20 min
55 min
55 min
M1 · M2
51.9 / km²
4
1
1,241
−9% vs city
Counted from OpenStreetMap and Inside Airbnb (CC BY 4.0)
Mixed after dark
Walking through is not the problem: violent crime against visitors is rare here. Clashes between anarchist groups and riot police around Plateia Exarcheion are, along with the tear gas that goes with them. Do not park a car in the district overnight.
Staying in Exarcheia
Exarcheia sits north of Panepistimio, between the polytechnic and Strefi Hill. It is a student and political district and has been for fifty years, which is why the rooms are cheap for the distance: Monastiraki is twenty minutes on foot and the National Archaeological Museum is on the north-west edge.
What is good here is specific. The bars and tavernas around Plateia Exarcheion and along Themistokleous open late and are priced for students, the bookshops are real bookshops, and the live music at the foot of Strefi Hill is rock rather than bouzouki-for-visitors. Nobody is selling you anything.
What is not: there is no metro station in the district, so Panepistimio or Omonia is a ten-minute walk each way. Clashes between anarchist groups and riot police happen around the square, with tear gas, and Wikivoyage warns that cars parked here overnight get damaged. The graffiti and shuttered shopfronts are permanent, not a phase, and they are the first thing you will see arriving at 22:00 with a suitcase.
What works
- Cheaper than anywhere else within twenty minutes of the Acropolis
- The National Archaeological Museum is on the north-west edge
- Bars around Plateia Exarcheion open late and are not aimed at visitors
- Themistokleous street has tavernas at student prices
What does not
- No metro station in the district; Panepistimio is a ten-minute walk
- Clashes with riot police happen around the square, and tear gas with them
- Heavy graffiti and a lot of shuttered shopfronts, permanently
- Wikivoyage warns that cars left here overnight get damaged
Anarchist groups often clash with police, or target government buildings or perceived representations of capitalism during the night, mainly in Exarcheia (Εξάρχεια). It is unlikely that tourists would be harmed, as the anarchists usually take care to attack only property and police as opposed to civilians. However, parking in Exarcheia overnight could result in damage to your car.