The upper side of Kolonaki at Dexameni Square. Photo: George E. Koronaios, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The short answer: Kolonaki is a slope, not a square. The lower side, around Ipsilantou Street and Vasilissis Sofias Avenue, is almost flat, has Evangelismos metro station and Evangelismos hospital, and suits anyone with an appointment to keep. The upper side, towards Deinokratous, Kleomenous and Dexameni, is quieter and greener, but every walk home is uphill. Kolonaki Square sits in the middle and stays busy late on Fridays and Saturdays. Choose your side by the reason you are in Athens, not by the photo on the listing.
I have lived in Kolonaki for more than ten years and host guests in two apartments here, one on Ipsilantou and one on Deinokratous, so one on each side of the hill. Kolonaki is the upmarket residential district between Syntagma Square and Lycabettus Hill: embassies, museums, cafés and street after street of post-war apartment blocks. If you only want the Athens overview, my local's guide to Kolonaki is the better start. This page is for people who have already decided on the neighbourhood and want to know which street. In a few places below I will tell you that something other than our apartments suits you better.
Facts in this guide were checked on 6 October 2026.
Kolonaki is a hill, and that changes your stay
On a map the neighbourhood looks small and flat. On foot it climbs towards Lycabettus, and you feel it the first time you drag a suitcase from the metro up to Kleomenous Street. It helps to think of it as three bands.
The lower band
Ipsilantou, Vasilissis Sofias and the blocks between them. Level walking, Evangelismos station on the blue metro line, the hospital, the Byzantine and Christian Museum, several embassies. This area suits visitors who need to reach appointments on time.
The middle band
Kolonaki Square and the streets around it: Tsakalof, Skoufa, Charitos. This is the lively part, which cuts both ways: everything is downstairs, and you hear everything through the window. On Friday and Saturday nights the café and bar tables stay full until well after midnight. That is my own observation from years of living here, not a noise measurement.
The upper band
Deinokratous, Kleomenous, Dexameni Square and the streets below the Lycabettus funicular. This part is generally quieter, with pine trees and views, but the walk home is uphill. If your knees complain or you are pushing a buggy, take that seriously.
For a sense of scale, two distances we give for our own apartments: from our Ipsilantou apartment to Kolonaki Square is about 550 metres, around seven minutes on foot. From our Deinokratous apartment to the square is about 500 metres, five minutes downhill on the way there and uphill on the way back.
If you are here for Evangelismos hospital
Evangelismos General Hospital is at 45-47 Ipsilantou Street, on the lower side of Kolonaki. Its switchboard is +30 213 2041000, according to the hospital's own website. If you are coming from abroad to be near a relative being treated there, this is the part of Kolonaki to look at first.
If you are accompanying a patient, the question that matters is not how far you are from the Acropolis. It is whether you can walk back at midday, lie down for two hours and return, without a journey that costs you time and patience. The lower band makes that easiest. Our two-bedroom apartment on Ipsilantou is a few doors before the hospital. The distances we give: about 100 metres to the hospital, 130 metres to Evangelismos metro and 220 metres to the taxi rank.
A few practical points for anyone staying near someone in hospital:
- Visiting hours. The hospital's website gives weekdays 17:00 to 20:00, and weekends and public holidays 11:00 to 12:30 and 16:00 to 20:00. Intensive care units and some wards may set their own rules, so check with the ward.
- Cleaning during your stay. In the Ipsilantou apartment it can be arranged mid-stay, not only at checkout. If you are staying a while, ask for it when you book.
- Long stays. Both apartments accept stays of more than 28 nights, which matters when treatment has no fixed end date.
- Lifts. Both buildings have one. In older Athens apartment blocks that is not a given, and it counts when you come back tired at eleven at night.
I won't pretend the neighbourhood will lift your mood. But not having to ride the metro twice a day with your mind elsewhere is a real relief. For the other large hospitals in the city, see our guide to staying near Athens hospitals.
If you are here for a wedding, a christening or an event
The slope matters again, for a different reason. Dressed up, in May or September heat, you do not want to climb Ploutarchou Street in your good shoes. Two options: sleep in the lower band and leave by taxi from a level street, or sleep higher up and save the climb for the way home, when you no longer care about the shirt.
If the ceremony has a fixed start time, book a taxi in advance rather than hunting for one at the last minute, especially on a Saturday afternoon.
If you are here on business
Vasilissis Sofias Avenue is why Kolonaki makes sense for work trips. Along it, or a block behind it, are embassies and ministries, with Parliament at one end and the Megaron concert hall at the other.
