Views that Make You High at Prasini Tenta

We visited Prasini Tenta, the spectacularly scenic, born-again hangout on Lycabettus Hill that has now turned into a restaurant/café/bar that locals and tourists alike love.

As Athens’ tallest hill (277m high), Lycabettus and the white church of St George that crowns it, Greek flag a-flapping at its edge, is one of the capital’s most noticeable landmarks. Throughout the year, streams of tourists and visitors hike, jog and dog-walk up the verdant hill to enjoy nature and dazzling views, but now you can soak up the vistas while relaxing at Prasini Tenta with a drink or bite.  

  • Insights Greece - Views that Make You High at Prasini Tenta
  • Insights Greece - Views that Make You High at Prasini Tenta

Today’s trendy Prasini Tenta is the reborn version of a same-named, historical ouzeri in the same spot that existed since the late 1930s and was a popular hangout for students, poets, politicians, and lovers. Due to the ten-year hardship of Greece’s financial crisis, the scenic hangout was shut down in 2003, so 18 years later its return is very happy news for regulars and newcomers alike. Although some residents are disgruntled by the way the newer, more chichi place has been built – using cement, and lots of it – romantics are drawn in particularly by the spanning views of the city, the Acropolis and the sea in the distance.   

  • Insights Greece - Views that Make You High at Prasini Tenta
  • Insights Greece - Views that Make You High at Prasini Tenta

Made up of two large terraces, one for dining and the other for coffee and drinks, Prasini Tenta has been buzzily busy since it reopened in earnest this summer, only to close for small periods during and after the tragic forest fires in Evia and Attica for precautionary reasons. Aperol Spritz seems to be the popular drink of choice in the bar/café section, where visitors can arrive from early in the morning to late at night. The restaurant serves a variety of snacks, appetisers and simple meals, from open sandwiches and ceviche to salads, pasta, pizza and burgers. The prices match the view in that they are high, considering that this is not a fancy restaurant run by a famous executive chef. But the view clearly makes people shrug at the exaggerated costs, which include €10 for simple classic cocktails, €13 for a club sandwich and €12 for a salad because it is truly worth lingering over for hours on end. 

  • Insights Greece - Views that Make You High at Prasini Tenta
  • Insights Greece - Views that Make You High at Prasini Tenta

Prasini Tenta can be reached by foot – by walking up to Aristippou street from Ploutarchou, Loukianou or Marasli (beware, we see lots of stairs in your near future!) and then up the steps on Lycabettus hill (another 7-10 minutes’ walk uphill) or by driving and parking nearby.

TIP: To make the best of your experience, visit at sunset time and watch the sky change colours as the city below brightens with twinkling lights of different colours and the Parthenon turns to gold. 

Lycabettus Hill Set to Receive Major Upgrades 

Lycabettus Hill, the highest point in the centre of Athens, is set to receive major upgrades. 

With thousands upon thousands of locals and international visitors making their way to the top each year to take in the splendid views, Athens’ Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis announced on Wednesday that the management of Lycabettus Hill, is now in the hands of the Athens municipal authority, which will allow the Mayor to proceed with projects that will upgrade the entire hill.

This includes the reconstruction and reopening of the landmark Open-air Lykavittos Theatre, which is a 1960s amphitheater that hosted concerts and other events in the summer.

The Mayor says the decision paves the way for Lycabettus “to come to life” and other upgrades include maintenance, upgrades, road and footpath works. The project is budgeted at 1.5 million euros and is part of the major makeover of the Greek capital.

Lycabettus is also home to the beautiful church of Agios Georgios and from the front of the church, visitors can enjoy uninterrupted views of Athens, stretching out to the city’s coastline. Visitors can also enjoy a coffee or dessert at the cafe, which is open for breakfast and lunch; and for some fine dining and to enjoy Athens all lit up, Orizontes restaurant is open in the evenings.

5 Great Places to Read Around Athens

The perfect reading spot has to be comfortable, quiet, and picturesque and we have put together our favourite spots in Athens for the bookish, so you can easily escape into the pages of a good book! 

Filopappou or Pnyx Hill

Reachable by walking along a cobblestone pedestrianised walk that forks off from Dyionissiou Aeropagitou, which is surrounded by trees and greenery, these two hills are not only incredibly scenic and intensely historical but also scenically serene. Bring a soft blanket along and set yourself down against an ancient rock to read your book and occasionally glance up at mesmerising views of the Acropolis, Lycabettus and the sprawling capital.

Lycabettus Hill

With entrances from all sides (from Exarcheia, Ambelokipi and Kolonaki) that have paths leading round the hill and up to the top, as well as a Teleferique rail car, this green hill has numerous benches to perch yourself on for a tranquil read. Or head right to the church of Saint George at its peak and enjoy your book from one of the highest places in the city.

  • Insights Greece - 5 Great Places to Read Around Athens

National Gardens

There are plenty of park benches, grassy patches, thick tree trunks and large rocks to settle on here, as you sit surrounded by one of the city’s largest botanical varieties from around the world. Hear the exotic parrots squawk and see children giggle as they feed goats and geese in these large, lush grounds just off Syntagma Square.

