5 Great Reasons to
Visit Athens Now

Cooking on an open flame is a big thing in Athens right now, and the city’s restaurant scene is all the better for it. At Akra, marble-topped tables squeeze into a bijou space where chefs work at a wood-fired range with the perfect synchronicity of a carefully choreographed ballet. If you were any closer to the action, you’d actually be doing the cooking. The menu changes daily; in one sitting, I enjoyed flame-grilled mackerel with cucumber juice and purslane, and organic rooster with orzo, tomato, and cheese from Naxos. Most dishes are served in half and full portions, ideal for solo diners or those who want to try everything on the menu. A few blocks away, chef Adam Kodovas’s Ex Machina opened late last year and is already one of the hottest restaurants in town. Menus are hyper-seasonal: Meat and fish are sourced from across Greece, herbs come from local foragers, and spices arrive from Cairo’s Khan el-Khalili market. Don’t miss the omelet stuffed with blue crab from Katerini served with bottarga, or the potato chips with furikake, taramosalata, and tomato jam. They’re designed for sharing, but you probably won’t want to. Down graffiti-covered Solomou Street, the tables at two-year-old Pharaoh are like hen’s teeth. Book well in advance, sit at the stainless-steel bar counter where the DJ spins old-school funk on vinyl, and dive into the menu of Greek meats cooked on flames: home-style favorites like gemista (stuffed vegetables), squid stewed in spinach, horta greens topped with grilled manouri cheese, and carefully selected natural wines. Dining here feels like being surrounded by the coolest people in Athens — yet Pharaoh manages to be completely unpretentious.

The capital’s string of laid-back seaside neighborhoods has received an injection of investment. Look first to the Ellinikon, a vast urban-regeneration project that will turn the site of Athens’s old airport into an entire city, complete with schools, hospitals, residences, hotels, restaurants, parks, and public beaches. (Phase 1 is expected to be completed by 2026.) Meanwhile, in longtime expat hub Glyfada, the waterfront bungalows at the new One&Only Aesthesis entice with a mid-century vibe, and Manko’s restaurant slash beach club lures a stylish crowd (try the ceviches and tiraditos). A little farther down the coast, adjacent to the much-loved Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel in Vouliagmeni, the Astir Marina has undergone a $55 million upgrade, and now includes around 60 yacht berths, luxury shopping, and an outpost of Italian pasticceria Cova. Across the bay, Greek hotel brand Grecotel unveiled sleek, art-filled The Roc Club with 34 rooms and suites and a marina-view pool shaded by a century-old pine tree. 

In the shadow of the Acropolis in Monastiraki is a brilliant contemporary ceramic-art gallery, Mon Coin Studio, known for showcasing talent from around Greece in thoughtfully curated exhibitions focused on different regions. Last time I was there, owner Eleonore Trenado-Finetis — who opened Mon Coin just five years ago — was focusing her attention on Crete and the Cyclades, with a collection of beautiful historic pieces and works from contemporary ceramicists across the island, including Alexandra Manousakis and Dimitris Limberidis. Exhibitions to look forward to this year include the fourth chapter of the studio’s “Ceramic Journey Around Greece” series, celebrating the artistic legacy of the island of Aegina in September, and a showcase of the pioneers of contemporary Greek ceramics in October.

Athens’s restaurant scene may be hotter than ever, but so are its bars. Two of the capital’s top spots feature in the current World’s 50 Best Bars list — Line (no. 6) and Baba Au Rum (no. 17), both of which moved up spots this year. With cocktails starting at around 10 euros (or $10), working your way through the menus here is considerably more affordable than in London or New York. At Line, house-fermented fruit wines, called “why-ins,” feature prominently, made from pomegranate, orange flower, and apple. The bar’s push toward zero-waste production means ingredients like leftover fruit peels and coffee become part of unexpected takes on classic cocktails. Palomas are everywhere in Athens, but the version at Baba Au Rum — the Beatnik Paloma — adds a touch of beetroot, black cardamom, and smoky mezcal for extra earthy tones. The selection of tiki cocktails makes for a permanent vacation vibe, with the bar’s huge range of rums being sourced from across the Caribbean and beyond.

Angelina Jolie’s portrayal of celebrated Greek-American opera singer Maria Callas received a minute-long standing ovation at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. (Find out what all the fuss was about on Netflix.) Yet the original diva herself is credited with having changed the course of opera forever. Her life is celebrated in the Maria Callas Museum, opened in late 2023 and coinciding with the 100th anniversary of her birth. It’s not a huge museum, but it’s filled with more than 1,000 items related to Callas. Browse her personal letters, dresses, jewelry, archival photos, and sheet music, as well as themed rooms — one a forest, another her Parisian apartment — where you can wrap yourself in three of her most epic, goose-bumps-inducing arias, from Norma, Tosca, and La Traviata. It’s a beautiful tribute to the legacy of “La Divina.”