Is Athens Worth Visiting? Our Honest Take on the City of Contrasts

The view of Athens from the steps of the Parthenon

The sun had gone down, and the temperature had finally settled into that perfect Mediterranean sweet spot. We sat at a small table perched near the top of a hill, tucked into a quiet street. The five of us slowly leaned in toward the centerpiece our server had just placed before us.

It was a bucket. A galvanized metal bucket. Riveted sides. Thick wire handle. The kind of thing you’d expect to see on a construction site, not a dinner table.

But inside that bucket was a steaming, fragrant mass of baby lamb chops. Seasoned. Grilled. Simple. Glorious.

Almost reverently, five hands reached out as one, each grasping a chop. Seconds later, with juices running down our chins, we were smiling through mouthfuls of charred meat. Meaty happiness bonded us together.

And there was more. A whole bucket—an actual bucket—of lamby goodness waiting to be devoured.

I leaned back in my chair, looking out from our humble perch. Athens stretched below us, a scatter of ancient monuments and modern clutter, the glow of golden ruins rising from the chaos. Some of the most iconic remnants of the ancient world gleamed in the night, reminders of a city that had once had the audacity to put its fingerprints all over history.

Sitting there with my family, I was quiet. Maybe it was awe. Maybe it was the three lamb chops in my mouth. But whatever it was, in that moment—on that hill, surrounded by history and the people I love—it felt perfect.

And that made me wonder: why do so many people hate Athens?

Graffiti is quite common in Athens

Hate for Athens

The case against Athens often goes something like this:

If you peel back the mythology of Athens, what you get is a hot, chaotic sprawl of concrete, noise, and neglect. The ruins, revered in guidebooks, often sit choked in scaffolding and surrounded by ticket lines and stray dogs. The streets are a tangle of traffic and fumes, the sidewalks uneven and littered, the walls drowned in graffiti that no one seems interested in removing. Athens doesn’t charm you—it tests your endurance. It feels less like a capital of civilization and more like a cautionary tale. Yes, it has history. So does a library. That doesn’t mean I want to sleep in one.

And I get it. But if this is the only way you see Athens, you will miss out on a city of endless travel potential. So here are some tips for how to deal with Athens.

Tip #1: Spend Six Months on the Indian Subcontinent First

If you're worried Athens might be a bit much—too chaotic, too gritty, too loud—here’s a foolproof solution: do what we did and several months in India first. Seriously. After navigating rickshaw traffic in Delhi, jumping over open sewers in Varanasi, and fending off monkeys in Rishikesh, Athens will feel like Geneva. You’ll arrive appreciating the tidy sidewalks and marveling at the trash bins that aren’t overflowing. The metro system will seem like a gift from the gods (which, in Greece, feels on brand).

In short: it’s all about perspective.

Tip #2: Stay in the Plaka and Pretend Everything’s Fine

The Plaka is full of charming, colorful corners

If you’re the kind of traveler who prefers charm over challenge, confine yourself to the Plaka. It’s cute. It’s clean. It’s cobbled. Instead of beggars, there are sun-drowsy cats draped across warm stones. The souvenir shops are aggressively quaint, and the gyros are consistently edible. You probably won’t see anyone using drugs, yelling at invisible spirits, or relieving themselves in a public park.

Yes, it costs more. Yes, it’s curated. And no, you won’t really experience the “real” Athens. But if you just came for ruins and olives, the Plaka might be for you. So settle into your overpriced taverna chair, order something with feta, and enjoy your filtered postcard of the city.

Tip #3: Just Get Over It

Not every city is here to be beautiful. Some are. Prague shimmers like a fairytale. Porto poses effortlessly in every direction. Florence is a museum with better gelato. But Athens? Athens is not here to charm you.

You don’t come to Athens for the flawless skyline. You come for the weight of history—the sense that these cracked stones and concrete blocks once held the world’s breath. You come because this city, messy as it is, shaped the ideas and institutions that shape your life. You come because, pound for pound, Athens might just serve up the best food in Europe.

If you want easy-on-the-eyes and Instagram-perfect, and you want Greece, go to Santorini. But if you want something that sticks to your ribs, something with soul, come to Athens.

Yes, it’s gritty. But anything with real character doesn’t just give—it also takes. It asks something of you. It makes demands. But if you lean in, if you let it get under your skin (and maybe your fingernails), you’ll come to love it. Not in a glossy travel brochure kind of way, but in the way you love something real. Something flawed. Something alive.

The mighty Parthenon (scaffolding lovingly removed in Photoshop)

On Grit, Crisis, and Safety

 

Let’s get one thing clear: Athens has had a rough go of it lately.

