The Acropolis slopes and Plaka on foot: a self-guided walk from the Acropolis Museum to Monastiraki, with what is open each day

One of 2 self-guided walks in Athens. See every walk.

In this guide

💡 The Short Version: Start at the Acropolis Museum, beside Akropoli station on metro line 2, and finish at Monastiraki Square: 2.9 km, about 40 minutes of walking and half a day with the stops. The streets cost nothing. The tickets are the museum (€20), the Acropolis with the Theatre of Dionysos (€30, a timed slot), Hadrian’s Library (€10) and the Tzisdarakis Mosque (€5). The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is shut for restoration. From 1 November to 31 March the Acropolis closes at 17:00, Hadrian’s Library at 15:00 and the museum at 17:00 Monday to Thursday, and the mosque is shut on Tuesdays all year. Or book a tour: the Acropolis, Parthenon Tour & Acropolis Museum Optionsad is from €27.20 for 2 to 4 hours, and the Acropolis ticket is extra.

The route

Map of the walk numbered stops in walking order

Open the whole route in Google Maps - all the stops in walking order, set to walking directions, which is the version to put on your phone.

The route follows Dionysiou Areopagitou, the pedestrian street under the south slope of the Acropolis, west to the Areopagus. It then takes Theorias Street back east along the north slope into Anafiotika and Plaka, and ends at Monastiraki. Plaka and Anafiotika is the neighbourhood guide; this page is the route and what is open when. Prices are the adult rate in euros from each operator.

Walk it with a guide

A guide adds the stories, and none of the Acropolis tours below includes the ticket unless it says so. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person.

• Athens: Acropolis, Parthenon Tour & Acropolis Museum Optionsad, by Athens Walking Tours: from €27.20, 4.7 stars from 10,118 reviews, 2 to 4 hours. It meets at 3 Dionysiou Areopagitou, on this route. The €27.20 is the guide; the Acropolis ticket is an option added at booking.
• Acropolis & Ancient Agora Guided Tour including all Entrancesad, by Athens Walks: from €85.50, 4.8 stars from 672 reviews, 4 hours. It meets at Porinou 5, climbs the south slope, crosses the Acropolis and ends at the Ancient Agora, with both tickets included.
• Athens: Night Walking Tour with Local Guidead: from €18, 4.8 stars from 263 reviews, 2 hours. It walks the historic centre past the Cathedral, Anafiotika, Monastiraki, Plaka and Psyrri.
• Athens walking tours compares the Acropolis, small-group, night and bike tours.

1. The Acropolis Museum

€20 · 1 November to 31 March: Monday to Thursday 9:00 to 17:00, Friday 9:00 to 22:00, Saturday and Sunday 9:00 to 20:00 · Dionysiou Areopagitou 15

The exit of Akropoli station opens beside the museum. Bernard Tschumi’s glass and concrete building, finished in 2009, holds the finds from the Acropolis and its slopes, and the Parthenon Gallery on the top floor shows the temple’s sculptures in a hall built to the temple’s dimensions. Allow 1.5 hours or more; the walk does not need the visit.

• The ticket is the museum’s own €20, not part of the Acropolis ticket. Acropolis Museum tickets has the free days and the order through the galleries.
• The hours run to 20:00 on Tuesday to Sunday from 1 April to 31 October, and on Mondays the museum closes at 17:00 all year.

2. Dionysiou Areopagitou and the Theatre of Dionysos

Promenade free, always open · Theatre of Dionysos on the €30 Acropolis ticket, 1 November to 31 March 8:00 to 17:00 · entrance at Dionysiou Areopagitou and Thrasyllou

Turn left out of the museum onto Dionysiou Areopagitou, the pedestrian street under the south slope of the Acropolis. The City of Athens says a traffic ban in 2003 turned it from one of the city’s noisiest streets into a promenade, and that it links Hadrian’s Arch to Philopappou Hill. The south slope entrance is 280 m from the museum, at the corner of Thrasyllou Street.

The Theatre of Dionysos inside dates to the 6th century BC. Its tiers of stone seats are believed to have held 17,000 spectators in the 4th century BC, and the front-row thrones carry the names of the people they were reserved for. It is the theatre of the spring drama festival where Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes presented their plays in competition.

The front-row seats of the Theatre of Dionysos, with names carved on their fronts. Photo: George E. Koronaios, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

• The ticket: the slope is on the Acropolis ticket, one entry and a timed slot. Acropolis tickets suggests leaving the rock by this slope.
• The promenade needs no ticket and has no hours.

3. The Odeon of Herodes Atticus

Closed since July 2026 · on Dionysiou Areopagitou

Walk 540 m west along the promenade. The Roman theatre was built by the benefactor Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife, Regilla, and finished probably between 160 and 174 CE. It was restored in 1952 and 1953 and became the main venue of the Athens Epidaurus Festival. It closed in July 2026 for a restoration that the City of Athens puts at three years, so there are no concerts and no visits.

