Athens

Check out the usual booking sites such as www.booking.com or www.hotels.com.  For our first visits we stayed at the Hotel Attalos Athinas Street nr Monistariki Metro Station, www.attaloshotel.com. The rooms are simple with all facilities required,  ask for a balcony room, ideally the corner ones for a fabulous view of the Acropolis. There is an excellent roof top bar, a great place for an evening drink, the staff are helpful, and the location of Psiri is great.

On our last visit we decided to book an apartment in Psiri and found a lovely one through www.booking.com called Athens Suites, the block is lovely, the apartments stylish and in the heart of Psiri. There is a web site and you can book direct  www.athens-suites.gr and also see the ten apartments available. They will definitely be our place stay on the next visit.

Atlantikos, Avliton 7, Psirri was the find our our a recent visit. I had read about this fish & seafood taverna in an article and on our first visit was surprised to find a modern restaurant with outside seating in a small lane. The fish was outstanding and the prices incredibly reasonable, the staff were friendly and we were very impressed. We returned on our last night after travelling and were lucky to get a table, the prawn starter and the fish main were great, as was the house wine and the bill. They have expanded the premises and on our last visit we saw how incredibly popular it is with queues for tables.On our most recent visit we managed to get a table at lunchtime and it is still excellent quality and amazing value for money.

Mavros Gatos, Navarchou Apostoli 5, Psirri, this was a great find on our most recent visit. We went for dinner twice as we were so impressed with the quality of the food and the service and loved the atmosphere. Definitely one for our next visit. We returned on our most recent visit and it was a good as ever excellent food and service, lovely staff and owner Gakis. A must on our most recent visit and still as great as ever all the dishes we had were top notch and the house wine is excellent.

Taverna Tou Psirri, Eschilou 12, Psirri, has been there for years and on this visit arriving late we tried it on our first night, simple food, reasonably priced and decent service.

Oineas, Aisopou 9, Psirri, we booked this in advance after reading about it and seeing how busy it was one evening. The setting is lovely and the staff welcoming, the two mains were both good but I found the octopus starter rather tough. Returned recently and enjoyed the food and the good service.

Lithos, Aisopou 17, Psirri, another old favourite in this area and it is always popular with a mix of locals and visitors, good setting and food and service both good.

Avli, Agiou Dimitriou 12,Psirri,  was another new find, we were heading to an old favourite on a Sunday lunchtime but it was shut and spied this down a tiny lane. This was an old school locals haunt and we really enjoyed the food and the atmosphere.

Nikitas, Agion Anargyron 88, Psirri, this was recommended by a local during our most recent visit and we went three times in 5 days, which should say it all. Excellent, traditional cooking, lovely service and incredible value. In an area with some not so great places this is now going to be a  fixture for future visits. Excellent as ever when we visited on our most recent visit. Lovely to return this time lovely people, good food and amazing value.

Ta Karamanlidika tou Fani, Sokrates 1 & Evripidou 52, Monistariki,  just of Athinas Street, we spotted this at the start of this visit and returned at the end to have another look. It looks like a grocers & delicatessen with a few tables which is exactly what it is.  We were enticed in by some lovely pastrami & cheese given to us by one of the great staff. As we were going somewhere later we only tried a couple of small dishes but they were both excellent, the staff lovely & the free dessert of yoghurt with sweet carrot was super. A really great find and definitely a must on a return visit. We went twice on our most recent visit and as ever top notch. They have a really good selection of craft beers. Still as great as ever we had an excellent meal, booking recommended.Visited again this time and still a must on any stay in Athens.

En Lordani, Agion Anargiron 3, Psirri, have seen this on previous visits but tried it for the first time recently and were impressed with the selection of traditional dishes, definitely one to visit again. We visited this time and enjoyed the food, they seemed to be understaffed but still one to return to.

Bandiera, Taki 19, Psirri, went late one evening for dinner, food good and would try again as it gets some great reviews, as the last customers probably not the best time to have visited.

