The one-hour drive from Glyfada to Sounio is an attraction all on it’s own.  

Sounio (or more properly Sounion) is home to the very popular ancient archaeological site of the  Temple of Poseidon.

Because it is located 60km from the center of Athens, many people will take a tour bus to visit the site.  Sunset tours are especially popular as the sunset here is amazing!

If you have a car rented, go for it, you will love the drive!  Once you are on the Athens Coast, you just head south and stay on the same road the entire time (Poseidonos Ave).

Don’t want to rent a car in Athens (I don’t blame you!)… hire a taxi.  Our favorite taxi driver George took a group of friends out to Sounio a few years back and they just loved it.  No need to worry about the hair-pin turns along the coastal road or the possibility of getting lost once you are back in Athens.  Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

You will go through many little seaside communities and past dozens of beaches, both organised and not.  On this route you will come across 7 Blue Flag Beaches.

On the drive to Sounio, there are many roadside ‘view point’ areas where you can pull over and take a look around and even climb down to the sea if you are feeling adventurous.  It’s Greece, anything goes!  Find a secluded cove and spend the day.

Once you pass Anavysos and the famous row of fish tavernas, you’ll notice the buildings getting more scarce and the landscape more rugged.  Just keep going and enjoying the ‘big blue’ to your right. After awhile, you’ll suddenly see Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon resting atop.

On this particular trip, we spent the day at the beach at the Aegeon Hotel and dined at one of two seaside tavernas located right next door to the beach.

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I spent the day at S Beach two days before their official opening on May 10th and it was pretty fun watching them set up and run around with power tools.

S Beach  is located at the terminal station of the tram in Voula (station Asklipiio Voulas / Ασκληπιείο Βούλας).  There is a big parking lot that fills up early on weekends, so if you are driving, get there early.  Because we were there before the official opening, we didn’t have to pay the usual 4€ entrance fee only 2.50€ per lounge chair.  

S Beach has wooden loungers lined with a thin mat set up in pairs with an umbrella and table between them.

There is a self-service snack bar located near the entrance or you can just flag down a waiter who will take your order right at your chair.   We had excellent service on this occasion, but when the summer is in full swing, it can be difficult to get service at your chair (I’ll get back to you in a month or so with a summer update on S Beach).

We’ve been experiencing a bit of a heat wave here in Athens, so the beaches have been busier than usual at this time of year.   The water isn’t quite warm enough for me to go all the way in, but nice enough to wade around and take in the coast line.

As I mentioned earlier, there were people running around getting ready for the official opening day.  I am a people watcher, so this was my entertainment for the afternoon.  Guys setting up chairs, testing the sound sound system, a man who just paced around with a clipboard was my focus for quite some time.  What was he doing!?  It was driving me crazy.

The people at South Coast think of everything!  Forgot your towel?  Get one here!  The people from Bed & Bath were there setting up a summer towel shop.

I’m glad I got to enjoy S Beach on a quiet spring day.  Things can get pretty crazy here during peak season (go-go dancers and all!).  Check out their events on the S Beach Facebook page.

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Poseidonos Ave is the lifeline of the Athens Coast.

Poseidonos Avenue /Λεωφόρος Ποσειδώνος runs all the way from P. Faliro down the coast past all of the seaside communities and all of the Athens beaches.

If you continue on the same road, you will eventually reach Cape Sounion.  A drive from SEF / ΣΕΦ  to Sounion will take approximately one hour (perhaps in the middle of the night when there is no traffic).  Poseidonos can get very congested, especially during the summer.  Locals may try to steer clear of this this road, but as it is a major connector it is hard to avoid.  

If starting from the northern point of Poseidonos in Faliro and heading south toward Sounion, the beach will be on your right the entire time, with the city to the left.  It’s pretty dense and urban through Faliro and Alimos and then you’ll see some of the Olympic complexes from 2004 as well as the old airport in Elliniko.  Next comes Glyfada and Voula where you will notice more green space and natural seascapes.  Between Vouliagmeni and Varkiza you will get your first glimpse of country side and encounter some crazy turns in the road.  Between Varkiza and Sounion there are a few communities scattered along the way, Anavysos being the largest.  It’s a beautiful drive with many great spots to stop and take a picture or even venture down to the sea for a quick dip.    

The official name of the street changes around Voula to Konstantinou Karamanli Ave. / Λεωφ. Κωνσταντίνου Καραμανλή and in that area it may also be referred to as  Alkyonidon Ave. /Λεωφ. Αλκυονίδων.  If you say Poseidonos, even if the official name is something different, everyone will know what you are talking about.  Paraliaki / Παραλιακή  (meaning Coastal) is also a very popular name of this stretch of road.

Greek Vocabulary

Avenue = Λεωφόρος | Leoforos

Coastal = παραλιακή | paraliaki

Beach = παραλία | paralia

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Μέλι is one of the most important ingredients in the Greek culinary world when it come to sweets.  Honey soaked cakes & cookies, drizzled on yogurt… truly the nectar of the Gods.

‘Meli – χειροποίητες λιχουδιές'(which translates to ‘handmade delicacies’) is a cafe/sweet shop that is truly one of a kind in Glyfada, it’s like a welcoming, sunshiny, country cottage.

