Vouliagmeni
Astir Beach.
The Riviera, since 1959.
The Athenian Riviera's defining beach since 1959, designed by Kostas Voutsinas. 400 metres of sand, striped umbrellas, the Temple of Apollo Zoster on the headland, the Four Seasons next door.
Apollonos 40, Vouliagmeni. Twenty minutes south of the centre, the place the Athenian summer goes when it wants to be seen.
Astir opened in 1959, designed by Kostas Voutsinas — and the design is the brand. The colourful striped umbrellas that mark every photograph of the Athens Riviera are his. The seagull-shaped shades are his. Four hundred metres of sand fringed by pines, 800 sunbeds, a members-only lounge for the regulars. Christina Onassis came here. Brigitte Bardot came here. The ski school opened in 1966 and the celebrities followed.
The Riviera’s defining beach since 1959. The striped umbrellas haven’t changed.
The headland behind the beach holds the Temple of Apollo Zoster — sixth century BC, excavated in the 1920s. The myth: a pregnant Leto loosened her belt (the zoster) here to ease the pain of labour. Athens calling itself old. The Four Seasons sits next door now, the only Four Seasons in Greece. Astir runs the beach club; the hotel runs the membership.
Open May to October. Sunbed reservations on the site, in the app. The bar is Privilege Beach House. The restaurant is the day's catch and a cold Assyrtiko. Book a front-row sunbed for early afternoon if the sun is what you came for; the back row if it's the conversation. Stay through the sunset.
1959
Year
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