For couples · Athens · Greece
Romantic things to do in Athens
Ideas for a couples' trip, from small moments to a special day out.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: O.Mustafin, CC0
Quick answer
Athens is at its most romantic in the evening, when the Acropolis is floodlit and the city moves outdoors: rooftop dinners facing the Parthenon, open-air cinemas and late walks along the pedestrian promenades. Add a sunset at Cape Sounion or a day on Hydra. Couples tend to stay in Plaka.
Key facts
- Romantic ideas
- 6
- Couple-friendly sights
- 3
- Area for couples
- Plaka
- Best months
- April and October
Romantic ideas
1.Sunset at Cape Sounion
Watch the sun sink into the Aegean behind the columns of the Temple of Poseidon, then eat fresh fish at a taverna on the bay below.
2.Open-air cinema
Summer screenings at Cine Thisio and other garden cinemas show films under the stars, some with a view of the floodlit Acropolis.
3.Rooftop dinner facing the Parthenon
Book a rooftop table in Monastiraki or Makrygianni for sunset, when the Acropolis turns gold and then lights up.
4.Evening on Dionysiou Areopagitou
The tree-lined pedestrian promenade below the Acropolis has street musicians in the evening and leads to Thiseio's café terraces.
5.Lycabettus at dusk
Walk or ride the funicular to the chapel at the top and watch the lights come on across the whole basin.
6.A day on Hydra
Catch a morning ferry to the car-free island, swim from the rocks and wander its stone lanes before the evening boat back.
Sights couples love
Neighbourhood · Plaka
Plaka and Anafiotika
Go early in the morning or around sunset, and keep voices down: Anafiotika's houses are still lived in.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Photo spot
- Architecture
- Couples
Viewpoint · Kolonaki
Mount Lycabettus
Walk up in the late afternoon and stay for sunset, when the Acropolis lights up; bring water, as the path is steep and exposed.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Views
- Free
- Couples
- Photo spot
- Active
Viewpoint · Koukaki
Philopappos Hill
Come at sunset or early morning, and wear trainers: the paths are uneven stone.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Views
- History
- Couples
- Off the beaten path
Where couples should stay
$$$ · Best for first-timers, couples and families
Plaka
Athens' oldest residential quarter spreads over the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis, with car-free lanes, Byzantine churches and the souvenir-lined Adrianou and Kydathineon streets. Above it, the whitewashed houses of Anafiotika were built by island stonemasons in the 19th century. It is the most picturesque base and walkable to almost everything, but restaurants on the main lanes are aimed at visitors.
- Good
- Walk to the Acropolis and the main ruins; Car-free lanes that are quiet at night; Classic Athens scenery
- Watch out
- Touristy restaurants on the main streets; Small rooms for the price
- Nearby
- Acropolis, Anafiotika, Roman Agora, Syntagma Square
Romantic day trips
- Cape Sounion (About 1.5–2 hours by coastal bus) — The marble Temple of Poseidon stands on a cliff at the southern tip of Attica, where Lord Byron carved his name into a column.
- Hydra (About 1.5–2 hours by fast ferry) — A car-free island where donkeys and water taxis do the transport, with stone mansions climbing above a horseshoe harbour.
- Nafplio and Epidaurus (About 2–2.5 hours by bus) — Greece's first capital after independence has Venetian mansions, marble-paved streets and the Palamidi fortress at the top of a long stone stairway.
For dinner
Share local specialities such as Greek salad, Moussaka and Grilled octopus. Skip restaurants with touts on the main Plaka lanes and walk a few streets back for better food and prices.
Questions travellers ask
+Is Athens romantic?
Athens is at its most romantic in the evening, when the Acropolis is floodlit and the city moves outdoors: rooftop dinners facing the Parthenon, open-air cinemas and late walks along the pedestrian promenades. Add a sunset at Cape Sounion or a day on Hydra.
+What is the most romantic thing to do in Athens?
Sunset at Cape Sounion: Watch the sun sink into the Aegean behind the columns of the Temple of Poseidon, then eat fresh fish at a taverna on the bay below.
+Where should couples stay in Athens?
Plaka: Neoclassical houses, bougainvillea lanes and tavernas on the Acropolis slopes.