One day in Athens with kids: the family itinerary you’ll love! – Greece travel guides
A detailed family itinerary to make the most of one day in Athens with kids: what to see, where to eat, how to get around and how to visit Athen’s Acropolis with children.
Athens is a fantastic city with plenty of kid-friendly attractions.
So, if you only have one day in the city, you have some hard choices to make!
No matter how fast you may go, it is impossible to see all Athens has to offer in a day only, especially with kids in tow.
However, Athens’ city center is compact and many of the most famous attractions in the city are close to one another.
This means that while you may not be able to see ‘everything’ you can see a lot, even with only a short time in the city, especially if you have some tips about how to plan your time.
This one day in Athens itinerary wants to help you do just that!
During our last family trip to Greece, we only had one day in Athens and wanted to make the absolute most of it.
I put a lot of effort into planning our time there and am happy to report that we had a wonderful time!
So today, I want to share all that planning with you!
On this page, you find our detailed itinerary for the one day in Athens with kids we spent last summer.
It is an excellent itinerary for first-time visitors and you can use it in all seasons and with kids of all ages.
If I was ever to do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing, we loved it so much!
I hope you enjoy it!
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Where to stay to make the most of one day in Athens with kids
Athens is a large city so the first thing to do when planning one day in the city is to make sure you have accommodation in a central location, so you don’t have to spend time commuting in and out.
We have found two great hotels families with kids (we stayed in both of them ourselves):
Plaka Hotel – our top pick! This hotel is in the central Athens area called Plaka, close to all the archaeological sites and many cafes and restaurants.
While touristy, we loved this area the most: the proximity to the ancient sites was a real plus and the area felt safe and convenient.
The hotel has good-sized interconnecting rooms for families, a great breakfast and was very quiet, despite being in a busy area.
The ice cream and macaroon shop in front was a huge extra success with our kids!
We easily walked from here to the Acropolis, the two agoras, Anafiotika neighborhood and Syntagma square.
Colors Hotel – this a super fun, colorful, hip hotel in the modern center of Athens.
It has nice family rooms, a fun decor, a good breakfast and it is in a good location to reach Syntagma Square.
The hotel is about 30 mins walk to the Acropolis but on the metro line. We found exploring from here easy and pleasant. It also came a little cheaper than the Plaka Hotel.
How day in Athens with kids: how to get around
We covered this whole itinerary on foot.
In not staying in Plaka, you can also opt to take the metro, which is easy and safe in Athens, or catch a taxi.
Please be advised that taxis in Athens do not carry nor require car seats for kids. Therefore, if you need to use one, you must bring your own.
One day in Athens with kids – how to skip the lines
Several of Athens’ main attractions are accessible with one combined ticket.
This Athens pass is a convenient way to have a pass for the day and not worry about multiple purchases or time of entry.
We found two ways to skip the lines in Athens:
Booking your attraction tickets in advance – booking entrance tickets to Athens main attractions online is the easiest way to avoid lines.
With your ticket, you may need patience for checks on entering busy sights such as the Acropolis, but you won’t have to stand in line for hours at the ticket office, which is where the long queues are.
You can buy combined tickets to Athens main attractions online, safely and quickly >>> here <<<
Booking your ticket on the day at a lesser busy attraction – you can buy the combined tickets to Athens main attractions in any of the sights included. Some of them, such as the Roman Agora’, tend to have no lines: buying them here on the day is usually fast and easy!
Need to know: if you are traveling with kids, you can get free tickets online for them BUT you then have to go to the ticket office to show your child’s ID. This defeats the purpose of advance booking so I recommend buying them in person instead (or throw money at the problem, pay full fee for them, and secure tickets for everyone online, should budget allow).
One day in Athens with kids. Morning – Syntagma Square, Anafiotika, Plaka
This is our exact itinerary for our one day in Athens with the children.
Breakfast in the hotel – we started our morning with a lovely and filling breakfast in our hotel.
Athens has plenty of beautiful breakfast places, however, our kids love a large breakfast with cereals and eggs and we found hotels to be the best solution.
Both of the hotels in this list have generous buffets, one of the several reasons why we recommend them!
Syntagma Square – our first stop in Athens was Syntagma Square.
Syntagma Square is the most famous square in Athens and a great first place to visit with kids, while in the city.
At first glance, Syntagma looks like a large yet trafficked, modern square but it is much more than that.
Here, you find the seat of the Hellenic Parliament, the Presidential Mansion and the Tomb of the Unknown Solider and it is where you can admire the wonderful ceremony of the changing of the guards!
The ceremony is free to see and happens at regular intervals day and night.
As you enter the square, you will notice two guards, manning the Parliament building in high uniforms.
When the time comes for the shift change, the two guards, in perfect synchronicity, start a series of codified moments that look like a dance.
They are excellent to see!
The guards wear their traditional uniform and move in slow motion, showcasing incredible discipline, agility and coordination.
The changing of the guard is fantastic to see with kids.
The uniforms and movements are beautiful and entertaining and since the event is free and frequent, you can stay as little or as long as you want and you can even come back at a different time to see it again.
In a day, we say it twice, morning and evening!
Anafiotika – after Syntagma Square we walked across Athens city center towards the Acropolis, in the area of Plaka, and reached a small, unique area called Anaphiotika.
Anafiotica is a scenic neighbourhood located at the bottom of the Acropolis and an extraordinary place in Athens.
