Vouliagmeni is the Heaven on earth!

No matter what time of year you visit upscale Vouliagmeni, chances are you’ll feel like you’re on a summer holiday. Sitting pretty on the south-western foot of Mount Ymittos, about 40 minutes from the city, this luxe resort town has a year-round tropical vibe and is to Athens what Cannes is to the Cote d'Azur. There’s next to no graffiti. Palm trees, fountains and sunny beds of marigolds line Athinas Avenue, heralding your arrival at this most self-aware of southern suburbs whose main game is leisure. Kostis Georgiou’s bright zoomorphic sculpture Equus accentuates the near constant blue of the sky and the sweep of Vouliagmeni Bay, with its luxury yachts and members-only nautical clubs and marinas. Fashionable types from Kolonaki and Kifissia once turned up their noses at this “remote backwater where one only went to dip one’s toes in the water”. Vouliagmeni still falls rather short on culture and shopping, but it does flaunt Athens’ comeliest free and paid beaches and finest seaside dining. Along Fleming Street (the area’s Millionaire’s Row) and in verdant Kavouri you’ll find some of the capital’s priciest real estate. On summer weekends, when this coastal enclave swells with tourists and townies seeking a city reprieve, locals have learned to avoid their own beaches and artisan ice cream parlours. Vouliagmeni Lake Almost hidden from view behind Posidonos Avenue is the beautiful sunken cavern of Vouliagmeni Lake, which lends this southern suburb its name (vouliagmeni means “sunken” in Greek). Open year-round, the lake is actually a flooded limestone cave, lined with tawny cliffs and fed by underground mineral currents that stay a constant 24° C. Many gripe about the hefty entrance fee (currently €12 on weekdays, €15 on weekends). But wading through the brackish grottos, with tiny black fish (kalogries) nudging your toes, conjures the feel of an exclusive spa. The lake is flanked by luxuriant lawns and sunbeds and there’s an all-day restaurant that hosts gastronomic evenings (spring to autumn), accompanied by live jazz and orchestral performances, under the illuminated rocks. Swimming in Vouliagmeni Elegant Vouliagmeni is more democratic than first impressions suggest: you’ll find all bases of beach covered here. High rollers head to famous Astir on the lush pine-clad peninsula of Mikro Kavouri. Once the summer playground of Jackie Onassis and Bridget Bardot, Athens’ most expensive beach offers manicured sands, waiter service to your lounger, designer boutiques and fine dining. Central Akti Vouliagmeni, where Posidonos and Apollonos converge, is one of the city’s best-groomed municipal beaches and a multi-tasking oasis that caters to all. For €5 entry, you have access to sunloungers, wide grassy strips for picnics and ballgames, tennis and volleyball courts, cafes and a playground, plus an aqua inflatable park. Locals like to swim for free from the rocky piers outside of En Plo café or Sardelaki. Both provide access to the clear waters of the Vouliagmeni basin. Also free, Limanakia Vouliagmeni is the most popular of a run of rocky coves off the coastal road, just outside of Vouliagmeni. Bronzed locals chill out to music on a sociable deck before leaping into the deep blue sea.