Kolonaki: museums, coffee, Dexameni and the Lycabettus funicular, with map

Kolonaki is elegant Athens. At the foot of Lycabettus you’ll find three of the city’s best museums, cafés where Athenians sit for hours, galleries, bookshops and boutiques. Higher up, a quiet square with pines hides a Roman reservoir, and a little higher still a funicular takes you to the top of the hill. Below you’ll find a walk with a map, stop by stop.

At a glance

🚇 Evangelismos

Line 1 to Monastiraki, then Line 3. About 25 minutes.

🏛️ Three museums

Benaki, Cycladic Art and Byzantine, within ten minutes.

☕ Coffee

Tsakalof and Skoufa streets are full of tables.

🚡 Lycabettus

The funicular leaves from Aristippou Street, above the square.

Kolonaki in a nutshell

Kolonaki spreads over the southern slope of Lycabettus, between Syntagma and Vasilissis Sofias Avenue. It takes its name from a small column that still stands in the main square, Kolonaki Square, officially Filikis Etaireias Square. When Athens became the capital in the 19th century, there were fields and a few houses here. Bit by bit the area filled with mansions, embassies and later apartment buildings.

Today Kolonaki has the city’s most expensive shops, many galleries and embassies, and a calmer pace than the centre. Athenians come here for coffee, to see and be seen. Visitors come for the museums, the stroll and the view from Lycabettus.

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The small column in Kolonaki Square that gave the neighbourhood its name — The “kolonaki”
The small column that gave the neighbourhood its name.

A hand-coloured photo of Kolonaki around 1895, with houses, gardens and the Acropolis in the distance — Around 1895
Houses and gardens at the foot of Lycabettus.

Kolonaki Square in the 1920s, with a palm tree, a telephone booth and old cars — The square in the 1920s
Palm trees, a telephone and the first cars.

Apartment buildings with balconies and shops around Kolonaki Square — The square today
Interwar apartment buildings, shops and trees.

Photos: Kriton (CC BY-SA 3.0), Martin Baldwin-Edwards (CC BY-SA 2.0), unknown (public domain), Giorgoos (public domain) · Wikimedia Commons

🗺️ The walk: from the museums to Lycabettus

The route starts on Vasilissis Sofias, with the three museums, and climbs gently through the neighbourhood to the funicular. If you want to go into the museums, give it a full day.

Evangelismos station. Come out on Vasilissis Sofias.
Byzantine and Christian Museum. Icons and mosaics, with a garden. See our guide to the Byzantine Museum.
Museum of Cycladic Art. The Cycladic figurines. See our guide to Cycladic Art.
Benaki Museum. Greece in a mansion. See our guide to the Benaki.
Kolonaki Square. Find the little column that gave the name.
Tsakalof and Skoufa. The streets with the cafés and boutiques.
Dexameni Square. Pines, the Roman reservoir and an open-air cinema.
Lycabettus funicular. On Aristippou Street, for the summit.

🗺️ The Kolonaki walk, stop by stop

From Evangelismos, through the three museums and the square, to the Lycabettus funicular: about 2 kilometres, 35 minutes on foot without stops. The last streets are uphill. Tap each number to see what it is.

Start · Evangelismos Museums and antiquities Coffee and shopping End · Funicular

The three museums

On Vasilissis Sofias, within a few metres, are three of the best museums in Athens. The Benaki Museum, in a neoclassical mansion, shows Greece from antiquity to the 20th century: jewellery, costumes, icons, whole reception rooms from old houses. It also has a rooftop café looking over the National Garden.

The Museum of Cycladic Art is known for the white marble figurines of the Cyclades, simple and almost modern, though they’re nearly five thousand years old. A little further east, the Byzantine and Christian Museum has icons, frescoes and mosaics in a 19th-century villa with a lovely garden. Don’t try to see them all on the same day. Pick one or two.

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The neoclassical mansion of the Benaki Museum with lamp posts and trees — Benaki Museum
It shows Greece from antiquity to the 20th century, in a mansion.

The Stathatos Mansion of the Museum of Cycladic Art, on the corner of Vasilissis Sofias and Irodotou — Museum of Cycladic Art
The white marble figurines of the Cyclades.

Villa Ilissia of the Byzantine and Christian Museum, with its courtyard and trees — Byzantine and Christian Museum
Icons, mosaics and a garden, on Vasilissis Sofias.

Photos: Joyofmuseums (CC BY-SA 4.0), George E. Koronaios (CC BY-SA 4.0, CC0) · Wikimedia Commons

Coffee, shopping and galleries

In Kolonaki, coffee is a way of passing the time. On Tsakalof and Skoufa, the tables fill from morning to evening with Athenians who meet, work or just watch the world go by. Coffee here costs a little more, but the chair is yours for as long as you like.

For shopping, Voukourestiou has the big international fashion houses, while in the side streets around the square you’ll find Greek designers, jewellery, bookshops and contemporary art galleries. For food, there’s everything from simple café-restaurants for lunch to expensive restaurants for dinner. Book a table at weekends.

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Café tables with awnings and people on the Tsakalof pedestrian street — Coffee on Tsakalof
Awnings, wicker chairs and people watching people.

