3 days in Athens: a day-by-day sightseeing plan

Athens is where you see the buildings of classical Greece inside a modern city, and most of the sights in this plan are a short walk from the Acropolis. Day one is the Acropolis rock, its museum and the ruins below it, day two runs from the marble stadium through museums and gardens to Syntagma Square, and day three covers the great archaeological museum and the ancient sites and hills west of the Acropolis.

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Day 1

The Acropolis, the Tower of the Winds and the Acropolis Museum

5 stops

09:00
Parthenon
About 2 h
The Parthenon crowns the Acropolis, and the visit covers the whole rock: the Propylaea gateway, the Erechtheion with its porch of caryatids and the small Temple of Athena Nike. Entry works on timed slots, so book ahead, and bring water and a hat, as there is little shade on top.
Walk, 5 min
11:05
Tower of the Winds
About 20 min
The octagonal marble tower in the Roman Agora was a timekeeper, with sundials and a water clock, and the eight wind gods are carved around its top. It is a short stop in Plaka after the Acropolis, before you walk round to the south slope.
Walk, 7 min
11:35
Odeon of Herodes Atticus
About 1 h 10 min
This Roman theatre from AD 161 on the southwest slope is still used for summer performances, and outside those you see it from the path above it. It does not need the whole slot, so use the rest to wander the south slope on your way to the Acropolis Museum.
Walk, 6 min
12:55
Acropolis Museum
About 1 h 35 min
The glass museum at the foot of the rock holds the finds from the Acropolis, and parts of its floor are glass over the excavated ancient neighbourhood below. Go up to the top floor, where the Parthenon frieze is laid out at full size facing the temple itself, then see the original caryatids.
Walk, 6 min
14:40
Temple of Olympian Zeus
About 35 min
Only fifteen columns of this vast temple still stand, and a sixteenth lies where a storm knocked it down in the 19th century, which shows their scale. Hadrian's Arch is beside the site, so you see both in a short stop.

Day 2

The Panathenaic Stadium, the Lyceum, the Benaki Museum and Syntagma

5 stops

09:00
Panathenaic Stadium
About 1 h 15 min
The only stadium in the world built entirely of marble hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. You can walk the track and climb to the top rows, and a small exhibition of Olympic torches sits under the stands.
Walk, 10 min
10:25
Lyceum
About 1 h 15 min
These are the excavated foundations of the Lyceum, the school where Aristotle taught, in a small archaeological park near the Byzantine Museum. Little stands above ground, so it suits a short stop for the idea of the place rather than the full slot.
Walk, 5 min
11:45
Benaki Museum
About 1 h 30 min
The Benaki family mansion holds Greek art and everyday objects from prehistory to the 20th century, with costumes, jewellery and reconstructed rooms from old mansions in northern Greece. The rooftop café looks across to the National Garden, your next stop.
Walk, 4 min
13:20
National Garden of Athens
About 1 h
The former royal garden behind the Parliament is a shaded park of ponds, paths and old trees, and in the heat it is the easiest place in the centre to rest. Walk north through it to Syntagma Square.
Walk, 5 min
14:25
Syntagma Square
About 20 min
The central square of modern Athens faces the Parliament, the former royal palace. In front of it, the Evzones guards in traditional uniform stand at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and their changing of the guard is worth a few minutes.

Day 3

The Archaeological Museum, Kerameikos and the hills west of the Acropolis

5 stops

09:00
National Archaeological Museum of Athens
About 1 h 35 min
Greece's largest archaeological museum holds finds from across the country, and in the time the plan gives you can see the highlights: the gold Mask of Agamemnon from Mycenae, the bronze god from Artemision and the Antikythera mechanism.
Taxi, 4 min
10:40
Kerameikos
About 1 h 5 min
Kerameikos was the potters' quarter and the main cemetery of ancient Athens, and the quiet site still has carved grave monuments along its old street and the remains of the Dipylon Gate. The small museum shows the finest gravestones and vases.
Walk, 7 min
11:55
Temple of Hephaestus
About 1 h 15 min
Standing above the Ancient Agora, this Doric temple is one of the best preserved in Greece, partly because it served as a church for centuries. Take in the Agora below and the rebuilt Stoa of Attalos, which houses the site museum, then walk south up to the Pnyx.
Walk, 7 min
13:20
Pnyx
About 1 h
On this rocky hill the citizens of ancient Athens met in assembly, and you can still see the speakers' platform cut into the stone. Today it is an open hillside with a direct view of the Acropolis, much quieter than the main sites.
Walk, 8 min
14:30
Philopappos Monument
About 1 h
The Roman tomb of Philopappos, a prince of Commagene, stands on top of the Hill of the Muses. The climb on the paved paths is easy, and the view of the Acropolis from the top is a good way to end the plan.

Good to know

Book a timed entry slot for the Acropolis ahead; the plan gives it the first slot of day one.
Summer is very hot, so carry water and use the National Garden for a shaded break; spring and autumn are easier for walking.
Almost everything is walkable; the one taxi in the plan is from the National Archaeological Museum to Kerameikos, and the metro works too.
Wear shoes with good grip, as the old marble paths on the Acropolis and the hills are worn smooth and slippery.
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Open in Atlazi

3 days in Athens: a day-by-day sightseeing plan

Parthenon

Tower of the Winds

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

Acropolis Museum

Temple of Olympian Zeus

Panathenaic Stadium

Lyceum

Benaki Museum

National Garden of Athens

Syntagma Square

National Archaeological Museum of Athens

Kerameikos

Temple of Hephaestus

Pnyx

Philopappos Monument

Good to know

Make this plan yours