Athens’ Secret Island: A Self-Guided Walk in Anafiotika and Plaka

Athens rewards those who look closely - at layers beneath a church floor, stories carved into an arch, or whitewashed walls built overnight by island craftsmen. On this walk through Plaka and Anafiotika, you'll trace the city's story from ancient ceremonial streets to a secret Cycladic neighborhood perched beneath the Acropolis. This self guided audio tour starts at the Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian's Arch, where two inscriptions tell competing stories of who really owned Athens. From there, you'll wind through Plaka’s narrow lanes, past the Church of St. Catherine—where Roman columns sit below a Byzantine chapel—and the Monument of Lysicrates, built by a wealthy citizen to display his prize. You’ll then climb into Anafiotika, a neighborhood where houses were said to have been built in a single night by stonemasons from the island of Anafi.