Hidden Athens, the bars, hills, and tavernas beyond the Acropolis

Pangrati, where Athens actually lives

Pangrati is residential central Athens. Walk it on a Friday evening, streets full of locals doing their gym/coffee/dinner routines, mezedopoleia (small-plate tavernas) packed with 30-somethings on first dates. Try Mavro Provato for the meze dinner of the trip. Five minutes by foot from the Panathenaic Stadium.

Strefi Hill, the alternative to Lycabettus

On the edge of Exarchia, Strefi Hill is a 10-minute walk up that gives you a side-on view of the Acropolis you can't get from anywhere else. No funicular, no queue, no entry fee. Bring a beer at sunset and watch the city turn pink.

Petralona, the meat tavernas

Petralona is the working-class neighborhood that became cool five years ago and still hasn't fully gentrified. The street tavernas are the ones Athenian chefs go to on their days off. Try Karavitis (no website, no menu, just go and accept the food). Combine with Philopappos Hill for the post-dinner view.

Stoa of Attalos, the empty marketplace

Adjacent to the Ancient Agora, the Stoa of Attalos was reconstructed in the 1950s by American archaeologists. It is a fully-walking 116m colonnade with a museum of agora artifacts. Empty most of the time. Combine with the Ancient Agora ticket (which most tourists use only for the Agora itself).

Good drinks, not tourist drinks

Plaka is the tourist drink zone, skip. Where locals actually go:

• -Six DOGS, indoor courtyard bar in Monastiraki, gets a crowd at 11pm, music is real
• -Heteroclito (Plaka edge), Greek wines you can't get anywhere else
• -A for Athens rooftop, 360° Acropolis view, drinks are €11 (cheap by capital standards)
• -Drupes (Exarchia), craft beer + chill crowd

The First Cemetery of Athens

A walkable, beautifully landscaped cemetery in Mets full of 19th-century sculpture, Greek heroes, opera singers, philosophers. Open to the public for free. Walking it takes 30 minutes. Almost no tourists.