Athens Nightlife

Night Life in Athens, Bouzoukia live music stages bars and clubs

With more than 3000000 people in the Athens basin, Greece's capital has a very active night life. Like every other big city in Europe Athens has everything to offer for every age. The young ones prefer the small bars the so called "barakia" in Greek. Those are pub style places with loud mainstream music or latest Greek modern music. The most popular outing of the Athenians though, are the famous Bouzoukia place. Those clubs a few decades back was a place for the proletariat and the lower classes. Since the middle sixties the Greek live music clubs with the promotion of the Greek popular music Laika and the films of the Greek cinema have become one of the main entertainment for all ages. There are numerous bars and clubs with mainstream, hip hop, house and rock music, well known DJ's , Latin and Ethnic clubs with Latin music. In Kolonaki you will find many sophisticated bars and clubs.

The new type of live music places though, has nothing to do with the old ones. Light effects, loud music, ballets, fancy clothes and expensive prices. In the old Bouzoukia you could enjoy the most famous singers and bouzouki players with the whole family with a kilo of retsina and some lamb chops or a bottle of 3 stars cheap cognac, today you must pay an arm and leg for a bottle of whisky, some fruits and nuts. That's why many Greeks when they will go to the big stages with famous Greek artists, usually they will share the bill. As an alternative to bouzoukia and live Greek music clubs there are many restaurants and taverns that have a couple of musicians, usually a bouzouki and one guitar and you can enjoy Greek music while dinning. Live music in those places and in Athens generally you will find mostly Fridays and Saturdays.

For the tourists that travel in Greece and want to get to know the local way of life, the main places of night activity is the area of Plaka and the area of Psiri and Thission near and around the Acropolis, in Plaka, once the centre of the Athenian nightlife still some restaurants offer syrtaki and bouzouki shows for the tourists. Psyrri a former scruffy area of any kind of handicraft shops next to Monastiraki flea market, became during the late 90's the replacement of Plaka with numerous restaurants, taverns and bars attracting a huge part of the Athens night outing, another place of nightlife with many bars and upmarket restaurants is the Thission area , mostly for the younger generations.

A good magazine about knowing events, places, clubs, restaurants and all kind of entertainment in Athens is the Athinorama (www.athinorama.gr) . Within this magazine you will find all the addresses and telephones of all of the above businesses like bars, clubs, restaurants, theatres, music halls etch.

If you want a taste of the new style of Greek floor show try Asteria in Glyfada at 2 G.Lambraki street, another one is at the centre of Athens in 48 Panepistimiou street at the former REX theatre with floor show and famous Greek singers like in Asteria. In both places the price for a bottle of whisky cost between 160-180 euro. For more humble occasions you can try taverns with live Greek music like the good old taverns in Plaka .

DANCING CLUBS

The Club Venue one of the IN clubs of Athens is located in 130 Pireos street. It is build in 3 levels and every Saturday has party with celebrity DJ's

Plus-X club is located in Kolonaki at 37 Patraiarhou Ioakeim street. Build in 2 levels with good DJ's and rock mostly music

Salon Fashion Club is another trendy club in Athens at the Athens Tower in Ampelokipoi, 5 gelou Pyri street . You can enjoy dancing parties on Wednesdays with mainstream and house music.

Plastik bar is located at the area of Gazi next to the Keramikos metro station, at 12 Dekeleon steet. Enjoy dancing and live music with free entrance.

BAROUGE another trendy club in Gazi with celebrity DJ's and mainstream music, 4 Andronikou and Tzaferi street Gkazi.

Disco Boom Boom is one of the oldest discos in Athens located at Tzitzifies in Thisseos and Poseidonos street.

Cubanita is a place with authentic Cuban atmosphere and live Cuban music and dance, the club is located in Psyrri square at 28 Karaiskaki street.

Ritmos del Mundo, an authentic club in Kerameikos with Mexican and Latin music in a wonderful building with neoclassical style, 88 Agisilaou street Kerameikos

ATHENS BARS

Imperia ice club The bar is part of the Fresh hotel in Sofokleous street in Athens. The Ice club is unique because it is made from ice, you can enjoy ice cocktails in the middle of Athens in a sophisticated icy environment with cool D's , advice: have a jumper with you!!!

La Villa Vice is located in Psyri area, a multistage space with bar and restaurant , it organizes several events every day like live music, DJ parties, fashion shows etc 13 Mykonou and Aesopou street Psyrri.

LINE MUSIC STAGES

The live music clubs with famous Greek singers usually change their program every season, during the summer most of them are in the Athens Riviera at Poseidonos Avenue.

Kentro Athinon, Petrou Ralli and Pireos 142 , live Greek music with famous Greek singers (This winter with Mitropanos, Lidakis )

Anodos Stage another famous live music stage in 183 Pireos street, this season with Kostas Tournas, Giannis Kotsiras (pass the flame) Lakis Papadopoulos and others.

LIVE BOUZOUKIA AND GREEK POPULAR MUSIC

IIFIGENEIA, 201 Sygrou Avenue, live Bouzouki music.

ALLI FASI ,121 Konstantinoupoleos street, live bouzoukia

VICTORIA, at Victorias square in Athens, live Greek popular music (Laika).

ENNEA OGDOA, 40 Alexandras Avenue, live Greek music.

STOA ATHANATON, if you like the traditional rebetika music this is the place, right at the centre of Athens between Omonia and Monastiraki at 19 Sofokleous street.

Taverns with Greek live music

To Perivoli tou Ouranou at 19 Lysicratous street near Hadrian's Arch.

Sissyfos at Mnisikleous street 31.

Allegro, 71 Pireos street and Agion Asomaton, with famous Greek popular music that became famous in the old Greek movies.

see also Mykonos night life