101
Number of dishes
Some tours serve 15 dishes, others five tastings. We add the number to every tour whenever the operator states it.
Food tours › Athens
Ten tours comparedAthens food tour: souvlaki, meze and loukoumades
On a food tour in Athens, a local guide takes you through the Central Market and into the bakeries and tavernas where Athenians eat. You try meze, small shared plates, and souvlaki, meat grilled on a skewer, for example. We compared ten tours and counted how many tastings you get on each.
10tours
Why a food tour
So many tavernas. A guide who knows the real ones.
Around the Acropolis, many tavernas cook mainly for visitors. The shops and places where Athenians buy food and eat are often a few streets away.
On a food tour, a local guide takes you to those places and explains what you eat. GetYourGuide and Viator list 58 food tours in Athens. The ten group tours on this page cost $65 to $103 per person.
See the comparison202
Price per dish
We divide the tour price by the number of dishes. That shows you which tour gives you the most food for your money.
303
Two booking sites
Many tours are listed on both GetYourGuide and Viator. We show you both prices so you can pick the cheaper one.
Market and Sunday
Six market days. One without.
Many food tours in Athens visit the Varvakios Central Market. The market is open Monday to Saturday and closed on Sundays. If you are in Athens on a Sunday, you need a tour that skips the market.
Tap one of the two options and we show only those tours below. Tap it again to see all of them.
10 tours are shown below.
- Monmarket
- Tuemarket
- Wedmarket
- Thumarket
- Frimarket
- Satmarket
- Sunclosed
Ten tours
Food tours in Athens by tastings.
Each card shows the number of tastings or stops, the length and the cheaper of the two booking sites. If a tour is on both, the second price is listed below.
See the table
12 tastings3.5 to 4 hoursMonastiraki and Central Market · Viator · ★ 5.0
Monastiraki and Central Market: 12 tastings at 6 stops
You walk through the fish and meat market and taste regional products in small shops and eateries. Groups have no more than 12 guests.
from $81 per personSee dates
Number not stated4 hoursCentral Market · GetYourGuide · ★ 4.9
Central Market and taverna: walk with a full meal
You walk through the Varvakios Central Market, taste pastries, olive oil, wine, meze and souvlaki, and finish with a meal in a taverna. The operator does not state the number of tastings.
from $76 per personSee dates
Number not stated3 hoursCity center · GetYourGuide · ★ 4.9
City center: street food from spanakopita to souvlaki
You start at a bakery with spanakopita, eat souvlaki, peinirli (a boat-shaped bread) and koulouri, and finish with Greek doughnuts. The operator does not state the number of tastings.
from $65 per personSee dates
Also on Viator: from $67
26+ tastings3.5 hoursCity-center markets · Viator · ★ 5.0
City-center markets: 26+ tastings
You taste cheese, cured meats, olives, olive oil and honey from the farmer, plus homemade wine. The operator notes that the markets are closed on Sundays. Groups have no more than 12 guests.
from $82 per personSee dates
15 tastings4 hoursCentral Market · GetYourGuide · ★ 4.9
Central Market: 15 Greek dishes
The tour starts at Syntagma Square and leads through the Central Market to places you would hardly find on your own. You taste 15 different Greek dishes.
from $103 per personSee dates
15 tastings3.5 hoursCity center · Viator · ★ 4.9
City center: 15 tastings in 10 specialty shops
In ten shops you taste olive oil, cheese, cured meats, sweets, spices and souvlaki. The operator says the 15 tastings add up to a lunch.
from $78 per personSee dates
Number not stated3 hoursMonastiraki and Psyrri · GetYourGuide · ★ 4.9
Monastiraki and Psyrri in the evening
You taste cheese, cured meats, olives and dakos (a Cretan rusk with tomato), then souvlaki or gyros, and finally loukoumades or baklava. The operator does not state the number of tastings.
from $78 per personSee dates
Also on Viator: from $79
Number not stated3 hoursCentral Market · GetYourGuide · ★ 4.9
Central Market, old shops and meze in a taverna
The tour visits some of the oldest food shops in Athens and the Central Market. You finish with meze, small shared plates, in a taverna.
from $82 per personSee dates
10+ tastings3 hoursCity center · Viator · ★ 5.0
City center: 10+ tastings with ouzo
You visit the market and taste koulouri, tiropita (a cheese pie), meze, tzatziki, seafood and galaktoboureko, a sweet semolina custard in phyllo. One dish stays a secret until the tour.
from $97 per personSee dates
6 tastings3.5 hoursMonastiraki and Psyrri · Viator · ★ 5.0
Monastiraki and Psyrri: 6 tastings and make your own souvlaki
You wrap your own souvlaki and taste sweet and savory pies and Greek doughnuts. At a coffee demonstration you learn how people read the grounds.
from $85 per personSee dates
The comparison
Price per tasting at a glance.
