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23/100
By type of crime
- 25Overall safety
- 28Property crime
- 23Violent crime
Athens scores 23 out of 100 (modelled estimate, Eurostat 2021–2024) for violent crime — above-average crime, on a scale where 50 is the average for Greece. It is home to about 664,046 people (2021 census), 16,579 per km².
The score is absolute, not a ranking: 50 is the offence rate of Greece as a whole and every doubling of the rate costs the same points, so any two places compare directly. How the scores are made
Updated · police figures: Eurostat 2021–2024 · What's new
Athens areas to avoid, and where to stay instead
The neighbourhoods we have written notes on: what each is like, what changes after dark, and what the police and the Greek press report. Notes, not just numbers.
Areas to avoid
The note documents specific problems here, with its sources, and advises against booking a room.
Fine by day, care after dark
The note names what changes after dark and where; by day the usual precautions apply.
- 33AsteroskopeioΑστεροσκοπείο · above-average crimeAsteroskopeio is the slope around the National Observatory on the Hill of the Nymphs, above Thiseio and beside Ano Petralona, in the belt of western hills that also holds the Pnyx and Filopappou.
- 33AsyrmatosΑσύρματος · above-average crimeAsyrmatos — also called Attaliotika or ta Petrina — is a small settlement of roughly 170 stone houses on the western slope of Filopappou above Ano Petralona, built in 1955-57 for refugees from Attaleia using stone…
- 33Profitis DaniilΠροφήτης Δανιήλ · above-average crimeProfitis Daniil sits at the western edge of the Municipality of Athens, bordering Votanikos, Akadimia Platonos, Kolonos, Sepolia, the Rouf area and the municipality of Aigaleo, and takes its name from the church on…
- 33RoufΡουφ · above-average crimeRouf is the half-industrial wedge south-west of Omonia along Pireos and Petrou Ralli, named after a Bavarian businessman who bought the land under King Otto.
- 33Pedion tou AreosΠεδίον Άρεως · above-average crimeAthens' second-largest park, about 277 stremmata of pine and plane between Kypseli, Exarchia and Patision, laid out on former military ground as a memorial to the heroes of 1821 and lined with their statues.
- 33DourgoutiΔουργούτι · above-average crimeDourgouti is the old refugee quarter inside Neos Kosmos, near the tram tracks, where Armenian and then Asia Minor refugees were housed from 1922 and where the state replaced the shacks with public housing blocks between…
- 33Neos KosmosΝέος Κόσμος · above-average crimeNeos Kosmos is a working, mixed district below Mets and across Syngrou from Koukaki, built on 1920s Armenian and Asia Minor refugee settlement and decades of state housing.
- 33PatisiaΠατήσια · above-average crimeLess a neighbourhood than a 4.5-kilometre axis — Patision, officially 28is Oktovriou — running from the Polytechnic north through Victoria, Amerikis and Koliatsou to Ano Patisia.
- 21Agios NikolaosΆγιος Νικόλαος · above-average crimeA dense district built around the church and square of Agios Nikolaos, with Acharnon as its commercial spine and its own ISAP station on Line 1.
- 21VotanikosΒοτανικός · above-average crimeAn unplanned, half-industrial pocket on both sides of Iera Odos in the western municipality, roughly 5,000-6,000 residents in about half a square kilometre.
- 21Akadimia PlatonosΑκαδημία Πλάτωνος · above-average crimeThe neighbourhood wrapped around the excavated site of Plato's Academy, between Lenorman and Athinon Avenue.
- 16ExarcheiaΕξάρχεια · high crimeExarcheia is the university and counterculture quarter north-east of Omonia, between the Polytechneio, the National Archaeological Museum and the Lycabettus slopes.
- 9Agios PanteleimonasΆγιος Παντελεήμονας · high crimeA dense 1960s apartment district around the big church on Acharnon, minutes from Victoria and Attiki metro.
