DAY 1
Metro to Monastiraki.
1) Central Market
A five minute walk up Athinas Street from Monastiraki Square, you’ll come to the city’s main food market – meat and fish in the market hall and fruit and vegetables outdoors.
2) Free Walking Tour
Reserve a spot at http://www.athensfreewalkingtour.com/afwt/index.php/en/
3) Hadrian’s Arch (always open)
4) Temple Zeus (Daily 8-7:30pm)
Buy the multi-site pass (€30) for admission to the Acropolis and slopes, Ancient Agora, Roman Agora, The Library of Hadrian, Olympieion, Kerameikos (and the museum in the site), and Lykeion of Aristotle. This ticket can be bought at the Acropolis site entrance or at any ticket booth at the entrance of any other site included. Ticket is valid for 5 days from the day you buy it.
5) Theater of Dionysus (Daily 8-7:30pm)
6) Acropolis Museum (T-Sun 8-8pm, Closed Mondays)
The museum is not included in the multi-pass and costs 5€ to enter.
7) Explore Plaka
Nearby Eating Option: Scholarchio (Tripodon 14 str.) – Come here for a different dining experience. Depending the number of people in your party, you can chose a specified number of dishes from a big platter that the server brings out. For a menu for 2 people, you can choose 5 dishes with a drink, bread, mineral water, and dessert included for 30€.
DAY 2
Take Red Metro Line to Akropoli Station.
1) Acropolis (Daily 8-7:30pm)
Try to reach the Acropolis right when it opens because the site is overrun with busloads of tourists by 9:30am and will ruin your experience. Visit the Odeon of Herodus Atticus, Temple of Athena Nike, Propylaea, and The Parthenon all located on the Acropolis.
2) Descent to Agora
Leaving the main entrance of the Acropolis, turn right and follow the path as it continues around to reach a small gate for the fastest way to descend to Agora. Continue onto Panathinaia Road.
3) Agora Southern Entrance (T-Sun 8-7pm; Monday 11-7pm)
Visit the Byzantine Church of Agii Apostoloi, Atoa of Attalos, Agora Museum, Road of monuments, and Hephaestus’s Temple.
4) Agora Northern Gate
Leave Agora at the Adrianou Street exit, turn right and follow it along to Hadrian’s Library.
Nearby Eating Option: Attalos Restaurant (Adrianou 9, Thissio) – Before turning right and heading to Hadrian’s Library, turn left and follow the straight path until you reach Attalos. You will find traditional Greek dishes here at very affordable prices.
5) Hadrian’s Library (8-3pm)
6) Roman Agora (T-Sun 8-7pm; M 11-7pm)
Return to Monastiraki Square to find Ermou Street and follow it down to reach Kerameikos Cemetery at Ermou Street 148. Alternatively, take Green Line 1 from Monastiraki Station to Thission Metro Station and turn left all the way as you exit the station. Follow the pedestrianized part of Ermou St. It continues beyond the Agion Asomaton mini-square that interrupts it for another few blocks as a pedestrian street. The entrance is towards the end of the fenced area, on your right hand side.
7) Kerameikos Cemetery (Daily 8-8pm)
DAY 3
Metro to Syntagma.
1) Syntagma Square
2) Parliament Building
You will find the Monument of Unknown Soldier in front of the Parliament on Amalias Avenue and Syntagma Square. Facing the Parliament Building, turn right and continue walking along the street past the entrance to the National Gardens to reach the Roman Baths.
3) Roman Baths
4) National Gardens (closes at sunset)
Backtrack to enter the National Gardens. From the interior of the National Gardens, follow the wooden signs and you will come out in the grove of the Zappeion, on the broad path, which goes round the rear of the building. If you carry on down, you will reach:
5) Panathenaic Stadium (Dawn till sunset)
6) Benaki Museum
Exiting the museum, walk to the left on the main avenue Leof. Vasilissis Sofias/EO54/EO83 (not the side street) till Ploutarchou street (16 mins). Then make a left there and all the way up you’ll reach the furnicular station. You may also take taxi to furnicular (about 4€).
7) Lycabettus Hill
You can go up by foot starting at end of Ploutarchou street or take funicular every 30 minutes. Suggest take funicular up and down by foot.
Special Mention to Yannis T of “This is My Athens”
Athens has a cool and free program where local Athenians volunteer to show tourists around their beloved city. I was paired with Yannis T who was humorous, knowledgeable, and passionate about his city. I spent 6 hours walking around with Yannis as he shared tidbits of Greek culture and showed me an “off the beaten path” Athens that included local street art, churches, local spice shops, places to eat authentic Greek food, and popular tourist spots that I requested such as Syntagma Square and the National Gardens. Thank you Yannis for a wonderful time!
The tour is tailored toward your interests so whether it be history, food, art or nightlife please be specific about what you would like to see to make it easier for the volunteers to plan. As the locals are volunteers and doing this free of charge, please do them a favor and make it interesting for them as well by showing your interest in what they have to say and asking questions. You can apply to get matched at http://myathens.thisisathens.org
Public Transportation in Athens
The ticket options are as follows (taken from http://www.athenstransport.com/english/tickets/):
Single ride ticket €1.40 (not including airport): Valid for 90 minutes after their validation for transportation and transfers on city buses (excluding Airport express buses and X80), Trolley-Buses, Tram, Metro (all stations except Airport), Suburban Railway.
24-hour ticket for all modes €4.5 & 5 day ticket for all modes €9 (not including airport): Valid for city buses (excluding Airport lines, while the 24-hour ticket is valid for X80 line), trolley-buses, tram, metro (all stations except Airport), Suburban Railway (only sections Pireus – SKA and Magoula – Koropi, not for Airport). They are valid for 24 hours after first validation (e.g. from 1pm on Monday till 1pm on Tuesday for the 24-hour ticket, and from 1pm on Wednesday till 1pm the following Monday for the 5-day ticket).
Metro ticket for the airport €10, €18 for 2 persons: Metro tickets for the airport are valid for 90 minutes after their validation for transportation and transfers on the same modes as the integrated tickets, plus a transfer from/to the airport with the metro. They are NOT valid for rides on Airport express buses. Same conditions apply for return metro tickets to the airport, and 2 and 3 person tickets for the airport.
3-day Tourist Ticket €22: Valid for 1 round trip from/to Athens International airport by Metro or Express Bus and unlimited travel on all other modes for 3 days, including line X80 (for example from 10am on Friday till 10am on Monday). As of 2014, they are available at Athens Airport metro and bus station.
Central Accommodation – Pella Inn Hostel
Pella Inn Hostel is easy to get to from the airport. Hop on the Metro Line 3 from the airport to Monastiraki station. I booked a room with a private bathroom and balcony on the 4th floor with a great view of the Acropolis. Room was decently sized, clean, and comfortable. Location was very convenient and I was able to walk to almost all famous attractions within 15-20 minutes. I did not have any problems with the WiFi connection in my room. Everything was great except for the noise level at night. Apparently, Greeks are still out and about until 1-2am in the morning and with my room facing the street, it was very difficult to get a good night’s sleep due to the noisiness. Would I stay here again? I would if I was on a budget and I needed the convenience for a short stay.
D.I.Y. Travel 
Nice!