Athens is bursting with impressive ruins from the ancient world but travel costs in Athens are fairly affordable — prices in Athens drop once you get away from the main tourist sights. In this guide, I’ll cover typical travel prices in Athens to help you budget your trip.
This article is part of our City Price Guide Series — Click here to see all our city price guides.
Quick Note: Your travel costs will jump considerably once you start visiting some of the surrounding islands so keep that in mind when you’re budgeting your overall trip to Greece.
Average Daily Cost for Visiting Athens
For budget-minded travelers, it costs around €50-€75/day to visit Athens. These Athens prices are based on what you’ll need to visit the city comfortably as a budget traveler staying in a well-rated hostel. If you want to upgrade your accommodations then you’ll want to add another €100/night. These prices also don’t include things like big nights out at the bar/pub, club entry fees, souvenir/clothing shopping, tours, random purchases, nicer food, etc. Don’t forget to budget extra for those “non-essentials.”
Daily Cost of Budget Travel in Athens: €70 (Approx. $75)
- Attractions: €10 (one paid attraction + any free sights)
- Food: €28
- Breakfast: €3
- Lunch: €8
- Dinner: €14
- Treat (dessert/beer/wine): €2.5
- Transportation: €2
- Accommodation (Hostel): €30
Daily Cost of Frugal Travel in Athens: €45 (Approx. $48)
- Attractions: €5 (free walking tour + visit one of the free sights)
- Food: €18
- Breakfast: €0 (free hostel breakfast)
- Lunch: €6.0 (street food or takeaway shop fare)
- Dinner: €10 (make your own meal in the hostel or grab something cheap)
- Beer: €1.5 (chill out at the park and have a cold one)
- Transportation: €1.20
- Accommodation: €20 (cheap hostel bed)
Athens Attraction and Museum Prices
History buffs are in luck because Athens is full of a number of ancient ruins and cheap museums.
There is a €30 pass that covers all the major ancient sites. The pass is good for five days so you can take your time exploring. Check out the official Athens Ministry of Culture website for more details.
- Parthenon: €20
- Acropolis: €20
- National Archaeological Museum: 7€
- Ancient Agora: €8
- Benaki Museum: €9
- New Acropolis Museum: €5
- Temple of Olympian Zeus: €12
- Walking Tour: Free (but you should tip the guides at least 5€) – 35€
Athens Food Prices
Food prices in Athens are reasonable, so you shouldn’t have to live on bread and water. As always, food does get pricey around the main tourist areas, so you should seek out restaurants catering to locals. The best way to fill up on a warm meal is by hitting up the street food stalls or takeaway restaurants.
Athens Budget Breakfast Prices: Free – €5
- Many hostels will offer a free simple breakfast that normally consists of cereal, bread/croissant, and maybe milk, coffee, tea, or juice (some hostels will offer more and some less). Hotel breakfasts tend to be overpriced, so skip those in most cases.
- A breakfast pastry from a local bakery will cost €1-€3.
Budget Breakfast Spots in Athens
Athens Budget Lunch Prices: €4-€10
- Super budget travelers can make a super cheap lunch of bread, cheese, and fruit from any grocery store for a few euros.
- Caesar or Greek salad: €5-€6
- Fresh sandwich: €4-€7
- Toasted cheese sandwich: €3
- Pita kebab: €3-€6
- Souvlaki (pita bread, fried potatoes, vegetable, chicken) with gyro meat: €3-€6
Budget Lunch Spots in Athens
Athens Budget Dinner Prices: €9-€17
- You should be able to find dinner at a restaurant in a less touristy part of town for around €12-€18.
- A basic Greek meal (moussaka for example) will cost around €7-€14.
- An upscale burger with fries runs €6-€11.
Budget Dinner Spots in Athens
(Many of the options from the Budget Lunch section above also apply for dinner.)
- Sfika: A small gastropub featuring tasty tapas.
- Rakor: Greek restaurants with plenty of vegetarian options.
- Feyrouz: Off the tourist path serving up tasty Turkish/Lebanese dishes.
Athens Drinks and Alcohol Prices
- A pint of standard beer out: €2-€5
- Pint of beer from a grocery store: €1
- Bottle of (drinkable) wine from the grocery store: €8
- Espresso: €1-€2
Athens Public Transportation Prices
In addition to walking, Athens has a number of public transportation options. The bus, tram, and subway all operate on the same (affordable) ticket.
- Individual ticket (valid for 90 minutes): €1.20
- Daily ticket: €4.50
- 3-day unlimited travel (includes a round-trip ticket to the airport): €22
Athens Hostel, Hotel, & Rental Apartment Prices
Accommodation prices in Athens are about normal but hotels tend to be more expensive than you might expect.
Athens Hostel Prices: €20-€35
You should budget about €25/night per person for a decent hostel, although many hostels raise their prices on the weekend. Remember, these prices are for a bed in a shared dorm room. If you want a private room, expect to pay €70-€100 total (for two people).
We book our hostels through Hostelworld.
Athens Budget Hotel Prices: €50-€150
Hotels aren’t the cheapest since Athens is a very popular destination. A decent budget hotel in the city center will cost around €100-€140/night. You can find cheaper hotels if you want to stay farther away from the center of the city.
We recommend Booking.com because they have the biggest inventory of affordable hotels.
Athens Rental Apartment Prices: €50-€120/night
From my experience, rental apartments tend to be a bit bigger than similarly priced hotel rooms. Plus, you’ll get a kitchen so you can save more money by cooking your own meals but hotels do offer some nice conveniences.
There are quite a few nice rental apartment options available in Athens — you should be able to find a highly rated studio for around €50-€90/night or a 1-bedroom closer to €70-€110. If you want to rent a room in someone’s place, expect to pay around €30-€45/night. Airbnb is always popular but you can find cheaper/better options on our list of Airbnb Alternatives.
Other Travel Costs To Keep In Mind
There are a handful of pre-travel costs that you should factor into your travel budget. I’ve listed a few below.
- International Mobile Data: Using mobile data while abroad can easily run you $10-$20/day if you’re not careful but it’s easy to get that down to around $3/day. Here are a few articles to help:
- Shoes, Clothing, and Other Travel Accessories: Items like shoes, luggage, and other travel gear can end up adding a lot to your overall travel budget. Here are a few helpful articles to help you choose what you should pack and ways to save a little money by being smart with what you buy.
- Avoiding Pickpockets and Travel Scams: Check out my guide to pickpockets in Europe and my guide to Europe travel scams to avoid getting your money, phones, and property stolen while traveling.
Learn More About the Costs of Visiting Europe
We’ve created a super in-depth guide about how much it costs to backpack Europe (including more city price guides).
James Feess is the creator of The Savvy Backpacker and the author of the book “The Savvy Backpacker’s Guide To Europe On A Budget”. He’s been blogging about budget travel in Europe since 2010.
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