Kalimeres Bistro, Taki 14, Psirri, only stopped for a wine but impressed by the wine choice, it gets good reviews for brunch and also does other meals.

Bars

Brettos, 41 Kidathineion Street, is a great place, it is owned by the Brettos Spirits Company and is a beautifully lit bar with dozens of liqueurs to try, all cheap, they also serve wine and beer, it is open every day. On our most recent visit I was really impressed with the fabulous selection of Greek wines. Always a must to visit to escape the crowds in that area.

The area of Psirri, is five minutes walk from Monistariki and it is a popular area for bars & restaurants. There is a wide range of bars and it should be no problem to find one that suits.

Transistor, Protogenous 10, is a very cool, popular bar, just of Athinas Street going towards Psirri. There is a wide  selection of drinks and also food and being able to get an outside table at busy times can be hard.

Liosporos Jazz Cafe Bar, Miaouli 24, Psirri, is an old favourite from previous visits. It has a very local feel, there are always seats outside and it is a great place to chill with a drink and people watch at any time of day.Our home from home in Athens, Katarina and her staff are great as are the drinks and now offering more dishes as well as brunch.

Cinque Wine Bar, Agatharchou 15, Psirri, in all our stays in this area we had never visited Cinque before but we made up for time on our most recent visit. A fabulous selection of wines and also snacks, I can totally understand why it is so popular with visitors doing wine tastings. We only went a couple of times for a glass but loved the knowledge & service.

Mini Bar, Navarchou Apostoli 5, Psirri, we stopped here for a drink on a couple of occasions during our most recent visit and enjoyed the experience, another one to add to our list for the next visit. Another favourite in Athens, good drinks and a selection of dishes.

Ivis, Ivis 10, is very much a local bar & cafe which serves meze dishes and drinks. There is an English menu but specials are in Greek so ask the staff. It mainly cater for locals eating and drinking but when quiet stop by for a beer or wine the prices are incredibly cheap. Still very popular and really only now for meze with drinks.

Gazi is the new lively area with loads of terrace bars and places to eat, although it attracts quite a young crowd there is enough choice that you could find somewhere suitable. The metro station Keramikos has its main entrance just in the square that is the centre of all the activity. There are a number of modern art and cultural centres in the area.

Exarhia, nearest metro Omonia but walkable from Monistariki, is the new hip area, it has a bit of a radical reputation but these days seems quite safe, just stay on the well lit and busy streets. The main square Plateia Exarhion has loads of bars and cafes.

The Clumsies, Praxitelous 30, this bar is in the cool heart of Athens and is a fixture on the world;s top bar list. We popped in during the day and the bar has a great atmosphere and design and of course top notch drinks. It is one of a number of “trendy” bars in this area including Blue Bird, Kiki de Greece & Iprtou.

Drink

Ouzo is of course probably the best known Greek drink and while still seen being drunk with meze it has apparently lost popularity presumably as people change their drinking habits and more cocktail type bars open up.

Cocktails are popular both in the cities and on the islands, and many of the island waterfront bars are great for happy hour drinks.

Lager type beer such as Mythos & Alpha is very commonly drunk but there is increasingly bars focusing on small craft breweries with more ale type beers such as IPA’s. This visit I discovered other lager type beers that I preferred Mammos in particular also Eza & Fix.

Lastly wine, and in more informal eating places house wine by the litre is both cheap and drinkable, white, rose and red are usually available. If you are going to try more upmarket wine then it is worth doing some homework before you go to learn about grape types. Greek wines are gaining more and more admirers so check out some of the wine bars that have opened in recent years.

Must visits are the obvious sites of the Acropolis and Ancient Agora, try and go early as they get very crowded. The new Acropolis Museum looks fantastic and there is a lovely new pedestrian walk round the Acropolis hill and down to Monistariki with some lovely cafes to sit outside about three quarters of the way down.

Go up Lykavittos Hill by funicular for a fabulous view of the city.

The Flea market on a Sunday at Monistariki is worth a visit as are the Central Markets on Athinas Street.