# A Day in Athens: the Acropolis at Opening, the Agora, Lunch in Plaka and Sunset on Filopappou The Acropolis in the first slot, the Ancient Agora, lunch on a Plaka rooftop, the Acropolis Museum in the afternoon and the Parthenon face on as the sun sets. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/greece/attica/athens/itineraries/acropolis-agora-plaka-and-filopappou · Revisado: 2026-11-12 ## El día - 08:00 · Acropolis of Athens (First slot at hhticket.gr · €30; free for EU under-25s, with ticket and ID) - 15 min on foot - 10:45 · Ancient Agora and Temple of Hephaestus (You go down past the Areopagus; entrance from Thiseio square · €20) - 15 min on foot - 13:00 · Electra Roof Garden (Along Adrianou and the streets of Plaka · lunches from 13:00 to 17:00; book on 210 337 0000) · Electra Roof Garden, €€€ - 15 min on foot - 15:00 · Acropolis Museum (Parthenon friezes and caryatids · €20; Monday to Thursday in winter it closes at 17:00) - 15 min on foot - 17:00 · Filopappou Hill at sunset (Free · in summer, go up after 20:00) If you only have one day in Athens, start at the top. This plan climbs the Acropolis in the first slot of the morning, when the marble is still cool and the cruise groups have not arrived, goes down to the Agora where the Athenians gathered, crosses Plaka to eat on a rooftop with the Parthenon in front of you and leaves the museum for the afternoon. It ends where the rock looks best: on Filopappou Hill, with the sun falling on the Parthenon. It is all done on foot. ## Tickets, before you leave home Acropolis tickets are bought only with a day and time, at hhticket.gr, the Ministry of Culture's official portal. General admission costs €30. EU citizens under 25 and under-18s from outside the EU enter free, but they must also get their ticket with a time slot and carry ID or a passport, because it is checked at the gate. The slot marks the entry time, not the exit: once inside you stay as long as you like. The 8:00 slot sells out days ahead in season: buy it as soon as you have a date. The Agora (€20) and the Acropolis Museum (€20) can also be bought online. ## The day, hour by hour 8:00 · The Acropolis. Enter by the west access, the main one, climbing from the pedestrian street Dionysiou Areopagitou. The Propylaea, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheion with its caryatids and the Parthenon. Allow two and a half hours with the slopes. Bring water and shoes with grip: the marble of the steps is slippery. 10:45 · The Ancient Agora. You go down past the Areopagus rock and in a quarter of an hour you are in the public square of classical Athens, with the Temple of Hephaestus, the best preserved in Greece, and the museum in the Stoa of Attalos. During the works you enter from Thiseio square. An hour and a half in the shade of the trees. 13:00 · Lunch in Plaka. You cross Plaka along Adrianou Street, among shops and neoclassical houses, to the Electra Roof Garden, on the roof of the Electra Palace hotel: Mediterranean cooking with the Acropolis opposite. It serves lunch from 13:00 to 17:00; book by phone. If you want something cheaper and it is not Sunday, Fanis' Karamanlidika, next to the central market, has mezedes and cured meats. 15:00 · The Acropolis Museum. At the foot of the rock, next to Akropoli metro. You walk on a glass floor with an ancient street beneath, see five of the original caryatids and, on the top floor, the Parthenon frieze mounted with its real orientation and the rock on the other side of the picture window. Two hours. Mind: in winter, Monday to Thursday, it closes at 17:00; on Friday it opens until 22:00 and at weekends until 20:00. 17:00 · Sunset on Filopappou. From the museum door you cross Dionysiou Areopagitou and climb Pikionis's cobbled paths among pines. In twenty minutes you have the Parthenon in front of you, at your level. In winter the sun falls around five; in summer, go up after eight. ## If it rains or you have children In the rain, swap the Agora for the National Archaeological Museum, under cover and with the Mask of Agamemnon. With small children, the Acropolis works if you go up early and without hurry; the museum, with its glass floor, they like more than the rock. The loukoumades at Lukumades, honey doughnuts, make a good mid-afternoon reward. If you already know Athens, swap the morning for the Greek cooking class with Alternative Athens. ## Cómo llegar ### On foot The whole plan fits in about 8 km spread across the day, with no long slopes except the climb to the Acropolis and Filopappou. ### By metro Line 2 drops you at Akropoli, next to the museum and Dionysiou Areopagitou; lines 1 and 3, at Monastiraki, ten minutes from the Agora. From the airport, line 3 reaches Syntagma and Monastiraki. ## Consejos ### Buy the 8:00 slot It is the one that sells out first and the only cool one in summer. ### Bring your ID If you enter free by age, they ask for it along with the ticket. ### Book lunch The Electra rooftop fills up at midday in good weather. ### Check the day of the week The museum closes early Monday to Thursday in winter; Karamanlidika closes on Sunday. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### How much does it cost to enter the Acropolis? €30 general admission, with day and time at hhticket.gr. Free for EU citizens under 25, who must also get their ticket. ### Do you have to book the Acropolis in advance? Yes. Sales are by time slot and the first ones in the morning sell out days ahead in high season. ### Can you see Athens in a day? The essentials, yes: the Acropolis, the Agora, Plaka and the Acropolis Museum fit on foot in a day. The National Archaeological Museum needs another morning. ### Where is the best place to see the Parthenon at sunset? From Filopappou Hill, twenty minutes' walk from the museum, free and open. ### Can you go up with a pushchair? It is awkward: there are steps and loose stone. A baby carrier is better. The north-face lift does not always work; in November 2026 the ministry warned that it was out of service.