- 9AttikiΑττική · high crimeA working transport knot rather than a destination: Attiki is where Metro Line 2 meets Line 1, on Liosion, with the trolleybus depot taking up a whole block.
- 9KolonosΚολωνός · high crimeA dense working-class district northwest of the centre, named for the ancient Hippios Kolonos of Sophocles and rebuilt wholesale as apartment blocks in the 1960s and 70s.
- 9Larissa StationΣταθμός Λαρίσης · high crimeThe strip either side of Athens' main railway station, opened in 1904 at the end of Ioulianou on Domokou, with its own metro stop on Line 2.
- 9MetaxourgeioΜεταξουργείο · high crimeMetaxourgeio, named for a 19th-century silk mill, is the most uneven neighbourhood in central Athens.
- 9Kato PatisiaΚάτω Πατήσια · high crimeA dense working- to middle-class district that grew along Patision and Acharnon and was built out hard in the 1950s to 80s.
- 9Koliatsou SquareΚολιάτσου · high crimeTwo squares on Patision, a kilometre apart, that were the social centre of north Athens in the 1950s and 60s — cafes, the Studio and Radio City cinemas, theatres, writers and students.
- 3OmoniaΟμόνοια · high crimeOmonia is central Athens's transport and commercial hinge: a two-line metro interchange where Panepistimiou, Stadiou, Athinas, Piraeus and Agiou Konstantinou meet.
Ordinary city neighbourhoods
The usual precautions apply. The note lists anything specific to this place.
- 33AkadimiaΑκαδημία · above-average crimeAkadimia is the office-and-institution belt between Omonia, Kanigos Square, Exarcheia, Neapoli and Kolonaki, crossed by the three parallel arteries Stadiou, Panepistimiou and Akadimias.
- 33AkropoliΑκρόπολη · above-average crime'Akropoli' as a place to stay means the blocks immediately around the Acropolis metro station and the Dionysiou Areopagitou pedestrian avenue that curves along the south slope past the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and the…
- 33AmpelokipoiΑμπελόκηποι · above-average crimeAmpelokipoi is the densest district in the Municipality of Athens and its least touristy big neighbourhood: offices, embassies, hospitals, the Panathinaikos ground on Alexandras Avenue and the Attica police headquarters…
- 33KountouriotikaΚουντουριώτικα · above-average crimeKountouriotika is the western flank of Ampelokipoi, running from the American Embassy on Vasilissis Sofias up towards Gyzi, Neapoli and the foot of Lycabettus.
- 33Nea KypseliΝέα Κυψέλη · above-average crimeA sub-district on the northern side of the Kypseli mass, towards Galatsi and the Tourkovounia.
- 33ThymarakiaΘυμαράκια · above-average crimeA tight residential wedge between Agios Nikolaos, Sepolia, Kolonos and Kato Patisia, built up first by self-construction on former farmland and then conventionally, with Liosion as its spine.
- 33SyntagmaΣύνταγμα · above-average crimeSyntagma is the political and transport centre of Athens: Parliament and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on one side, the National Garden behind, and Ermou running west to Monastiraki as the main shopping street.
- 33Agios ArtemiosΆγιος Αρτέμιος · above-average crimeAgios Artemios — older name Gouva — is the dense, unglamorous stretch around the church on Filolaou, sitting between Mets, Pangrati, Vyronas, Ymittos, Dafni and Neos Kosmos.
- 33Agios ElevtheriosΆγιος Ελευθέριος · above-average crimeA northern district on Leoforos Ionias, settled in 1902 by farming families and once a summer retreat for well-off Athenians.
- 33Ano KypseliΆνω Κυψέλη · above-average crimeThe uphill extension of Kypseli, built out during the fastest phase of Athenian urbanisation and reckoned among the most densely built and populated parts of the whole city.
- 33EllinorosonΕλληνορώσων · above-average crimeEllinoroson is a small urban extension of Ampelokipoi in the 7th municipal district, north of the junction of Katechaki and Mesogeion avenues and running up to the Neo Psychiko boundary.
