8 Best Spots for Christmas Drinks in Athens

In Athens, there are many beautiful places to cure your winter blues while surrounded by stunning decorations and lush cocktails.

From Christmas classics like the Noel and Grande Bretagne to award-winning spots such as Baba Au Rum and the Clumsies, there is no shortage of stylish festive bars to make the season even more merry and bright!

Noel

This all-day café and bar features vintage décor, baroque dining spaces, and a grand arcade with inviting tables and stools in the centre. Here you’ll find stylish bartenders serving some of the most creative cocktails that can be paired with some Parisian-inspired dishes. With a mix of 1980s, ’90s and jazz music, this is by far one of Athens’ best places to visit during the festive season.

A: Kolokotroni 59B, Athens 

Alexander’s Bar

Located at the famous Grande Bretagne Hotel, Alexander’s (named Best Hotel Bar in the World by Forbes magazine) features a dark wood and marble bar that’s surrounded by tapestries and comfy leather stools where you can sit back and sip on one of the staggering selection of premium spirits. Many of the bottles are exclusive to Athens’ famous hotel and here you can order a classic cocktail or a premium whiskey, brandy, and cognac. 

A: Hotel Grande Bretagne | 1 Vasileos Georgiou A, Syntagma Square St, Athens

Insights Greece - 8 Best Spots for Christmas Drinks in Athens

Delta Bar

Located on the fifth floor of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre (SNFCC), the newly opened Delta features a sculpted bar- one of the largest in the world that can sit up to 50 guests who are able to enjoy unique cocktails and spirits created by Baba Au Rum.  Cocktails are inspired by new Greek brandies, liqueurs, and aged tsipouro accompanying top international distillates (whiskey, rum, tequila, vodka, gin, etc). This is completed by gastro pairing suggestions from the bar lounge menu.

A: Syggrou Avenue 364, Kalithea, Athens

Avra Bar 

Avra located within Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens in Vouliagmeni has become a feel-good gathering spot on the Athens Riviera. The talented team behind the stylish bar serves delicious cocktails, tailor-made mocktails, and amazing appetizers that can be enjoyed while admiring the breathtaking Aegean Sea. 

A:  Four Seasons Athens Astir Palace | Apollonos 40, Vouliagmeni. 

Insights Greece - 8 Best Spots for Christmas Drinks in Athens

Athénée

Athénée has become a local favourite, especially on Fridays when this place is known for its “early drinks.” A famous spot on Voukourestiou and Panepistimiou, it boasts a European atmosphere where locals and international visitors are able to enjoy something to eat or drink at the bar. The cocktails menu features classics with a modern twist and everything looks and feels even more glamorous this time of year! 

A: Voukourestiou 9, Athens 

The Clumsies

The ultimate all-day cocktail bar in the city, Clumsies, which was just named 4th on the list of the World’s 50 Best Bars, is the place to head to for creative cocktails that change on a seasonal basis. One of our favourite parts during this time of year is the private room that features a fireplace, a bookcase, a billiard table, and vinyl LPs- the perfect spot to catch up with friends before or during the Christmas break. 

A: Praxitelous 30, Athens

Insights Greece - 8 Best Spots for Christmas Drinks in Athens

Baba Au Rum

Making delectable cocktails with spirits, herbs, and spices from around the world as well as homemade Greek liqueurs, syrups and bitters artfully created using local ingredients, the Baba Au Rum menu offers something for everyone. The décor is a mix of old-fashioned accessories, vintage eye candy, and antique furnishings, a mix reflected in the drinks menu, which features 19th-century classics like juleps and crusts as well as American-style Tiki drinks like the Guadalupe Punch.

A: Klitiou 6, Athens

King’s Theater Wine Bar

Created by the owners of Athens’ famous Little Kook, King’s Theater is an excellent bistro and wine bar in the heart of Athens, festively decorated year-round. Serving Christmas cocktails- at the moment we can’t get enough of the Gin, basil, strawberry, mastic and lime mixed with edible gold dust and magic- the most addictive Christmas beverage! 

A: Karaiskaki 26, Athens

Main Image: Noel Bar 

GB Spa Named Greece’s Best Hotel Spa for 2021

Athens’ Grande Bretagne Spa was named Greece’s best hotel spa 2021 at the 7th World Spa Awards 2021, an international event that celebrates and rewards excellence in the spa and wellness industry.

Like entering another dimension, one where the lavish décor and top-notch pampering expertise is truly unparalleled, the GB Spa is by far Athens’ best (and one of the most expensive!).

Insights Greece - GB Spa Named Greece’s Best Hotel Spa for 2021
GB Spa Indoor pool

Guests are encouraged to relish the essence of the spa (‘salute per aqua’ or health by water) experience by connecting to the water element first – starting with a leisurely dip in the ozone-rich pool with curative thick sea salt and following that with an excellent choice of around five steam rooms, such as the Herbal Suite, where you can meditatively inhale the essences of Greek organic herbs like thyme, oregano, and lavender, or the Amethystos Grotto, where the walls are covered in a mosaic of amethyst stones and the steam is infused with pure eucalyptus oils.

Insights Greece - GB Spa Named Greece’s Best Hotel Spa for 2021
Ice fountain

Outside the steam rooms are showers with six different settings, from Tropical Rain to Summer Shower, as well as two marble foot baths with hydromassage. ESPA products are used in all treatments, such as high-tech facials and massages, among which are deeply restorative, two-hour-long Ayurvedic rituals, the hot-stone Balinese massage, salt scrubs, and slimming, detoxifying or soothing body wraps.

For instant beautification, the  Spa Manager recommends the Signature GB facial, Prickly Pear Luxury Facial inspired by the 15th-century Japanese Kobido lifting massage.

A: Hotel Grande Bretagne, Vasileos Georgiou A 1, Syntagma Square 

Opening Hours: 11 am to 8 pm (Monday to Sunday)