24°C / 75°F | 3 days |
| May | 25°C / 77°F | 5 days |
| September | 29°C / 84°F | 3 days |
The month to avoid is July — around 34°C (93°F) with roughly 1 rain days. Prices and crowds track the weather here: October is the sweet spot, July the month most people skip.
Pack for peak season: Summer clothes, plus one light layer for air-con and evenings, Comfortable walking shoes — every guide on this site assumes you'll use them.