In a city like Athens, where dozens of Greek specialties hide in tiny local neighborhood restaurants and bakeries, you need the help of an in-the-know food tour to really get the lay of the land and ensure that you try all the best foods. We recently went on the food tour with Greeking.me, a local company that offers a comprehensive Athens food tours among other great Athens tours.
Athens is somewhat of a confusing city with many clusters of neighborhoods and dozens of side streets. If you were to navigate it yourself, you may find it difficult to understand. If we had done it on our own, we certainly would have gotten lost, which would no doubt lead to some interesting food discoveries, but we wouldn’t have tried nearly as many Greek specialties as we did with the help of greeking.me and their awesome 4-hour Athens for Foodies tour.
The tour starts at Syntagma Square. A short history lesson is in order to start the tour off right, with some knowledge of the past that has defined the culinary landscape in Greece. Early migration introduced various cuisines to the area and defined the spices and techniques that make Athens’ food unique.
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Arrive Hungry!
You absolutely must arrive at the tour with an empty stomach and be ready to eat, eat, eat. They don’t mess around. The time allotted for the tour is used to the maximum, with as many as 15 food samples, as you walk through popular areas and up-and-coming neighborhoods with dining options lining the streets.
You won’t regret booking this Athens food tour. By the time the tour ends, you’ll feel like you’ve begun to conquer the list of things you must eat in Greece.
Foods We Tried on the Tour
Here are a few of our favorite things that you can expect to taste on the tour.
Koulouria
One of the first foods you see upon arriving in Athens is koulouria, the pretzel-like bread rings with sesame seeds being sold by vendors all over the city. This breakfast and snack food is a must-try in Athens. It’s slightly sweet and heightened by the taste of the sesame seeds.
Cured Meats and Dolmadies
One of my favorite stops was at a cured meat shop that has been around since 1922. Famous for its pastrami and charcuterie, this incredible meat shop also has cheese and finger foods like dolmadies that it serves to customers who wish to take a seat at the few tables scattered throughout the store. The pastrami was delicious and unique.
Loukoumades
For the sweet tooth, the tour features some of Athens great pastries and puddings. We tried an incredibly creamy baked rice pudding and a crispy honey-drizzled donuts called loukoumades that are from an original recipe used as far back as the first Olympic Games in 776BC, when they were given as a prize to the victor.
Pork Ribs
Once we had the sweets out of the way, we got on to more serious eating with some of Athens best grilled pork chops and fries, which came along with some really good garlic bread.
Moussaka and Soutzoukakia me hilopitaka
No foodie tour is complete without a walk through the local food market – which in Athens is a very local, fresh meat butchery and fish market. There is a restaurant tucked away inside the meat market that sells all sorts of traditional dishes, like Moussaka and Soutzoukakia me hilopitaka, which is like the Greek version of pasta and meatballs.
Our last stop was at a sidewalk eater in the popular Psiri neighborhood, where you’ll find a bunch of attractive-looking restaurants and bars. It was here that we had our first cup of Greek coffee, much like Turkish coffee, but less roasted.
Booking a Tour with Greeking.me
The tour lasts at least 4 hours and when you sit down for coffee, you’ll realized how full you’ve gotten over the last few hours. Dinner won’t be necessary.
When in Athens, we highly recommend setting up a tour with Greeking.me and getting to know the shops and areas for yourself. They also offer many other tours (including city tours and even dancing lessons). They offer both group tours and private tours.
(We were invited by Greeking.me to experience their tour, however all opinions expressed here are our own.)
Laura Lynch, creator and writer of Savored Journeys, is an avid world traveler, certified wine expert, and international food specialist. She has written about travel and food for over 20 years and has visited 70+ countries.
Koulouria looks very much similar to simit in Turkey)) it goes very nice on breakfast with tea or coffee) I would be also interested trying donuts. Thank you for sharing)
It is basically the same thing. We tried simit in Turkey last year and the only difference to us was the name 🙂
Wow- all of that food looks great. But I think that my sweet tooth would win out with those fried sweet thingies.
The best part of this tour is that it combines sweet and savory, so everyone is happy!
My mouth is watering! Koulouria is my favorite type of bread when toasted with some basturma or sujukh and some tea. ^ Ha! Natalia wrote the same thing. My background is Armenian from Turkey so our foods are similar/the same with different names. I did not know that the loukmas were given as a prize during the original olympics, that is awesome. It looks like you had a delicious food tour!
There are so many similar foods between those countries. We were in Turkey a year ago and tried many of the same foods there. They’re clearly on to something with the koulouria. It’s so good.
I spent a day in Athens recently and loved wandering around Psiri. Greek food is delicious and Athens is a fabulous spot for a foodie holiday. Those loukoumades look yummy. Were they really sweet?
We loved the Psiri neighborhood too. The loukoumades were really sweet – lots of honey. I would order them with the honey on the side next time.
I loved eating my way around Athens and the Greek Island. NOt a fan at all of the Greek desserts but there’s a lot of other stuff to love. The freshness of the food really appealed. Did you eat saganaki? I was addicted to it….that and fetta.
It’s funny – the one time we tried to order saganaki the waitress told us to order something else because we could get that everywhere, and we forgot to order it again. I agree about the desserts – too sweet for me.
Oh, what a coincidence. I am visiting Athens soon and the tour sounds interesting (even as a vegetarian) – I think I will not have any time to do a tour but at least I have some more insight now.
That’s cool! I’m sure you’ll love it there. Keep this tour in mind in case you find some time.
That tour sounds like heaven! I have to say, I had a souvlaki in Athens in 2005 that I still think about to this day, so I can image the other food you came across was just as good!
Souvlaki is so good! I have a recipe for it here on the blog that turns out so delicious every time. You should give it a try!
Oh what a great idea. I wish I did this when I was in Athens. In Toronto I live in the Greektown part of the city and I quite love their Greek culture and their food and lamb (it gets its own cause it’s my favourite) Great Post. The only thing I didn’t like was the washroom situation…
Oh man, I went into a WC that had no lights and no lid on the toilet. Squatting in the dark is a whole new low for me!
I love food tours and this one looks awesome! I haven’t had authentic Greek food but it looks amazing!
Wow! You had me drooling. Joining a food tour really gives you more insights than just going around on your own. I would like to try the koulouria!
It definitely does. We wouldn’t have known about half of these things if we hadn’t taken the tour.
That looks amazing! We had SUCH a good time in Athens, absolutely loved the city. A food tour would just set the trip off perfectly!
Yes, we loved it too. It’s a really great city for tourists.
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