After the 2008 global financial crisis, Greece found itself at the center of one of Europe’s worst debt collapses in modern history. Years of borrowing, structural inefficiencies, and a splash of governmental mismanagement (and corruption) left the country in crisis mode. Bailouts came—three of them, in fact—but they came with steep conditions. Austerity measures slashed public services, pensions, and wages. Unemployment soared, especially among the youth, with rates peaking above 50% for young people. That’s not just an economic problem. That’s a desperation problem.

And desperation can lead people—who in better times wouldn’t even consider it—toward crime. So yes, be careful. There are rough neighborhoods. There is such a thing as too much grit. Keep your wits about you, and follow the most important travel rule of all: don't do anything stupid.

But don’t let fear shrink your world. You don’t have to confine yourself to the ultra-touristed, boutique-polished streets of the Plaka to feel safe. We stayed in an Airbnb near Philopappos Hill, in Petralona, a quiet residential area. We popped into random restaurants with zero planning and were treated to some of the best food of our entire trip. We walked everywhere or hopped on the train, and never once felt unsafe—even though we were there shortly after the peak of the Syrian refugee crisis.

People online love to complain. We didn’t have a single issue.

Athens: Come for the Grit, Stay for the Food

In our experience, cities with a bit of grit tend to have the best food. Maybe it’s because the people who live there actually live there—they’re not just passing through on a postcard. Gritty cities tend to feed their people, not their brand. And Athens? Athens feeds people very, very well.

Now, I know it’s borderline blasphemy in some culinary circles, but I’d take Athens over Paris any day of the week. In my ranking of European capitals by food scene, only Madrid outranks Athens. The food in Athens is stunningly good. From smoky meat straight off the grill to flaky pastries filled with cheese or spinach, you could spend every meal saying, “This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten,” and not be wrong.

Important Strategy Tip: Don't eat right next to major landmarks. That’s where the food gets lazy. If a restaurant is riding the coattails of a big-ticket sight like the Parthenon, it doesn’t need to win repeat business. It just needs to survive on a rotating cast of desperate, sunburned tourists who don’t know better than to choose convenience. So grab a snack if you must, then walk 15–20 minutes in any direction. Get far enough away that a map of the “Top 10 Things to See in Athens” would just be a blur of empty space. That’s where you’ll find the good stuff.

Here are just a few places we loved. This is not a comprehensive food guide to Athens. We only had five days in the city—and I already regret every single missed meal.

To Steki Tou Ilia – This is the place with buckets of lamb chops. Literally. They bring out a galvanized metal bucket brimming with sizzling, smoky, perfectly seasoned lamb chops. You reach in and grab one like you’re drawing a weapon in an epic culinary duel. It’s glorious.

Kostas Souvlaki – About a 15-minute walk from the Parthenon. It’s wildly popular, and for good reason. Just don’t wait too long—by early afternoon, they’re often sold out. This place proves that Athens street food can punch well above its weight class.

Souvlaki Lividia – This one is for serious food adventurers. Opens at 8 a.m., and the pork skewers (kalamaki) are better the earlier you arrive. Yes, pork skewers for breakfast. Don’t knock it till you’ve had one with the morning sun on your face and a little tzatziki on your shirt.

Xrysa Xrysa – Total wildcard. We found this place because it was close to our Airbnb. Normally, wandering into a random neighborhood restaurant doesn’t lead to fireworks, but this one delivered. Every single dish was dreamy.

Two Tavernas Worth Mentioning:

Filippou – This place has a huge menu, but you could easily assemble a world-class meal just from the starters. The waiters are famously rude, but I consider that a feature, not a bug. If a place thrives in spite of (or because of) its surliness, the food has to be exceptional. And it is.

Karavitas – A quiet, atmospheric taverna tucked into a residential neighborhood. It feels like a secret, even though it probably isn’t. A gentle counterpoint to the chaos of central Athens.

Athens is a city with a lot to offer. And while the Acropolis might get top billing, the food deserves its own standing ovation.

Is Athens Worth Visiting?

 

We came to Athens for the ancient monuments—of course we did. But we left in love with the city itself. The grit and grandeur. The food and the people. The endless, winding side streets with just enough chaos to keep things interesting.

Yes, the Plaka is adorable. Postcard-perfect, cat-strewn, sun-dappled, and full of charm. But some of our favorite moments came outside the postcard. Wandering through other neighborhoods—residential, lived-in, slightly frayed at the edges—we found something deeper than charm. We found the rhythm of the city. The place where people live, not just visit.

Is Athens worth visiting? Not for everyone, and that is OK. But it was a perfect fit for us.

Athens may not always be love at first sight. But if you give it a chance, if you take the time to walk its hills and let it get under your skin, it has a way of revealing itself slowly. Because travel doesn’t need to just be focused on a city of ruins, but as a city with soul.

The family in front of the Temple of Hephaestus