Not every good day out needs a ticket. These are the free plans we'd send a friend to: big parks with shade and playgrounds, hills with a view over the city, beaches within reach, a museum or two that charge nothing at the door, and the festivals, parades and races that fill the streets through the year.
Schoolchildren march for Ochi Day, the national holiday remembering Greece's "No" to Italy's 1940 ultimatum.
Kids will enjoy it, and it opens an easy conversation about the history behind the holiday.
Kavouri is two sandy beaches back to back, about 900 meters in all, with sand on the shore and the seabed and clear, shallow water. A small islet sits close enough to reach on foot.
A green strip with a wide paved path runs along the sand, and the fully renovated Kavouri Playground is right at the beach. At Megalo Kavouri, a stretch of an ancient road is on view.
Veikou Grove is a 25-hectare wooded park on the northwest slopes of the Tourkovounia hills, run by the municipality of Galatsi. Kids get playgrounds, a skateboard track, small soccer and basketball courts, and outdoor gym equipment.
The grounds also hold the municipal pool, tennis and pétanque courts, cafés, a summer cinema and an open-air theater that stages shows in summer.
Attiko Alsos spreads over two rocky hills of the Tourkovounia, replanted with pine and cypress groves on the site of old quarries. Paths for walking and running lead to viewpoints, the best facing south over Athens to Piraeus and the Saronic islands.
Kids get tennis, basketball, volleyball and 5x5 soccer courts, a playground for preschoolers, and summer shows at the open-air theater and cinema.
Goudi Park sits on the grounds of the old Goudi army barracks, now lawns, tall trees and sports grounds. Its standout is a 300-meter stream that starts as a small waterfall by the children's playground and runs north, under two wooden bridges, toward a preserved two-story building that once housed the army command.
Football fields, tennis courts and outdoor fitness equipment line the paths, which suit bikes and long walks.
Pedion tou Areos is a 27.7-hectare park of pine-shaded paths, fountains, a rose garden and a botanical garden, designed in 1934 to honor the heroes of the 1821 revolution, 21 of whom stand as marble busts.
The main playground sits under the pines at the eastern end by Protomagias Square, mostly swings and low slides. A smaller toddler playground has a play ship, swings, a slide and a seesaw.
Lycabettus is a limestone hill rising 277 meters over central Athens, the highest point in the city center, with pine trees around its base. A funicular runs up inside a 210-meter tunnel from Kolonaki in about 3 minutes, or families can climb the trail. At the top sit the Chapel of St. George, a café-restaurant, an open-air theater and views across the city to the Acropolis.
A fenced municipal playground on Poseidonos Avenue, between Flisvos Park and the marina. It is split into six areas: a toddler zone, a big-kid zone, walking paths, a sports field with outdoor gym equipment and mini soccer and basketball courts, an 80-seat wooden amphitheater, and a canteen.
The centerpiece is a 1,000-square-meter frame of slides and lofts, alongside swings, castles, towers and boats.
The Experience Park is the first open part of the Ellinikon redevelopment, on the site of the city's old airport. Its 75 acres hold about 900 trees, 80,000 plants and three plazas.
Kids head for the Forest Playground, built from wooden climbing structures, and the Water Maze, a walk-in fountain of water jets and light. There is also a zen garden and outdoor fitness equipment.
One of the last wildlife refuges in the Athens basin, this park centers on six man-made lakes linked by an artificial canal, a stopover for water birds that lost their wetlands elsewhere.
The Hellenic Ornithological Society has recorded 175 bird species here and runs environmental programs on site. The rest is varied planting with space for long walks and bike rides.
A fenced grove of pines and cypresses planted in the 1920s, about 5 hectares of dense shade in the middle of Nea Smyrni. Kids get a playground, outdoor chess, two fountains and dovecotes housing hundreds of pigeons.
A bike lane runs the whole perimeter path, handy for scooters and first bikes. Inside there's a canteen and an open-air theater that holds about 2,500 people.
Philopappos Hill, the ancient Hill of the Muses, rises southwest of the Acropolis under pines, olives and cypresses. Stone paths and resting terraces laid by architect Dimitris Pikionis in the 1950s climb to the Philopappos Monument, the 2nd-century mausoleum of a Roman consul.
On the way, kids can look into the rock-cut caves known as the "Prison of Socrates" and stop at the small church of Agios Dimitrios Loumbardiaris.
The National Garden is a 19th-century English-style park behind the Parliament, with winding paths, small bridges and about 6,600 trees. Kids head for the duck pond and goldfish pond, then the playground and the Children's Library. A small Botanical Museum, a sundial and Roman ruins add a little history.
Bikes and scooters can't be ridden inside, which keeps the paths calm for toddlers on foot.
Stavros Niarchos Park is the 21-hectare green space around the Renzo Piano-designed cultural center that houses the Greek National Opera and the National Library. Kids can run the Great Lawn, try the Sound Garden, find their way through the Labyrinth and play at the playgrounds.
Fountains in the seawater canal dance to music through the day. It is the world's largest public Mediterranean garden.
Run by retired staff of the Athens-Piraeus electric railway, this museum fills the old post office of Piraeus station, where Line 1 ends. The ground floor centers on an old wooden train carriage. Three more levels show objects from the stations, plus photographs and documents from the railway, the Piraeus-Perama light railway and the old harbor tramway.
The Children's Museum of Athens, run by the Hellenic Children's Museum, fills the ground floor of the Athens Conservatoire building with hands-on exhibits. Kids play in a biscuit-themed kitchen, play vet at the Pet Care Clinic, blow bubbles, try math games in Hello Pythagoras!, study maps and practice road safety. A separate playspace is set up for babies and toddlers, and kids can make things to take home.
