(Dec. 20, 2024 – Jan. 4, 2025)
I picked winter to travel around Greece, expecting there would be less tourists, less crowded, less expensive & more relaxing. I was indeed right.
As a first-timer, I spent a few days sight-seeing in Athens, joined a 5-day Classical Greece Group Tour, and visited the warmest Greek island, Crete. We spent Christmas in Crete, and New Year in Athens.
The Best Place to stay in Athens~~
We had stayed at 3 different places in Athens. They were all near the city center of Athens, just a few stations apart, but the environment were surprisingly different.
- Athens Backpackers (near Acropoli station)
- Tempi Hotel (near Monastiraki station)
- Marilyn Residence (near Metaxourghio station).
The best place to stay is definitely near Monastiraki, full of restaurants and tourists, walking distance to Little Kook and Syntagma Square, where there were beautiful Christmas illumination. Also, Firework can be seen from Syntagma Square on New Year Eve.
There were also several big supermarkets in that area. They only open until 9pm or so. Most of the shops & restaurants, even the market are closed during Christmas and New Year holidays, so many people stock up foods from supermarkets.
However, other than around Monastiraki, we could only find mini-markets, which are similar to convenience stores in Japan. They open till late at night, so only sell very limited items, and quite expensive. The convenience stores in Japan sell much more variety of foods & drinks, even necessities, and the prices are standardized, not so different from supermarkets.
Also, staying in hotels near Monastiraki may be noisy at night, small rooms, but it felt safe to walk around even at night, while in other districts, there were many empty and broken buildings, homeless sleeping or wandering on the streets at night, felt a bit unsafe.
If you prefer more quietness, it would be nice to stay around Syntagma or Acropoli station. They are walking distance to many sight-seeing spots, yet in more local area, and close to Bazaar Supermarket.
MUST-GO Places in Athens~~
- Athens Central Market
Other than all these typical places, Athens Central Market is definitely a place you do not want to miss! It is basically a huge busy market for seafoods and meat. The way they showcase the meat was quite a view. Also, there were many good restaurants around with reasonable prices, you can find any cuisines that you are looking for.
My favorites were the fried shrimps (super fresh & large!), Greek gyro (wrap with Döner kebab meat and yogurt sauce), and Greek salad (fresh salad with huge chunk of feta cheese).
Around the Central Market, there are also all kinds of little stores selling many unique things and even antiques. It is a great place of window-shopping, if you are looking for local goods.
- Piraeus & Mikrolimano Marina
Piraeus is a great place to spend a relaxing day, Holy Trinity near the port was magnificent. Also, if you spend 20min walk to the Mikrolimano Marina. It is really great to walk along the coastline or take a seat there.
When you walk around Athens long enough, you would gradually recognise some chained coffee shops or bakeries. Many of them are reasonable prices and high-quality. They are great places for a toilet break or rest for legs.
Almost everybody visit Athens would visit the Acropolis Hill, but how about Philopappos Hill next to it? It is free entry, have a great view of the Athens city, amazing landscape yet easy to climb.
There are also many nice spots to visit on Philopappos Hill, such as Prison of Socrates and Spring of Pnyx. Basically, if you walk from Acropoli station towards Prison of Socrates, from there you’ll see marble stairs or trekking path going up. Also, you can oversee Acropolis from there.
- National Archaeological Museum in Athens
There are so many Museums in Greece that worth visit, but if you only have time to visit one, this would be the one. It is easy access from Omonoia station, only 2 floors, but it contains features from different times and places in Greece.
It is a new museum built to showcase all the details of Acropolis sites. The entry fee was comparatively costly and no off-season discount. However, it is still an interesting place to visit.
As an option, you can ask for free-of-charge ticket at ticket office, just to enter the 2nd floor cafe/restaurant/balcony. The outdoor spacious balcony has a great view of the Acropolis.
Acropoli Museum sometimes opens till 22:00, and it has less visitors at night, and it would be a good place to spend a relaxing night.
Advantages to visit Greece in Winter~~
Although winter (Dec-Jan) isn’t really a nice time to visit the Greek islands, as many shops or hotels are closed, less ferries or cruises, as it is too cold to swim in the sea, I still enjoyed my visit in winter.
Comparing to many European countries, winter in Greece is actually quite mild, not too cold like freezing point.
There are much less tourists around. You don’t need to line up forever, worry about overcrowded ferries and flights.
If you are joining local tours in Greece, you may find only 10-20 people sitting on he 50-person bus. Tour Guide would be less busy, can pay more attention on each person, and have more time to explain the sites.
The best part is, almost all the sight-seeing spots and museums in Greece would be half-price from November to March. Although their opening hours would also be shorter, but you may find it more time-effective, because all the places would be less lineup and less crowded!
When you visit the Acropolis Slope, the best way would be entry from South Gate (Acropoli station), and exit from North Gate (Monastiraki station). I entered from North Gate and accidentally exited from also North Gate, so I had missed out the outdoor free museum.
The Christmas and New Year mood, illuminations and fireworks in Athens were no less than any other European countries, so it is really not a bad idea to spend Christmas in Athens!
