Unexpected Athens Orientation Walk

This is a tour about the true heart and soul of Athens. It’s a tour about its people, its habits – old and new-, its everyday life and its secrets.

During this walk you will witness some of Athens’ greatest contrasts: From the Old Royal Palace and the city’s posh areas, where the rich and famous have always settled, to the hotbed of rebellious young thinkers, that has been associated with forward-thinking and social experimentation, where students gather to argue the issues of the day.

You‘ll see buildings of amazing architecture, that reflect the vision of modern Athens as a successor to the glory that was Ancient Athens, as well as architecture that represents the Modernist and inter-war movements. As you are slowly discovering the city you will learn that there are many secrets that lie beneath the surface and that the past is always just a few steps from the present…

You’ll also get a chance to explore some gentrified neighborhoods that are devoted to small businesses, but now they’re all interspersed with trendy eateries and funky little bars. This is where you can see some of the city’s best street art, come across a new jewelry designer, or shop for vintage clothing at one of the retro boutiques.

And as modernity coexists with tradition, you’ll find out how the Ottoman past is still alive in Athens’ flea market, one of the liveliest neighborhoods of the city, where the old and the new generations still meet today.

By the end of our tour, we hope that you’ll have seen the true soul of Athens and its people, a city with a thousand stories still standing, as it has since ancient times, right on the border between the East and the West.