Out & About

Shopping Highpoints

Ermou

This is a major shopping street, it in fact defines a whole area between Syntagma Square and Thisseou, and the road itself is divided in half by a lovely little church

The end near Syntagma has lots of names of Famous shops, some Greek chains and many famous Greek shops, it starts with shoe shops, goes in to clothes and then works its way past Monistiriki into the small and second hand shops

The small road off to the side contain such a mixture of shops, cafés and tavernas that the place never sleeps, it is the portal to Plaka and it leads to the markets of Monistiriki

Stadiou

One of the major roads that connects Omonia with Syntagma, it has a mixture of culture and shops, high class and specialist and many book shops, plus the banks of course, the metro station of Panapistimiou is on a platiea in the middle, with a wonderful cool fountain by cafés and access to Panipistimiou road and the original palace of the first king of Greece

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Kiffisias

This is a major long road that stretches from Vasilias Sofias, starting with TGIFridays all the way through many suburbs until it stops in the Kiffisia area

There are small community shops, speciality shops, designers, Event halls, car showrooms, clubs, furniture shops, and ministry buildings, it is a good ¾ of an hour by bus (on a good day), but it has so much variety, it is well worth a visit to note the fact that it is divided into 3 lots of the same numbers because it is so long

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Pattision

Now this is the road that leads to the museums and monuments, after that it is Clothes, full range of expensive to bargain basement, the accessory shops with shoe shops thrown in to make the ensemble complete

There are a few squares along its way with a fantastic side trip to Kipselli, the café boulevard, rather like the Chanse Elisis in Paris, with Amerikis square where you can stop and breath with a bite to eat and a post office near by, before you continue up the road to the rest of the shops, keep going till you get to the top, there are some nice cafés by the church in Ano Pattisia to finish your day

Pieros

This is another long major road that has so much on it, these are the larger shops, the Super and Mega markets mixed in with small platieas and the amenities for the locals

I goes through many suburbs with fantastic names, but this is one you go to when you want that special thing or service, not for the casual walk, this is more like a reconnaissance trip

The main places that has the smaller shops besides the platieas along the way are at the Pireus port end and Omonia square end, these are the edges and the shops are mixed at both ends, not just one idea, from fishing tackle shops to natural beauty clinics

Markets in Monistiriki

These are available to the bargain hunter, this is where you will find the hawkers, the immigrants selling you sunglasses to hand made leather jewellery, clothes, shoes and rip off bags, secure your valuables as haggling is a must, do not take the price on the tag as the only one they will sell at

Voulagmenis

This is a one way road, from Hadrians Arch to Agious Dimitrious, (the last metro stop at the moment on the red line), from there it is two way to Volagmenis centre, as it is one way and well covered by bus, you could go up the section to Agious Dimitrious looking at all the clothes shops, stopping at Dafni Square for cafés and watching the locals just living life

But coming back, go to the parallel road ΗΛΙΟΥΠΟΛΕΟΣ (the Greeks like Ilioupoleos), this road has shop after shop of furniture, some imported but others are hand made in Greece, some old design but many modern

Example, a shop of fantastic mirrors, lights or hat stands, the complete child’s room set with space saving ideas

They will export and make all the arrangements for you, if you have to order and it is small, they will deliver to you as well, local delivery included in the price and yes you can and are expected to haggle, if you need a receipt, you will have to pay the Greek tax, but if you pay the Greek tax, you should have no problem reducing the import tax in your country