Where to stay in Athens

Just west of Monastiraki, Psirri was Athens's working-class warehouse district until the 2000s. Now it's the most concentrated nightlife and taverna area in the city - the streets around Plateia Iroon fill with Athenians from 10pm until 4am. Thissio just south has a beautiful pedestrian promenade with the Acropolis above and the Ancient Agora alongside - the most atmospheric evening walk in Athens.

Athens's most politically charged neighborhood: radical bookshops, street art on every surface, the National Archaeological Museum at its eastern edge, and a dense concentration of ouzeris (ouzo bars) and cheap mezedes restaurants. The neighborhood has a reputation that is more exotic than the reality - it's a lively, interesting area with excellent cheap food and a genuinely alternative culture. The Saturday street market is superb.

The residential neighborhood immediately south of the Acropolis: local Greek life without tourist inflation. The best-value guesthouses in Athens are here, a 10-minute walk from the Acropolis entrance. The Dionysiou Areopagitou pedestrian promenade runs along the base of the Acropolis Rock - the most dramatic street in Athens and the best place to watch the sunset light on the Parthenon.

The old neighborhoods clustering around the base of the Acropolis Rock: narrow lanes of neoclassical houses, Byzantine churches, the Ancient Agora, and the Monastiraki flea market (best on Sundays). The pedestrian circuit connecting these neighborhoods to the Acropolis is one of the finest walks in Europe. Touristy, yes - but the setting, with the Parthenon visible above every rooftop, makes it unavoidable.

Athens's ancient port, 8km southwest by metro: the largest passenger port in Europe (ferries to all the Greek islands depart here), the Piraeus Archaeological Museum, and the Mikrolimano yacht harbor - a horseshoe of fishing boats and seafood tavernas that is one of the most pleasant lunch spots in Attica. Less visited by tourists than the historic center; the seafood is fresher and the prices are lower.

The wealthy neighborhood on the lower slopes of Lycabettus Hill: designer boutiques, the Benaki Museum (the finest collection of Greek art and culture from antiquity to the 20th century), the Cycladic Art Museum, and the cafes on Plateia Kolonaki where Greek politicians and journalists have been lunching for decades. The funicular to the Lycabettus summit (€7 return) has the best 360-degree view of Athens.