- 33Erythros StavrosΕρυθρός Σταυρός · above-average crimeErythros Stavros is a small institutional pocket of Ampelokipoi named after the Red Cross hospital, wedged between Ampelokipoi proper, Girokomeio and Ellinoroson.
- 33GirokomeioΓηροκομείο · above-average crimeGirokomeio is a small, green, comfortable district running parallel to Kifissias Avenue, named after the old people's home that has operated on the site since 1907 on land donated by Andreas Syngros and later endowed by…
- 33GoudiΓουδή · above-average crimeGoudi is a former army camp turned hospital-and-university quarter on the eastern edge of the municipality.
- 33KolokynthouΚολοκυνθού · above-average crimeA small western neighbourhood between Kolonos, Akadimia Platonos and the boundary with Aigaleo and Peristeri.
- 33Profitis IliasΠροφήτη Ηλία · above-average crimeProfitis Ilias is the upper, eastern part of Pangrati, bounded by Leoforos Ymittou and the streets Formionos, Aritis, Nikiforidi, Iliados and Empedokleous — about 334 stremmata with roughly 12,500 residents.
- 33RizoupoliΡιζουπόλεως · above-average crimeA northern neighbourhood on the boundary with Nea Ionia and Perissos, named after Ioannis Rizopoulos, who in the early twentieth century laid out houses, shops and roads on what was still semi-agricultural land.
- 28PetralonaΠετράλωνα · above-average crimeThe strip between Ano and Kato Petralona, on the slope below Filopappou.
- 28Lower PetralonaΚάτω Πετράλωνα · above-average crimeKato (Lower) Petralona is the half below the Line 1 railway, running down towards Pireos street.
- 28PsyrriΨυρρή · above-average crimePsyrri is the dense triangle of workshops, tavernas and bars between Athinas, Ermou and Pireos, a short walk from Monastiraki.
- 26GyziΓκύζη · above-average crimeGyzi is a tightly built 1960s-70s residential pocket between Pedion tou Areos, Polygono and Leoforos Alexandras, first settled by islanders from Tinos, Naxos and Andros and named after the painter Nikolaos Gyzis.
- 26PolygonoΠολύγωνο · above-average crimePolygono climbs the Tourkovounia slopes above Pedion tou Areos, sitting between Gyzi, Kypseli and Nea Filothei and adjoining Ampelokipoi.
- 26PromponaΠρομπονά · above-average crimeA small northern pocket next to Rizoupoli, originally a refugee quarter, defined by three things: the Apollon Smyrnis ground, the Second Athens Cemetery, and the municipal nursery, a large green holding that residents…
- 21GaziΓκάζι · above-average crimeGazi is the old gasworks district west of Kerameikos, rebuilt around Technopolis - the 19th-century gas plant now a municipal culture venue.
- 21KerameikosΚεραμεικός · above-average crimeKerameikos is the strip between Psyrri and Gazi, named for the ancient potters' quarter and the cemetery excavation at the foot of Ermou.
- 21KypseliΚυψέλη · above-average crimeOne of the densest neighbourhoods in Europe and, for much of the twentieth century, the most fashionable address in Athens, which is why it is full of good interwar and 1950s apartment buildings.
- 21Lofos SkouzeΛόφος Σκουζέ · above-average crimeA small hill in the 4th municipal district, ringed by Kolonos, Sepolia, Akadimia Platonos and Kolokynthou, named after the banker Georgios Skouzes who bought the land and planted it with olives, pines and cypresses.
- 21Ano PatisiaΆνω Πατήσια · above-average crimeThe northern end of the Patision axis, where the city thins towards Nea Ionia and Galatsi.
- 21Treis GefyresΤρεις Γέφυρες · above-average crimeA small quarter in the northwest corner of the municipality, at the top of Liosion where the national road crosses — the three bridges that name it.
