An evening terrace in central Athens. Photo: Rakoon, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
For drinks in Kolonaki, try Tsakalof or Milioni for a lively street, Haritos for bars, or the lanes near Dexameni Square for a quieter evening.
Kolonaki has a reputation as the polished, slightly pricey corner of central Athens, and for daytime coffee and boutiques that is fair. At night it is more varied than people expect. The neighbourhood is small, but its streets have very different moods, and its bars change hands often enough that an old list can easily send you to a closed door. I have lived in Kolonaki for more than a decade and host guests here, and "where should we go for a drink tonight?" is one of the questions I get asked most.
Here is where to go by street, followed by practical advice for getting home.
A small neighbourhood with very different streets
Kolonaki Square is roughly 650 metres from Syntagma metro station and 730 metres from Evangelismos, about ten minutes on foot either way (OpenStreetMap pedestrian routing, checked 6 October 2026). Within that small footprint the evening changes a lot depending on where you sit.
The square. The meeting point. You cannot miss it, it is ringed with tables, and it works well for a first beer or for waiting on friends. For a whole evening, most people drift a street or two further in.
The pedestrian lanes off the square. Short pedestrianised stretches of Tsakalof and Milioni sit a few steps from the square, with tables outside and people around at most hours. If you have no plan and simply want to sit somewhere with life around you, start here.
Haritos. The short pedestrianised stretch of Haritos has been one of Kolonaki's classic evening spots for decades: narrow, shaded by trees, with people perching wherever there is room. Bars here turn over quickly, so trust a recent list over an old one.
Skoufa. A long street running from the square up towards Exarchia. The lower end is mostly cafés; the further up you go, the more small bars appear.
Upper Kolonaki, towards Lycabettus. Loukianou, Ploutarchou, Deinokratous and the lanes around Dexameni Square. Fewer tables, more of a residential feel, and streets where you can actually hear the person across from you. Dexameni Square also has its old kafeneio. If you want a drink with a view, our guide to Lycabettus Hill and the funicular starts from exactly this corner.
Bars in Kolonaki
Listings checked 6 October 2026. Hours change, so check before you go. This is not a ranking, just bars of different kinds on different streets.
- Una Mas, Haritos 35. Included in a July 2026 round-up of new Athens bars. Classic cocktails, dry martini, wine and tapas.
- Minnie the Moocher, Tsakalof 6. A cocktail bar with jazz music and vintage décor, named after the Cab Calloway song. A few steps from the square.
- Poco a Poco, Loukianou 13. According to its own site, coffee in the morning and cocktails with snacks in the evening.
- Jazz in Jazz, Deinokratous 4. At this address since 1995, its walls covered in memorabilia, with a whisky collection, classic cocktails and a vinyl library from the early jazz era. It has closed for the summer in past years, so check before going in July or August.
- Mai Tai, Ploutarchou 18. A cocktail bar in upper Kolonaki.
- Fellows, Rizari 2, next to Evangelismos metro. According to its own site, a garden setting with coffee and brunch by day, dinner and cocktails in the evening.
If you want dinner first, or prefer a wine bar with proper plates, we cover that separately in where to eat in Kolonaki.
Closing times vary from bar to bar and with the season. Athenians go out late, so if you are a big group and want a table Thursday to Saturday, arrive early or message the bar ahead.
Getting back on the metro
The two stations serving the neighbourhood are Evangelismos (line 3) and Syntagma (lines 2 and 3).
The timetable. On Fridays the last line 2 and line 3 trains leave Syntagma at 02:00 in every direction (STASY announcement, in force since November 2024). On Saturdays lines 2 and 3 run through the night, with a train roughly every 15 minutes after 00:20. The overnight line 3 service does not run to the airport, though: between 00:20 and 05:30 it runs only between Doukissis Plakentias and Dimotiko Theatro (OASA 24-hour service page, checked 6 October 2026). On other nights service ends around midnight.
Line 3 engineering works. Through autumn 2026 STASY has been replacing track on line 3 in phases, closing a different stretch of the line on weeknight evenings every few weeks, sometimes from as early as 21:40, with replacement buses on the closed section. Which stations are affected changes with each phase, so check STASY's current announcement on the day.
In practice: if a closure is in force, Syntagma is usually still a 10 minute walk from Kolonaki Square, and a taxi from the square is the simplest fallback late at night.
If you would rather not think about it, app-booked taxis work through the night and a ride within the centre is short. Our guide to getting around Athens covers the metro, taxi apps and the airport run in more detail.
If you have a hire car: the blue-lined bays are for residents only at all hours, and the white visitor bays are paid Monday to Friday 09:00 to 21:00 and Saturday 09:00 to 16:00, through the City of Athens' free AthensWay app or at a participating sales point (City of Athens, 17 September 2026). Finding an available white bay is the hard part.
Staying within walking distance
The simplest way to enjoy a night out in Kolonaki is not to need a ride afterwards. Both of our apartments are inside the neighbourhood: the one-bedroom on Deinokratous, on the same street as Jazz in Jazz and about 100 metres from the Lycabettus funicular, and the two-bedroom on Ipsilantou, a few steps from Evangelismos metro, which sleeps up to six. You can see both, and check dates, on our apartments page.