Athens Nightlife

Nightlife in Athens: Discover where to go out for dinner, a cocktail/drink, or to party!

Athens is known for its crazy nightlife. Greeks enjoy the night and go to bed only when the sun goes up in the morning. The city is full of bars, cafes, and clubs for every mood, style, and occasion. The visitors will surely enjoy exciting nights of fun and music. The Greek way to go out begins with a coffee in one of the many cozy cafes in the town while choosing among the incredible quantity of bars that play all kinds of music: live music, disco, jazz, international and Greek pop, traditional Greek music, heavy metal, house music or hip-hop.

The night will continue in one of the many big or small clubs, which are full of people partying until early in the morning. In the wintertime, the most popular bars are concentrated in the central quarter of Kolonaki, in Gazi and Panormou Street. In summer, bars and clubs move to the southern suburbs of Athens, such as Glyfada and Varkiza, or to the northeastern side of Attica, including Rafina and Nea Makri.
Many LGBTQ+ bars are situated in the center of Athens, where visitors can even attend a drag show!

Bars

Athens is full of bars, which usually open from 20:00 until 02:00 or 03:00. The main neighborhoods with the largest number of bars are Kolonaki, Exarchia, Glyfada, Thision, and Psiri in the center of Athens and the northern suburb of Kifissia. 

Clubs

During the wintertime, the main nightclubs are situated in the town center around Syntagma Square and in the region of Gazi, along Piraeus Street. Nightclubs open around midnight and stay open until 06:00 or 07:00. In summer, most of these big clubs move to the seaside suburbs, such as Glyfada and Varkiza.

Bouzoukia

A very popular way of entertainment in Greece is bouzoukia. The modern kind of bouzoukia is a live show where a singer performs and people drink and dance at their tables or on the dancing floor.
It is common to throw flowers at the performers to congratulate them for their show, so you will probably encounter women and men wandering around the floor while carrying stacks of discs filled with flowers. It is quite an impressive thing to see and do, but keep in mind that you have to buy the flowers in order to throw them onto the scene.
Many such live shows with Greek singers are found on Pireos Street close to the center of Athens, or on the coastal road that passes by Kalamaki and Glyfada.