Biggest Mistakes Tourists Make in Athens

I am Greek. Born and raised here. I visited ONCE Acropolis (and the Parthenon) when I was 10 years old. I DO NOT INTEND TO EVER VISIT IT AGAIN!

I fell in love with Athens. I went in Feb 2023 and wish I had more time there. I spent a week in Greece but I spent the first 3 days in Thessaloniki - which was great - but in retrospect I would’ve traded that time for more time in Athens since I only had limited time there. I plan to come back and spend at least 3 weeks in Greece with an entire week devoted just to Athens.

My favorite activities were Lycabetus Hill - there’s a panoramic view of Athens and a nice restaurant at the top. I took a cab up to the funicular but decided to walk back down. I also loved my trip out of the city to The Temple of Poseidon in Cape Sounion. We went in the afternoon so that we could see the sunset over the cape. What an experience 😍

Looks like you ve been here thousands of times, probably the best advice you can get from a foreigner to a foreigner. Good job re malaka!!!
ps you know , malaka, can be used in many different ways and can mean a thousand things. The above meant good job man!

I just got back from Greece on monday. I found Athens to be just ok. It was my final 2 days of a 2 week adventure of Santorini and a 7 day tall sail ship cruise. I found Athens very dirty and graffiti ridden. I would not recommend it if you want to see the true beauty of Greece!

Εννοειται οτι δεν ξερετε οσα οι Ελληνες αλλα οπου και να πατε ειναι νοστιμα καθαρα πρωτοτυπα και φτιαγμενα με αγαπη γιατι απλα ειμαστε καλοφαγαδες

Sir, I was just in Athens a few months ago and you NAILED this. everything you said is absolutely correct based on my own experience. well done

I love the locals of Athens, they seem super kind. But only if you speak Greek. Actually none of them was able to speak English with me and some immediately got hostile when I tried English. I'm not a bad, ignorant, lousy tourist at all, I'm a silent, sweet, history fan. Why was everyone so mean to me?

After visiting some places in turkey where anyone interacting with you seems like they’re trying to scam you, I was hesitant in Greece and particularly Athens. But I was astounded at how lovely the Greek people were, they couldn’t have been more helpful and friendly and chatty. Thoroughly enjoyed Athens and highly recommend it.

I have watched so many of your Greece videos they are great! I will be visiting in September, I will have a toddler with me, do you think I’ll be able to get around ok with a stroller?! Hope so!

aww my friends and I loved Greece 💙🤍🇬🇷🏛

We decided to travel there after watching sisterhood of the traveling pants, unfortunately we never found Kostas Dounas and we didn't magically fit into the same pair of pants but the country and the culture was amazing 😅

Acropolis means the edge of the city

I love this man and his advice whenever i wanna travel somewhere i check his videos and wow he literally almost has visited the whole world 😅😅

Athens is not the best place in Greece to visit in winter lol 😂😂😂

Have any restaurant recommendations for Plaka area? We will be there prior to a Med Cruise next month and are exited about a few good meals and wonder if it will be helpful to make reservations. Thanks much M&J . Seeing more of your video what other restaurants we can cab it to work being off the beaten path and places locals love.

You suggested visiting the Acropolis Museum first, but earlier you recommended going to the hill in the morning. I’ve read that the museum can take quite a while to explore. Should we visit it the day before?

Find...and fulfill your destiny! 🦉

Thank you so much, Walter and Family! I absolutely love all of your travel videos and the detail that you give us. After watching this only halfway through I decided I’m definitely going to Greece for my 50th after much I do and trying to decide where to go, but now I have decided. There’s a reason you have over 1 million likes or views. Congratulations.

You only have a time-limit when purshasing the online tickets. Local Busses are a nightmare
where its impossible to know where to get off if you dont know the language. Take a taxi so you dont miss your timelimit instead.

Thank you! This is very helpful as I m going in two weeks! ❤

The Acropolis, one of the most overrated structures in the world

I saw from your video there are people dressing up as hoplite, is it a tourist scam like in Italy where they dress up as Roman soldier and take photos with tourists?

I’m planning a trip next October, it’s a 8 days trip. I wonder how should i plan, should I fly directly to Crete after my arriving in Athens airport or stay at a hotel for a night and leave the main luggage in the hotel and take a backpack and fly to Crete ? I just want to visit the palace and to see the disk tablet in the museum on the island and that it.