First Cemetery

Not to everyone’s taste but considered as extremely pacifying for some (indeed, there is even such a thing as cemetery tourism), the First Cemetery in Mets is an ideal place for reading and reflection. These expansive grounds are where the city’s most well-established, oldest and richest families have laid their beloved to rest, as well as being the burial land for some of the country’s greatest figures. That means it’s filled with incredible works of art, most of them in the form of elaborate marble sculptures crafted by acclaimed artists. Park-benches dot the alleys of sculptural graves, lined with trees and greenery, and, well, it’s certainly silent here. Just don’t come after dark

A: Logginou 3, Mets

SNFCC Park

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre has become known for its beautiful facilities, which include pretty sea views, an artificial lake, a row of fountains and a giant park that includes an olive grove. Although it can get noisy during the weekends, when parents bring their kids here to run free, there’s almost always sure to be a nook where you can read your book. And then there’s the SNFCC’s Library if you’re looking for an indoor readscape.

A: Leof. Andrea Siggrou 364, Kallithea

Cover image: First Cemetry by Fanis Vlastaras

  • Insights Greece - 5 Great Places to Read Around Athens
    First Cemetry @fanisvlastaras
  • Insights Greece - 5 Great Places to Read Around Athens
    SNFCC Park
  • Insights Greece - 5 Great Places to Read Around Athens
    National Gardens

The GB Roof Garden Restaurant and Bar

Let’s put it this way: you don’t come here for a ‘great meal’, you come for The Experience.

Certainly, you are well rewarded by both, at one of the city’s most prestigious, elegant and imposing hotels, the Grande Bretagne, which is almost synonymous with Syntagma Square. Then there is the view, or better, oh so much better, views. You can’t help but feel on top of the (Athens, at least) world fine dining at this garden restaurant as you are served by friendly, professional staff under the moon and stars. There’s the Acropolis, lit beautifully in shimmering gold, as if she is posing for you; and there’s the Parliament Square and Syntagma, like a theatre set below you. And lush Lycabettus Hill, with St George church twinkling its lights at the top. Greenery all around and elegance at every glance, in one of the city’s most classic hotspots for the glitterati.

Type of cuisine? Pronounced Mediterranean influences presented in haute cuisine compilations. Flavours are fresh, rich and true to their quality ingredients. Don’t expect experimental or highly gourmet gastronomy, although creativity and finesse are definitely not lacking.

Insights Greece - The GB Roof Garden Restaurant and Bar

Type of eatery? Super-elegant and the ideal place to take someone very special to you for a truly chic dinner.

The low down… This is a classic luxury hotel restaurant and expects you to respect its codes of attire (Evening Dress Code, after 18.00, is elegant and smart-casual. Beachwear of any kind, shorts or flip flops are not allowed). Being a hotel, regardless of its glamorous history and appeal, it does have a slight hotel-feel. But if that’s something you’re not expecting, why go at all?

Décor/ Ambience? Ideally, sit outside to relish the surrounding glories of the Athenian landscape in combination with your beautifully prepared meal. In the evening hours the restaurant becomes a-buzz with a combination of international hotel guests and both local and foreign outside visitors. The ambience is sophisticated, vibrant and chic without feeling heavily so.

Entrees? We tried the Trilogy of carpaccio with sea bass, salmon and tuna with yuzu sorbet and mastiha oil, and Homemade ‘ravioli’ with goat’s cheese, green pea cream and tomato syrup. The carpaccio was as delightfully fresh and zingy as you’d hope, with the flavours from each fish carpaccio remaining distinct, and the mastiha oil was hardly traceable, only adding to the flavour without standing out. The ravioli was soft, creamy and comforting but the flavours were a little blended.

Insights Greece - The GB Roof Garden Restaurant and Bar

Mains? We tried the Lamb duet, grilled carré and slow-cooked leg, with smoked Florina pepper and potato filled with a cream of basil and ‘volaki’ cheese from Andros. This was an earthy dish, with warming, delicate flavours in the lamb and smoked pepper and a refreshing tang from the basil and goat’s cheese potato side.

Dessert? For over five years, the dessert menu here is curated by French patissiere Arnaud Larher, who stands amongst the top 10 chocolatiers of France. We tried the Pistacchio Choux with pistachio cream and crunchy salted praline and the Chocolate Bomb with a hazelnut filling. Both were divine, but (subjectively, as all reviews are after all) I would return to the GB Roof Garden Restaurant again and again just for that row of choux.

Something to drink? Between 2014 – 2016 the GB Roof Garden Restaurant was awarded the Wine Spectator Restaurant Award, and the restaurant’s wine list continues to be excellent. Cocktails are very well mixed too. Try the Guava Martini.

Price range? With an entrée, main and dessert per person you can estimate the bill will come to a total of around 160 € without wine or cocktails.

Location?  Vasileos Georgiou 1 A, Syntagma (8TH Floor).

Opening hours/days? Lunch: 13:00 to 16:00 & Dinner: 18:00 to 00:00. Bar: 13:00 to 00:00