The swanky corner of Greece that’s luring A-listers (and Boris Johnson)
Stretching from chic yachties’ hangout Palaio Faliro to the marble-pillared splendour of Cape Sounion, the Athenian Riviera is where well-heeled Greeks go to escape the city during sweltering summers – but has long been overlooked by tourists.
Just half an hour’s tram ride (or 20 minutes in a taxi) from the bustle of the capital, this 19-mile stretch of coastline – lapped by the sheltered cobalt waters of the Saronic Gulf and lined with Blue Flag beaches, stylish bars and feet-in-the-water seafood tavernas – makes for a more peaceful base for an Athens city break. So long as your accommodation isn’t next door to one of its lively beach clubs, that is.
The coastline has been given an upmarket makeover over the past few years, with top hotels such as Four Seasons Astir Palace opening their doors, a new pedestrian walkway under construction that will link Piraeus to Cape Sounion, and smart shopping outlets and a Donald Harradine-designed golf course opening in Glyfada, a palm tree-lined resort renowned for its hip nightlife. That the city’s culinary movers and shakers – including Lefteris Lazarou of celebrated fish restaurant Varoulko – are leaving central Athens to set up shop here is another sure sign that this region’s star is on the rise.
According to Niki Fotiou, marketing director of Divani Apollon Palace, a plush property with private beach and one of Greece’s largest thalassotherapy spas, the Athenian Riviera has always been a popular summer playground for celebrities: Jackie O and Frank Sinatra often turned up, while more recently the likes of Bruce Willis and Meryl Streep have been spotted in the bars and tavernas lining the shore.
A growing number of ordinary tourists are also now waking up to the fact that Athens is close to the sea, and that a stay on this reinvented stretch of sandy beach-lined coast can be combined with trips to The Acropolis.
Faced with increasing crowds on the swish western side of the Attica peninsula, in-the-know Greeks and overseas visitors who prefer the quiet life – like Boris Johnson – are making a beeline for its eastern edge, where the resorts, such as Marathon and Nea Makri (where Johnson and his wife Carrie were spotted recently), are more low-key.
This stretch of coastline, while not part of the classic Athenian Riviera, is still less than an hour’s taxi from the city centre, and its attractions include the Sanctuary of the Egyptian Gods, a fascinating archaeological site dedicated to Serapis, a deity that represented healing and fertility. Mr Johnson would surely approve.
To relax after a day of temple-bagging, their nearest beach is the improbably named Brexiza. Further afield, the mineral-rich waters of Vouliagmeni lake, and the signature cocktails at Island Club & Restaurant, one of the region’s hippest venues, would be my recommendations.
The Johnsons might have sought inspiration from the Battle of Marathon in which, in 490 BCE, the heavily outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persians (you can see part of the victory trophy in Marathon’s archaeological museum). Or perhaps they were simply attracted to the quiet beauty of this region, fringed by clear waters and framed by the distant pine-shrouded slopes of the Pentelli mountains, where wolves still roam.
Perhaps, however, the biggest charm of this seaside resort just a few hours’ drive from the villa of Boris Johnson’s father, Stanley, in the mountainous – and equally under the radar – Pelion region, is that it’s still possible to escape the paparazzi here.
After a dramatic couple of days back in Blighty, Britain’s outgoing PM was even spotted shopping in Nea Makri’s supermarket where, according to local media, he asked for a bottle of semi-skimmed milk in broken Greek.
