The overwhelming majority of Greeks are reported to identify as Greek Orthodox, and nearly a third of the country lives in Athens. Does that mean visiting Athens during the week of Orthodox Easter a good idea? Some might say absolutely yes; others would say absolutely not. This travel writer/photographer team would land somewhere in between. There are pros and cons for such timing and a short list of tips to help you manage expectations and optimize your time.
Why visit Athens during Easter Week? If you too prefer travel during the shoulder season, Greek Easter— timed by the Julian calendar to always be at some time between April 4 and May 8 — will be ideal for many. You can avoid both the hottest weather, the foreign tourist throng, and the markup of high season.
If you don’t have Greek cousins or close friends to invite you over for Easter dinner, do know you are visiting during a time devoted to family. Practically speaking, this means—
TRANSPORTATION GLITCHES MULTIPLY—
If you like to watch a lot of YouTube travel videos as you plan your vacation you too might notice that there is often a mention in the Greek island hopping how-to guides that suggests you build in time for missed plane and boat connections. Those sorts of problems can be compounded when there is a planned cut back on schedules to allow locals family time during the holy week. Greek Easter of 2024 happened to include May Day, which was then re-scheduled for the Greek equivalent of Boxing Day, the day after Easter Sunday. This meant, among other schedule changes, that impromptu island hopping adventures were logistically challenged—- doable, but less convenient.
MUSEUMS HOURS ARE CUT BACK OR THEY ARE CLOSED—BUT DIY OPEN AIR ANTIQUITY TOURS ARE ALWAYS DOABLE—
You will likely need to rely on your hotel to help you figure out which of Athens top notch museums are open or closed. Several museum websites posted that they would be open when they were not. Luckily, the standout Acropolis Museum, except on Easter Sunday, was open, albeit with shortened hours,
If you are a history buff with guide book and good walking shoes, Athens makes it very easy for you to keep absorbing antiquity and admire the ruins in the Plaka area leading up to the Acropolis. Granted, you will have to wait until the Greek Agora re-opens to get that thrill of standing where Socrates, Plato et al stood. However there are far more sites to be seen. Even in the heart of Plaka’s commercial center you will find English language markers explaining ruins and other sites too numerous to make it into the guidebooks.
If you too adore the pageantry of the hourly Changing of the Guards, do know it continues even during the holiday.
PHARMACIES TAKE TURNS BEING OPEN—
Looking for OTC cures like cold medicine can turn into an adventure during this holiday time. There seem to be pharmacies in every direction in the Plaka, Monastiraki, and Syntagma commercial areas but they won’t all be open during the holiday. There are signs posted on pharmacy doors that tell you where the nearest open pharmacy is that day—- if you read Greek. Here too you will likely need to rely on your hotelier to help you research where to go. For this writer/photographer team it truly was fun to have such shopping missions—- helping to take us outside the tourist areas and into neighborhood spots where the real denizens of Athens live.
RESTAURANTS MIGHT BE LESS OPEN THAN THEY LOOK—
You will never starve in Athens—- that’s for sure. There ARE open restaurants, even during Easter Sunday. On Good Friday and Good Saturday however it was a surprise to learn that many of the tourist restaurants near the centrally located Athens Cathedral were already totally booked. These were presumably parties who came to be part of the Easter service, joining the thousands in the street holding candles during the broadcast service and the later procession of the cross in the streets outside the Cathedral.
WARNING TO VEGETARIANS— ROASTED LAMB IS EVERYWHERE—
Carnivores will likely adore the aromas from the many outdoor restaurants cooking leg of lamb on rotisserie spits. Vegetarians be forewarned—sights and smells of the specialty Easter lamb dish being cooked seems to be coming at you in every direction.
STAY NEAR THE CATHEDRAL TO JOIN IN ON THE HOLY CELEBRATION -
It’s holy and it is a happening. On Holy Saturday, the area near the main cathedral in Athens gets roped off by the police hours before bishops, dignitaries and TV stations arrive. Loud speakers broadcast the long service. You are among a large throng. Most are holding candles waiting for the procession of the cross to parade down the street. It is really something to behold and be a part of— even if you don’t speak Greek or Latin.
