• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

FollowMckinsey

Athens, Greece Travel Tips 2019

Main navigation

  • Blog
  • Italy
  • About
  • Contact

Greece · June 29, 2019

Varkiza: Your Seaside Escape 30 minutes away from Athens

Browse by Category:
Click any of the links below to jump to the desired section:

  • Public Transportation
  • Varkiza Hotels
  • Local Climate
  • Yabanaki Resort vs Free Beaches
  • Varkiza Fishing Port
  • Eating Out
  • Jump to the Discussion

Varkiza Greece
There is a beautiful place near Athens where you can escape the overheated Syntagma Square to swim in the blue sea and breath fresh salty air.

I’ll tell you about my recent vacation that took place in Varkiza, a small Greek coastal town located 30 minutes away from the Athens International Airport and about 40 minutes from the center of Athens.

There are several other seaside towns located south of the Greek capital and referred to as Athenian Riviera. The most notable ones are Varkiza, Vouliagmeni and Glyfada. Many wealthy Athenians own their summer apartments here that they typically use from May till October. A good thing is that these towns don’t get empty during low season, because a big portion of people lives here permanently.

Athens to Varkiza: Use Public Transportation

Public transport is the most simple, reliable and inexpensive way to get from the central part of Athens to Varkiza. All you have to do is buy a 90-minute ticket that will allow you to use metro and bus transportation. The ticket costs 1.40 Eur and is available at the ticket booths located on every metro station.

Download our Athens metro map and plan your trip in advance!

Getting to Varkiza will require you to exit metro at the Elliniko station (below) and use a bus to get to the coastal area.

Elliniko station

Here is my simple guide:

  • First you need to take subway to the final station called Elliniko located on the Red line. It’s just 10 stations away from Syntagma. This will take you about 25 minutes.
  • After exiting Elliniko just proceed to the adjacent bus station. You’ll see all the locals walking there.
  • The bus number 171 (ΣΤ. ΜΕΤΡΟ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΟ – ΒΑΡΚΙΖΑ) will take you directly to the Varkiza beach area. This option is the fastest and will take you approximately another 25 minutes.
  • You can also use the bus number 122 ΣΤ. (ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΟ – ΣΑΡΩΝΙΔΑ). This route runs through another nice coastal town called Vouliagmeni. This option will take about 10 minutes longer.

Another route that I use more rarely is from Syntagma Square to the seaside town called Glyfada using tram service. It may be quite interesting because it passes through a number of Athenian suburbs before it turns towards the coast to continue its ride along the sea. On the other side this tram service is slower and makes more stops than the bus options.

Varkiza Hotels

Varkiza has just 2 hotels both of which are relatively simple. One is Stefanakis Hotel and the other one is Apollonia Hotel Apartments.

Stefanakis has an option of renting serviced apartments that combine amenities of a traditional apartment (like kitchen) with hotel room services.

Another option is to look for an apartment in the area similar to this one or this one. The closer it gets to summer the harder it becomes to book accommodation at reasonable rates, so make sure to book your hotel in advance!

One important thing I’d like to undermine is that the whole Athenian Riviera is much less tourist oriented compared to some extremely touristic islands such as Crete, Rhodes and Mikonos.

So what that means?

Less tourist oriented means that their hotel infrastructure is incomparable to what you’ll find for example in Crete that has a large number of hotel chains built along the coastline. Instead you’ll find just several medium size hotels here that in many cases are used by Athenians for their short term getaways.

Varkiza Greece
I consider that as an advantage because you won’t see overcrowded streets with large amount of tourists here. Everything is small and quiet even though a lot of Greeks do visit local beaches on weekends especially in summer. Varkiza has some of the cleanest beaches in close proximity to the capital.

Varkiza Greece

Climate

During my last stay in Varkiza I fell in love with its quiet streets, fresh sea air mixed with the scent of local pine trees and of course the sea.

Varkiza Greece

One of the advantages of Athenian Riviera is that the local swimming season starts earlier comparing to other beach resorts in Europe.
I usually start swimming here in May and finish the season in mid-November thanks to the subtropical Mediterranean climate.

Varkiza Greece

September is actually a hot summer month here and I typically use air conditioning at night till the beginning of October. I love October because it usually gets some rainy days that make the grass green, air fresh and finally ease the heat.

Varkiza Yabanaki Resort vs Free Beaches

Varkiza Greece

Talking about swimming options, there is a large private beach here called Yabanaki Resort. It has a good selection of standard beach amenities that include restaurants, wakeboard station and beach volleyball courts.

varkiza resort yabanaki

It also has these small sea front condos with kitchens and living rooms that you can rent and stay on the beach throughout the whole day.

varkiza resort yabanaki

During high season they will charge you 6 Euros for the entrance and 6 Euros for the sunbed.

varkiza resort yabanaki

Large sandy beaches are not for me though. I personally prefer small and less crowded beaches spread along the coastline.

Varkiza Greece

I think they are much better for swimming.