Not every good day out needs a ticket. These are the free plans we'd send a friend to: big parks with shade and playgrounds, hills with a view over the city, beaches within reach, a museum or two that charge nothing at the door, and the festivals, parades and races that fill the streets through the year.
Schoolchildren march for Ochi Day, the national holiday remembering Greece's "No" to Italy's 1940 ultimatum.
Kids will enjoy it, and it opens an easy conversation about the history behind the holiday.
Kavouri is two sandy beaches back to back, about 900 meters in all, with sand on the shore and the seabed and clear, shallow water. A small islet sits close enough to reach on foot.
A green strip with a wide paved path runs along the sand, and the fully renovated Kavouri Playground is right at the beach. At Megalo Kavouri, a stretch of an ancient road is on view.
Veikou Grove is a 25-hectare wooded park on the northwest slopes of the Tourkovounia hills, run by the municipality of Galatsi. Kids get playgrounds, a skateboard track, small soccer and basketball courts, and outdoor gym equipment.
The grounds also hold the municipal pool, tennis and pétanque courts, cafés, a summer cinema and an open-air theater that stages shows in summer.
Attiko Alsos spreads over two rocky hills of the Tourkovounia, replanted with pine and cypress groves on the site of old quarries. Paths for walking and running lead to viewpoints, the best facing south over Athens to Piraeus and the Saronic islands.
Kids get tennis, basketball, volleyball and 5x5 soccer courts, a playground for preschoolers, and summer shows at the open-air theater and cinema.
Goudi Park sits on the grounds of the old Goudi army barracks, now lawns, tall trees and sports grounds. Its standout is a 300-meter stream that starts as a small waterfall by the children's playground and runs north, under two wooden bridges, toward a preserved two-story building that once housed the army command.
Football fields, tennis courts and outdoor fitness equipment line the paths, which suit bikes and long walks.
Pedion tou Areos is a 27.7-hectare park of pine-shaded paths, fountains, a rose garden and a botanical garden, designed in 1934 to honor the heroes of the 1821 revolution, 21 of whom stand as marble busts.
The main playground sits under the pines at the eastern end by Protomagias Square, mostly swings and low slides. A smaller toddler playground has a play ship, swings, a slide and a seesaw.
Lycabettus is a limestone hill rising 277 meters over central Athens, the highest point in the city center, with pine trees around its base. A funicular runs up inside a 210-meter tunnel from Kolonaki in about 3 minutes, or families can climb the trail. At the top sit the Chapel of St. George, a café-restaurant, an open-air theater and views across the city to the Acropolis.
A fenced municipal playground on Poseidonos Avenue, between Flisvos Park and the marina. It is split into six areas: a toddler zone, a big-kid zone, walking paths, a sports field with outdoor gym equipment and mini soccer and basketball courts, an 80-seat wooden amphitheater, and a canteen.
The centerpiece is a 1,000-square-meter frame of slides and lofts, alongside swings, castles, towers and boats.
The Experience Park is the first open part of the Ellinikon redevelopment, on the site of the city's old airport. Its 75 acres hold about 900 trees, 80,000 plants and three plazas.
Kids head for the Forest Playground, built from wooden climbing structures, and the Water Maze, a walk-in fountain of water jets and light. There is also a zen garden and outdoor fitness equipment.
One of the last wildlife refuges in the Athens basin, this park centers on six man-made lakes linked by an artificial canal, a stopover for water birds that lost their wetlands elsewhere.
The Hellenic Ornithological Society has recorded 175 bird species here and runs environmental programs on site. The rest is varied planting with space for long walks and bike rides.
A fenced grove of pines and cypresses planted in the 1920s, about 5 hectares of dense shade in the middle of Nea Smyrni. Kids get a playground, outdoor chess, two fountains and dovecotes housing hundreds of pigeons.
A bike lane runs the whole perimeter path, handy for scooters and first bikes. Inside there's a canteen and an open-air theater that holds about 2,500 people.
Philopappos Hill, the ancient Hill of the Muses, rises southwest of the Acropolis under pines, olives and cypresses. Stone paths and resting terraces laid by architect Dimitris Pikionis in the 1950s climb to the Philopappos Monument, the 2nd-century mausoleum of a Roman consul.
On the way, kids can look into the rock-cut caves known as the "Prison of Socrates" and stop at the small church of Agios Dimitrios Loumbardiaris.
The National Garden is a 19th-century English-style park behind the Parliament, with winding paths, small bridges and about 6,600 trees. Kids head for the duck pond and goldfish pond, then the playground and the Children's Library. A small Botanical Museum, a sundial and Roman ruins add a little history.
Bikes and scooters can't be ridden inside, which keeps the paths calm for toddlers on foot.
Stavros Niarchos Park is the 21-hectare green space around the Renzo Piano-designed cultural center that houses the Greek National Opera and the National Library. Kids can run the Great Lawn, try the Sound Garden, find their way through the Labyrinth and play at the playgrounds.
Fountains in the seawater canal dance to music through the day. It is the world's largest public Mediterranean garden.
Run by retired staff of the Athens-Piraeus electric railway, this museum fills the old post office of Piraeus station, where Line 1 ends. The ground floor centers on an old wooden train carriage. Three more levels show objects from the stations, plus photographs and documents from the railway, the Piraeus-Perama light railway and the old harbor tramway.
The Children's Museum of Athens, run by the Hellenic Children's Museum, fills the ground floor of the Athens Conservatoire building with hands-on exhibits. Kids play in a biscuit-themed kitchen, play vet at the Pet Care Clinic, blow bubbles, try math games in Hello Pythagoras!, study maps and practice road safety. A separate playspace is set up for babies and toddlers, and kids can make things to take home.