A café with wicker chairs and heaters on a Kolonaki pedestrian street, in the morning — Morning on the pedestrian street
The first coffee, before the shops open.

A freddo cappuccino and a cheese pie on a café table in Kolonaki — Coffee and cheese pie
The simple Athenian breakfast.

Tsakalof Street with shop windows, balconies and scooters, in Kolonaki — Tsakalof Street
Boutiques and cafés among apartment buildings.

Sloping Voukourestiou Street with apartment buildings and cars, with the Acropolis in the distance — Voukourestiou Street
The street with the expensive shops, with the Acropolis in the distance.

Photos: TheOnassis (public domain), Jean Housen (CC BY-SA 4.0), George E. Koronaios (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons

Dexameni Square

Climbing a little above the square, you come to a small, quiet square with pines: Dexameni. This is where the water of Hadrian’s Aqueduct ended up. The aqueduct was completed in the 2nd century AD and brought water from the foothills of Mount Parnitha. The reservoir was repaired in the 19th century and worked until the 20th. Among the trees you can still see pieces of the ancient gateway, with a Latin inscription.

In the early 20th century, the coffee houses of Dexameni were a haunt of writers and artists. Today the square has a café and, from May to September, the Dexameni open-air cinema, one of the city’s favourites. From here, steps climb towards Lycabettus.

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Dexameni Square with pines and paving, and the Acropolis at the end of Iraklitou Street — Dexameni
Pines, quiet and an open-air cinema.

The ruins of Hadrian’s Reservoir among the trees, in Dexameni Square — Hadrian’s Reservoir
The water of the Roman aqueduct ended up here.

A marble architrave with a Latin inscription from the gateway of Hadrian’s Reservoir — The inscription
Latin letters from the 2nd century, among the plants.

Stone steps with lamp posts and trees climbing towards Lycabettus, in Kolonaki — The steps up the hill
From Dexameni, steps climb towards Lycabettus.

Photos: George E. Koronaios (CC BY-SA 4.0, CC0), macrolepis (CC BY 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons

Lycabettus and the funicular

Lycabettus is the highest hill in central Athens. The lower station of the funicular is on Aristippou Street, a few minutes uphill from the square. The funicular has been running since 1965 and climbs in about three minutes, through a 210-metre tunnel. At the top you’ll find the white chapel of Agios Georgios, a café and a restaurant, and a view over all of Athens to the sea.

If you’d rather walk up, there are paths with pines and steps. It’s free, takes about 20 to 30 minutes and it’s uphill, so bring water in summer. For all the details, see our guide to Lycabettus.

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The lower station of the Lycabettus funicular on Aristippou Street, with flags — The station on Aristippou
The funicular starts here.

The Lycabettus funicular car at the station, with steps beside it — The car
Three minutes in a tunnel, up to the summit.

The brilliant white chapel of Agios Georgios at the top of Lycabettus — Agios Georgios
The white chapel at the top.

A panoramic view of Athens from the top of Lycabettus — The view
All of Athens, down to the sea.

Photos: Anonymous Wikipedian (CC BY 3.0) and A.Savin (CC BY-SA 3.0) on Wikimedia Commons, Angels Apartments archive

Practical tips

Best times: morning for museums, afternoon for coffee, sunset for Lycabettus.
Museums: each museum closes on a different day. Check their websites before you go.
Cost: Kolonaki is one of the most expensive neighbourhoods. A coffee on the square costs more than in Victoria.
Wheelchair: Vasilissis Sofias and the square are easy. Above the square the streets get steep, and Dexameni has steps.
Safety: one of the quietest and safest neighbourhoods in the centre.

🚇 How to get there from Ioulianou 50

Ioulianou 50 → Victoria station: 3 minutes on foot.
Line 1 (green), towards Piraeus: two stops to Monastiraki.
Line 3 (blue), towards the Airport or Doukissis Plakentias: Syntagma, and get off at the second stop, Evangelismos.
Evangelismos: come out on Vasilissis Sofias. The square is eight minutes on foot.

You can also walk from Victoria to Kolonaki in about 25 minutes, through Exarchia. To get back from the funicular, walk down to Evangelismos, in about ten minutes.

🚇 Ioulianou 50 → Kolonaki by metro

Line 1 to Monastiraki, change to Line 3 to Evangelismos. From there, eight minutes on foot to the square.

Ioulianou 50 · on foot Line 1 Line 3 Kolonaki Square

Where it is in relation to the apartment

📍 From Angels Athens to the «Kolonaki» neighbourhood

See at a glance how to get from the apartment at Ioulianou 50 to the heart of the neighbourhood. Drag the map and zoom in for details.

Angels Athens · Ioulianou 50 Kolonaki

Frequently asked questions

Which museum should I choose if I have time for one?

The Benaki, if you want a picture of Greece from antiquity to today. Cycladic Art, if something smaller and more special appeals to you.

Is the funicular worth it?

Yes, if you don’t want to walk up. The view from the top is one of the best in Athens, especially at sunset.

Is it expensive?

Yes, for coffee, food and shopping. But the stroll, Dexameni and the Lycabettus paths are free.

Where should I go next?

From here, Exarchia is ten minutes north, with a completely different character: bookshops, graffiti and student hangouts.

— Kathy