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Discover one of central Athens's most multicultural corners. As you cross Vathi Square, you'll encounter small falafel shops and food businesses run by Egyptian, Syrian, Lebanese and Iraqi communities. Take in the smells, flavours and everyday activity of this lively neighbourhood while learning how migration has transformed Athens's food culture. We'll also explore how affordable neighbourhoods gradually become attractive to investors, visitors and developers, and how gentrification can begin with something as simple as a falafel shop.
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Stop outside the Max Brown Hotel and discover one of Athens's more unusual examples of urban transformation. The building once housed offices of the Communist Party before being converted into a boutique hotel.
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Omonia Square
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Experience one of Athens's busiest and most emblematic public spaces. Stop by the square's fountain and watch the constant movement of pedestrians, buses and metro passengers. Omonia is where different parts of the city meet: commuters, migrants, workers, visitors and local residents. Discover why this square, whose name means "concord", has become a symbol of modern Athens and its social contradictions.
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Discover the striking contrast between luxury tourism and everyday urban life in central Athens. Stop outside this five-star hotel, housed in a former tax office, and explore how neglected commercial buildings are being transformed into upscale accommodation. Just a few streets away, the neighbourhood has a very different character, with visible poverty, homelessness and street-level economic activity. Learn how investors identify opportunities in affordable central locations and how the expansion of luxury hotels is reshaping the city.
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Explore a changing corner of central Athens where traditional commercial buildings meet a new hospitality industry. You'll see a modern hostel with coworking facilities, a rooftop and social spaces, alongside new hotel developments. Discover how former working-class and commercial neighbourhoods are being transformed to attract digital nomads, international visitors and property investors, and what this means for the people and businesses that have traditionally occupied these streets.
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Empros Theatre, a former newspaper printing house that became one of Athens's most distinctive self-managed cultural spaces. In 2011, artists and anarchists occupied the abandoned building and transformed it into an independent venue for theatre, performances and alternative cultural events. After its eviction by police in 2021, activists reclaimed it just four days later. Discover the story of this unconventional cultural space and explore the relationship between artistic freedom, political activism, squatting and the struggle over who gets to use the city's abandoned buildings.
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Iroon Square
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Discover the heart of Psyrri, a neighbourhood that has undergone a remarkable transformation. Explore its charming square, traditional buildings and surrounding narrow streets, now filled with cafés, bars, boutique hotels and craft shops. Learn how an area once associated with workshops, craftsmen and working-class life became one of Athens's trendiest destinations. We'll examine the paradox of gentrification: how artists, creative businesses and alternative culture can help make a neighbourhood attractive, eventually contributing to the displacement of the very communities that shaped it.
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Encounter one of Athens's most photographed cafés, famous for its extravagant fairy-tale decorations, colourful façade and spectacular seasonal displays. Depending on the time of year, you'll find an entirely different visual theme, from Christmas decorations to Halloween-inspired settings. Explore the nearby Pittaki Street, transformed by an art project that introduced hanging lamps and lanterns. Discover how Instagram, street art and creative businesses can turn an overlooked street into a major tourist attraction, changing the local economy and the character of an entire neighbourhood.
