Walking Tour:
Kolonaki used to be one of the nicest areas of Athens to walk around in, but in recent years the auto traffic on its narrow lanes has gotten congested beyond belief, especially on its lower slopes, making crossing the street anywhere in the district an unpleasant and even dangerous experience. Still, if you can choose a relatively low traffic period, a walk through the district might be worthwhile. Start off in Plateia Kolonaki and Plateia Dexameni, the main shopping street of Patriarchou Ioakim, and investigate the parallel streets up from it, such as Haritos, with its mixture of old neoclassical houses, upscale modern flats, and art galleries. Speusippou, which turns into quiet Souidias, is the home of the Gennadius Library. Further up the streets, climb steeply to the Lycavettos funicular station. If you're ambitious and energetic, you can climb to the top streets which to your left circle the rim of Lykavettos, which are successively Aristippou, then Il. Rogkaku. On this path, from the cross streets and some spaces where there are no buildings, you can glimpse spectacular views of Athens, some of them including the Acropolis. If you keep going around you'll reach Sarantapichou Street, but by this time you've left Kolonaki and are looking down on the student district of Exarcheia.
