The Insider's Guide to Budget Travel

With the cultural legacy of Ancient Greece behind it, Athens certainly packs a punch. But today this cosmopolitan capital  isn’t all ancient wonders and Greek Gods. The formerly car-clogged city has been cleaned up since the 2004 Olympics, with chic bars, shops and galleries popping up in between traditional tavernas and ancient monuments. 

Blessed with an ideal climate and laid-back locals, Athens is perfect for a summer city break. Forget paying prices that would make the mighty Zeus swoon, there are plenty of hostels in Athens, and by booking with HostelBookers, you can have up to an extra $10 (€7) to spend…

To get more monuments for your euros, here’s our guide to the top cheap sights in Athens…

1. The National Archaeological Museum: This museum has an exhausting collection of art and artefacts from Ancient Greece, the Minoans and some of Ancient Agypt, and for €7, is an absolute bargain. Housing some of the most important  finds from archaological sites all over Greece, (the mask of Agamemnon, marble statues of Pan and Eros, a bronze statue of Poisedon) you’ll need several hours to tackle everything here.

2. Sample Athenian Cafe Culture: Athens has a thriving cafe culture – from morning to night scores of Athenians can be found whiling away the hours in a coffee shop. Coffee here is strong and meant to be enjoyed slowly, with some cafes charging around €5 for a coffee as they know customers will spend at least 3 hours at a table.  

Order a ‘Frappe coffee’,  a Greek phenomonem enjoyed during the summer months and a must-try in Athens. This cold and frothy coffee is made with Nescafe, milk and blended with ice. Forget your sugary flavoured Frappucinos, this is the real thing – ask for it to be sketo (no sugar), metro (medium, around two teaspoons), or gliko (unbearably sweet).

You can a get a Frappe coffee for a couple of Euros almost anywhere in Athens, but the main cafe nieghborhoods are Kolonaki, Thisseion, and Plaka, the central square in front of the Greek Parliament, and the rooftop café at the Benaki Museum with views of the National Gardens.

3. The Benaki Museum: This is the oldest museum in Greece, a former industrial building and family house containing the huge private collection of Antonis Benakis. The cafe and gift shop are excellent and the museum is easy to navigate, with more than 20,000 items displayed  chronologically from prehistoric times to the 19th century. Offbeat exhibits like the evolution of clothing in Greece and the struggle for modern independence are other features that make the Benaki stand out. Tickets are €6.

4. A Rummage at the Flea Market: Avoid the tourist tat in Plaka’s shops and make for the slightly down-at-heel area of Plateia Avissynias, for the Sunday morning Monastiraki Flea Market. This colourful and manic market is a bizarre bazar of trinkets, old junk and some antique stalls brimming with treasures.

You’ll need to brush up on your haggling skills and sharpen your elbows for some serious rummaging (the locals get here early to scoop the best buys). For €7 you could score anything from bags of ornate jewellery to antique glass bottles – save some change for a drink in the cafe and bars bordering the market – they spill onto the streets at the weekend.

5. Cycladic Art Museum: Check out some ancient art at this beautifully displayed museum. The largest collection of Cycladic art (that’s 3000 BC to 2000 BC for all you history buffs) in the world contains everything from fragments of pottery to lifesize marble sculptures. Tickets are €7.

6. Eat Like a Local: Finding fresh and delicious  food is easy in Athens - just find a street vendor selling souvlaki or try a traditional taverna. But if you really want a cheap and filling meal that the locals swear by, head to Athens Central Market. The market itself is great for snacking on cheeses, olives and dried fruit, but hungry workers and hung-over clubbers pack out the tavernas at the center to fill their bellies with ‘Patsas’, a tripe soup.  The cooks at Epeiros and Papandreou, the most authentic and popular restaurants, swear their tripe soups are cholesterol-free and have medicinal properties. Whether you believe the hype, they must be doing something right – both are bustling day and night, and the Mayeritsa (a  tripe soup made with an egg-lemon sauce) goes down surprisingly well after a few spoonfuls. Bowls cost a few euros.

Tripe a little too adventurous? Spend the rest of your change on warm loukoumades (doughnuts dunked in honey) at Krinos (Aiolou 87).

7. Byzantine Museum: We know, we’ve listed another museum, but Athens is home to some of the best  in the world. The early Christian and Byzantine (the Hellenic-Christian empire) period often gets overlooked in favour of Ancient Greek sights, but it’s an important part of Athen’s history, shown by the beautiful Byzantine churches dotted around the city. This museum is only €4, housed in an elegant Italian-style building with gardens and filled with treasures from a forgotten empire.

8. Catch a film outdoors: Ancient Greece had its outdoor theatres, modern day Athens has outdoor cinemas. A pleasant way to spend summer evenings in Athens, the city is packed with open-air cinemas, where for around €4-7 you can watch recent or classic films in the great outdoors.

Most films are shown in English with Greek subtitles. There are dozens in the city center alone, but the Aleka (Zografos – 3rd Or. Taxiarchias Street), the Athinaia Ericsson (Kolonaki – 20 Haritos Street) and the Elena Cinema (Ilisia – 47 Antifyllou Street) all have gardens with tables. The Thissio Cinema  (Thissio, 7 Apostolou Pavlou Street) has amazing views of the Acropolis in case you get bored with the movie!

9. Agora: One of the cheaper ancient monuments to visit, the Agora (market) may now be a grassy ruin, but was once the focal point of Ancient Greek society. Developed in the 6th century BC, the Agora was where Socrates first talked philosophy and where St Paul tried to convert people to Christianity. Admission is €4.

10. A Cable Car to Lycabettus Hill: Can’t afford the €12 ticket to the holy hill of the Acropolis? At only €3.20 for a single ticket, this funicular cable car ride from Aristippou & Ploutarchou will take you to the top of the other landmark in Athens, with 300-metre high panoramas across the entire city. On a clear day you can see the waters of the Saronic Gulf glittering in the distance.

LJS – We’ve given you our top budget tips for Athens, now it’s your turn. If you’ve been to the Greek capital and have some secret spots to share, let us know.

Thanks to our friends on Flickr for the images – neona, dozymoo, dahon,  Reham, John and Mel Kots, and Navin75.