Lycabettus Hill.
The view Athens checks itself against.
Edited by Aki Sumawaki
Highest Point
Since 1965
Natural Landmark
~8 min walk to Kolonaki Square
~13 min to Exarcheia Square
A limestone hill rising out of Kolonaki, pine woods at its base and the Chapel of St George on top. Walk up through the pines from Aristippou, or take the funicular through the rock. Come half an hour before sunset and stay for the lights.
Lycabettus rises 277 metres out of Kolonaki — the highest point in central Athens, a limestone hill with pine woods around its base and a whitewashed chapel on the summit. The Chapel of St George dates from the 19th century; below it, an open-air theatre near the top has hosted Greek and international concerts for decades. Legend says the hill is a rock Athena dropped on her way to the Acropolis.
There are two ways up. The footpath starts at the end of Aristippou Street and winds through the pines. The funicular leaves from the corner of Aristippou and Ploutarchou: inaugurated on 18 April 1965, it climbs 210 metres entirely inside the rock and comes out beside the chapel. It runs daily from 09:00 to 02:30, every 30 minutes, more often at peak times; a return ticket is €13.
A few minutes in a tunnel, then the whole city at once.
From the summit terrace the city lies flat in every direction: the Acropolis and the Parthenon, Syntagma and the Parliament, the grid running down to Piraeus and the Saronic Gulf. Come half an hour before sunset and stay for the lights. The nearest metro is Evangelismos.
Why we picked it
No other point in the city explains Athens so quickly. Seen from up here, the sprawl, the sea and the Acropolis finally make sense together.
Best forSunset and a first look at the whole city