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus below the Parthenon. Photo: George E. Koronaios, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

• Looking: the Acropolis page lists the view of the theatre from the south edge of the rock, and the steps up to its gate leave the promenade about halfway along.
• Concerts: the festival has no venue here until the work ends: see the best time to visit Athens.

Detour: the Acropolis

€30, a timed slot · 1 November to 31 March 8:00 to 17:00, 1 April to 31 August 8:00 to 20:00, last entry 20 minutes before closing

Skip this on a short day. The gate is on Theorias Street, 150 m from the Areopagus; the visit takes about 2 hours. The ticket is for a date and a time and is sold at the Ministry of Culture’s shop, tickets.hh.gr. It covers the rock and the slopes for one entry.

• Book: Acropolis tickets has the free days, the heat closures and the order on the rock.
• Closed: 1 January, 25 March, 1 May, Orthodox Easter Sunday, 25 and 26 December.

4. The Areopagus

Free · 21 Theorias · the steps are worn smooth

The Areopagus is the bare rock beside the path, 150 m from the Acropolis gate. It was the seat of the highest court of ancient Athens, and Greece’s Supreme Court still takes its name, Areios Pagos. The Apostle Paul preached here, according to the City of Athens. The climb is short but the City warns that the steps are worn smooth, so wear shoes with grip.

The Areopagus seen from the Acropolis. Photo: Jakub Hałun, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

• The view: the City’s guide recommends it for the Acropolis and the city, and advises sunrise over the sunset crowd. The Acropolis closes before sunset, so this is one of the free places to watch it: see the best views in Athens.

5. Anafiotika

Free · a residential quarter, no hours

From the Areopagus take Theorias Street east along the north slope, 530 m, to the top of Anafiotika. The Peripatos, the path on the slope above, is inside the ticketed Acropolis site and ends at a guardhouse over Anafiotika, so the free way is the street. The quarter was founded by workmen from the island of Anafi, and its whitewashed houses and lanes follow a Cycladic village. Two churches mark its edges: Agios Georgios tou Vrahou on the east and Agios Simeon on the west.

The chapel of Agios Georgios tou Vrachou in Anafiotika. Photo: C messier, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

• Agios Nikolaos Ragavas, at 1 Prytaniou, is the small domed church on the way down to the next stop. The City dates it to the 9th century, and says its bell rang in 1833 and again on 12 October 1944 after the German withdrawal.
• Etiquette: people live in the houses and the lanes are narrow. The City’s guide warns of crowds.

6. The Monument of Lysicrates

Free to see · 3 Epimenidou

The monument stands in a small excavated square on the edge of Plaka, below the Acropolis cliff and almost at right angles to Hadrian’s Arch. It is a podium topped by a solid tower with Corinthian columns built into it. In antiquity the street was lined with monuments put up by sponsors of the drama festival at the Theatre of Dionysos, the stop you passed at the start. The City of Athens says Lord Byron wrote part of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage here, and the square’s shaded cafés suit a break.

• Hadrian’s Arch is 265 m east. The Syntagma to Monastiraki walk passes this square on its way from the Arch to Monastiraki.

7. Hadrian’s Library

€10 · 1 November to 31 March 8:00 to 15:00, 1 April to 31 August 8:00 to 20:00, last admission 20 minutes before closing · 3 Areos

Walk 750 m west by Adrianou Street and Pandrosou Street. The Benizelos Mansion stands at Adrianou 96, and the City of Athens calls it the oldest surviving house in Athens. Hadrian opened the library around 132 AD. It was a rectangular block with a Corinthian propylon at the front, a courtyard and a hundred columns of Phrygian marble according to the traveller Pausanias, and a book depository, reading rooms and lecture halls on the east side. Only the northern wing survives.

• The closing time decides this stop: from 1 November to 31 March it shuts at 15:00, so it needs a morning or early-afternoon arrival. The state sites are free for everyone on the first and third Sunday of those months.
• The Roman Agora next door has the same price and hours. The combined ticket ended in March 2025, so each is €10: see Athens archaeological sites.

8. Monastiraki Square

Square free · Tzisdarakis Mosque €5, daily 9:30 to 16:30, closed Tuesdays · Monastiraki station, lines 1 and 3

The Tzisdarakis Mosque stands on the square. The Ottoman voivode, or governor, Mustafa Agha Tzistarakis built it in 1759, and it is now an annex of the Museum of Modern Greek Culture, with an exhibition of objects from the 17th to the mid-20th century. Tickets are issued at the main entrance of the museum, 10 Areos Street, not at the mosque. Athenian tradition, quoted by the Ministry’s operator, says the governor had a column of the Temple of Olympian Zeus burned for lime to build it: the Syntagma to Monastiraki walk passes that temple.

