Greece · Attica · Athens
Plaka, Athens — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Plaka is the old quarter of Athens, wrapped around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis. Its narrow, stepped lanes are lined with neoclassical houses. Greeks call it the Neighbourhood of the Gods. Most visitors reach it on foot from Syntagma Square, and the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates stands on a small square near its centre, among the tavernas and old churches.
About Plaka
Where to stay in Plaka
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
Staying in Plaka puts you inside the old town, a short walk from the Acropolis and the archaeological sites strung around it. The lodging is mostly small: neoclassical guesthouses, boutique hotels on the quieter lanes, and rooms above the tavernas. Nights are calmer than in Psyri or Gazi, since much of the quarter is closed to cars and the bars shut early.
It suits travellers who want to walk to the ancient sites and settle in after dinner rather than chase nightlife. Book ahead. The rooms near the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates go first.
About Plaka
What are the main landmarks in Plaka?
Plaka's own landmark is the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates, a slender marble rotunda from 334 BC on a small square along Lysikratous Street. On the north slope hides Anafiotika, a cluster of whitewashed Cycladic-style cottages built by island masons in the 19th century. The Roman Agora and the octagonal Tower of the Winds sit at the upper edge, just below Monastiraki.
At the eastern end the Arch of Hadrian frames the old approach to the city. Above it all rises the Acropolis. Its slopes are what the whole neighbourhood climbs.
What is the history of Plaka?
Plaka is the one part of Athens that has been lived in without a break since antiquity. Its lanes sit on top of the residential quarters of the ancient town, and digging for a foundation here still turns up old walls. Under Ottoman rule it was the core of the small settlement below the Acropolis.
Independence changed the scale. When Athens became the Greek capital, builders filled the quarter with the neoclassical houses that still line its streets, and the cottages of Anafiotika went up on the slope, raised by stonemasons who had come from the island of Anafi.
Where is Plaka?
The quarter fills the ground between the Acropolis and Syntagma Square. Its northern edge runs into Monastiraki and its flea market, where the Roman Agora and the Tower of the Winds mark the line between the two districts. Adrianou and Kydathineon are the long pedestrian streets that thread through it.
Steps do the rest. At the eastern end the lanes reach the Arch of Hadrian, which stands beside the wide avenue below the rock.
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Updated July 2026