Get Cheap Tickets to Athens, Relax in Plaka

Athens is a favorite cheap airfares destination both for its fascinating ancient architecture and for its cosmopolitan charm. The city has many intriguing neighborhoods that you can explore, but which one should you see to really get an ideal glimpse of Athenian heritage? In the popular Plaka neighborhood, historic monuments overlook plazas and boutique shops near taverns and cafes. Come to Plaka for a great introduction to this city that demonstrates both ancient and modern Europe. Book cheap airfare tickets for flights to Athens today.  

The historic district of Plaka is just below the Acropolis, so it is very accessible to many of the ancient sites you might want to see after your cheap flights to Athens. Plaka itself overlooks the Agora and the ancient rock of Arios Pagos. In Agora, the ancient Greek marketplace, you can explore the remains of its shops and fountains as well as its octagonal Tower of the Winds. Many of the buildings commissioned by the emperor Hadrian are in this area, including Hadrian’s library. The first Greek university, Kapodistrian University, is also here, built in 1837 just after Greeks gained independence. Besides the ruins here, Plaka has several museums worth seeing. The Benaki Museum of Islamic Art was recently opened in 2004. The Kanellopoulos Museum has some Mycenean and Persian artifacts. At the Museum of Greek Popular Musical Instruments, check out some old folk instruments and recordings of songs that use them. The Museum of Greek Folk Art is highly recommended and your kids will love the Children’s Museum. A lovely neighborhood-within-a-neighborhood that you can search for in Plaka is Anafiotica, a classic white village with typical island-style architecture. Shoppers with cheap tickets to Athens will love Plaka for its variety of shops. The essential shopping streets are Pandrosou, Adrianou, and Hephaestou. There is an extensive flea market here on Sundays in case your plane tickets will put you in Athens over a weekend.

Although it has become a top spot for tourists arriving on flights to Athens due to its location near many ruins, Plaka is still a favorite with local Athenians for its cafes, bars, and ambience. Plaka is sometimes even called the Neighborhood of the Gods in Greek literature. You’ll love the charming neoclassical 19th century homes and small shops along leafy, winding streets. There are many iconic taverns in this neighborhood where Greek new wave music gained popularity in the 1960s. You can find some great places here to try Greek wines like retsina or the Greek spirit of choice, ouzo. To get to Plaka, you can take lines 1 or 3 of the metro to Monastiraki station. Find those airfares for cheap tickets to Athens now and plan your visit to Plaka.