Explore Athens Architecture with a Local | This is Athens with a Local

Thomas Gravanis

Residential and commercial buildings of different centuries and styles give you a glimpse of how the shifting population has shaped the cityscape of Athens.

Overview

Understand the evolution of Athens through its architecture, with the help of a local insider. Scattered all over the Greek capital are ruins, monuments and landmarks that reveal many layers of history. From elaborate government buildings to Byzantine churches, Bauhaus apartments and contemporary landmarks, the architecture of Athens reveals fascinating stories of migration and gentrification.

Info

Potential starting points are the Info point kiosk at Syntagma or the City Hall. Locals are non-paid savvy Athenians providing their personal opinions and not professional tour guides.

View Terms of Programme

Take this Walk

Duration:

~2 hours

Reviews

Nigel & Jo Brook

Nikki was obviously keen to meet us and show us the city. We learnt a lot about what it was like to live in Athens and about the more recent history of the city and the nation.

Visited Athens in February 10, 2024

Nigel & Jo Brook

Nikki was obviously keen to meet us and show us the city. We learnt a lot about what it was like to live in Athens and about the more recent history of the city and the nation.

Visited Athens in February 10, 2024

Gianandrea & Stefano

We were searching for a tour that highlights the architecture not exactly included in the more touristic paths and that was it. Discovering buildings, their stories and functions was incredibly interesting. Walking trough different neighborhoods with a local is something that adds value to the discovery of athens having a deep insight on many topics.

Visited Athens in August 17, 2023

Fausto Gomez

The walk provided a very different perspective on Athens. Outside of the tourist haunts it showed how Athenians lived and experienced the city on a daily basis. I recommend it highly for those who enjoy delving deeper in their travels and experiences “off the beaten path.”

Visited Athens in August 5, 2023

Vivian Painter

My small family group had a walking tour with Nikki. What can I say? It was amazing. Nikki is knowledgeable, personable, informative and energetic. She not only provided the information about Athens architecture in the core area of the city in which were staying but Nikki was very knowledgeable about national and local politics and recent history. I would highly recommend spending any time you might have while in Athens to take this tour. My family group had spent 2.5 days taking in the ancient sites in Athens and this tour brought the current Athens into better focus. I think this is a great service the city of Athens provides to its visitors. More cities should be doing this.

Visited Athens in June 12, 2023

A C

Nikki is extremely knowledgeable about the architecture and urbanism of the city. As an architect, I appreciated her academic level of knowledge and it was made even more enjoyable due to our shared enthusiasm for the topic. The information was both practical and enlightening as by the end of the tour she made a point as to how to use points of reference for wayfinding through the city, specific neighborhoods to visit for the things I was interested in etc. It was a fantastic way to kick off my first visit to Athens and my trip was the best it could be thanks to Nikki’s helpful and friendly suggestions and knowledge. Amazing tour, thank you Nikki!

Visited Athens in February 26, 2023

Diogo

The walk was very tranquil. I got to see the city from different perspective.

Visited Athens in November 12, 2022

Your Locals for this Walk

Constantine C.

Athenian by birth, and a trained architect, I love the historic layers of the built environment of my city.

Katerina K.

Hey there! I consider myself very spontaneous, in a sense that I love to create, reinvent and experiment with new things. I studied and enjoyed engineering and I was one of the three women in Greece in my specialty. But life has a way of changing things so I found my true passion and that is to connect with people. It's amazing how sharing thoughts and ideas, interests or experiences can make such incredible bonds all over the world. I am a collection of the things that have inspired me through my life and those things include my city. Ι believe myself to be a very chilled and open-minded person. I love Athens because it’s the city where I was born and raised and where you can appreciate a contrast of diversity. I like to find the most authentic places of a city. Those places that make you connect with the people and want to come back to them. The Acropolis, temples and museums are impressive, but get to know the way real, everyday Athenians live and hang out.

Katerina L.

I am passionate about the Olympic Games and I also like walking, art, cultural events - and Korea 여러분 안녕하세요!

Spyridon K.

Brigitte C.

Bonjour,
Je m'appelle Brigitte. Je suis française et athénienne à temps partiel. Je propose de vous faire visiter mon quartier, Kato Patissia. Il est peu fréquenté par les touristes mais recèle de belles surprises qui racontent une partie de l'histoire (récente) de la ville. Chaussures confortables indispensables !

Nikki Z.

Parrots in Athens? Yep! Feral ones! You can hear their chattering around their bedtime, angling for a good spot on tall trees surrounding centuries-old buildings, through & above the noise of internal combustion engines, & no doubt soon, electric ones.

I’m crazy about cities. They’re my ~natural habitat~ (not just Athens) & I walk most places, because I love to explore: watching the flora and the fauna (animal and human!) scrutinising the buildings & the streets, trying to suss out what makes them tick, what makes the whole thing run as well as it does even when so much conventional wisdom tells us it isn’t or can’t or shouldn’t! How they shape us after we’ve shaped them.

Little cozy spots & big airy views, the sacred & the profane, the brazenly commercial & the earnestly artistic, I love it all, & exploring an old space with new people just brings new discoveries! Novelty food or trendy hangouts won’t get me out & about, but piquing my curiosity will!