Mapping your way around

The white marble columns of the Parthenon, topping the crag of the Acropolis, are the crowning glory, next to a gleaming modern museum that one day soon, Athenians hope, will once more house the Parthenon Marbles currently languishing in the leaky old British Museum in London.

Tree-filled Syntagma Square, dominated by Greece’s parliament building and grand hotels, is the central hub. The old Plaka district, huddled between Syntagma and the slopes of the Acropolis, is undeniably tourist territory. But go a little beyond to discover edgy neighbourhoods that Athenians love, yet most visitors never reach.

Tree-filled Syntagma Square, dominated by Greece’s parliament building and grand hotels, is the city’s central hub

South of Plaka and the Acropolis, Koukaki is mainly traffic-free and residential, with a scattering of trendy boutique hotels….