Athens - areas to avoid - advice please!

I stayed at the Acropolis View Hotel last October. Price, location, and view were excellent!

Exarchia (ex-AR-hee-yah) is OK to visit during the day but best not to go at night. I stayed in Monastiraki and had no idea it wasn't safe. I was within walking distance of an excellent restaurant.

Sheila,
We have traveled independently in Greece twice and never dealt with areas that you describe as ones taxis won't go to. Cheaper and better value locations may be ones you’ll want to avoid. Every city in the world has areas like that and they constantly change.
We have traveled all over the world and Greece remains a favorite of ours. We always have felt safe there. Look at the Kolonaki area and also at the Athens Gate Hotel.

Since I turned 60 I decided I would visit a new city/place I haven't been to before at least once or twice a year, money permitting

Love this goal! :-)

“One area that keeps cropping up is Omonoia, where a lot of the cheaper/better value hotels and accommodation seem to be based, along with Exarchia · Metaxourgio · Sepolia · Patissia and Ano Patissia · Monastiraki.”
These are all residential areas, all safe. I can attest to this because last June, when we stayed our second night in Athens after the islands, we walked to and from Exarchia and had no issues at all. Monastiraki is abesitufl neighborhood in central Athens, full of restaurants, bars, clubs and archaeological sites. There’s always tons of people around. We’ve stayed in Monastiraki both times with zero problems. I don’t know where you’re reading about these safety issues. As far as taxi drivers not wanting to go places, I’ve never understood taking a taxi in a walkable city as small as Athens.

I don’t know that it’s unsafe per se but I would not want to base in Onomia for my first time in Athens—I would stick to Koukaki, Makrigianni or similar even if it costs a little more. If you get even another two blocks from Plaka in the same direction beyond there it’s well located, cheap, and feel safe, at least to me

You have been misinformed about Athens.

I have spent a lot of time there for many years, loving to wander around all the neighborhoods, even those with no tourist interest. I even realized that in recent years I spent more time in Athens than in any other big city in France

These stories about taxi drivers who do not want to stop in certain neighborhoods of Athens are b..sh..t (pardon my French). At least in the neighborhoods where you will have absolutely no chance of going. For example, why would you go to Sepolia or Ano Patissia?

Monastiraki is right in the middle of the most tourist area of ​​Athens, apart from the noise of the street musicians on the square who play percussion all night long, I do not see what you would have to fear. It is crowded with tourists, rooftop bars, souvenir shops and restaurants.

Omonia Square has been perfectly safe even at night for a few years now, it is an area undergoing gentrification where new hotels are opening every year. But it is true that there are still a few cheap hotels that are very popular with tour operators who put up their clients there.
There are just a few small streets around to avoid at night because there are still a few drug dealers at work, but the main avenues are perfectly safe.

Exarchia is a neighborhood that I really like, it is the epicenter of the Greek anarchist movement and the revolution against the dictatorship of the colonels in the 70s. It is full of small restaurants and bars, bookstores, musical instrument stores and small concert halls. I regularly spend a few days and evenings there when I am in Athens to go to restaurants and have drinks in bars. It is very lively. The only problem is that its residents do not appreciate groups of tourists who come to visit the neighborhood as if it were a zoo, and I understand them.
There can also be demonstrations and some clashes with the police. This is the time to go and see elsewhere unless you like tear gas.

And if you like murals, they are everywhere in Exarchia, some by very famous artists.

the Metaxourgio district is also in full gentrification, there are small pedestrian streets very pleasant to walk and some beautiful houses in neoclassical style
You will also find the Municipal Gallery of Athens with regular exhibitions of Greek artists

https://www.athensmuseums.net/museum.php?id=25&lang=en

It is in the Kolonaki district, which Suki likes a lot, and much more upscale, that you will find quite a few other art galleries.

In short, there is no problem in most of the districts you will travel through and in any case if it is to visit the main sites of Athens I am sure that you will not stray far from Plaka.
If you want to do more, I can help you.

I have a friend who lived in Exarchia for a while but I've never been there (or Greece for that matter).

Exarchia is squatted to quite a large degree. From what I've heard, it might be one of the tightest squat communities in Europe. My friend went back to Greece during the migrant crisis they had about ten years ago to work in a squat community centre when the government and the NGOs were totally overwhelmed. Remember those pictures of the hundreds of lifejackets on the Greek beaches? From what I heard first hand, and in an article I'll link to [edit: old], Exarchia did a lot to help as a community.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/aug/26/athens-police-poised-to-evict-refugees-from-squatted-housing-projects

I've never been there, but I think JoLui's advice on the district is the one to take in. I'd probably seek out somewhere to stay there if I went to Athens, but it might not be everyone's cup of tea. I've always had a good time and been made to feel welcome on the free party / squat scene in London and when I've travelled to Amsterdam and Barcelona. Never had any worries about safety, even though I've never lived that lifestyle with squatting.

Just to thank GerryM for his message and to complete the Guardian article which is a bit dated.

