Best beaches near Athens, Greece

Athens is a recurring location in my blog posts, and for many reasons. One of them is its great location; there are many beautiful beaches and coastlines nearby that you can reach even via public transport. While Athens does not have a direct beach as such, its surrounding areas do. In this blog post, I will include some of my favourite ones and some top tips how to reach them.

Waterfront of Flisvos

This smaller beach is perfect if you are short on time when visiting Athens but want a nice view of the sea and maybe watch a sunset. It is accessible from the city center; you can either take a bus (B2) or a tram (T6) to Edem Beach (another beach you can visit) and walk all the way out to Flisvos. I would plan this beach visit sometime in the afternoon for a swim, and then grab dinner and walk around in Flisvos Marina. It is a beautiful little port with lots of restaurants around, and even an outdoor cinema (which only functions during high season, though).

The sunset views from Flisvos beach are alwasy beautiful!

Paralia Asteria

Located near Glyfada, which is sort of like a new money area on the outskirts of Athens, this is another local-ish beach that you can visit. This one is also accessible via tram from the city centre (but you do have to make one change from T6 to T7) or the A2 or A3 bus. This is a longer beach area, so you can walk around a little. If you want to combine a beach and shopping day, you can also do that, as the main road of Glyfada is full of shops, and it is a nice, well-kept area. If you're around, I would recommend having food at the Ark, which is a great waterfront restaurant. You can also walk to Ellyz Cafe for the best carrot cake ever!

The typical view from any of the close by beaches in Athens

Vouliagmenis Beach

I'd say this might be the best beach nearby Athens. You can reach it via a combination of a trams (T6 then T7 to the final stop) and a bus (122 or 1220), or take 2 buses (A2 or A3 then 117, 122 or 1220). Now, important note: some parts of this beach have an entry fee but if you walk further out there is also a free public beach, so it is up to you which one you choose! The water always seems to be clear and blue, but during busy summer months these beaches can get quite crowded. I like Vouliagmeni area anyway for its nice walkable areas and restaurants around. Just Google 'Rumours' or 'Bufala Gelato' you will find the area I am talking about. If you happen to walk up to this area you can also find a few more beach spots here (they don't have names) but if you search Labros Restaurant there is a small beach 'behind' it (just opposite Vouliagmeni Lake on the map). This small beach is normally full of local families and has a nice vibe to it.

The small but clear beach behind Labros Restaurant

Α' Λιμανακια

This is the bus stop you have to search for as the beach I am sharing does not seem to have a name on Google Maps. This is a busy beach during summer months and you can get there by taking a bus A2/A3 and then 122, 117 or 1222 (or the combination of the trams and buses as mentioned above to reach Vouliagmenis) When you get off the bus you just have to follow the little path on the right (you might see some cars parking by as well, that's how you know you're in the right area). Once you go down the path you will find some built out wooden areas where you can sunbathe, a little bar (should even accept card but take some cash just in case) and lots of locals enjoying the sun and sea. I love this little beach because the water is clear and there is a ladder to go in if you don't feel like jumping in. The only thing to keep in mind here is to take the bus on time otherwise it might get tricky to get back to the city. Don't leave this too late!

One of my favourite swim spots near Athens

These are mostly my favourite beaches around Athens area, as an additional tip, if you take the 117, 122 or 1220 buses they go a bit further out where you can find more local beaches too some less or more sandy. If you have the time I would recommend doing this as simply the bus journey can show you some beautiful coastlines/ beach views.

Some important notes: when it comes to public buses, you have to make sure you are flexible with timings because they are not always reliable, and a journey that is supposed to be 40 minutes on Google Maps sometimes ends up being 1.5 hours if you're using buses. When it comes to the beaches that are accessible via tram, you can trust the Google Maps timings as those leave on time and are reliable. The only other thing I would say as well is if you end up exploring the coastlines outside of the city where there are no crowds, you are likely to run into nudist beachgoers, so, something to be prepared for. It's not that these are super unsafe, but if you are reading this as a female traveler (especially solo), I would stick to the beaches with crowds just to be on the safe and comfortable side. In my recommendations above I share crowded beaches where any time I visited during the summer months there were lots of people, including families so the atmosphere is expected to be friendly, local and lively.