Off-Season Greece: Athens Comes Alive in Fall, According to Hotelier Agapi Sbokou

The crowds may ease off, but the warmth of the summer and the beaming Greek hospitality continue through the cooler months.Getty ImagesThis is part of Off-Season Greece, a collection of guides highlighting the year-round appeal of Greece's most popular destinations, courtesy of our favorite local tastemakers. In this edition, we speak to Agapi Sbokou, co-owner and CEO of Greek hotel brand Phāea.Agapi Sbokou is CEO of Phāea boutique hotels. “Alive. That's how Athens feels to me,” says Agapi Sbokou, co-owner and CEO of the Greek hotel brand Phāea. Sbokou grew up in Crete but has lived in Athens since she was 18. “There was never really a debate about where to live. We go back and forth between Athens and Crete, but the city just feels so buzzy. It’s a place that is constantly transforming.”Sbokou knows a thing or two about why people are drawn to a particular destination. “When you go to a place, it should be about understanding the local rhythm,” she tells me. “I'm in love with Athens. It’s a place that you can continue exploring your whole life.” Here, Agapi explains why autumn is so magical in the Greek capital, and lets us in on some of her favorite places to visit at this time of year.Phāea Blue's serene, art-dotted lobby in Elounda Fampiano KraniotisTell me what you love most about Athens.Walking around and exploring. The city transforms with the seasons, and it feels completely connected with nature. For example, my neighborhood is full of these beautiful trees called jacarandas, which have very small, lilac flowers. They completely transform the whole neighborhood when they bloom. Elsewhere in the city, some areas are filled with bitter orange trees, which also have a strong scent when they bloom.There are a lot of young people here, and recently a lot of young travelers are coming to stay and live in Athens. They all come with a very open heart and the desire to explore as we, the locals, do. Athens is not about what’s cool and what’s not—it’s about discovering new things, revisiting old places, and watching the city transform over time. That’s what I love.Boats are available for hire from Agapi's company Phāea Blue Fampiano KraniotisWhen is the best time to come to Athens? When it’s not too busy, but local life is buzzing.I would say April and October or November. I've always been a summer person, but to be honest in Athens spring and autumn are the most beautiful seasons. In April, the blooms are starting to appear. There are beautiful scents around the city. But autumn is great because the weather is very mellow. There's still the warmth from the summer, and there is very little rain, so it's very pleasant and you can walk around all day.What makes autumn so special in Athens?There's a different light about the city, which is not that classic Greek light that you see during summer. It's more yellow and soft. The city starts preparing for winter, so there is a kind of excitement with the locals—people are returning from the islands, they still go swimming in the sea, and still it's quite warm. It's the perfect season because it combines it all.Jacaranda Trees in bloom in Athens Getty ImagesWho’s around this time of year?There are travelers year-round. But in autumn, it's a different kind of traveler. People who come during this season have a slower appreciation of the city, which I love. I think that's what tourism should be. We should spend more time exploring a place and really getting a sense of it to understand its rhythm, rather than going in and out, just ticking off things. Do as the locals do. Maybe spend two hours in a coffee shop. Get to know the person sitting at the next table and start a conversation. Spend three hours in a museum, not one. There are so many museums here, and not just the big ones. The Benizelos Mansion is the oldest house in Athens, or, of course, the Benaki Museum with the Nema Collection. There are so many things to discover, and it shouldn't all be packed into one trip. The kind of travelers who appreciate this tend to come off-season.Spanakopita, a Greek-style spinach pie Getty ImagesWhat’s notable about the locals in Athens? Do they have any of their own unique traditions or a reputation amongst Greeks for anything in particular?An appreciation for a slower way of life, I guess. Athens is very much about its neighborhoods, which is characteristic of the city and its people. You start your day at your local coffee shop, then visit your local barber, grocery store, and dry cleaner. You stop for a few minutes, you exchange a few words. That's very typical of people here. You have a sense of community. Sometimes you buy things and you don't need to pay—they know you, and write it in a notebook and you pay at the end of the month. Athens feels like a village, even though it's a city of four million.Pasta from Manári Taverna in central Athens, one of Agapi's favorite Cretan restaurants Where would we find you eating in autumn?I love exploring new places, but I also love going to the same places again and again, because then you begin to know the people. There is a new generation of fantastic restaurants that embrace Greek cuisine, but I’d rather visit the ones that have been around for 20, 30, or even 50 years.I go to Manári Taverna a lot, which is in the city center. It's right by a Byzantine church, and it has very traditional cuisine with strong Cretan influence. There is Pharaoh, a very cool restaurant where everything is slow-cooked over a wood-fired grill. It has the best music and the coolest bar, so it's really fun to visit. Plus, it belongs to a friend, so it's always fun to see him and catch up. There’s a place called Dourambeis where I've been going with my dad since I was a kid. It's very traditional, and it has the most delicious fish. In autumn, these places are perfect because they are traditional and laid-back, but have really good food. They all use excellent, seasonal ingredients.Manári Taverna's skioufichta—a thick, brothy pasta dish sprinkled with cheese—is perfect with a glass of red wine, Agapi says. Speaking of seasonal ingredients, what is the most traditional dish that people should eat when they come in autumn?That's a good question. It's hard to say, because the weather in Greece stays warm into autumn, so we tend to drag summer dishes into the year. For example, one very traditional dish we continue to eat in autumn is gemista. It’s often made with very ripe tomatoes—you empty them, and fill them with rice, mince meat, and other ingredients like herbs and nuts. You could replace tomatoes with zucchini, or eggplant, or peppers. It is very, very Greek and very traditional. And then, of course, in autumn, we eat a lot of pastries and pies. The most typical one is spanakopita, a cheese-and-spinach pie.Those are more home-cooked recipes, though. Athens is like the melting pot of the whole of Greece, so a lot of wider Greek traditions are incorporated in the restaurants. Skioufichta is a specific thick pasta dish, made by hand. You boil it in a broth, and then it's sprinkled with cheese. And it's the most delicious dish, very soothing, very appropriate for autumn—perfect with a glass of red wine. Order this at Manári—it's one of my favorite dishes there.Athens' hilltop residential neighborhood of upper Kolonaki has some of the best views of the Acropolis. Getty ImagesAre there any areas of Athens that really come alive in autumn?I've always lived in and around Kolonaki. It's an area that's quite buzzing and quite well-known, but I love the streets that are purely residential. There are a couple that are quite high, with amazing views, because Kolonaki is at the bottom of Lycabettus Hill. From those streets, you can see straight down to the Acropolis, in between buildings. In the autumn, when the light is right, it just feels amazing and very Athenian. It's almost like a secret—you know that if you turn down a specific street, you’ll suddenly get this view. That feeling always makes me feel very lucky to be there.In autumn, it’s easier to be more spontaneous in Athens, because it’s not as busy. It feels like normal life is back, so you can access museums, galleries, exhibitions, and restaurants more easily. Us Greeks are very welcoming. We want to share the best of what we have. It’s the perfect time to do that.This article was originally published in Condé Nast Traveller UK.Olivia Morelli is Condé Nast Traveller's senior digital writer. After starting her career at Suitcase Magazine, she moved to Condé Nast Traveller in 2020, where her work varies from reporting on the latest wellness and lifestyle trends and travel news stories to uncovering the latest must-visit destinations and expanding CNT's ... Read More