- 16MonastirakiΜοναστηράκι · high crimeMonastiraki is the hinge of tourist Athens: the square where Ermou, the flea market, the Ancient Agora and the Acropolis approach all meet, and the interchange between Line 1 and Line 3, which puts Piraeus port and the…
- 14SepoliaΣεπόλια · high crimeAn unpretentious residential neighbourhood on Metro Line 2, four stops from Omonia, built out from the 1960s by families moving in from the Greek provinces and formalised in the 1970s; the metro arriving in 2000 lifted…
Where to stay instead
The note recommends it as a base and says for whom. Scores are modelled from the wider area's recorded crime, so the two can differ.
- 51KolonakiΚολωνάκι · average crimeKolonaki occupies the slope between Vasilissis Sofias - the embassy and museum avenue - and Lycabettus hill.
- 46KoukakiΚουκάκι · average crimeKoukaki is the residential triangle south-west of the Acropolis, roughly bounded by Dionysiou Areopagitou, Syngrou, Drakou and Garivaldi - about a square kilometre you can cross on foot in fifteen minutes.
- 44MetsΜετς · average crimeMets is a small, steep, leafy pocket between the Panathenaic Stadium, the First Cemetery and Neos Kosmos, full of pre-war and 1930s houses, marble sculpture workshops on Anapafseos and a handful of wine bars and…
- 42PlakaΠλάκα · above-average crimePlaka is the old village under the north and east slopes of the Acropolis - narrow lanes, neoclassical houses, small museums and an unbroken run of tavernas and souvenir shops.
- 40PangratiΠαγκράτι · above-average crimePangrati is the classic middle-class Athens neighbourhood with an artistic streak — Seferis and Hatzidakis lived here — and it is now the district most often recommended to visitors who want somewhere real.
- 35MakrygianniΜακρυγιάννη · above-average crimeMakrygianni is the small wedge directly south of the Acropolis, between the Acropolis Museum, Dionysiou Areopagitou and the Temple of Olympian Zeus.
- 33IlisiaΙλίσια · above-average crimeIlisia runs east from the Hilton and Evangelismos metro towards Goudi and Zografou, taking its name from the buried Ilisos river.
- 33PevkakiaΠευκάκια · above-average crimePevkakia is a micro-neighbourhood inside Neapoli, on the lower slopes of Lycabettus between Exarcheia and Kolonaki.
- 33RigillisΡηγίλλης · above-average crimeRigillis is barely a neighbourhood — it is a short, grand street and its surroundings between Kolonaki, the National Garden and Vasilissis Sofias, holding the Athens Conservatory, the Army General Staff compound and…
- 28Ano PetralonaΆνω Πετράλωνα · above-average crimeAno (Upper) Petralona is the half of Petralona above the Line 1 railway, climbing towards Filopappou hill.
- 28ThiseioΘησείο · above-average crimeThiseio is the leafy pocket west of Monastiraki and north of Filopappou hill, built around the Apostolou Pavlou pedestrian promenade that skirts the Ancient Agora with the Temple of Hephaestus and the Acropolis in view.
