1. Athens’ first Design Hotel, the NEW
It opened about three years ago as the brainchild of a Greek art collector, who brought in Brazil’s super-hip Campana brothers to design the 79 rooms and public spaces, with plenty of natural light, which makes them feel larger. According to the reporter, the NEW also has a terrific location near Constitution Square, and one of the best breakfast buffets in town.
2. Street life in Agias Irinis Square
This small plaza, just off the main shopping drag of Ermou Street, is bubbling with new cafés and bars, serving everything from falafel to Mexican, and young Athenians packing their tables at all hours.
3. Wine at Heteroclito bar
A stylish sliver of a wine bar on a busy city-center corner. The personable owners of Heteroclito are often on hand to chat with patrons, share their passion for Greek grapes.
4. Café culture at 360 Cocktail Bar and TAF
Greece essentially invented iced coffee, as the local favorite “café freddo” is a logical way to consume caffeine during Athens’ sweltering summers. Monastiraki Square is the center of café culture, with cool new offerings ranging from the sprawling, multilevel 360 (named for the views from its roof) and TAF (The Art Foundation), which is tucked away in a crumbling courtyard inside a contemporary-art gallery.
5. Seafood at Papadakis
Here you can taste traditional dishes, like octopus stewed with honey and vinsanto, prepared by Chef Argiro Barbarigou – a celebrity who counts Pierce Brosnan and Carla Bruni among her clientele!
6. Home goods at Greece Is for Lovers
This design collective aims to add a new sense of “Greekness” to contemporary product design, producing goods that are a mixture they call “humor, irony, nonchalance and extravagance,” as well as playing on stereotypical notions of what it is to be Greek, past and present.
7. Greek food at Melilitos
This café near Agias Irinis Square started life as a delivery service but three years ago grew into a full-service restaurant, as the demand boomed for its healthy, home-cooked Greek food.
8. Views at Hotel Grande Bretagne
The grande dame of Athens is as grand as ever, with colonnaded lobbies, ceilings dripping with crystal chandeliers, 320 traditionally outfitted guest rooms and attentive, formal service. But its biggest selling point is arguably the drop-dead views of the Acropolis, both from the higher floors, and from the GB Roof Garden Restaurant & Bar, which is open to all.
9. Escaping to the Island
Foremost among the sophisticated “dayclubs” and nightclubs lining the Athens Riviera, about 30 minutes from the city center, the Island is open for seaside lounging, languid lunches and late dinners. The views along the Saronic Gulf are stunning, and the Mediterranean food and sushi are delicious.
10. Upstart travel companies like Dopios
Young Greek entrepreneurs are setting out to break the old guided-tour model (official itineraries, expensive state-licensed guides) by offering custom walking tours led by passionate locals. They’ll go off the beaten path, and off script, giving real insight into the city (and take you for good coffee). A leader here is Dopios—the name means “a local”—which has been so successful in its first year in Athens that it has expanded to San Francisco, London and Istanbul.
Source: Forbes magazine
Photos also by Forbes magazine, ProtoThema
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