Sunset at Lycabettus Hill: Athens Night View

2017-05-31 · Updated: 2026-08-11 · Original (Korean)

This article was translated from the original Korean post with AI assistance. Read the original Korean post →

After wandering around the National Garden, it was almost time for sunset. As I mentioned in my posts about Russia, I wanted to try taking sunrise and sunset photos against various backdrops. The sunrise at Lake Baikal was truly spectacular, but since I still lack the know-how, the photos didn't capture how amazing it looked in person.

I wanted to capture one in Athens too, and Lycabettus Hill is the perfect spot. It's a hill that juts out prominently in the otherwise flat city of Athens, making it an incredible place to take in the cityscape.

The only catch is that the climb is tough. I didn't post about it, but I briefly visited Lycabettus Hill before. I got overly ambitious and decided to walk up, which only led to an awkward situation with my companion. Unless the person you're traveling with actually 'likes' walking and sweating, absolutely take the cable car. The cable car starts from quite high up anyway, so you still get a bit of a walk to satisfy that urge.

Today, since I came alone and was already drenched in sweat, I just walked all the way up.

Wide panoramic view of downtown Athens looking down from a hill

Downtown Athens spread out under a blue sky and a mountain range in the distance — You can easily see what a true horizon looks like from Athens.

Tripod and camera set up on a hill observatory, and the city landscape seen beyond them — At every corner on the way to the top, there's a small space of about 6 to 10 square feet. These are popular photo spots, so they get crowded. I waited about 30 minutes to claim a spot to shoot the night view.

Densely packed white buildings along the mountain ridge and the sea in the distance

Forest of white buildings in Athens stretching endlessly below the hill

Forest located in the middle of the city center and the buildings surrounding it

View of downtown Athens where the Acropolis and the sea can be seen at a glance

Densely packed buildings in downtown Athens with the Acropolis visible in the distance — I debated which direction to shoot, but decided on this angle because I thought it would look great with the Acropolis in the frame. If the sky toward the sea had been clearer, the photos would have turned out even better.

As time passed, the world slowly began to darken. I used to think sunsets happened in the blink of an eye, but even after the sun dips below the horizon, the residual light illuminates the world for about 20 minutes. Sitting in that same spot waiting for two hours was pretty boring. And when you're bored, it's easy to get lost in your thoughts. There were a couple of other groups taking night photos besides me, and everyone was just silently staring out at downtown Athens. I wonder what they were thinking about.

Night view of downtown Athens in the dark and the illuminated Acropolis

Downtown Athens full of lights under the night sky and the brightly shining Acropolis — Finally, complete darkness fell over Athens. The Acropolis lit up.

Night view of the Parthenon shining golden under the lights and the surrounding downtown area — The areas with and without trees stand out in stark contrast.

Night view of the Acropolis and Parthenon situated on a hill in the dark night

Panoramic view of downtown Athens full of lights looking down from Mount Lycabettus

Downtown Athens with countless twinkling lights and the Acropolis visible in the distance

Once darkness falls, the path down Lycabettus Hill becomes quite dangerous. It's a dark mountain trail with poor visibility, making it incredibly easy to trip or sprain an ankle. Because of this, most people take the cable car down. It costs €4 per person one way. As a tip, I highly recommend bringing exact change. There is a restaurant there, but they won't just make change for you. I ended up buying the cheapest drink—a Coke—just to break my bills, and even that cost €1.50 a glass.

An even bigger problem arises once you get to the bottom of Lycabettus Hill. Couples or families will likely need to take a taxi, but every single taxi there tries to scam you. Since it's a famous tourist attraction and people leave at predictable times, the drivers collude to fix prices and operate like a syndicate. The last time I took a taxi from there, I had to pay €15 for a very short distance. I couldn't bring myself to hand over that kind of money a second time, so I just walked down.

Rocky hill glowing yellow under the lights in the dark night and a small bell tower on top of it — Lycabettus Hill seen from below.
Here is the 30-second timelapse I spent three hours sitting around to capture. I just threw some random music over it, but it ends a bit too abruptly.

After trying it a few times, I don't think the 10,000 KRW timelapse app I bought for my RX-100 camera is very good. The iPhone's native timelapse feature yields much better results. If you're shooting a very long timelapse (over an hour), the RX-100 is better, but otherwise, the iPhone wins by a landslide.

As I started walking home, I realized I was starving. I had planned to skip dinner, but after walking so much today, my stomach was roaring. The night streets of Athens were completely deserted, so I thought about just hurrying back, but I spotted a Goody's—which looks like a Greek burger franchise—so I stopped in for a quick burger combo before moving on.

Exterior of Goody's Burger store with a red neon sign turned on in the night street

Side view of a hamburger placed on a paper box

Hamburger, french fries, and cola set placed on a tray

Hamburger placed on a paper box and french fries visible behind it — The taste and portion size were quite good. The patty didn't have that typical McDonald's texture; it was soft, almost like soy meat. I was honestly a little bummed I only discovered it this late.

Building with graffiti on the night street and a parked white car

Colorful graffiti drawn on the wall of a building — A university on my way home. The walls are completely covered in graffiti. Universities in Korea aren't this scary at night, but here it was dead quiet, as if no students study late in Athens. The building itself was brightly lit, though.

Cars and trees parked on the night street illuminated by streetlights

Cars parked in a narrow alleyway with streetlights turned on — There is literally not a single person on the street.

Walking through the streets of Athens at night made me realize I should never, ever do this again. I was lucky nothing happened today, but these are exactly the kind of streets where you'd get mugged. There's no one around, and from a distance, people keep yelling, "Hey!! Hello my friend!!!!" If you're looking to make friends, wandering the night streets of Athens might be the way to go. There are plenty of people desperately shouting for their "friends" to stop.

This applies to other cities too, but especially in Athens, I highly recommend avoiding walking around at night and using public transit like buses or the subway to get home. You still have to stay on your toes in the subway at night because a lot of strange characters show up (perfectly normal-looking people will approach you with standard begging routines), but it's still much better than walking down deserted streets.

Please, always be extra careful at night.

Expenses

Laundry detergent €1
Lunch €3.3
Goody's burger combo €5.7

Total Expenses €10.0

Total Trip Expenses 525,936 KRW + 47,999 RUB + $639.96 + €547.07