18 min
45 min
50 min
M1
25.0 / km²
6
1
778
City average
Counted from OpenStreetMap and Inside Airbnb (CC BY 4.0)
Mixed after dark
Philopappou Hill sits between this district and Koukaki. It is the best free view of the Acropolis by day and Wikivoyage says to stay off it at night. Go round it on Apostolou Pavlou rather than over it.
Staying in Thiseio & Ano Petralona
Apostolou Pavlou runs along the west side of the Acropolis, car-free, from Thiseio station to the Acropolis west entrance in about ten minutes. Thiseio is the flat part at the bottom: cafes facing the rock, the Ancient Agora at one end and the Kerameikos cemetery site at the other, and a station on M1, the oldest line in the city.
Ano Petralona is the same district climbing the hill behind it. Rooms there cost roughly what Koukaki costs and well under half of Plaka, the tavernas round Plateia Merkouri are neighbourhood places, and the Sunday street market is a real one. The reader's choice between the two is basically money against gradient.
The gradient is the con. Ano Petralona is a climb from Petralona or Thiseio station every single time, and Athens in August does not forgive that. Thiseio's own cafes are priced for the promenade crowd. M1 is the line the pickpocket warnings name specifically. And Philopappou Hill, which separates this district from Koukaki, is the one green space in the centre that Wikivoyage says to keep off at night.
What works
- Apostolou Pavlou is car-free and reaches the Acropolis entrance in ten minutes
- Thiseio and Petralona stations are both on M1
- Ano Petralona's tavernas cost about half what Plaka's do
- The Ancient Agora and Kerameikos sites are at either end of the street
What does not
- Ano Petralona is a climb from either station, every time
- Philopappou Hill, between here and Koukaki, is one to avoid after dark
- M1 is the line the pickpocket warnings name specifically
- Thiseio's cafes are priced for the people walking the promenade
Thissio, to the west side of the Acropolis, is very similar and now houses many restaurants and cafes.The Philopappou Hill area should be avoided at night. The back streets of Piraeus are probably also places where it's unwise to wander around late at night.