Summer In Athens Is Not What You Think

Athens has always been very good at refusing to settle into one personality. Ancient, obviously. Urban, intensely. Seaside, although visitors sometimes need reminding. Elegant when it wants to be, while wonderfully chaotic with a 20 minute drive. You can spend the morning looking at marble that has survived millennia, drink coffee beside somebody typing furiously on a laptop at noon and, a few hours later, find yourself barefoot by the Aegean wondering how the city disappeared so quickly. Another way in which, summer in Athens is not what you think.

Perhaps this is why the Athenian riviera feels increasingly relevant to the way we want to travel. A city break no longer has to mean three days of walking until your feet surrender. A resort holiday does not necessarily require disappearing from cultural life either. Somewhere between Athens and the sea, the two can meet.

The City Is Still Very Much There

Staying on the Riviera should never mean treating Athens as scenery in the distance. Part of the appeal is having one of Europe’s most energetic capitals within reach.

There are the obvious reasons to get central. The Acropolis and its museum, the galleries, the restaurants and streets that somehow remain busy long after you assumed everybody would have gone home. Staying at 91 Athens Riviera also means the concierge will encourage you to head towards the Benaki Museum and Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, alongside experiences that guide you to the Cape, with Sounio excursions and explorations of Athens by retro motorcycle.

Athens rewards curiosity. Look beyond the monuments and you find contemporary design, neighbourhood bars, new restaurants, galleries, record shops and a very particular type of Mediterranean metropolitan confidence. And then you can leave, completely changing your scenery, while still staying in Athenian grounds. Drive south, watch the buildings loosen their grip on the horizon and let the sea take over. The visual transition is half the pleasure of this ride.

Then Riviera Mode Gets Activated

Back in Voula, the pace changes without meaning that it becomes passive. Because, 91 Athens Riviera sits directly on the coast, creating a seaside aura with aesthetics that honor the hybrid of refined design and effortless, natural beauty.

Its Luxents (yes, you read right) bring luxury into the glamping vocabulary, with private decks, optional plunge pools and details including wellness kits, exercise mats, Marshall speakers and spa essentials. Did this hit all the checklists?

There is something particularly Athenian about this combination. The experience remains stylish, social and synced. You have simply traded concrete for Mediterranean vegetation and morning traffic for the sound of the coast. So we guess  you can just spend an afternoon near the pool and swim, order something cold and start thinking about dinner. Did you just imagine it? 

Athleisure Deserves Its Holiday

There is also a growing category of traveller who genuinely wants to move while away. Not because a holiday needs another obligation, but because tennis before lunch or Pilates overlooking the sea can actually be part of the fun. Even sport has been given the same aesthetic consideration as everything else. 

There are eight full tennis courts and two mini courts, with private lessons, group sessions and match play, plus a clubhouse designed to let the experience continue even after the final serve.

And if you are one of those that make the most out of their training when away from home, Athlos has got you covered. With private training, mobility work and an open-air training zone equipped for cardio and strength circuits. Yoga around sunrise, while Pilates can happen towards sunset. Both take place with sea air and natural light doing what fluorescent gym lighting never could. So that while you take care of your body, your spirit enters its wellness state as well!

And very importantly, recovery gets its own space. Soma Spa offers the slower side of the equation with sauna, pool, treatments and rituals designed for the hours when your body would prefer indulgence over another set of repetitions. That gives the day a rather satisfying rhythm. Move. Swim. Eat. Recover. Repeat if desired.

Complete serenity was never going to be the final objective in the Greek capital. As daylight softens, this riviera hub moves into its other personality. Weekly happenings such as DJ sets, Greek nights and wellness-led events, can add the social aspect you wish to include in your calendar, shifting between energetic and restorative depending on the hour.

Then there is Barbarossa. Let’s take a moment before we dive in. Ok, let’s go.

The Paros-born restaurant brings its famous dining-party energy to the Riviera, pairing seafood and Greek flavours with cocktails and the possibility that dinner may become considerably less seated as the evening continues. This is where all the different versions of the holiday feel versatile and united at the same time.

You can play tennis in the morning, wander through thousands of years of history in the afternoon, return for a swim, spend an hour doing absolutely nothing on your deck and eventually dress for a dinner that ends under the stars. Because this is Athens! And this place tries to keep all this palette centre-stage.