Districts in Athens
64 places, by violent crime
All districts, largest first
- 31GirokomeioΓηροκομείο41,617
- 17VotanikosΒοτανικός35,352
- 31GoudiΓουδή34,979
- 17Akadimia PlatonosΑκαδημία Πλάτωνος33,051
- 31KountouriotikaΚουντουριώτικα21,658
- 31IlisiaΙλίσια19,866
- 31Agios ArtemiosΆγιος Αρτέμιος17,299
- 31Neos KosmosΝέος Κόσμος16,601
- 18KypseliΚυψέλη16,441
- 59KolonakiΚολωνάκι15,817
- 4Agios PanteleimonasΆγιος Παντελεήμονας15,013
- 31DourgoutiΔουργούτι14,159
- 18GyziΓκύζη14,100
- 31Ano KypseliΆνω Κυψέλη13,788
- 18Ano PatisiaΆνω Πατήσια13,594
- 31PevkakiaΠευκάκια13,343
- 31RizoupoliΡιζουπόλεως12,730
- 31PatisiaΠατήσια12,059
- 45PangratiΠαγκράτι11,389
- 0VathiΒάθης11,310
- 4SepoliaΣεπόλια11,172
- 59PlakaΠλάκα10,972
- 18Agios NikolaosΆγιος Νικόλαος10,477
- 4Koliatsou SquareΚολιάτσου10,316
- 18PolygonoΠολύγωνο10,260
- 31SyntagmaΣύνταγμα10,255
- 31Profitis DaniilΠροφήτης Δανιήλ9,757
- 31Ano PetralonaΆνω Πετράλωνα9,522
- 31AkropoliΑκρόπολη9,362
- 0OmoniaΟμόνοια9,359
- 31Nea KypseliΝέα Κυψέλη9,351
- 4Larissa StationΣταθμός Λαρίσης9,219
- 31AsyrmatosΑσύρματος8,881
- 31Agios ElevtheriosΆγιος Ελευθέριος8,652
- 31ThymarakiaΘυμαράκια8,578
- 59KoukakiΚουκάκι8,125
- 31EllinorosonΕλληνορώσων8,087
- 18PromponaΠρομπονά7,798
- 18Treis GefyresΤρεις Γέφυρες7,197
- 4KolonosΚολωνός6,510
- 31PetralonaΠετράλωνα5,933
- 4Kato PatisiaΚάτω Πατήσια5,906
- 31Pedion tou AreosΠεδίον Άρεως5,815
- 18Lofos SkouzeΛόφος Σκουζέ5,784
- 31Erythros StavrosΕρυθρός Σταυρός5,354
- 45MetsΜετς5,266
- 31Profitis IliasΠροφήτη Ηλία4,852
- 17GaziΓκάζι4,811
- 31KolokyntouΚολοκυνθούς4,760
- 31AkadimiaΑκαδημία4,734
- 4MetaxourgeioΜεταξουργείο4,650
- 18ExarcheiaΕξάρχεια4,628
- 4AttikiΑττική4,537
- 31Lower PetralonaΚάτω Πετράλωνα3,802
- 31RoufΡουφ3,624
- 31KolokynthouΚολοκυνθού3,619
- 31AmpelokipoiΑμπελόκηποι3,216
- 17KerameikosΚεραμεικός3,210
- 31ThiseioΘησείο2,989
- 31PsyrriΨυρρή2,344
- 18MonastirakiΜοναστηράκι2,299
- 31RigillisΡηγίλλης1,904
- 31AsteroskopeioΑστεροσκοπείο1,063
- 45MakrygianniΜακρυγιάννη929
The number on the right is how many people live there. The one on the left is its safety score out of 100.
Nearby municipalities
Questions people ask
Which areas of Athens should I avoid?+
Vathi. Its note records documented street-level problems and says where and when. The wider list below says which other blocks change after dark.
Is Athens safe at night?+
SafetyMap has no time-of-day figures for Athens: the police data are yearly totals. What changes after dark is in the written notes — each of the 63 neighbourhoods below has its own “After dark” section.
Where should I stay in Athens?+
The notes recommend Ano Petralona, Ilisia, Kolonaki, Koukaki, Makrygianni, Mets, Pangrati, and Pevkakia as a base. Each entry below says for whom; the scores beside them are modelled estimates.
Is Athens safe?+
SafetyMap estimates Athens (Αθήνα) at 23 out of 100 for violent crime — above-average crime, on a scale where 50 is the Greek average. It is a modelled estimate, not a count of crimes recorded there: it comes from the police-recorded offence rate of its regional unit (Eurostat, 2021–2024), apportioned by how built-up Athens is and by documented local reporting. As a rate, the estimate comes to roughly 2,000 property and 230 violent offences per 100,000 residents a year.
How does Athens compare with the rest of Central Athens?+
Athens is estimated at 23 out of 100 for violent crime, against 27 for Central Athens as a whole — worse than its surroundings.