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Ian Lloyd Neubauer

A decade ago, Greece was the economic sick man of Europe and its crumbling capital, Athens, was little more than an afterthought for the millions who holidayed on the Greek islands every year.
Today, Greece is a poster child for the tough austerity measures introduced to rein in foreign debt and Athens is the country’s most popular tourist destination, having received 7 million international visitors in 2023 – twice as many as a decade ago.
Tourism, however, is a double-edged sword.
A 2023 study by Greek employers’ organisation the Hellenic Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants found that Athens’ historic city centre – several neighbourhoods collectively referred to as Plaka – is now a “theme park” for tourists.

The tourism ministry has had to limit the number of people visiting the Acropolis to 20,000 per day, which is still thousands more than Unesco believes the World Heritage site can sustain.
The city has also received low scores for cleanliness and safety in recent surveys.

“I was in Athens 18 months ago and the area to the north of the centre felt like a third-world ghetto,” an unhappy traveller told me.
The bad press came to a head in January, when the city debuted on guidebook publisher Fodor’s annual “No” list of places to avoid, because of streets covered in rubbish, and overtourism.
“There’s fear that if the surge of visitors continues unchecked, most Athenian boroughs will culturally erode and physically disappear,” Fodor’s noted.
At the end of May (admittedly before the peak summer season), I visited Athens to see if Fodor’s findings carry water.

Among Fodor’s chief concerns about the Greek capital are its numerous Airbnbs, often owned by foreign investors, which are pushing locals out of the historic centre.
According to data analytics company AirDNA, 18.5 per cent of dwellings in the centre of Athens are short-term rentals. And that data was collected in the middle of winter, the lowest tourist season.
But Athens is also at the forefront of a new accommodation trend that caters to people seeking the space and privacy of Airbnb without forfeiting hotel services: apart-hotels. Of 17 Athenian hotels currently listed at new-hotels-guides.com, six are apart-hotels with avant-garde names such as Monastik Living.
Set in Mets, a high-rise neighbourhood walking distance from Plaka but still quiet and leafy, Monastik has 11 rooms, each with a kitchenette, living room and access to a rooftop terrace with a jacuzzi and Acropolis views.

And with smart features such as a key code based on a guest’s phone number, I am not surprised to learn the owners are architects.
“We’ve been designing hotels and resorts for 30 years, but this time we wanted to do something that reflects the things we seek as travellers,” says co-owner and co-designer Ioannis Mourikis.
“A place that feels like a home and is in a neighbourhood where locals still live, where guests can walk out the door and start collecting experiences.”

Mourikis agrees that Plaka is overcrowded in the summer and that traffic is a serious problem caused by a lack of planning and made worse by “crazy Greek drivers” and private buses.
Every day during the summer, some 250 to 300 tourist buses circulate through Plaka, according to newspaper Kathimerini.
But Mourikis takes umbrage at Athens’ appearance on Fodor’s “No” list, saying there’s a lot more to the city than the Acropolis and Plaka. “There are a lot of creative Athenian entrepreneurs offering travellers new experiences in the form of bicycle tours, pottery workshops and wellness treatments. I suggest you go for a walk in [Mets]; one of the best souvlaki places in the city is just around the corner.

“If you like to walk by the sea, try Piraeus, the port area, to see the marina and the new Stavros Niarchos Cultural Centre, where the national opera and national library are.
“You can also go to Kolonaki, where the richest people in Athens live. All the best restaurants and cafes are there.”
Piraeus is visually striking, with 21 hectares (52 acres) of parkland, long reflective pools and a five-storey glass library with panoramic views of the Mediterranean’s busiest port. But Piraeus’ attractions are spaced too far apart and after an hour under the sun, I have had enough.
Likewise, Kolonaki is a handsome neighbourhood but there is no real reason to be there, unless you are eating.
To the south is what’s known as the Athens Riviera, a stretch of coastline where Athenians go to play on beaches and yachts.

Plaka, on the other hand, is a maze of blocks lined with colourful neoclassical buildings, restaurants and bars, and pockmarked with archaeological sites. It is hard to see why the Fodor’s editors think the area “is losing its iconic charm”.
It is overflowing with charm, a constellation of postcard-perfect street scenes cut from the pages of a glossy travel magazine; a living, breathing museum one can wander around for hours or where one can simply enjoy a bottle of rosé in a laneway setting wallpapered with flowers.
Most of Plaka’s restaurants serve Greek cuisine and are inexpensive, and ubiquitous gelato stores offer curious flavours such as olive oil and figs. Bakeries knock out sticky-sweet baklava and big trays of tiropita, a flaky, buttery cheese pie.
Athens was recently named the best-smelling city in the world in a study by Haypp, a Swedish nicotine-product brand, which noted that there are 31 flower shops and 22 perfumeries in Plaka.

