2 Days 1 Night in Athens – Greece in the Summer of 2022

Transportation from the airport to the main city in Athens

We touched down at the Athens International Airport on 23rd May 2022 around 2:30pm. We took a metro (line 3 – blue) from the airport to Monastiraki. This is one of the most popular shopping areas which is also very close to the Acropolis.

We bought the metro ticket from the counter but you can also get it from the ticket machine. It is a very straightforward process where you just need to click (1) Choose the language – English, (2) Click “airport”, (3) Make the payment. The metro ticket costs EUR9.00 (for one way) from the airport to the city centre and lasts for 90 minutes.

Top 6 restaurants & food stalls to try when traveling in Athens

I’ve visited multiple restaurants and food stalls during my trip to Mykonos, Athens and Santorini of Greece.

☀️Here are top 6 restaurants & food stalls to try when traveling in Athens☀️

📍 Da Vinci, Athens
Mango & Passion fruit (double scoop) with chocolate pistachio cone €5.50

📍Atlantikos, Athens
Fried calamari €7.50
Red Porgy €10.00

📍Ariston House, Athens
Traditional Cheese pie €1.50

📍Kostas, Athens
Beef souvlaki pitta €3.00

📍Lukumades, Athens
Greek donuts with chocolate praline sauce €3.90

📍Melina Mercouri Cafe, Athens
Savoury Crepe (tomatoes, feta cheese, Onion) €4.70

How do we spend our two days in Athens?

As we only have half a day left on our first day, we decided to visit Acropolis on the very next day. Check out my main post to see my general feedback on the whole Greek trip.

Day 1 at Athens

(1) Changing of Guards in Athens, Greece

We followed the crowd and gathered in front of the Parliament around 3.00 pm to watch the changing of the guards’ process which happened every hour (on the hour) every day. As it was a very hot and sunny day, we didn’t stay till the end of the process. No ticket is required to watch the whole process – it is free of charge.

(2) National Garden (Athens)

National Garden in Athens is free to visit and take a break from the hot weather by hiding underneath the shade provided by the huge greenery trees. There are benches everywhere for you to rest your feet from a whole day of walking.

(3) Mount Lycabettus

As we have already walked around under the scorching sun for the whole day, it was very painful to even think about hiking the highest point in the center of Athens , i.e. Lycabettus Hill. A lot of tourists actually fancy climbing the 277 meters to enjoy the fruitful outcome by the end of the hike.

Fret not, there is an option to take the cable car which operates from 9.00am to 2.30am. It costs EUR5 for one way and EUR7.50 for a return ticket. You can ask for the timetable of the cable car to make sure that you don’t wait too long for the ride.

We are totally blown away by the astonishingly beautiful views on the top of the mountain and I highly recommend you to pay this place a visit.

(4) Panathenaic Stadium

Panathenaic Stadium is the only stadium that is built out of marble only across the entire world. We did not pay to enter the stadium but have taken a picture outside of it.

Day 2 at Athens

As we stayed at A for Athens which provided breakfast from 7.30 am, we quickly filled ourselves up with various croissants, pain au chocolates, greek yogurt, eggs, sausages and bacon in 30 minutes’ time in preparation to avoid the crowd when visiting Acropolis.

(1) Acropolis:

We bought the skip-the-line ticket for EUR 30 per person which includes the following tourist attraction points (7 sites – Acropolis, the slope, Ancien agora, Roman Agora, Hadrian’s Library, Keramikos and Temple of Zeus) within the same ticket so that you do not need to pay for any additional cost.

Within Acropolis, you must visit Propylea (Gateway), Temple of Athena Nike, Parthenon (Main), Old temple of Athena and Greece Viewpoint with Flag.

• Parthenon

(2) The Slope

At the Southwest entrance, walk up the slope and you will see Odeon of Herodes Atticus on your right-hand side.

• Odeon of Herodes Atticus

• Theatre of Dionysus

The Theatre of Dionysus is located at the North exit/entrance of the acropolis. We asked for the direction from the staff to get to this place as you could have easily missed it if you came from the other side of the entrance.

(2) Acropolis Museum

Acropolis Museum is not included in the combo ticket above. We have to pay an extra EUR 10 per person to visit this museum. As it is a sunny day, this is a perfect place for us to chill and cool down our bodies within an air-conditioned room.