Since this article the various associations and organized squats in Exarchia have limited their help to refugees because it was very difficult to manage drug and delinquency problems (refugees were often recruited by drug dealers).

The new political battles are now the opposition and the demonstrations against the new metro line under construction which will pass through Exarchia and also the fight against short-term rentals like Airbnb which is gentrifying the whole neighborhood (hotels in Exarchia are mainly cheap hostels), increasing housing prices and transforming small traditional neighborhood businesses into more suitable shops for tourists.

So yes, there are still quite a few riot police in the area, which in a way should please the paranoid visitor who is afraid of being attacked while walking its streets... LOL

Thank you for the update. I was conscious of its age after I posted it. I should keep in touch with my Greek friend more often. I'm maybe a little out of touch with what's going on.

I'd still risk it and stay in Exarchia if I happened to be in Athens. I think I caught the first signs of gentrification in De Pijp in Amsterdam and Villa de Gracia in Barcelona. I would say the scene is more established, like it was in Amsterdam and Gracia, 30+ and 25ish years ago respectively. That would be my impression of a strong community in Exarchia. I haven't really been keeping up with Greek affairs like I did a few years ago.

Stay in the Plaka area. Very central to all the ancient sites, most high-trafficked, nice hotels.

So yes, there are still quite a few riot police in the area, which in a way should please the paranoid visitor who is afraid of being attacked while walking its streets... LOL - (from JoLui)

Riot police? drug dealers? I take great offence at the suggestion of being a 'paranoid visitor afraid of being attacked' - Like the majority of normal people, I merely want to enjoy my holiday time and don't particularly want to wander past drug dealers or gangs of rioters whilst I'm there. I myself have lived in Amsterdam for over 3 years, beautiful city, my partner was working at a house in the red light district where we stayed for a couple of months, and I used to cycle back home there every night without any worries whatsover. I also read this about Rome: The European Union's 2023 report highlights the security situation in cities. In Rome, one of Italy's main capitals, only 38% of residents feel safe on the streets at night. Even as a tourist attraction, Rome was named the most dangerous city in Europe last year.* When we stayed in Rome we stayed very near the main station (described as unsafe for tourists) and we never once felt unsafe, or saw any signs of drug dealers or in fact riot police. The article goes to to state: Second place was taken by the Greek capital Athens, where only 40% of the population feel safe.
My main point which was why are there so many areas flagged up online in Athens as 'unsafe' or 'to avoid' compared to the many other cities I have visited and stayed in? For Rome, the traveller is advised merely to avoid staying near the main train station, but for Athens the list of places to avoid seems to be longer than the nicer places to go!

sheilaryall,

Sorry, I think you misunderstood me.

When I was talking about the paranoid visitor and the riot police, it was mostly as a joke and about those who are afraid of everything as soon as they leave their comfort zone and that the presence of the police can reassure.

There are riot police forces permanently in Exarchia, that doesn't stop people from living normally, children go to school, mothers go shopping, cafes are full of people, there is no more crime (maybe even less) than where you live. And you will have no chance of seeing a drug dealer there unless you hang around in a few specific deserted little streets in the middle of the night.

As for the report you are talking about, it has no scientific value, we don't even know where this so-called study comes from, and guess what? It is published by... a travel insurance website ! (what a coincidence).

On the same page as these scary numbers there is a big button to click to buy their travel insurance

No comment.

I think it also depends on your perspective - people who live in more diverse, energetic areas will be more at ease in other ones. I recall being at the annual meeting of a Latin American trade organization (in Miami that year) when they announced they were reconsidering having the next year’s meeting in Mexico City due to safety concerns from some of their members. The guy next to me started laughing; he had grown up in the South Bronx area of New York City and felt it was way more dangerous to go visit his mother there than to go to a business meeting in Mexico City! But for Athens, I think the key is to stay as close as possible to the things you want to see and not worry about the neighborhood.

Using Google or a very dated article from The Guardian as sources for safety in Athens is laughable. Use local resources, and there are plenty in English online. ALL of the neighborhoods mentioned are safe, residential areas, with a mixture of bars, restaurants, cafes, etc. Of course one has to be aware of their surroundings at all times because, unfortunately, there are bad people everywhere, like pickpockets etc, but not enough to avoid them completely or say “I read somewhere on Google that they’re very unsafe neighborhoods”. These are all false claims. I’m no youngster, but have traveled extensively in many countries and grew up in a city that was VERY unsafe at the time (NYC in the 70’s-80’s) so I know what I’m talking about. Stay in Manostiraki, you’ll be fine. All of the hotels we’ve stayed at on our two prior trips, before and after the islands, were in Monastiraki and we had zero issues with safety.

Although Athens is generally safe, I would definitely avoid Omonia and Metaxourgio, as well as some specific streets around thisio, especially during nighttime. Having lived there for 7 years as a Greek, I often felt a little uneasy in these areas after dark, particularly on the streets connecting Monastiraki with Thissio station, as they can be dodgy. I highly recommend staying around Syntagma or Monastiraki instead. These areas are lively, safe, and full of fantastic options for food, drinks, and exploring the city's vibrant culture.