September 11, 2023
BARS-CLUBS-NEIGHBORHOODS-EVENTS
Athens Nightlife Guide: Bar, Clubs and Tickets
Athens is a world city! Not only history, art and monuments, the capital of Greece is known all over the world for its nightlife. Athens has a reputation for starting to party when others are already going to sleep.
With more than three million people and thousands of tourists arriving every day, Athens has a very active nightlife. Greeks themselves love to go out at night and party until dawn, consequently there is no shortage of places open late at night.
Athens nightlife is sophisticated and varied. There are nightlife options for every budget: from cozy and inexpensive pubs playing traditional Greek music, to classy trendy bars, to sinfully expensive nightclubs. Most locations are open daily all year round, but some open-air clubs open only in summer.
Especially popular are the so-called bouzoukis, where usually a solo artist plays live Greek music on stage while the guests eat, drink, dance and throw flowers to the singer.
Nightlife Tips
Beer in Athens: Beer is very popular in Greece, along with ouzo and wine. There are many breweries in the city that offer both local and beers from around the world, some are even award-winning.
Monastiraki, Psirri, Plaka
Plaka is Athens' oldest neighborhood. It is located below the Acropolis between the metro stations Acropolis and Monastiraki and borders the district Psirri. Together with Monastiraki and Psirri, it forms the Old Town of Athens south of the Acropolis.
Ideal for enjoying a traditional, casual evening out.
Charming cobblestones, narrow streets and one taverna after another - that's Plaka, that's Psirri and Monastaki. Accordingly, it is also lively here, during the day, evening and night. Thanks to the many taverns and pubs with good ouzo, wine and beer, local cuisine and live music, the area is frequented by locals and tourists until late at night. Various restaurants offer bouzouki shows, and in many a tavern the Greeks dance sirtaki to traditional music.
Monastiraki is also famous for its flea market, where you can buy good souvenirs.
If you feel like it, you can enjoy a show in the nearby Koilon Theater or admire the dance performance in the Dora Stratou Theater and then go to one of the pubs.
In the near vicinity there are also more sophisticated venues with rooftop terraces that offer a breathtaking view of the Acropolis. They are usually integrated into a hotel, such as the Sense in the hotel of the same name or "A is for Athens" in Psirri.
Syntagma, Kolonaki and Exarchia - Contrasts
The Syntagma district, between Parliament Square and Monastiraki, is home to a large number of smaller venues that come to life after sunset. The choices range from breweries and pubs to clubs that offer evenings of music of all kinds, from techno to jazz to rock and soul.
Kolonaki is an elegant district at the foot of Lykavittos hill. Here, besides intellectuals and artists, comes the chic of Athens. Kolonaki is a very old district, here classic meets new. Trendy restaurants and sophisticated cocktail bars make a perfect mix of classic and new. A neighborhood where luxury and glamour are the masters.
In stark contrast to this is the Exarchia district, north of the center. Known as a student district, here you will find many taverns and pubs, graffiti painted house walls characterize the streetscape. Cheap restaurants offer Greek cuisine, Rembetiko, the music of the oriental immigrants, resounds through the streets.
Beach Bars and Glyfada
Since Athens has the advantage of being located only a few kilometers from the sea, it also offers a wide selection of beach bars. Along the main coastal road, Poseidonos Avenue, there are a variety of bars and clubs.
The big beach bars open every year during the summer season, here they play mainly house DJ and pop music.
South of Athens directly on the Saronic Gulf is the fashionable suburb of Glyfada. Because of its elegant cafes, restaurants and clubs, Glyfada is considered the place of the beautiful, rich and famous. The place became especially famous because of Aristotle Onassis and his daughter.
Many of the beach bars turn into discos in the evening and with the sea in the background, people dance until the early hours of the morning. Especially young Athenians like to go out here.
There are also excellent fish taverns in Glyfada.
The area is easy to reach by streetcar, but the trip takes almost a whole hour from Syntagma.
Athens Pub Crawl
Besides the classic drinks like Vienna and Ouzo, beer is also very popular in Greece. There are many and good breweries in the city that offer beers from all over the world. Often they are even award-winning.
Drinking beer has become fashionable in Greece especially in the last 20 to 30 years, before that it was mostly wine or ouzo that was drunk. Now there are many pubs with attached breweries that produce Greek beer. Of course, most of them also offer foreign brands. According to statistics, each Greek drinks an average of 36 liters of beer per year, while Germans drink an impressive 100 liters.
Well-known domestic beer brands include FIX, Hellas, Hellenic and Mythos beer. The latter is even exported to over 40 countries.
Let an experienced guide take you safely from one location to the next and enjoy Greek beer instead of wine. On most pub tours, guests are allowed to drink as much as they want in the first pup for an hour, so everyone can really get in the mood. Often the tours end at a club that stays open until the wee hours of the morning.
Ballets, Opera and Classical Concerts
Athenians have been fans of culture since ancient times, it is said that the theater was born in Greece. Even today there is a rich offer of classical music and culture.
The ancient Odeon of Herodes Atticus, built between 160 and 174 A.D. by Herodes Atticus in memory of his deceased wife, is today the setting for grandiose ballets, impressive operas and ancient Greek tragedies. To experience a performance here is a very special experience.
The Megaron Concert Hall offers regular performances of classical music.
The Greek National Opera is located right by the sea in the specially built cultural center of the Stravos Niarchos Foundation. It was inaugurated with a performance of "Elektra" by Richard Strauss. Opera, ballet and musical performances are held here regularly.
The open-air theater on Athens' Lycavittos Mountain, 277 meters above Athens, regularly hosts major musical events and concerts in the summer.
In addition, there are numerous other stages that offer a program that is as demanding as it is varied.
Beware of Tourist Traps!
Athens is a fundamentally safe city.
As in any big city, beware of pickpockets and petty criminals in Athens.
Especially in public transport you should watch out for your valuables.
1. Metro
It happens again and again that a passenger suddenly wants to get off just before the doors close. Of course, it cannot be avoided that the tourist is "accidentally" bumped into. Often the cell phone is missing, the backpack is slashed or the purse is gone.
2. Taxi
Be sure to only get into licensed cabs. It is best to have your hotel call you a cab. Make sure that the correct fare is set on the taximeter. The night tariff, tariff 2, is only valid between 24:00 and 5:00.
Nightlife Tickets
Experiences at Night
Concerts, pub crawls and dance shows. Explore Athens nightlife with groups, book individual tickets and reserve admission to theaters.
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