Having left Santorini and arriving in Athens the afternoon before, we decided to get up early to watch another Athens sunrise, this time at Lycabettus Hill. Lycabettuss Hill, also known as Mount Lycabettus is the highest point in Athens. Hiking to the top of this hill has been on our bucket list and we were excited for the view.
Information on Lycabettus Hill
Lycabettus Hill stands about 300 meters above sea level and can’t be missed. Its mounded shape rises above Athens and can be seen from all directions. There are two ways to get to the top of this hill. First, by hiking up many steps, through the forest to the top. Second, by taking the Furnicular available at the base. We of course decided to hike it because that’s what we seem to do. It looked a challenge with a good view.
Location
But First, Coffee
We left our hotel while it was still dark and found some coffee on the way, which was much needed at this hour. Of course, I had to have a pastry as well. Both were awesome. The coffee shop was the first place we encountered a language barrier, on our trip but we did ok. Steve had a bit of trouble explaining he wanted a mocha latte, instead, he was quite happy with an Americana with milk. Turns out, it was the best coffee he had the whole trip! I wanted coffee black and ended up getting an Americana which was awesome! We need to learn more Greek!!
Getting There
We meandered through the narrow streets and walkways, making our way to the hill. GPS does not like us. When in Athens we have learned that GPS likes to mess with us and sends us around blocks, down one street and back the next, or just spins. Good thing Steve is directional. It actually was fun though, to wander through the quiet streets before the day started. Quite a different vibe. We Passed the Parliament Building which looked pretty impressive against the dark skies.
Up the Steps
Once at the base of Lycabettus Hill, we found steps going up the hill, so just started following them up! Dawn started to break on our way up, so we had no trouble seeing where we were going. The steps were easy to climb although there was a lot of them. We actually were enjoying the climb, as this was our last full day in Greece and we wanted to take in every last moment we could.
Sunrise
We watched in awe as the sun rose and swept over Athens.
Lycabettus Hill From the Top
The top of Lycabettus Hill was amazing. We could see all around Athens as the sun started to rise and lighten up the sleepy city below. There is a church, bell tower, and restaurant on top of the Hill.
Back in Time For Breakfast
After watching the sun rise we hiked back down the hill, enjoying the new morning. Back at our hotel, Electra Palace, we had a wonderful breakfast with a beautiful view of the Acropolis and were ready to continue exploring Athens, which will be next weeks post!
Planning
Last year when we were in Athens we used the Rick Steves Pocket Athens guidebook w and found a lot of useful information in it. There is also a pocket map.
This year we added Top 10 Athens (DK Eyewitness Travel Guide) to help us plan and found it extremely helpful and organized. It includes top 10 places for restaurants, things to see, shopping, etc. It also divides into top 10 of each area. This is my favorite guide book. It does come with a pocket map.
We also bought an Athens Street Map which was more in-depth and very useful as we explored more areas on this trip.
You can check out my other Athens posts by following these links!
Five Great Places to Eat in Plaka, Athens, Sept/Oct 2019
Anafiotika in Plaka, Athens, October 2019
The Temple of Hephaestus and Ancient Agora, October 2019
Temple of Olympian Zeus, October 2019
Sunrise From Philopappos Hill, September 2019
Arriving in Athens on our Anniversary, September 2019
The Acropolis and Parthenon, October 2018
A Rainy Day in Athens, September 2018
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Wow what an amazing sunset! Want to go back to Athens so bad, only went once when I was 10! Also I actually have a post on Greek coffees and how to order in Greek! Black coffee is kafeE mAvro☕🖤 for future reference
Thanks! I will check out your coffee post! I love Athens!!
Looks like a great hike and sunrise. My best go to in Greek is point. Ha Ha. I think you may have an extra 0 in your height for this hill though. Thanks for sharing. Allan
Oh my goodness, you are so right, Allan!! It is 300 meters! I fixed it!! I don’t think I would’ve been skipping along so happily if it was 3000 m! Thanks for catching that!! Lori
What a fantastic view of the sun rising, I guess literally all around you! I know it comes up from one direction, but the few times I’ve stayed through a full sunrise where I could see around me it affected everything! The steps look nice and wide, and I see you could wear shorts. I bet the coffee helped, lol! 😊
The coffee did help! And you are right, it seemed like the sun was rising all around!
Wonderful, wonderful! Shared one of your pics to Pinterest! 😊
Thank you!!!
Very glad to! 😊
given the language problem, I’m curious if you have ever used Google Translate.
I have not. This was the only time we had a language problem..so far!!
Hi,
Your photos are lovely, I like the one of the stairs that are almost in the dark, and of course the ones of the sunrise. I’m interested in your comment about GPs. Do you know whether other people have that same gps problem? We’re going to be in Athens in April, and I’m going to be wary of gps directions. Thanks for the tip!
Winifred
We had the same problem with GOD in downtown Chicago. We both have iPhones. We did best with our Athens street map but forgot it that morning. I will add a link at the bottom of my post for which map we used. We liked it a lot. They also have maps at the airport for free, although we liked the one we had better as it was laminated. Give me about 10 minutes to add it!!
Thanks, it’s just what we need!
I meant GPS not GOD… just saw that now!! No problem God that I know of…lol
Oh my goodness! What amazing pictures! I loved my time in Athens, but I want to go back to do this sunrise hike now!
Thanks! It was a lot of fun!!