Brettos
Athens, Central Greece, Greece

Pop into Brettos, the oldest distillery in Athens, for a shot of ouzo or mastic liqueur. The cosy interior, lined with multi-coloured bottles and barrels, dates from 1909.
Min age 18
Best for ages 18+
Travel bucket list idea:
Athens, Central Greece, Greece
|Hugging the eastern and northern slopes of the Acropolis is the neighbourhood of ‘Plaka’, the city’s old town heart. This maze of jasmine-scented alleys and colourful neoclassical houses – now protected by a preservation order – has been continuously populated since antiquity.
Strolling through Plaka feels like strolling through a 19th-century film set. Though the area’s tacky souvenir shops and terrible tavernas teem with tourists, the winding lanes and shaded squares, dotted with Byzantine churches and ancient ruins, have retained their charm.
The northern reaches of Plaka are the prettiest. This maze of whitewashed alleys is called Anafiotika, after the islanders from Anafi who built the capital of newly-independent Greece in 1841.
Athens, Central Greece, Greece
Pop into Brettos, the oldest distillery in Athens, for a shot of ouzo or mastic liqueur. The cosy interior, lined with multi-coloured bottles and barrels, dates from 1909.
Min age 18
Best for ages 18+
Athens, Central Greece, Greece
After a wander around Plaka, unwind with a Greek coffee and lemon cake at Yiasemi (Mnisikleous 23). With tables spilling down whitewashed steps, it’s like escaping to an island. There’s occasional live music on weekends.
Best for ages 13+
Start from the Akropoli metro station and go north; Plaka is nestled in the eastern and northern foothills of the Acropolis. Adrianou is the main shopping street.
The best way to explore the area is simply to get lost in the meandering lanes, dipping into the little churches, cafes, and museums at your leisure.
As with everywhere outdoor attraction in Athens, things heat up in the summer months. The best times to visit are the shoulder seasons (May-June and September-November).
Dusk is a lovely time to roam around. Shops and restaurants stay open late, and the heat of the day starts to wane.
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Central Greece, Greece
Antiquities galore, contemporary culture, scintillating nightlife and fantastic food: there’s something for everyone in Greece’s cosmopolitan capital that’s continuously reinventing itself.