GUIDES
Glyfada guide: restaurants, shopping and things to do
Where to eat, where the shops actually are, and how to get there from the airport without losing the first evening.
Glyfada is the suburb you can use without a plan, which is why it rewards a short one. The restaurants, the shops and the marina sit in a walkable centre. The beaches and the golf are a few minutes off it. A villa in the wrong part of the suburb turns all of that into a drive.
Restaurants
You can eat well on an ordinary Tuesday. The centre is dense enough that a failed reservation is not a disaster in May, and it is a disaster in August if you have six hungry people and no table. Book the one dinner you care about, and leave the other nights loose. Seafood is the obvious order on this coast. The better reason to be in Glyfada rather than Vouliagmeni is the range: grills, Italian, a place you can take teenagers, a place you would not.
If you would rather eat at the house, a private chef is easier to arrange here than almost anywhere else on the coast because the suppliers are close. It is still a booking, not a hope. The houses are on the Glyfada villas page.
Shopping
Metaxa and Kyprou are the streets. Between them you can cover a gift, a swimsuit you forgot, and an hour you do not want to spend on a beach. It is not Kolonaki and it does not need to be. Go in the late afternoon, when the beach clubs have taken the sun people and the shops are open.
Things to do that are not shopping
The marina, if someone in the group wants to look at boats or leave from Alimos the next morning. The two golf courses, if that is a real hobby and not a line in a brochure. The Ellinikon park, once. A beach day at Asteras or Balux, with the detail in the beaches guide. An evening in Vouliagmeni when you want it quieter, which is fifteen minutes when the road is kind.
From the airport
Athens International Airport to Glyfada is about 25 to 35 minutes via the Attiki Odos in normal traffic. Sunday night in August, when the weekly flights land together, is the version that takes an hour. Book the transfer with the villa so the first evening is a table or a pool, not a taxi rank. The Acropolis is a separate half-hour in the other direction, best as one morning, not as a daily commute. Driving times for the whole shore are in the Athens Riviera guide.
FAQ
Do I need a car in Glyfada?
Not for dinner, if the house is near the centre. Yes for Ano Glyfada, the golf, and any beach that is not the closest one. We say which house is which.
Is Glyfada good without a beach club?
Yes. The town is the point. The club is optional. Voula is the booking if the beach is the only point.
What should I book before I fly?
The villa, the airport transfer, and one dinner. Everything else can wait until the host has seen the week.