Yes, there is traffic in Athens but it is nothing compared to that in Bali and Bangkok. And yes, Plaka is crowded. But is it “buckling from massive crowds”, as Fodor’s claims? I do not get that impression.
Police are a visible presence and the rubbish problem seems to have been dealt with.
On my last afternoon in Athens, I visit the Acropolis, which sits at the top of a small mountain overlooking the city centre. Last summer, there was a four-hour queue just to get a ticket, a friend told me. But today, there is no queue.
I take my time exploring the back end of the mountain, taking in the Dionysus Theatre, the Sanctuary of Asclepius and the Stoa of Eumenes in relative peace.
But when I scale the staircases chiselled into the side of the mountain, the serenity falls off a cliff. Suddenly I am surrounded by hundreds and there is a queue to pass through the Beulé Gate, a Roman fortification leading to the Parthenon, the highest symbol of Ancient Greece.


I shuffle through, now part of a single queue. When a couple stop for a selfie, everyone else also has to stop. People become agitated and tell them to move on.
I reach the top just in time for a glorious sunset; soft shards of light dancing over the city. But I am one of thousands who have sought the same experience. After 20 minutes of trying to take photos of the Parthenon, I call it quits.
Do I regret paying €20 (US$22) to get in? No; but I wouldn’t do it again.


“The truth is the best place to see the Acropolis is from a rooftop in the city when the lights are on at night,” says Rena Koumpa, an Athens by Bike guide.
Set on the fifth floor of a baby-blue building built in 1925, Dolli’s is one of Plaka’s most popular rooftop restaurants. From here one can look straight across at the Acropolis and over the ruins of Hadrian’s Library.
“Athens is booming though I don’t think it’s overtourism,” says Mary Karasouli, the general manager. “But I think the government needs to take stronger measures to ensure we don’t get overtourism. We need better strategies for cleaning and queuing at archaeological sites.”
Tourists can help mitigate their social footprint by being better prepared, she says.
“If I go to Paris and I want to have dinner at a nice restaurant with views of the Eiffel Tower, I will make sure I reserve a table in advance. But tourists turn up here at 8pm expecting a table and act surprised to learn that we’re booked out. The same thing happens at the Acropolis.
“It’s easier to buy tickets online than to stand in a queue, but few people do it.”
Fodor’s says rooftop restaurants such as Dolli’s spew noise into the streets of Plaka: “Residents say they’ve been sleeping with earplugs because of the mix of loud music from each new venue.”
I hear it while walking back to my hotel that evening. Apparently, the party in Plaka goes all night long, for better or for worse.


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Why Athens, with its food, history, and contemporary apart-hotels, hasn’t lost its charm

Flowers in bloom in Athens in spring. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

Tourists look out over Athens from the Acropolis. The Greek capital has received bad press of late, and it is true that its most famous site does draw big crowds, but a visit reveals the city to be as charming as ever. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

Graffiti beside railway tracks in Athens. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

A soldier marches during the changing of the guard outside the Greek Parliament Building. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

A view of the Parthenon from the rooftop lounge at Monastik Living. Photo: Monastik Hotel

The Panathenaic Stadium, or Kallimarmaro, is a multipurpose venue a short walk from the Mets neighbourhood. Joggers are welcome in the morning for free. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

Tourists are briefed ahead of a tour by an Athens by Bike tour guide. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

The busy streets of Plaka, the “charming” centre of Athens. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

Plaka has many cafes along its historic lanes. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

A statue on the trail leading up to the Acropolis. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

A crowd begins to form on the top level of the Acropolis. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

Tourists at the main gate of the Parthenon. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

A couple finds a gap in the crowds to take a photo of the Parthenon. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

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Greece’s capital has lately been labelled dirty and overcrowded with an Airbnb problem, but traversing this living museum reveals otherwise


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Greece

Why Athens, with its food, history, and contemporary apart-hotels, hasn’t lost its charm

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Greece’s capital has lately been labelled dirty and overcrowded with an Airbnb problem, but traversing this living museum reveals otherwise

Greece’s capital has lately been labelled dirty and overcrowded with an Airbnb problem, but traversing this living museum reveals otherwise