Ever have a 10hr+ layover and not in Singapore to enjoy the festivities of a $1.2 billion airport? Long layovers can be brutal. I traveled from Israel to the States with two stopovers, one of which was 9 hours overnight in Barcelona. It was the worst because I was traveling solo in December 2018; the airport was not heated and I was struggling to keep the toothpicks in my eyes to remain open. No sleep, no comfortable chair, just terrible.

When I booked this trip to Santorini from Madrid last year, I was weary about the extended layover in Athens. However, cheap flights make up for everything, am I right? I prepared to be awake for 17 hours. Then I thought, why not turn it into a new adventure? Here’s how you can make use of a 17-hour layover like I did in Athens, Greece.

As my best friend, Brion and I were on our way to Santorini, Greece during the holidays, we had 17 hours to kill at Athens International Airport beginning from 8pm until 1pm the following afternoon. Plenty of time to explore and sleep. In the winter, it is quite cold in southern Europe. The airport is not a comfortable place as there may not be a bench to claim and restaurants are closed in the middle of the night. Not to mention the airport isn’t right next to the city.

I’ve been to Athens before, so I knew the perfect place to reside for the evening. I arranged for us to be picked up by taxi and driven to the comfiest (and only) hotel I’ve stayed at in downtown, Athens across from Syntagma Square, the Electra Hotel Athens. I would recommend this hotel to anyone! It is a smaller location to its sister, Electra Palace Athens, which is less than a 10-minute walk, where you can use other amenities the Electra Hotel doesn’t have such as a pool, etc.

A Night on the Town

I stayed at the Electra Hotel for about two weeks when I studied abroad in 2016 and it was great–it’s comfortable, clean, centrally located, and the staff is super friendly. It can be a bit pricey–we paid a total of €141 (about €70 split between the two of us) for one night and it was worth it. It felt like one night of luxury. Robes, soft sheets, hot steamy shower. The hotel has been renovated since the last time I was there; the dining area was at the ground floor and it is now at the top floor with an amazing view of the Acropolis.

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In the heart of downtown Athens, all the same feelings from my previous visit arose with an added “Christmasy” feel being there just before the New Year. I was the evening’s tour guide where we ate dinner and walked around the area looking at shops, Monastiraki Square, and the Parliament building. We had dinner at The Greco’s Project (one of my favorite spots in Athens), where I introduced Brion to a true authentic Gyro.

After dinner, we went for dessert at Lukumades. It was nice to experience a place neither of us visited before. These doughnuts were delicious! We then went back to the hotel and crashed for the night, exhausted from travel. The next morning, we woke up very early with the expectation to visit the Acropolis. Our scheduled flight to Santorini was going to leave at 1:15pm. We knew we had to be to the airport around 12pm at the latest. We woke up just before 7am, headed to the rooftop for breakfast, and then out the door headed to the Acropolis.

Morning at the Acropolis

We arrived just in time for its daily 8am opening. Rain or shine, we made it and had a good time. We made our way to the top where it turned out to be incredibly windy. The Acropolis has a 360° view of Athens. It is the center-most, highest point of the city. Moreover, the Parthenon can be seen from anywhere in the city. As we hiked back down, we decided to visit Socrates’ Cave. When I studied here in 2016, we actually had class sessions just above this cave.

To round out our morning, we took a stroll through Plaka, a neighborhood of Athens with many shops and restaurants that are located between the Acropolis and the hotel. We made it back to the hotel in time to shower before heading to the airport. Although 17hrs came to an end so soon, we didn’t do much, but just enough to give Brion a taste of what Athens has to offer.

Thank you, Athena. I can’t wait to go back to visit!