What to do in Athens on a Sunday, and what stays open
Sunday in Athens starts at the Monastiraki flea market, where Avissinias Square fills with antique stalls. The Acropolis, the big museums and the guard parade at Syntagma all run too. Shopping is the one thing that shuts, except in the old town around Plaka.
What is open and closed in Athens on a Sunday
Athens runs two Sundays at once. Sights, museums, cafes and tavernas keep normal hours, while most shops, supermarkets and the food markets stay shut until Monday morning. The table sorts the places a visitor is most likely to need.
| Place or service | On a Sunday | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Acropolis and other state archaeological sites | Open | Normal seasonal hours; closed on Orthodox Easter Sunday and on 1 January, 25 March, 1 May and 25 and 26 December |
| Acropolis Museum | Open | 09:00 to 20:00 all year |
| National Archaeological Museum | Open | Full day, with an earlier close in winter |
| Cafes, tavernas and restaurants | Open | Normal hours across the centre |
| Shops in Plaka, Monastiraki and around the Acropolis | Open | Every Sunday of the year, at each owner's choice |
| Shops elsewhere in the City of Athens | Open with limits | Sundays from May to October only, except the second Sunday of August |
| Shopping malls | Open with limits | Only cafes, cinemas and restaurants, except on about seven trading Sundays a year |
| Metro, tram and buses | Open with limits | Sunday and holiday timetable |
| Tourist information points | Open with limits | Syntagma Square and airport desks, on shorter hours |
| Pharmacies | Open with limits | Only the duty pharmacies on each area's rota |
| Post offices | Open with limits | Only the airport branch, 08:30 to 17:30 |
| Supermarkets | Closed | They open only on the national trading Sundays |
| Central Market (Varvakios) | Closed | Open Monday to Saturday |
| Laiki street markets | Closed | Each neighbourhood holds its market on a set day from Monday to Saturday |
The practical upshot is simple to plan around. Groceries, pharmacy items and big purchases are best bought on Saturday, and the Sunday itself can go to ruins, museums and the old town.
Shops open on Sunday in Athens
Greek law keeps Sunday a non-trading day for most shops and then carves out exceptions, which explains why one street in Athens is open and the next is shuttered. Three layers apply, and every one of them is optional: each shop owner decides whether to open.
- The old town, every Sunday. A 2020 decision by the Central Athens regional authority lets shops in the Plaka, Monastiraki and Acropolis area trade on all Sundays of the year, because they live on visitors. Adrianou, Pandrosou and the lanes around Monastiraki Square are the reliable Sunday shopping streets.
- The rest of the City of Athens, May to October. Article 16 of Law 4177/2013 allows shops across the municipality to open on Sundays from May to October, except the second Sunday of August. Ermou and the other central shopping streets can trade on those Sundays and return to weekday-only trading in November.
- National trading Sundays. The same law opens shops across Greece on a handful of set Sundays, such as the first Sunday of each sales period, the two Sundays before Christmas and the last Sunday of the year. Malls and supermarkets open on those days too.
Sunday trading hours run from 11:00 to 20:00. Outside the old town, the safest assumption for a Sunday between November and April is that shops will be closed unless it falls on one of the national trading Sundays.
1. Monastiraki flea market and Avissinias Square
Sunday is the flea market's busiest day, and the best reason to keep a Sunday morning in Athens free. The market starts on Ifestou Street, lined with army surplus shops selling duffel bags and khaki jackets, and runs into Avissinias Square, the antiques hub of the old bazaar. Dealers there lay out retro chairs, art deco lamps, vintage prints and the ceramic roof ornaments that still crown old Athenian houses.
South of the square the trading spills toward Thiseio, where collectors sort through old phone cards, tools and trinkets while street bands play. Stallholders set their own hours, so no single opening time holds; the morning gives the widest choice before the heat and the crowds build up.
From Avissinias, Syntagma is about a 15-minute walk along Ermou Street, enough time to reach the 11:00 guard parade. Afterwards, the tavernas of Psirri, north of Monastiraki, suit a long Sunday lunch. Serious collectors can add the antiques market in Piraeus, which also trades on Sunday mornings.
Photo: "Monastiraki Flea Market" by Gveret Tered (CC BY-SA 4.0).
2. The Sunday changing of the guard at Syntagma
The Evzones of the Presidential Guard change pairs every hour at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, below the Parliament on Syntagma Square. On Sundays at 11:00 the simple changeover becomes a full parade: a large detachment of Evzones in ceremonial dress marches with a military band from the guard's camp to the tomb. Arriving by 10:45 gives a better chance of a place near the front. The Presidency's page on the Presidential Guard ceremony also notes that the Evzones raise and lower the flag on the Acropolis on Sundays and holidays.
