15 Best Shopping in Athens, Greece

The airy museum shop has excellent copies of Greek icons, jewelry, and folk art—at fair prices. You will also find embroideries, ceramics, stationery, art books, small reliefs, and sculpture pieces. The new Benaki Museum Annex on Pireos Street has its own shop with an interesting collection of modern Greek jewelry. The gift shop is also open on Monday (even though the museum is closed).

A large variety of handwoven articles, genuine folk art, ceramics from all over Greece, and traditional and modern jewelry all on show here make excellent, and affordable, gifts. The cozy and tasteful shop is run by third-generation weavers and is the oldest folk-art shop in Athens (established 1925).

Original gold masterpieces can be had at these shops, where Athenian masters, prompted by jewelry designer Lina Fanouraki, use gold almost like a fabric—creasing, scoring, and fluting it. There's another branch at Panagitsas 6 (210/623–2334) in the Kifissia neighborhood.

This inspirational "cultural goods" shop has gained a loyal following for its unique souvenirs. Here, you can buy gifts with a contemporary Greek design twist and a sense of humor, created by local designers Greece is for Lovers, Beetroot, Zeus + Dione, Studiolav, AC Design, and more. From a leather skateboard made in sandal style to unique bags that look like they're made from fishmongers' paper to plexiglass evil-eye charms, this is contemporary Greek design at its best.

For an ancient-modern steam bath experience head to Hammam Baths, a gorgeous neoclassical house that has been converted into a full-amenities day spa with Eastern decorative undertones and excellent service.

From real amber, or pinhead-size "evil eyes," to 2-inch-diameter wood, sugarcane, or shell beads, you'll find a dizzying selection of beads and styles here to string your own komboloi (worry beads). You'll admire the variety of this unique Greek version of a rosary, which can be made from traditional amber, but also from coral root, camel bone, semiprecious stones, and many more materials.

This world-famous Greek jewelry house experiments with its designs, taking ideas from nature, biology, African art, and ancient Greek pieces—the last are sometimes so close to the original that they're mistaken for museum artifacts. The pieces are mainly in gold, some in silver—look out for the decorative objects inspired by ancient Greek housewares.

Antiques collectors should head here to look for items such as exquisite dowry chests, old swords, precious fabrics, and Venetian glass. You will certainly discover something you like in the four floors of this renovated antiques shop that has been an Athens landmark for the past 100 years. There's another branch in Monastiraki, at Pandrossou 50.

Multi-talented Pantelis follows in the steps of his father, Stavros, aka "the poet sandalmaker," a legendary cultural figure in his own right, gentle soul, and internationally acclaimed shoemaker. His father's shop, where he worked throughout his life, was once visited by the Beatles, Elizabeth Taylor, Maria Callas, and Jackie O—and numerous TV crews thereafter. Pantelis is also a poet, composer, sculptor, and painter, and although he continues to create his father's classic sandal and bag designs he now also makes magnificently artistic sandals of his own. Visitors continue to arrive from around the world for their custom-made footwear, often with cameras in hand and happy to listen to Pantelis play the piano as they wait, admiring his artworks.