The Northern suburbs

Ekali: - 3 rd richest area of Europe Ekali is purely residential, except there are three kiosks (newsstands), one taverna restaurant, one hotel, a monastery, and a privately owned acquifer providing independent water supply to the residents of the suburban community

The Giannis Spyropoulos Museum, a famous Greek artist, viewing by appointment only

Ekali 4x4 Club is for members only - but they did organise and host Ekali Adventure Trophy, an off-road rally in 2005

Ecali Club is a prestigious venue but it is a members only club, so no casual visitors unless invited

See Mt Pendeli for more details

Agios Stefanos: - rather exclusive suburb, almost entirely residential luxury houses, it is in the northern part of the Athenian plain, between the Parnitha mountain range and Penteli mountain range to the east

Nea Erythrea: - the Parnitha mountain range lies to the west and are forested and Penteli mountain range to the east, urban and residential, still farms but nothing to make it stand out other than to be in the northern suburbs of Athens and not cheap

Drosia: - exclusive suburb that has too many luxury houses and apartment complexes, it is at the west of the Athinian plain going up the Parnitha mountain range, located in dwindiling evergreen pine forests

Athenians drive up to Drosia on the weekends, seeking cool and shade in the taverns, cafes and one outdoor cinema

Kryoneri: - a rather exclusive suburb of Athens, rural area to an upper-middle class suburb with some luxury houses but the main thing is the agriculture and the Kryoneri Observatory with 1.2 m diameter mirror telescope

Kifissia: - has always been one of the most prestigious northern suburbs of Athens in modern times

See Kifissia for more details

See festivals for when to go

See shopping for the info on the street

Maroussi: - a quiet northern suburb in the main but it has many faces;

One as having the most complete and modern variety of facilities, cafes, restaurants, multiplexes, athletic venues, a huge indoor shopping arcade

Ttwo with the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, the largest sports complex in Greece, and

Three with is economic centre as its main street (Kifisias Avenue), with the commercial buildings and shops

There are 4 ISAP train stations with two connections to the Suburban Railway.

ANT1 television station and studios are also located in this community, as are some other head offices of several multinational corporations

Plus the biggest forest in urban Athens, Dassos Syngrou, is to be found here

See festivals for whats on in the area

Pefki: - near the mountains, an expensive area to live but it does have an industrial section, been through it but never wanted to stop there

Vrilissia: - affluent suburb, Two popular centres of activity are the two main squares, "Plateia Iroon" and "Plateia Analipseos" which have been recently renovated and hosting several small coffee shops

The area has been kept relatively green with most houses/apartment blocks having a garden

Melissia: - an out of the way non exclusive or interesting place, the area around Melissia is made up of residential areas, with a few northern parts that are made up of forests

Penteli: - is on the mountain, this range of mountains is home to the protected and famous marble quarry which provides marble only to the Acropolis Restoration Project

The residences are luxurious and have been built on the remains after the fire in 1995 but there is still a forested area that is preserved

It has a monastery, see Mount Pendeli for more details

Halandri: - I like this area, it was farm land and a village and it has mainly been overlooked by developers, it is a crazy mix of apartment blocks, farms, amenities but not easy to get to with public transport - busses or car only

It has lots of houses with gardens, affluent in places but it has the feeling of being out of the way

Psychiko: - one of the wealthiest suburbs of Athens, houses detached, no more than 3 stories high, the prestigious residents with commercialisation restricted, the place of embasies;

Bulgaria / China / Croatia / Czech Republic / Georgia / Hungary / Indonesia / Iran / Iraq / Israel / Jordan / Kuwait / Lebanon / Libya / Morocco / Philippines / Poland / Romania / Russia / Saudi Arabia / Slovakia / Slovenia / Syria / Thailand / Tunisia / Vatican City State / Venezuela

And consulates;

Iceland / Libya / Poland / Turkey

Filothei: - affluent green suburb of Athens, Greece, consisting mainly of hillside villas, relatively close to the Olympic Stadium and home to many of Athens' foreign residents, especially those employed in diplomatic capacities

The Southern suburbs

Alimos:- Has an acient church in Agia Triada plateiea square with its own mountain water spout straight from the mountain Ymittos

It has a coast with exclusive beaches

The Alimos marina is situated to the west serving up to 1,100 boats, (depth ranges from 2 to 7 metres)

See Beaches & Marinas for more details

Palaio Faliro: - a Piraeus beach, with an archological site 350 meters from the modern coastline, see museums for more details

