Greece · Attica · Athens
Plaka, Athens — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Plaka is the old quarter of Athens under the Acropolis, a walk from Syntagma Square. The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates stands within.
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Where to stay in Plaka
Where the beds are, and what that means for the visit.
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.
Things to do in and around Athens
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
3- National Archaeological Museum of Athens
- Acropolis Museum
- Benaki Museum
Churches & Religious Sites
2- Tzistarakis Mosque Heritage
- Church of the Holy Apostles Heritage
Castles & Historic Sites
8- Panathenaic Stadium Heritage
- Platonic Academy Heritage
- Erechtheion Heritage
- Temple of Olympian Zeus Heritage
- Ancient Agora of Athens Heritage
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- Temple of Athena Nike Heritage
- Theatre of Dionysus Heritage
- Odeon of Herodes Atticus Heritage
worth knowingacross 3 categories in and around Athens
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 October 2026