Showing Hoplites with the Laconian hoplon in Athens seems wildly inappropriate haha

acropolis is the hill.
parthenon is the structure at the top.
efcharisto. 😎✌

Great video for my first visit to Greece June 2025. Got a new subscriber !

as a canadian who is coming for tourism this summer (a FULL month :D ), I feel if youre b*tth*urt about protests happening in the literal birthplace of democracy, maybe you should choose another destination XD

Are there no good hairdressers in Greece ??? 😂😂😂

If people understood what this place was…..

Tourists also should show respect to the monuments and not destroy them, and be very very careful when inside museums. Most tourists are disrespectful towards exhibits and ancient temples.

what time of the year was this video taken? its packed.

Biggest money-saving restaurant tip: order the house wine. These wines – especially in the provinces and on islands – are often very good local wines that are the ones the locals drink. More importantly, these local barreled house wines cost only a fraction of the branded, bottled, corked wines. Follow this rule and you can usually save up to hundreds of euros during an average visit.

Biggest money-saving restaurant tip: order the house wine. These wines – especially in the provinces and on islands – are often very good local wines that are the ones the locals drink. More importantly, these local barreled house wines cost only a fraction of the branded, bottled, corked wines. Follow this rule and you can usually save up to hundreds of euros during an average visit.

It’s far more sensible and enjoyable to visit Athens any time OTHER than summer.

Pickpockets are ubiquitous. Be very careful and aware.

Enough of this "OPA" thing! Have you heard many Greeks scream "OPA"?

Very informative.
Thanks!

This isn't specific to Athens, but in general, I'd say for any big tourist location in any country ALWAYS PRE-BOOK your excursions or tickets if you can ahead of time. it saves you time and probably some money (as many places have promos if you book online ahead of time). But more importantly it saves you time and you are generally guaranteed a spot, which is also important. Of course, you do lose the flexibility if the weather is bad, and you may have to forfeit your ticket or just go in bad weather if that's the case, but at least you have a reserved date and/or time you can go, and some places may only allow so many people in per day or per hour and this may also reduce how much time you have to wait in line. The only important thing here is to be early so you don't miss your entry time because some places will not allow late arrivals or will only allow maybe a 15 min window, otherwise you have to go to the back of the line or reschedule for another day.

OH MY! what a way to remind me of what i did a couple years back when i started following you, mark. i wanted to learn about the differences between "the parthenon and acropolis." tada! back then, i got the best info from you. today and with this video, all i can see is how your kids have grown. 😮😮😮 handsome they are. wow apart from that, yes to what said: "a 30min fight versus hours trapped on the ship." unless it is a real cruise-ship, i will never. thanks for the reminders.

That was nice 👌 thanks

great video 👌 I also had the opportunity to record a video in this place. kind regards

Appreciate the tip about going to the museum before acroplois. Wouldn't have thought of that 👍

Another mistake I think: not trying the great restaurants on Mt Lycabetus for dinner! They may be a little pricier but the view is stunning and the food is fantastic! Not that you can go wrong with food in Greece anyway, but for some reason that area is rarely seen in recommendations! 😀 Kali diaskedasi stin Ellada! ❤

Ι would like to make an observation. The taxis in Athens are not always friendly and nice. It really depends on what taxi you're gonna get. It's possible that the driver might be amazing, talkative, and explaining, but there's also a chance that the driver might over-charge you, and for the older drivers it's possible that they might make some snarky comments especially if you're a solo female traveller. So I advice you every time you want to take a taxi find one through one of the following apps: uber, free now.

nah

We last went in a November, and avoided all those herds of people!

We are ending our cruise at the end of May in Athens and staying 2 days. How is weather that time of year? Also, what is best way to get from cruiseport to hotel to for 4 people drop off our luggage since its earlier than check in? Last of all, is a taxi for 4 best way to get to airport from hotel??

Hey. We are , you and me, in the heavy spectrum!! What's your counseling regarding the walking in Acropolis ?

I am going back to Kolonaki Athens this May this year I went there 2016-2018 I have many Filipino friends there so there’s isn’t a problem finding places to stay see you Athens Greece very 🔜

شكرياا

Great video !! Thanks