Kolonaki
Upscale, cultured, refined
Athens' most affluent neighbourhood — Cycladic art museums, upscale galleries, designer boutiques, and the cable car to Lycabettus Hill. Polished without being sterile.
Day Trips from Athens
Cape Sounion · Delphi · Nafplio · Aegina
Pick up at Athens Airport (ATH) — free cancellation on most cars
Explore Kolonaki
Plan Here →
Museum of Cycladic Art
The collection that influenced Picasso and Modigliani — spare marble figurines from the Cycladic civilisation (3200–2000 BC) in a beautifully designed Kolonaki townhouse. One of the most aesthetically coherent museum experiences in Europe.
Benaki Museum
An encyclopaedic collection of Greek art from prehistoric times to the 20th century — Byzantine icons, Ottoman-era jewellery, traditional costumes, and a rooftop café overlooking the National Garden. The definitive survey of Greek cultural history.
Byzantine & Christian Museum
30,000 artefacts from the Byzantine and post-Byzantine periods in a 19th-century villa — icons, manuscripts, mosaics, and ecclesiastical metalwork spanning 1,500 years of Greek Christian history.
Numismatic Museum
600,000 coins spanning 4,000 years of monetary history in Schliemann's neoclassical mansion (Iliou Melathron) — the building alone justifies a visit. A quiet, scholarly pleasure in the middle of busy Athens.
Athens War Museum
Military history from ancient to modern — swords, armour, aircraft, and an extensive collection of maps and uniforms. The garden is filled with artillery pieces and fighter jets. Free admission.
Mount Lycabettus Hike
A 45-minute hike up Kolonaki's pine-scented hill for the best 360° view of the Athens basin — the Acropolis, the Saronic Gulf, and the mountains of Attica. Go at dawn or dusk; avoid the cable car.
The Clumsies
Consistently on the World's 50 Best Bars list — a two-floor bar in Kolonaki serving meticulously researched cocktails in a warm, bookshop-meets-living-room setting. Order the tasting menu if you can't choose.