# Staying in Plaka & Monastiraki, Athens: Map & Verdict Verdict: Recommended. Book here without thinking about it. Interactive map: https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens/plaka-monastiraki Every Athens district: https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens.md 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. Facts: 5 min walk to Monastiraki Square; 45 min to the airport; 45 min to the beach; price €€€; best for first-timers, sights, couples; lines M1, M2, M3. Plaka runs from the Ancient Agora east to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, wrapped round the bottom of the Acropolis rock; Monastiraki is the square and market at its western end. The distances are the point. The Acropolis west entrance is ten minutes up Mnisikleous, the Agora is five, the Roman Agora is three, and Syntagma is eight along Ermou. What you are paying for is that you can put the map away. Above Adrianou the streets are residential and stepped, and Anafiotika - the whitewashed lane built by Cycladic masons under the rock - is inside the district. Monastiraki station is the M1 and M3 interchange, so the airport is one train and Piraeus is one train. The catch is the two streets everyone walks. Adrianou and Pandrossou are souvenir shops end to end, with waiters working the tables, and the prices on them are set for people who will be here once. Monastiraki Square is loud until 02:00 on Friday and Saturday. Wikivoyage lists Plaka among the places pickpockets work, along with the metro. And the ground is marble and steps, so a wheeled case is a bad idea for the last two hundred metres. What works: - Acropolis, Ancient Agora and Roman Agora are all inside ten minutes on foot - Monastiraki station is the M1/M3 interchange: airport and Piraeus without a change - The lanes above Adrianou are pedestrian, so no traffic noise - Anafiotika, the Cycladic lane under the rock, is inside the district What does not: - Adrianou and Pandrossou are souvenir shops and touts, end to end - You pay well over Koukaki for the same standard of room - Monastiraki Square is loud until 02:00 on Friday and Saturday - Marble lanes and steps: the last stretch with luggage is unpleasant - Wikivoyage names Plaka among the areas pickpockets work Hotels in Plaka & Monastiraki: https://www.stay22.com/allez/booking?aid=stayzones&link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fsearchresults.html%3Fdest_id%3D1046%26dest_type%3Ddistrict%26group_adults%3D2%26no_rooms%3D1 ## Other districts in Athens - [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. - [Kolonaki](https://stayzones.com/where-to-stay-in-athens/kolonaki): Recommended. 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. - [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.