# Is Kolonaki a Good Area to Stay in Athens? Map & Verdict

Verdict: Recommended. Book here without thinking about it.

Interactive map: https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens/kolonaki
Every Athens district: https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens.md

The expensive quarter on the slope of Lycabettus, above Syntagma. Embassies, boutiques and the cafes Athenians go to be seen in. Nothing ancient is within ten minutes.

Facts: 25 min walk to Monastiraki Square; 45 min to the airport; 45 min to the beach; price €€€€; best for couples, business trips, food, quiet; lines M3.

Kolonaki covers the south and south-east slopes of Lycabettus, north of Vasilissis Sofias. It is where the in-town money lives, which shows up as embassies, fashion boutiques and cafes around Plateia Kolonakiou where a coffee costs what a meal costs in Koukaki.

For a visitor the case is transport and museums. Evangelismos on M3 runs to the airport with no change at all, which is worth more than a nearer station. The Benaki Museum and the Museum of Cycladic Art are both inside the district, the Byzantine Museum is on its edge, and the Lycabettus funicular starts at the top of Ploutarchou. It is also quiet after midnight, which nowhere near Ermou is.

The cost is the walk and the bill. Monastiraki is twenty-five minutes away and the return is a climb. Vasilissis Sofias is six lanes of traffic and cuts the district off from Syntagma. And on a Sunday, when the boutiques shut, there is very little happening on the streets.

What works:
- Evangelismos on M3 goes to the airport with no change
- Benaki Museum and the Museum of Cycladic Art are both in the district
- The Lycabettus funicular starts at the top of the district
- Quiet after midnight, which nowhere near Ermou is

What does not:
- The most expensive rooms in central Athens
- Twenty-five minutes to Monastiraki, and the way back is uphill
- Cafes and restaurants are priced for local money, not for visitors
- Vasilissis Sofias is six lanes and cuts the district off from Syntagma

Hotels in Kolonaki: https://www.stay22.com/allez/booking?aid=stayzones&link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fsearchresults.html%3Fdest_id%3D2248%26dest_type%3Ddistrict%26group_adults%3D2%26no_rooms%3D1

## Other districts in Athens

- [Plaka & Monastiraki](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens/plaka-monastiraki): Recommended. The lanes under the north face of the Acropolis, and the flea-market square below them. Every ancient site in Athens is a walk from here, and the rates say so.
- [Psyri](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens/psyri): Mixed. Old workshop streets turned bar district, five minutes north of Monastiraki. The liveliest nights in the centre, and the noise that comes with them.
- [Omonia & Vathis Square](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens/omonia): Mixed. The hotel blocks north-west of Omonia Square: the cheapest central beds in Athens, both main metro lines, and the streets Athenians tell you to stay out of after dark.
- [Syntagma & the Commercial Triangle](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens/syntagma): Recommended. The old commercial centre between Syntagma, Monastiraki and Omonia: Parliament, Ermou and the grand hotels. Everything is walkable and three metro lines meet here, at a price.
- [Victoria & Attiki](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens/victoria): Avoid. The dense residential blocks around Victoria and Attiki squares, north of Omonia. Cheap hotels two metro stops from the centre, and every evening walk home runs through Omonia.
- [Kypseli](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens/kypseli): Mixed. 1930s apartment blocks around Fokionos Negri, above Pedion tou Areos. The neighbourhood Athenians moved back to, and the cheapest flats in this guide, with no metro yet.
- [Makrygianni](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens/makrygianni): Recommended. The few streets behind the Acropolis Museum, on the south slope. Akropoli station is at one corner and the pedestrian promenade to the Acropolis entrance starts at the other.
- [Koukaki](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens/koukaki): Recommended. A residential grid ten minutes below the Acropolis Museum. The cheapest rooms that are still inside walking distance, plus Syngrou-Fix on M2 and the tram to the coast.
- [Pagkrati](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens/pagkrati): Recommended. The residential district behind the Panathenaic Stadium that Athenians moved to and visitors are still catching up with. Half an hour's walk from the Acropolis.
- [Mets](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens/mets): Recommended. A few quiet streets on the hill between the Panathenaic Stadium and the First Cemetery. The calmest place you can sleep this close to the Acropolis.
- [Exarcheia](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens/exarcheia): Mixed. The polytechnic district: rock bars, second-hand bookshops, political graffiti and no metro station. Cheap, twenty minutes from the Acropolis, and not a soft landing.
- [Thiseio & Ano Petralona](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens/thiseio-ano-petralona): Recommended. West of the Acropolis, along the pedestrian street with the best view of it. Thiseio for the cafes and the sites, Ano Petralona above it for rooms at half the price.
- [Gazi & Rouf](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens/gazi-rouf): Mixed. The old gasworks turned club district, and the industrial blocks behind it. Loud on Friday, dead on Tuesday, and half of it closes when the nightlife moves to the coast in summer.
- [Neos Kosmos & Syngrou](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens/neos-kosmos): Avoid. The chain hotels on the road to the coast. Modern rooms, a pool, an M2 station and a tram - and a thirty-minute commute to everything you came to Athens for.