Budget · 3-hour walk · Athens
The Acropolis and Plaka in three hours
Hadrian's gate and the Temple of Olympian Zeus, up through Plaka to the rock, finishing on the Areopagus.
Three hours is the right length for the Acropolis if you accept that the rock itself takes half of it. The route climbs once, through Plaka rather than up the main approach, which is shaded for most of its length and about ten degrees cooler in summer. Go at opening or after five — the site is brutal at midday and the last two hours before closing are when the light is worth photographing.
The route, stop by stop
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Temple of Olympian Zeus
Fifteen columns left of 104, and Hadrian's Arch on the corner for free. Included in the combined ticket.
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Lysicrates Monument & Plaka
Turn into Plaka here. The lanes above this square are the shaded way up and the reason to walk rather than take the metro.
25 min here Walk here → -
Acropolis
Ninety minutes minimum. Buy the combined ticket online; the Parthenon is scaffolded and always will be, which changes nothing.
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Areopagus Hill
The marble outcrop below the entrance, free and open at all hours. The rock is genuinely slippery — use the steel stairs.
20 min here Walk here →
More in Athens
Every walking route in Athens, or the full Athens guide for where to stay and what a day costs.