Athens in winter isn’t the obvious choice for a city break. In fact, it might not even feature on your radar this time of year. The bustling capital of Greece is often used by travellers in summer as a stopover en route to the islands, but ask any local and they’ll confirm that winter is not only a good time, but the best season to visit.
Athens heaves in the warmer months, with hour-long (or longer) waits for museums and restaurants, scorching temperatures and clogged streets.
In winter, Athens is quiet, with mild weather (10-17C temperatures in mid-December), queue-less entry into monuments that charge half-price admissions from November to March, off-peak hotel deals, and locals enjoying their own city. I
n the words of local Athenian ceramicist Hercules: “Athens is an ugly, dirty city but it has vibe.” And at this time of year, Athens has vibe in buckets. The streets, lined with orange trees, broken pavements and graffiti art, hum – especially at night when lit up by Christmas decorations. While there are no ‘traditional’ Christmas markets (many Greeks go to the Czech capital, Prague, for those), central hubs such as Syntagma Square, Plaka and Monastiraki are aglow, and shops stay open late for holiday trading. One place to visit is the Meet Market’s pop-up Christmas Market, housing more than 40 local craftmakers for local present-buying. Feast on Greek Christmas cookies, melomakarona (honey) and kourabiedes (almond), and try mastika, a woody digestive Greek liqueur made from a tree grown only on Chios island, which feels especially festive.
Read more: Best hotels in Athens
Early sunsets mean theatre is a natural fit for winter holidays. Head to the newly built €630m Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), designed by Renzo Piano – of London’s Shard and Paris’ Pompidou fame. The SNFCC houses the Greek National Opera (GNO), National Library of Greece, and the largest public Mediterranean garden in the world, filled with olive, carob and cypress trees, and aromatic indigenous Greek herbs. It’s a serene and sensory stroll all the way to the top of a man-made hill, where you are rewarded with sweeping sea views. With special winter programming of pop-up art…
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