Unlike other areas in the city and in Greece in general, Anafiotika is built in Cycladic style (the architectural style of the Cyclades islands) and it is entirely whitewashed!
Anafiotica is wonderful to see with kids and the prettiest neighborhoods in Athens.
The area develops on the slope of the Acropolis and it is a maze of small alleys and passages that feel a little like a maze.
As you walk along its meandering streets, you find yourself surrounded by blooming bougainvillea plants, verdant yards, charming corners.
You truly feel as if you have left the big city and suddenly stepped into one of the greek islands of the travel brochures!
Our kids adored it here and explored Anafiotika as if it was a magical maze, made even better by the many cats living here (Athens has lots of cats!).
I also fell in love with it and took more pictures than I can count: this is my favourite place in the whole of Athens!
One day in Athen with kids – lunch
All the waking and exploring had made us hungry so we made the most of the many restaurants in Anafiotika / Plaka to get a bite.
This area is entirely covered in restaurants and it is very touristy.
However, it is also very scenic and reasonably priced and we are happy to report that we found the standard of the food to be good too.
In perfect greek style, we found the restaurants to be welcoming to kids and offering plenty of child-friendly options ranging from Greek specialties to Italian favourites (ragu bolognese).
Our kids wolfed up pastitsio and we, the adults, went for Greek salad, souvlaki and beer. Not very adventurous maybe but delicious, filling and a great first meal inn Athens!
Early Afternoon – Monastiraki, Agora,
After lunch, it was time to explore some of Athens’ ancient sites and we started off with the two Agoras: the Roman Agora and the Greek Agora.
The first one we encountered was the Roman Agora, which is a small yet beautiful ancient Forum just below the Acropolis.
The Roman Agora of Athens date from the I century BC and, as the name suggests, has Roman origins.
When intact, it had a large central area surrounded by columns, and served as a market, with shops opening onto it.
Nowadays, the agora is an archaeological site with low ruins and foundations.
However, it is beautiful to see: worth noticing are its stunning location and the so called ‘Tower of the Wind’.
Still standing today, the tower of the winds is an octagonal tower built by astronomer Andronicus of Cyrrhus in 50 BC to study the wind and make weather forecasts!
The Greek Agora
From the Roman Agora, we walked to the Greek agora through Monastiraki square and flea market, which is busy yet great to see.
While we felt it would be fun to explore this area further, with only one day in Athens with the kids, we decided to cross it quickly and instead focus on the Greek Agora.
The decision was the right one for us as the Greek Agora is stunning!
Unlike the Roman Agora, the Greek agora dates all the way back from Classical Greece times.
It is a large archaeological park, green and has wonderful buildings including the stunning temple of Hephaestus and an interesting museum.
The Greek Agora is one of our favorite places in Athens.
Our children adored the fact that the site feels a little like a park, they hugely enjoyed climbing up to the temples and had fun reading the info panels about the history of the place and the animals you can meet here (insects, small rodents, cats, birds and creepers).
We also all enoyed the museum, which has a wonderful portico with impressive statues that works wonders to find refuge for the heath for a while!
Kid-friendly tea break
After the Greek Agora, we strolled a little longer around Monastiraki and Plaka and found a lovely cafe where we got iced0tea and drinks.
The cafe is hidden in a small street and we highly recommend it as it is cool, pretty and welcoming;
Late afternoon – The Acropolis
The main thing we wanted to see while in Athens was the Acropolis.
However, since we visited in the middle of summer, we left it as the last attraction of the day, so that we could see it when the sun was a little less high in the sky and a little less relentless.
This was a great choice!
We went to the Acropolis at about 5pm and this gave us enough time to see the place with ease and also to admire something wonderful: the sunset over Athens!
The tours of attractions like the Acropolis are expensive.
However, we though it was worth investing in one to give context to the children and indeed, it was a good choice.
The acropolis is wonderful but there is very little info available on site.
On the other hand, our guide was able to show us and explain to us the most important buildings on the acropolis and nearby area.
She gave us insights about the development of the city and even managed to get the children to see how the acropolis would have looked like back in the day, thanks to a special software on her iPad!
The tour we chose this time was by KidsLoveGreece, which we found pricey but good and we now recommend.
Top tip: the Acropolis has uneven terrain and is only accessible via steps and an uphill trail. Good walking shoes or sandals are essentials (avoid flip flops, heels or slippery soles). If you have young children, make sure you have them in a carrier as the acropolis is not stroller friendly.
Dinner at Zeus Xenios and dinners on a rooftop
After our visit to the Acropolis, I craved some more pretty streets and so we headed for dinner back towards Anafiotika and Plaka, where we had a delicious meal at Zeus Xenios restaurant.
The meal was delicious, cheap and the service excellent: we stayed outside with Athen’s cats wandering around the tables, being served by pleasant staff and enjoying every minute. I highly recommend dinner here!
To end the day on a high note, we had a drink at the top of the Plaka Hotel, which is family friendly and offers views of the Acropolis that are out of this world.
Visiting athens | Percy Jackson | ancient Greek
What we didn’t get to see in one day in Athens with kids
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, there are several things that we could not fit into a day in Athens and we had to come back to visit on a different occasion.
You can find here >>> more tips and things to do in Athens with kids
1 day in Athens with kids itinerary for families – pin this!