The metro, without the frills:
- Evangelismos is on Line 3, the blue line.
- Syntagma is the next station.
- To reach Akropoli station, for the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum, it is two stops: change at Syntagma to Line 2. Not one stop, whatever you may read elsewhere.
- Line 3 runs direct to the airport, but not every train goes that far. Many terminate at Doukissis Plakentias, so check the destination on the platform display.
- According to the OASA fare list, a standard 90-minute city ticket costs €1.20 (it does not cover the airport), and the metro airport ticket €9, or €16 return.
Taxis, cards and the rest are in our guide to getting around Athens.
If you are bringing a car
Most visitors should not. If you are driving down from elsewhere in Greece, though, this is the section that will save you the most trouble.
Kolonaki, together with Evangelismos, is in Zone 2 of the City of Athens controlled parking scheme, and Ipsilantou, Deinokratous, Kleomenous and Ploutarchou are all inside it. Kerbside bays come in two kinds: blue bays are for residents with a permit, white bays are for visitors and are paid. You pay for a white bay through the city's myAthensPass app, in blocks of 30 to 180 minutes, and the app warns you ten minutes before your time runs out. The scheme runs Monday to Friday 09:00 to 21:00 and Saturday 09:00 to 16:00.
In practice white bays are scarce and you pay three hours at most at a time, so the street is no place for a car that will sit still for days. There are private garages in the neighbourhood; ask us before you arrive and we will tell you which is nearest to your apartment.
My own view: for two or three nights with business in the centre, put the car in a garage on day one and leave it there until you go. In central Athens a car is a cost, not a convenience.
What a "luxury apartment" in Kolonaki actually means
The word sells more than it describes, so here is a straight answer.
Most homes in Kolonaki are in post-war apartment blocks, not new buildings. Our one-bedroom, for example, is in a 1970s block and was renovated from top to bottom in 2021. Luxury here rarely means a new building. It means a good renovation, a lift, quiet, a proper bed, air conditioning that works, and a neighbourhood where everything is on foot.
What it does not mean: a reception desk, a concierge, room service. In ours you let yourself in with a lockbox from 15:00 and check out by 11:00. If you want someone at a front desk at three in the morning, you want a hotel, and that is a perfectly good choice.
One more thing worth knowing about Athens apartment blocks: quiet hours are taken seriously. In ours they are 15:00 to 17:30 and 23:00 to 07:00 from April to September, and 15:30 to 17:30 and 22:00 to 07:30 from October to March. Greek quiet hours apply in the afternoon too, so please keep noise down during the times above.
When Kolonaki is the wrong choice
- You have a ferry from Rafina before 7am, or any sailing from Lavrio. Those are worth sleeping outside the centre for. For Piraeus, Kolonaki works well, because the blue line runs there with no change, though for a sailing before 7am you want a taxi booked the night before. Our guide on where to stay before an early ferry goes through each port.
- Price is your only criterion. In Kolonaki you pay for the location. If nothing brings you to this part of town, you will find cheaper options in other neighbourhoods.
- You are six people and want bathroom comfort. The Ipsilantou apartment sleeps up to six but has one bathroom. The second bedroom is smaller, with no air conditioning of its own and no balcony, and a small window onto the building's light well. I mention it because it is exactly the kind of detail that spoils a stay when you find it out on arrival.
- You need a car for every journey. See the parking section above.
Our two apartments, plainly described
Both are licensed tourist accommodation registered with the Greek National Tourism Organisation (ΣΗΜΑ ΕΟΤ).
Ipsilantou: third floor, 65 m², two bedrooms, sleeps up to six. Lower band, 130 metres from Evangelismos metro and 100 metres from the hospital. Balcony over Ipsilantou, lift, one bathroom, licence ΣΗΜΑ ΕΟΤ 1253877. Suits people accompanying a patient, families, and anyone who would rather not climb.
Deinokratous: second floor, 78 m², one bedroom, sleeps up to three. Upper band, on a quiet street 100 metres from the Lycabettus funicular. The building has two entrances: the upper one on Deinokratous faces Lycabettus, the lower one on Kleomenous heads towards Dexameni. Renovated in 2021, lift, licence ΣΗΜΑ ΕΟΤ 1205203. Suits couples, solo travellers, and anyone working remotely for a few weeks.
Both have a free cot on request, and pets are welcome. I don't list prices here because they change with the season. You can see availability and the final price for your dates on our booking page.