Varkiza Greece

Fishing Port

The fishing port is located near the central square.  It has a small fish market that is open daily in the mornings.
It gets busier during weekends and you can buy some freshly caught fish right from the fishing boats.

varkiza fish market

varkiza fish market

varkiza fish market

varkiza fish market

varkiza fish market

Eating Out

Talking about food options, there are a number of restaurants near the main square with descent quality food. Then there is one interesting place that attracts people from all over the Athens area. You can find it on the far East side of the town’s coastline, right after the Varkiza Resort (Yabanaki).

varkiza taverna
This is a simple Greek tavern with some of the tables placed right on the beach. Grilled octopus, fried calamari, traditional Greek salad, Fried anchovies along with the catch of the day and a glass of Ouzo will leave you satisfied.

varkiza taverna

varkiza taverna

If you want something more upcale then there are two seaside restaurants located on both sides of the fishing port. One is called Latini that is actually owned by the brother of the above tavern owner.

Varkiza Latini restaurant

The other one is called Kastelorizo.

varkiza Kastelorizo restaurant

Both of them are more expensive than other restaurants in the area, but the food is good and people come to eat here from neighboring towns.

So, next time you are in Athens remember that Acropolis, Kolonaki and Plaka are not the only things you can explore there! There is no need to go to the islands to have a nice swim in the excellent blue sea!

You favorite seaside suburb of Athens? (max 2 answers)

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Filed Under: Greece Tagged With: athens, Varkiza

« Florence Outlet Mall: How I saved 2000 USD in the Tuscan Countryside
Car Rental in Athens: Some Tips that will Save You Money and Frustration in 2019 »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alexander Mckinsey says

    March 9, 2017 at 11:05

    Hello Everyone!
    I have finally setup the commenting system for my blog.
    Feel free to make any comments!:)

  2. Al Miller says

    March 12, 2017 at 21:04

    We got to Varkiza late yesterday in the rain. Dispute the wet start, today was blue skies and beautiful. Absolutely love this place!
    I plan on trying my luck with the bus system tomorrow for a day trip a bit closer to Athens.

  3. Alexander Mckinsey says

    March 13, 2017 at 12:08

    Al, I just checked my records…. You can take the bus #122 (I think its the right number) from the bus station near the central square to the Elliniko subway station. Another option is to use a different route to Elliniko and take a bus (I think 117 or 171) from the station located in front of the Zachos Grill restaurant. Both of them will get you to the subway station in about 30 min.

  4. Al Miller says

    March 13, 2017 at 21:06

    Alexander,
    Your notes about bus numbers are correct. The 122 goes South out of Varkiza, around the point and North to Elliniko. The other bus is the 171 going North out of Varkiza through Vari and on to Elliniko.
    Today we stayed close to water and took the 117 South out of Varkiza, around the point and up to Plateia Glyfada stop (the 122 follows the same route to this point but splits off later) and caught the tram to the big Flisvos Marina. A very neat place if you like BIG boats.
    Our next step will be from Elliniko into downtown Athens via the Metro. Report to follow.
    Al

  5. Al Miller says

    March 20, 2017 at 18:45

    The 171 bus to Elliniko and the Metro in is THE way to go into Athens proper. Far quicker than the buses following the coast followed by the tram.

    Can’t say enough good things about Varkiza.

  6. Borislav says

    July 8, 2017 at 12:54

    Hey, great article! I have one question though, should I enter Yabanaki resort to reach these beaches from photos:

    http://followmckinsey.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/varkiza-sea-2.jpg

    http://followmckinsey.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/varkiza-sea-5.jpg

    or these are free beaches reachable from the driveway?

    Cheers.

  7. Al Miller says

    July 10, 2017 at 15:22

    The photos are from the area just south of “downtown” Varkiza. Only a few minutes walk from the resort area. You will absolutely love Varkiza, be sure to stop at Zachos for a gyro and a beer, it’s the best deal in town.

  8. Alexander Mckinsey says

    July 13, 2017 at 21:20

    Hello Borislav,
    As Al Miller noted below, thats one of the free beaches located along the main road.
    Actually I am in Varkiza right now. Thats one of the reasons the website moderation takes so long:)

    All beaches get more and more crowded as we approach August. Right now, the best time for swimming is on week days before 11:00. Weekends are really busy already!

  9. Borislav says

    July 14, 2017 at 12:07

    Thanks for the reply, but we didnt make it through there.
    We are coming from Athens and to Varkiza is a long journey. We make it only to Vouliagameni lake, and Astralis beach (im not sure about the name but its on the next stop after the lake).

  10. Borislav says

    July 14, 2017 at 12:25

    Hey man, you are hell of a lucky to be there. In Athens its madness. The traffic is huge, the buses are overcrowded by athenians youngster, who are trying to reach the beaches.
    You have to fight your way to get on these buses.
    We decided one more civilized way to get our beach need. Islands!
    So far we did Eagna and Agistri and I highly recommend the beach called Aponisis in Agistri island. Paradise on earth, really!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hey Everyone! I’m Alexander. I'm a 39 year old who loves travelling and blogging. Follow my blog to explore new places around the world!

Subscribe to my newsletter!

Subscribe to my newsletter!

© 2021 FollowMckinsey