• The flea market: the shops of Ifestou Street trade daily and the second-hand bazaar fills Avissinia Square on Sundays: see Monastiraki flea market.
• Pickpockets: Smartraveller names Monastiraki among the tourist areas where petty crime is a serious issue, so keep bags closed.

Where to eat

The Acropolis Museum café and restaurant

Dionysiou Areopagitou 15 · museum hours, the second-floor restaurant to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays

At the start. The ground-floor café needs no ticket, and the second-floor restaurant looks at the Acropolis and takes a free ticket from the desk. Choose it for the first coffee or an early lunch before the promenade.

Thanasis

Mitropoleos 69 · every day 10:00 to 02:00

A large place just off Monastiraki Square, with a patio and a big dining room. Lonely Planet sends readers for the yoghurt kebab, ground lamb grilled on pita with yoghurt and tomato sauce. It is the stop for a late lunch at the end of the walk.

Kostas and Hoocut

Agias Irinis Square, a few minutes north-east of Monastiraki · Kostas on weekdays until the meat runs out, Hoocut Sunday to Thursday 12:00 to 23:30 and Friday and Saturday 12:00 to 00:00

Two souvlaki shops on one square. Kostas has been there since 1946, is closed at the weekend and has a queue of up to 40 minutes; Hoocut at 9 Agias Irinis bakes its pita in the shop. Best souvlaki in Athens has both, and where to eat in Athens the tavernas.

The best day to go

The timing that works, Wednesday to Friday from 1 November to 31 March: be at the museum for 9:00, leave by 10:30 for the promenade and the Areopagus, and take an Acropolis slot at 11:00 if you want the rock. Keep Anafiotika, Plaka and Monastiraki for the afternoon, when everything on them is outdoors. Hadrian’s Library closes at 15:00 and the Acropolis at 17:00, so with the museum and the rock in the day, drop the library.

What closes:

• 1 November to 31 March: the Acropolis at 17:00, Hadrian’s Library at 15:00 and the museum at 17:00 Monday to Thursday.
• Tuesdays: the Tzisdarakis Mosque.
• 1 January, 1 May, Orthodox Easter Sunday, 25 and 26 December: the Acropolis, the museum, Hadrian’s Library and the mosque. On 25 March the Acropolis and Hadrian’s Library are shut and the museum is open and free.
• The Odeon: shut until its restoration ends.

What does not close: the promenade, the Areopagus, Anafiotika, the lanes of Plaka, the Monument of Lysicrates and Monastiraki Square. A Tuesday still makes a good walk: only the mosque is shut.

Getting there and back

• To the start: Akropoli station, on metro line 2, opens beside the museum. Athens public transport has the tickets.
• From the end: Monastiraki station is on lines 1 and 3. Line 3 runs to the airport: see Athens airport to the city.
• In reverse: starting from Monastiraki puts the climb to Anafiotika and the Areopagus first and ends at the museum, which is open until 22:00 on Fridays.

What to do with the rest of the day

• Hadrian’s Arch and the Olympieion: the Syntagma to Monastiraki walk ends at Monastiraki too and passes the Monument of Lysicrates. The Arch is 490 m from the Acropolis Museum.
• The Agora: the Ancient Agora is 4 minutes from Monastiraki Square, and closes at 17:00 in winter.
• The market and the food: Monastiraki flea market and Athens food tours.
• The days: Athens in one or two days fits the Acropolis slot, and what to book before you go to Athens has the closed days for every sight.
• Where to sleep: hotels near the Acropolis and where to stay in Athens.

Common questions

How long is the Acropolis and Plaka walk?

2.9 km from the Acropolis Museum to Monastiraki Square, measured along the streets: about 40 minutes of walking. With the museum, the Acropolis (allow 2 hours) and a lunch stop it takes most of a day.

Is the walk free?

The promenade, the Areopagus, Anafiotika, the lanes of Plaka, the Monument of Lysicrates and Monastiraki Square cost nothing. The Acropolis Museum is €20, the Acropolis with the Theatre of Dionysos €30, Hadrian's Library €10 and the Tzisdarakis Mosque €5.

Can I go inside the Odeon of Herodes Atticus?

No. It closed in July 2026 for a restoration that the City of Athens puts at three years, so there are no concerts and no visits.

Can I walk to Anafiotika without an Acropolis ticket?

Yes. Theorias Street runs from the Acropolis gate east along the north slope to Anafiotika and needs no ticket. The Peripatos, the path on the slope above it, is inside the ticketed Acropolis site.

Which day is best for the walk?

Wednesday to Friday. The Tzisdarakis Mosque is shut on Tuesdays, the Acropolis Museum closes at 17:00 on Mondays all year and Monday to Thursday from 1 November to 31 March, and on Fridays it stays open until 22:00.

Where does the walk start and finish?

It starts at the Acropolis Museum, beside Akropoli station on metro line 2, and finishes at Monastiraki Square, above Monastiraki station on lines 1 and 3. The Syntagma to Monastiraki walk also ends there.