By type of crime
- 33Overall safety
- 34Property crime
- 31Violent crime
Akadimia scores 31 out of 100 (modelled estimate, Eurostat 2021–2024) for violent crime — above-average crime, on a scale where 50 is the average for Greece. Akadimia has no police figures of its own. Its estimate is Athens's rate — Athens scores 23 for violent crime — and the 8 points between them come from how the model shares Athens's total out, not from anything measured in Akadimia. An estimated 4,734 people live there: the 2021 census counts the surrounding community as a whole, and this is its share by area.
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
What Akadimia is actually like
Akadimia is the office-and-institution belt between Omonia, Kanigos Square, Exarcheia, Neapoli and Kolonaki, crossed by the three parallel arteries Stadiou, Panepistimiou and Akadimias. This is the busiest commercial stretch of Athens - banks, ministries, law offices, theatres and department stores - plus the 'Athenian Trilogy' of the Academy, the old University building and the former National Library. Visitors come for the neoclassical facades and pass through on the way between Syntagma and Omonia.
After dark
The offices empty and the pavements thin out sharply after 21:00. A September 2026 on-the-ground report described drug dealing taking place openly around Korai Square and the Panepistimio metro entrance after 21:00.
What to watch for
- The Propylaia (the University forecourt on Panepistimiou), Klafthmonos Square, Santaroza and the EKPA buildings are named in the Hellenic Police 2026 plan as drug-dealing points targeted by the operation
- A September 2026 press survey counted more than 30 people on the street around Korai Square and the Panepistimio metro entrance after 21:00, with drug transactions taking place in plain view and no police present at the time
- Long-running roadworks on Euripidou have hollowed out the surrounding retail streets, with shopkeepers reporting an 80% fall in sales
- Chain-snatching and phone theft around the metro entrances on Panepistimiou
Staying here
Fine as a location - you are between Syntagma and Omonia, on every bus and metro line - but it is a business district with little street life in the evening. Book here for price and transport, not atmosphere.
Reputation against reality. Almost no travel guide covers Akadimia as a neighbourhood at all, so there is no reputation to correct - but it is the part of the centre where the Omonia drug scene has visibly crept east. Anyone told 'stay east of Omonia and you're fine' should know that the Propylaia and Korai Square are on the Hellenic Police target list.
Streets and squares: Panepistimiou (Eleftheriou Venizelou) · Akadimias · Stadiou · Korai Square · Klafthmonos Square · Propylaia (University forecourt)
Other neighbourhoods in Athens
Nearby municipalities
Questions people ask
Is Akadimia safe?+
SafetyMap estimates Akadimia (Ακαδημία) at 31 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 estimate for Athens, since there are no police figures for Akadimia itself. As a rate, the estimate comes to roughly 1,500 property and 180 violent offences per 100,000 residents a year. The written notes on this page class it as “Ordinary precautions”.
Is Akadimia safe at night?+
The offices empty and the pavements thin out sharply after 21:00. A September 2026 on-the-ground report described drug dealing taking place openly around Korai Square and the Panepistimio metro entrance after 21:00.
How does Akadimia compare with the rest of Athens?+
Akadimia has no police figures of its own. Its estimate is Athens's rate — Athens scores 23 for violent crime — and the 8 points between them come from how the model shares Athens's total out, not from anything measured in Akadimia.