The Marina Alimou (yacht harbour) with several piers lies to the southeast, while the Trokadero harbour lies to the northwest

See Beaches & Marinas for more details

Elliniko: - Lots of Olympic venues, Forests dominate within the beach and has a few clubs

See Beaches & Marinas for more details

Voula: - Narrow stretch of land, they have tried to keep it exclusive and residential but it does have to provide services to those who use their beaches, the next over to commercialised Glyfada

It has mount Yimitos on one side and the beaches by the Saronic Gulf, see Mount Yimitos for more details

See Beaches & Marinas for more details

Vouliagmeni: - is a long road that runs from Athens centre to Vouliagmeni centre, running parallel to the coast, the east side of the town is residences, with some of the most expensive housing real estate in Greece and where zoning is strictly enforced, the west side is covered with pine trees

It is on the site of Mt Yimitos - see Mount Yimitos for more details

See Vouliagmeni & Voula for more details

There are two marinas - See Beaches & Marinas for more details

Varkiza: - Near the Ymittos mountains, forests covers a part of the municipality but much of the mountainous area are rocky and grassy.

It has a famous beach that includes a tennis court, a park, a field, restaurant, tavern, complexes and more and it is still considered as a vacation and summer retreat especialy for high income classes

See Beaches & Marinas for more details

See Mount Yimitos for more details

The Eastern suburbs

Zografou: - part of the Ymittos range, residential and with public amenities

The campus of the University of Athens going up the side of the Ymittos range overlooking Athens, walking around the grounds you just see large concrete buildings and the rooms inside are big, airey with nothing much in them

In the eastern part of Zografou are the underground industrial mines

See Mountain Ymittos for more details

Vyronas: - The forest of Ymittos lies to the east, residential and with public amenities, The National Stadium of Vyrona seating 4,340, Theatro Vrachon or the Rock Theater where the Vyronas Music Festival takes place every summer, contact the Vyronas Cultural Centre Tel. 210.766.2066

The Vyronas Festival takes place at the Vyronas Cultural Center during the summer months. Surrounded by huge rocks the theater (also named Rock Theater) is quite stunning and has become one of the major summer concert theaters. Both Greek and international artists have performed here, and every year more and more artists participate in the festival, incorporating a larger selection of events

Vyronas Cultural Center

Kiprou and Evangelikis Scholis Streets, Vyronas, Athens Greece

Tel: (+30) 210 7662066, 210 7626438, 210 7626738

See Mountain Ymittos for more details

Kaisariani: - is half covered in the preservation forests of Ymittos, hiking and bicycling area

The Kaisariani Monastery with the rest as residential area with local aminities

See Mountain Ymittos for more details

Cholargos: - The birthplace of Cholera which it is named after, it is mainly forested and mixed residential / commercial, it is a hard working area where they have many international events organised by the businesses, in their Holargos Cultural Center they have annual traditonal flolk dancing contests, but otherwise there is nothing much to do for tourists

See festivals for more details on the Traditional Fold Dancing contest

Papagou: – it is urbanized while the businesses closer to Zografou and Mesogeios Avenue

It has for forested parks and the local Mayor has been working tirelessly to improve the area and to get the land fill that handles Athens waste that is in its borders closed.

Aghia Paraskevi: - Agia Paraskevi Square with a beautiful cathedral, built at the bottom of the mount Ymittos range, it is good for leisure activities such as trekking, jogging and picnic

It is a popular place at night with local Athenians as a place to relax at its many bars, clubs and tavernas with a great view over Athens at night

It has nun monastery of Saint John

See Mountain Ymittos for more details

The Western suburbs

Peristeri: - is a downtown area of Athens, it is resedential for a large percentage of the foreign imigrants and has a large industrial area that is being modernised and changed into the new entertainment area with clubs and bazoukias for the night life and proposed amenities for the resident comunities

Ilion: - is urbanized or residential, it is rocky and you can see Aigaleo which lies to the west and to the north, the industrial area of Athens. Abandoned mines in the west but urban renewal schemes have helped make many of its platieas, shops and it is a nice place to live

Egaleo: - this is commercial factories and residences for the workers, there are the local amenities and quiet often when they create the latest sensation by building a new club it becomes popular for Athenians to frequent the area for the experience

See entertainment for more details

Petroupoli: - This area has been left out of the commercialisation of the area, it is residential and is a restful suburb

Except for the summer International Petra (stone or rock) Festival at the Petra Theatre -

Nikaia: - urbanized or residential, made up of hills with exception of the northwest where the Aegaleo ranges are located -