From the National Gardens , if you cross Vassilias Sophias street and continue up the hill from Irodou Atikou past the beautiful mansion that houses the Benaki Museum , you will be in Kolonaki Square, one of the most famous and enjoyable places to sip coffee, watch people and eat in the cafes that line the street and remind many people of Paris.
The neighborhood is full of cafes and expensive shops, fancy restaurants and fancy people and shopping in this area is like shopping in the finest areas of New York or Paris.
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The Gennadeion Library, across from the American School of Archaeology following Dinocratos street, contains the best collection of Hellenism in the world as well as the notebooks and letters of Henrich Schleiman, the records of Ali Pasha, the despot of Epirus, and the papers of Nobel Prize-winning poets George Seferis and Odysseus Elyetis.
If you are adventurous enough keep walking uphill on Ploutariou street until you reach the tree-line. You are now in the wilds of Mount Lycabettus. You can take the Funicular Railway to the top or you can walk.
Whatever you do it's worth it because at the summit is a church with a spectacular view of Athens, the Acropolis, and the mountains surrounding the city.
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From Mount Lycabettus you can see the ships in Piraeus, the Aegean sea, and on a clear day the islands beyond, all the way to the mountains of the Peloponessos.
It's worth being here for sunset and there just happens to be a cafe-ouzerie up there too. On the back side of the mountain is an outdoor amphitheater.