There is even a happy bee outside to greet you.

I prefer this type of atmosphere to sit and relax and enjoy my beverage.  Key word there being ‘enjoy’.  There are dozens of spots to have coffee in Glyfada, many of which you will find filled with people smoking and with the music too loud.  None of that nonsense here.   It has a very open and airy feel with a clever country side-meets-honeycomb decor.

‘Meli’ offers fresh loukoumades/ λουκουμάδες (pastries made of deep fried dough), various savoury pies, a variety of ice cream, smoothies and of course every kind of coffee you would expect to find in a Greek cafe.

Thanks to a clever menu insert, I decided to try a Galvanina Ice-Tea – perfect for a sunny spring day.   It was 4€ which is the same price as a hot tea at most of the popular cafes in Glyfada.  I couldn’t resist the pastry case so I decided my lunch for the day would be a spanakopita/ σπανακόπιτα (spinach pie) [2€].

I give ‘Meli’ the ‘kid-friendly’ thumbs up.  A perfect place for the adults to enjoy an afternoon coffee while the kids keep busy with their ice-cream or loukoumades.

Greek Vocabulary

Honey = μέλι | meli

Greek style donuts = λουκουμάδες | loukoumades

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Walking into ‘Vein’ you immediately realise that they mean business.

Vein Cheese and Wine Bar in Glyfada is an upscale wine bar offering tapas as well as a few featured entrées.

The ultra-modern, meets industrial styled wine bar has a dramatic interior that is a welcome sight in the trendy beachside community of Glyfada.  Your sophistication level goes up the minute you enter this dimly lit urban lounge.  I think of it as the Gotham City of Glyfada.

Atmosphere and aesthetics are important to me and this place ticks both boxes. They have a great eclectic mix of smooth music playing at the perfect volume and they also do live Jazz events.  (Vein Facebook page)

I’m a sucker for dips.  They have an amazing little creamy dip they bring to the table with crackers… ours is always gone before we even open the menu.  More please!   I mentioned that I like dips- I probably like dips so much because it means that I get to dip some bread like object into the dip and enjoy them together.  Because of my love for the cheese/bread combo, I opted for the cold cut & cheese plate/αλλαντικών και τυριών [12€].  Jamon, salami, prosciutto, mozzarella, provolone and a few Greek hard cheese.  They get an A+ for their presentation as the platter comes out sprinkled with various nuts, raisins and cherry tomatoes (and a few more crackers, just for good measure).

Fotis is frightened of ‘raw cheese’ (that’s what he calls cheese that is not properly melted), so I got the whole platter to myself. Being a man who can’t have something off the starter menu as a meal, he went for the chicken filet/κοτόπουλο φιλέτο [11€] which came in a rich, creamy, herb infused sauce and was served with steamed vegetables.

We both enjoyed our food choices and the wine.  We ordered a bottle of Aspros Lagos Cabernet 2012 [28€] from their extensive wine list.

We’ve been to ‘Vein Cheese and Wine Bar’ a few times since it opened in 2014 and probably should visit it more often.  If you are looking for a relaxing evening out in a stylish setting, Vein is perfect for you.

OH!  And they have fondue!  So stay tuned for ‘Vein part 2′ after I go for some melted-cheesy-goodness.

Greek Vocabulary

Chicken filet = κοτόπουλο φιλέτο | kotopoulo fileto

Cold cuts = αλλαντικά  | alladika

Cheese = τυρί | tiri

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Best Steak I’ve had in Greece.  Hands down.

Moouu is a steakhouse offering a wide variety of choice beef cuts.  This type of steakhouse is a rare find in Athens and the only one of it’s kind in Glyfada.

‘Moouu’ has recently expanded and I want to move in there and make it my permanent home.  It’s so stylish, cozy and classy all at the same time.  Brick walls, cushiony leather seating mixed with eclectic tables and chairs, really give this place a cool vibe.  The jazzy hip-hop that was playing courtesy of a DJ behind the bar was the cherry on top.

The expansion that I mentioned includes a full bar- so fancy cocktails, vino, beer on draft, whatever you want, they have it.  Fotis had a Fischer draft [5€] and for me a glass of Syrah [5€].

We started with the Mesclun salad [7€] by mistake, which turned out to be a good thing.  This mistake was not their fault.  Fotis ordered the wrong salad, but we really enjoyed it, so cheers to wrong ordering!  It had little crunchy bits which I believe were candied walnuts, (Fotis guessed chocolate).

Now for the meat.  Spare Ribs [12€] and a Dry-Aged Rib Eye [22€] were our choices for the evening.

Falling-off-the-bone rib goodness served with mashed potatoes and a spicy chutney put this menu item on the top of my ‘comfort food’ list.  ‘Moouu’ does these ribs better than some I’ve had in America!

The steak came out and we thought again that we had ordered the wrong thing.  The other tines we had been there it came out in little slices which is great for us since we share.  Now I’m sure some steak aficionados would say that is NOT the right way to serve steak, but that’s how I like it, so next time we’ll ask.  They cooked it to a perfect medium rare and it was fab.

‘Moouu Quality Meats’ is the real deal and that is no secret, so make sure and call for a reservation if you plan on going during the weekend.

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