Neighborhood in Transition
Koukaki: an Athens neighborhood in transition
Koukaki is easy to like. It is walkable, close to the Acropolis and still full of everyday life. Those same qualities have made it one of the parts of Athens most changed by tourism in the last ten years. This page looks at that change: short-term rentals, rents, work and what it means if you are visiting. For the older history of the area, see History and Roots; for how its cafés, museums and pedestrian streets developed, see Modern Transformation.
From residents to short stays
For most of the 20th century Koukaki was a mixed residential district of apartment blocks, with wealthier households on the quieter streets near Philopappou Hill and a more working-class and professional population toward Syngrou Avenue.
That changed after the Greek financial crisis. Property was relatively cheap, tourism to Athens was growing fast, and online platforms made it easy to turn a flat into a holiday rental. Koukaki, right below the Acropolis and with two metro stations, was an obvious target. Academic research on the area counts about 115 Airbnb listings in July 2015 and roughly 850 by May 2019. In 2016 an article on Airbnb’s own website already named Koukaki one of the fastest-growing short-term rental markets in the world.
The postwar apartment blocks made this easier. Most were built through antiparochi, a system in which landowners handed over their plot in exchange for flats in the new building, leaving many buildings divided among small private owners. Each owner could decide alone to switch a flat from long-term tenants to short stays.
What it changed
Housing. Short-term rentals usually earn more than long leases, so long-term flats became scarcer and rents rose. Residents who rented, especially older people and lower-income households, found it harder to stay.
Work. Researchers studying Koukaki link the rental boom to insecure work: renovation crews that are often informal, and jobs in cleaning, hospitality and catering with poor conditions.
The street. Some of the change is visible. Old workshops and garages now serve coffee and cocktails, and luggage-storage shops, coin laundries and key boxes have appeared. Researchers describe Koukaki as moving from a “place of residence” toward a “place of passage”.
Tourism has also brought money to independent restaurants, bakeries and shops, and many of the businesses visitors enjoy depend on it. The question in Koukaki is not whether visitors should come, but how many homes can turn into holiday rentals before the neighborhood stops working for the people who live there.
What is still there
Koukaki has not turned into a theme park. The pedestrian streets of Drakou and Georgaki Olympiou are still used by residents, the Friday laiki still sells the week’s vegetables, and the supermarkets, pharmacies and bakeries on Veikou and Dimitrakopoulou serve people who live here. Our guide to the heart of Koukaki covers these everyday streets.
Visiting with the neighborhood in mind
- Check that your rental is registered. Short-term rentals in Greece must be listed in the official property register and display their registration number (AMA) on the listing. If a listing doesn’t show one, choose another, or consider a hotel.
- Keep the noise down at night. Most rentals are in ordinary apartment buildings, with families and older residents next door.
- Spend locally. Buy bread from the bakery, fruit from the laiki and meals at family-run tavernas.
- Get beyond the busiest streets. Walk the residential blocks south of Veikou to see the Koukaki most visitors miss.
For museums, see Museums and Galleries; for transport, see Getting Here and Around.