3. The Acropolis, early
The Acropolis opens every Sunday of the year, closing only on Orthodox Easter Sunday and on 1 January, 25 March, 1 May and 25 and 26 December. Gates open at 08:00. In the second half of October the site closes at 18:00, and from 1 November winter hours run from 08:00 to 17:00, with last entry at 16:30. The first hour after opening is the coolest and calmest time on the rock, before most tour groups arrive. The Ministry of Culture lists every seasonal change on its page of Acropolis opening hours.
4. The Acropolis Museum in the afternoon
Sunday is one of the long days at the Acropolis Museum, open from 09:00 to 20:00 all year with last entry at 19:30, while in winter it closes at 17:00 from Monday to Thursday. That makes a Sunday afternoon the natural follow-up to a morning on the rock, with the Parthenon Gallery on the top floor facing the temple through its glass walls. The museum closes on 1 January, Orthodox Easter Sunday, 1 May and 25 and 26 December, and its page of Acropolis Museum opening hours lists the shorter holiday hours.
5. Plaka and Anafiotika, where the shops stay open
Plaka is the part of Athens where Sunday shopping works without checking the calendar. Sandal makers, jewellers and souvenir sellers on Adrianou and Pandrosou trade all day, and the cafe tables spill into the lanes. Above them, Anafiotika climbs the north slope of the Acropolis, a cluster of whitewashed houses built in the 19th century by builders from the island of Anafi. A late lunch in a Plaka taverna, stretched into the afternoon, follows the local Sunday rhythm.
6. The National Archaeological Museum
The National Archaeological Museum treats Sunday as a full day. In the summer season, which runs until 15 November 2026, it opens from 08:00 to 20:00 from Wednesday to Monday. In winter it has closed at 15:30 in recent seasons, so a winter Sunday visit belongs in the morning. Tuesday is the odd day out, with doors opening only at 13:00. The collection holds the gold Mask of Agamemnon and the Antikythera Mechanism.
7. National Garden and Zappeion
Behind the Parliament, the National Garden is where Athenian families go for a Sunday walk, on shaded paths between ponds and old trees. Its gates sit a few steps from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which makes it the obvious next stop after the 11:00 parade. At the southern end, the Zappeion hall and its gardens lead on toward the Temple of Olympian Zeus.
A Sunday in Athens hour by hour
This plan strings the Sunday highlights together on foot, starting at the flea market while the stalls are still filling up.
- 09:00, Monastiraki. Walk Ifestou Street to Avissinias Square and browse the antiques before the crowds.
- 10:30, along Ermou to Syntagma. Stand at the barrier by 10:45 for the 11:00 parade at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
- 11:30, National Garden. Cool off on the shaded paths and walk out past the Zappeion.
- 13:00, Plaka. Browse the open shops on Adrianou, climb into Anafiotika and settle into a long taverna lunch.
- 15:30, Acropolis Museum. Spend the afternoon there; on Sundays it stays open until 20:00.
- Evening, Monastiraki or Psirri. Rooftop bars around Monastiraki Square look straight at the lit Acropolis.
Anyone set on the Acropolis itself can swap the order: the rock at 08:00, Monastiraki at 10:00 and the guard at 11:00. In winter, when the Acropolis closes at 17:00 and the National Archaeological Museum closes in mid-afternoon, keep every outdoor site and that museum in the morning and leave the Acropolis Museum for last. For ideas on the other days of the week, the list of things to do in Athens covers the rest of the city.
Sundays that change the plan
A few Sundays break the pattern. On Orthodox Easter Sunday archaeological sites, state museums and the Acropolis Museum all close. The Acropolis and the state museums also close when 25 March or a Christmas holiday falls on a Sunday. On the second Sunday of August the shops of the City of Athens outside the old town stay shut, while on national trading Sundays malls and supermarkets open their doors.
From November to March, the first and third Sundays of each month bring free entry to many state sites and museums, though not to the Acropolis Museum, which sets its own free days. The dates and exceptions are in free museum days in Athens.
For anything that changes on the day, such as a holiday closure or a shop's hours, staff at the Athens tourist information points open on Sunday can confirm it. The Syntagma Square desk, on the same square as the guard ceremony, opens from 10:00 to 18:00 at weekends, and the airport desk in the arrivals hall opens from 10:00 to 16:00 on Sundays.