Once home to the country's best craftsmen, Psirri, a honeycomb of one-room workshops, barbershops, tobacconists and tanneries, has been revamped and gentrified, gracefully. Humble huts are now trendy ouzerí and cafés. Warehouses have become fashionable nightclubs. Neoclassical buildings with gateways on to verdant courtyards have been converted to stylish galleries and quaint tavernas.
That uneasy coexistence between the district's old and new, its mix of shabby and swish, is the area's most lively feature. Look behind the designer glitz and the
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Best jogging: The National Gardens. This sprawling park and its jungly tangle of trees offers the most refreshing retreat within Athens. Miles of meandering paths have joggers running at all hours between sunrise and sunset. 
Best theater: Odeion of Herodes Atticus. Popularly known as the Iródhio, this ancient theater on the southern slope of the Acropolis serves as the center of Greek cultural events. The cheaper the seats, though, the less you’ll be able to see of the shows. Tel: +30 1 92 82 900
Best View: Likavittós Hill.
A funicular hoists visitors to the summit, the picturesque chapel of Ayios Yeóryios. For the more energetic, a winding footpath leads to the top. A terraced cafe facing the Acropolis offers a stunning, expansive view.
Best to Avoid: Taxi drivers who don’t smile, refuse to issue receipts and negotiate fares upon entry. Insist that the meter runs on single tariff while in Athens.
Best Come-back: Benaki Museum. If you have time for only one museum stop, this Neo-classical landmark is the place to go. Open again after a 12-year renovation, the museum has a priceless collection spanning Hellenism’s 5,000 years. 1 Koumbari Street. Tel: +30 1 36 71 000. Admission: $4.50.The site, dusty and derelict, may be unappealing. But the aroma is alluring, guaranteed to send you straight to the counter for a slice of traditional feta-cheese pie, plus some olive-and-basil bread, plus a taste of those yeastless loaves that nourished the ancient Greeks for eons. Then hit the district's hippest gallery, Epistrofi (meaning "return"), for a view of works by upstart artists, mainly of the Greek diaspora. And wrap it all up with a visit to Dimitris', one of the oldest barbershops in Athens (sorry ladies, this is a treat for men). There, for a meager $7, you can indulge in a trim-and-a-shave that has shipping titans, politicians and common folk queuing for that timeless "garçon"; look.
What next? Be daring. Face west, a slant to the south, and walk ahead. Fear not the toe-nipping traffic that suddenly re-emerges. Or the streets hawkers and immigrants who sometimes clog the rugged roads to Votanikos, the thriving trend-setting part of Athens.
Within minutes, you'll be stunned by the sight of Athinais, an architectural oasis designed by one of Richard Branson's favorite visionaries, Tom Gazetas. Formerly a silk factory sandwiched between a cluster of auto-repair shops, the 6,500-sq-m stone Athinais in now home to the first museum of ancient Cypriot art in Greece, with one of the rarest collections of its kind in the world.
It features a gallery of notable avant-garde art and is home to Red, perhaps the most louche-looking restaurant in town. The plump, red couches have even the most starched of customers slouching like lounge lizards. The wine list would make Dionysus' toes curl, and the nouvelle Greek cuisine is affordable and appetizing. Best of all, it won't taste like the rubber Parthenon you picked up earlier.