LANDMARK. Ancient amphitheatre of the Acropolis of Athens.
Here’s a surprise: While Athenians were locked down because of the pandemic, a flurry of creative and entrepreneurial activity was under way.
The outcome? A total of 272 new restaurants, according to the local industry association, as well as hundreds more cafes and bars.
The city also acquired 34 new hotels, offering 1 982 rooms over the last two years, and its cultural landscape blossomed, with major national projects coming to fruition.
“We’ve witnessed a cultural revival and a growing gastronomical scene that showcases the new dynamism of the city,” said Vassilis Kikilias, Greece’s tourism minister.
Adding in the construction of new hotels and the upgrading of older ones, Kikilias said, made him “optimistic for the season”.
As of May, the number of foreign visitors to the city was still below 2019 levels by about 12%, and since then crowds have returned to the central squares and landmarks in numbers reminiscent of prepandemic days.
The Greek capital’s newest cultural gem, the National Gallery reopened last year after an eight-year, €60 million (about R1 041 billion) overhaul.
Twice the size of the original, the sleek new building has a glass facade that allows natural light to illuminate exhibits and offers a glimpse of the city at every corner.
You could spend hours exploring the three floors charting the evolution of Greek art over nearly seven centuries.
But even a brief visit should not skip the arresting works of the Greek modernist painters Konstantinos Parthenis and Yannis Tsarouchis with their dreamlike symbolism, and the luminous paintings of the Orientalist Theodoros Rallis and the postimpressionist Iakovos Rizos.
A fourth floor dedicated to Western European art is to open in the coming weeks and will include paintings by Picasso and Mondrian.
Another treasure trove for art lovers is the National Museum of Contemporary Art that opened in February 2020, but closed almost immediately with the country’s first lockdown.
Five floors of thought-provoking sculptures, videos and installations by Greek and foreign artists – new exhibitions grapple with the themes of nation-building, mass protests and the environment – are topped by a roof terrace with a view sweeping from the Acropolis to the southern coastline.
The capital’s independent art scene, invigorated by a flurry of creativity stoked by the social unrest that came with the decade-long financial crisis, bloomed again during the pandemic, with the opening of exciting new spaces to see art.
One of the edgiest is a former tobacco factory in the gritty Athens neighbourhood of Kolonos whose pink and yellow facade has drawn comparisons to a giant Battenberg cake.
The space reopened in June with a show featuring 18 large-scale installations from the collection of the entrepreneur Dimitris Daskalopoulos.
There has been buzz around Linou Soumpasis & Co restaurant since it opened in December in the vibrant central district of Psyrri.
Dismissing the neo-taverna and bistronomy labels, the self-professed “simple restaurant” serves high quality fare with a contemporary twist from a bustling open kitchen.
The emphasis is on fresh food, particularly fish, with the menu updated daily according to the day’s haul.
Recent dishes include a feather-light John Dory tartare with seaweed in cucumber juice and a tender chargrilled piper fish in zucchini purée.
The veal cheeks stew in chick pea soup is also popular, as are the selection of homemade breads and organic wines from small Greek producers.
Expect to pay about €110 for a three-course dinner with wine for two. Wines range from €22 to 150 a bottle.
A few blocks away, Gastone, the latest venture by the people behind Cookoovaya (recommended by the Michelin Guide) serves up Mediterranean flavours and street food in a lively retro setting that is part classic Greek taverna, part American diner.
Dinner for two is about €30 and highlights include the crispy pork sandwich and a twist on tzatziki made with Gorgonzola cheese.
Two new arrivals in gentrified industrial districts of Athens are also drawing crowds. Tzoutzouka in Rouf offers adventurous takes on traditional Greek dishes, like a rich ewe casserole in red sauce with homemade pasta and spicy hard cheese for about €30 per person with wine.
Proveleggios in nearby Kerameikos is the latest endeavour from the brains behind the super[1]popular Nolan restaurant, serving innovative cuisine like hand pulled noodles with sweet wild greens in tare dipping sauce and cocktails on a terrace against an indie rock soundtrack. Dinner is about €35 per person.
For cocktail aficionados, Athens offers a dizzying selection of new drinking spots.
At the Bar in Front of the Bar, on a pedestrians-only alley near central Syntagma Square, staff prepare twists on classic cocktails using ingredients produced on site, with prices starting at €7.
Those who want their drink with a view of the city can join a bohemian crowd at Attic Urban Rooftop in the Monastiraki district, one of several new roof terraces, where cocktails are priced from €11 to €13.
In the up-and-coming Petralona neighbourhood is Line Athens (the sister bar of world-ranking the Clumsies) where staff shake up cocktails with homemade vermouth, most priced at €10.
Options at the high end for both food and lodgings include the understatedly opulent Xenodocheio
Milos, which touts itself as the capital’s first “gastronomy 5-star hotel” – the latest enterprise of celebrated chef Costas Spiliadis, who has established his Milos restaurant brand in locations that include New York, Montreal and London.
Rooms start at about €230 per night, while dining starts at about €60 per person, with specials that include sea bass baked in sea salt and wafer-thin fried zucchini and eggplant.
One of the newest spots for hotels is the so-called Athens Riviera, a 60km stretch of coastline that is about a 30 minute taxi ride from the city centre.
The Four Seasons Astir Palace opened there in 2019, offering 303 rooms (starting at €1 700 euros in July and €1 100 in August) and fine dining with a sea view at its Michelin-starred Pelagos restaurant.
A nine-course tasting menu including Kristal caviar, red prawns and octopus-ink risotto for €160 per person.
Of the 34 hotels that opened in greater Athens during the pandemic, 26 are in the city centre.
New arrivals at the revamped central Omonia Square include the Brown Acropol with its modern take on 60s Athens aesthetics (it has 165 rooms starting at €130 per night).
It is one of four hotels opened in the capital by the rapidly expanding Israeli Brown chain.
In the same square is Marriott’s ultra-trendy Moxy Athens City, with rooms starting at €170 a night.
The pandemic brought some closures too, notably the iconic Hilton which shut its doors earlier this year after nearly six decades, though it is expected to reopen in 2024 as part of the chain’s luxury Conrad line.
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