National Garden

About National Garden

By the ULTIMATE Athens Editorial Team

Step through the gates off Syntagma Square and the roar of the traffic gives way to birdsong, the rustle of palm fronds and the cool, earthy smell of shade. The National Garden is the green heart of central Athens: a royal pleasure garden turned public park, where Athenians come to read, stroll, picnic and escape the summer heat, just a few steps from the Parliament.

A queen’s garden

The garden was the passion of Queen Amalia, the young German wife of King Otto, the first king of modern Greece. In 1838 she began creating a royal garden beside the new palace, and the German gardener Friedrich Schmidt laid it out with winding paths, ponds and hundreds of plants and trees, many of them brought from abroad and new to Greece. Amalia is said to have watered some of the young trees herself.

For decades it was the private garden of the royal family, opened to the public only at certain times. In 1923 it was finally opened to everyone and renamed the National Garden. Today it covers some 15 hectares in the middle of the city, an extraordinary green space so close to Syntagma Square.

For decades it was the private garden of the royal family, opened to the public only at certain times.

A walk through the garden

Inside, the paths wind beneath tall palms, pines, cypresses and shady old trees, past rose bushes, pergolas heavy with climbing plants and quiet benches where elderly Athenians read the newspaper. Look out for the remains of ancient ruins, including Roman mosaic floors, discovered here and left in place among the greenery.

Families love the duck pond, where turtles sun themselves on the rocks, and the small zoo, which in practice is a gentle collection of goats, peacocks, ducks and other birds rather than a real zoo. There is a children’s playground, a small botanical museum and a café in the shade, which makes it a lovely place for a picnic or a slow morning with children.

The Zappeion

At the southern end of the garden, the Zappeion is one of the most elegant buildings in Athens, a grand neoclassical hall designed by the Danish architect Theophil Hansen and opened in 1888, with a beautiful circular courtyard of columns. It was built for exhibitions and has hosted major international events; its surrounding gardens are a favourite place for an evening stroll, and the Aigli café nearby is a classic spot for a drink under the trees.

The garden also makes a perfect shortcut: walk through it from Syntagma Square to the Zappeion, then on to the Panathenaic Stadium or the Temple of Olympian Zeus, a far more pleasant route on a hot day than the busy avenues. It is included in many walking, bike and hop-on hop-off tours of the city.

The other green spaces of Athens

Athens is often described as a city of concrete, but it has some lovely green spaces if you know where to look. Pedion tou Areos, north of the centre, is one of the largest parks in the city, at about 27 hectares, with tree-lined avenues and statues of the heroes of the War of Independence. Down by the sea, the park of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, designed by Renzo Piano, climbs a gentle slope of olive trees and Mediterranean plants to a roof with views over the city and the bay.

For views as well as greenery, walk up Lycabettus Hill through the pines, or the paths of Philopappos Hill opposite the Acropolis, and on the coast the Ellinikon Experience Park is a taste of the vast new park being created on the site of the old airport.

Our advice: the National Garden opens daily from sunrise to sunset, and entry is free; hours can change for safety reasons, for example in strong winds. Go in the morning or late afternoon, when it is coolest and the light through the trees is beautiful. It is a peaceful place, so keep voices low near the reading benches, and remember that the gates close at dusk.

The National Garden at a glance

Opening hours can change for safety reasons, for example in strong winds.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with National Garden before you go.