We divided the price of each tour by its number of tastings or stops. If the operator says “more than”, we use the stated number, so each tasting costs at most that much.
| Food | Tour | Per tasting | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26+ | City-center markets: 26+ tastingsCity-center markets · 3.5 hours · Stops: several · Drinks: homemade wine | at most $3.17 per tasting | from $82Dates on Viator |
| 15 | City center: 15 tastings in 10 specialty shopsCity center · 3.5 hours · Stops: 10 · Drinks: not stated | $5.19 per tasting | from $78Dates on Viator |
| 12 | Monastiraki and Central Market: 12 tastings at 6 stopsMonastiraki and Central Market · 3.5 to 4 hours · Stops: 6 · Drinks: included | $6.77 per tasting | from $81Dates on Viator |
| 15 | Central Market: 15 Greek dishesCentral Market · 4 hours · Stops: several · Drinks: included | $6.85 per tasting | from $103Dates on GetYourGuide |
| 10+ | City center: 10+ tastings with ouzoCity center · 3 hours · Stops: several · Drinks: wine, ouzo and Greek coffee | at most $9.71 per tasting | from $97Dates on Viator |
| 6 | Monastiraki and Psyrri: 6 tastings and make your own souvlakiMonastiraki and Psyrri · 3.5 hours · Stops: several · Drinks: 3 drinks | $14.22 per tasting | from $85Dates on Viator |
| – | Central Market and taverna: walk with a full mealCentral Market · 4 hours · Stops: several · Drinks: wine | Number not stated | from $76Dates on GetYourGuide |
| – | City center: street food from spanakopita to souvlakiCity center · 3 hours · Stops: several · Drinks: beer or wine | Number not stated | from $65Dates on GetYourGuide |
| – | Monastiraki and Psyrri in the eveningMonastiraki and Psyrri · 3 hours · Stops: several · Drinks: included | Number not stated | from $78Dates on GetYourGuide |
| – | Central Market, old shops and meze in a tavernaCentral Market · 3 hours · Stops: several · Drinks: included | Number not stated | from $82Dates on GetYourGuide |
Checked on November 12, 2026. The number of tastings, stops and drinks comes from the operators. The price is for the cheaper of the two booking sites.
How it works
What happens on a food tour in Athens.
As an example, here is the downtown street food tour from spanakopita to souvlaki, the most-booked food tour in Athens. It takes about 3 hours. The stops and the minutes at each stop come from the operator's description. The tours on this page last 3 to 4 hours and work the same way: you meet at a set meeting point, and the guide takes you from one place to the next.
See this tour- 01
Filo pies
You try tiropita, a cheese pie, and spanakopita, a spinach and feta pie. Both are baked fresh every day.
30 min - 02
Souvlaki
Souvlaki is grilled meat wrapped in warm pita bread and topped with tzatziki, a sauce of yogurt, cucumber and garlic. There is also a meat-free version.
30 min - 03
Peinirli
Peinirli is a boat-shaped bread, a bit like pizza, topped with melted cheese and sausage or vegetables.
30 min - 04
Loukoumades
Loukoumades are small fried dough balls with honey syrup and cinnamon.
30 min - 05
Baklava with ice cream
To finish, you get baklava-style desserts, pastry made of thin layers with nuts and syrup, served with ice cream.
30 min
4Each food tour stays in one or two neighborhoods, so you walk little and eat a lot.
Neighborhoods
Where you eat.
The tours are spread over four neighborhoods. Here is what to expect in each one.
For the morning
Central Market
The Varvakios Central Market is on Athinas Street between Monastiraki and Omonia. In the 19th-century hall, vendors sell fish, meat, fruit and spices from Monday to Saturday.
For the start
Monastiraki
Monastiraki is an old neighborhood of narrow lanes and a bazaar below the Acropolis. Many food tours start here because the Central Market is only a few minutes away.
For the evening
Psyrri
Psyrri lies right next to Monastiraki. It used to be a working-class quarter and is now a nightlife district with small bars, tavernas and street food spots.
For tavernas
Plaka
Plaka is the oldest part of the city and sits right at the foot of the Acropolis. Among old churches and houses there are many tavernas, but also many shops aimed at visitors.
On the plate
What you eat in Athens.
These six dishes show up most often on the tours. The photos come from the tour operators.
Dish 01Souvlaki and gyros
Souvlaki is chunks of meat grilled on a skewer, while gyros is thinly sliced meat from a vertical rotating spit. Both come in pita with tomato, onion and tzatziki.
Dish 02Spanakopita
Spanakopita is a pie of thin phyllo dough filled with spinach, feta and herbs. Bakeries sell it in large trays or small triangles.
Dish 03Koulouri
A koulouri is a bread ring covered in sesame. Many people in Athens buy one in the morning on their way to work as breakfast.
Dish 04Loukoumades
Loukoumades are small fried dough balls drenched in honey and often sprinkled with cinnamon or nuts. On many tours they are the sweet finish.
Dish 05Olives
At the Central Market, barrels hold olives of many kinds. Many tours let you taste regional olives and olive oil.
Dish 06Greek coffee
Greek coffee is brewed in a small long-handled pot and drunk unfiltered. The grounds stay at the bottom of the cup.
Private and special
Just your group. Or an evening with wine.
These tours cost $140 to $271 per person. In return, the guide leads only you or a very small group.
Private evening tour with 5-wine tasting · Your group onlyfrom $271
Semi-private tour with dinner and wine tasting · 8 guests maxfrom $198
Culinary lanes of Plaka · 7 guests maxfrom $140
Cook it yourself
Cooking classes in Athens.
In two classes you visit the Central Market first, in the third you eat on a rooftop with a view of the Acropolis. All classes last about four hours and suit beginners, too.
Cooking class4 hoursAthens · GetYourGuide · ★ 4.9 · 526 reviews
Cooking class with rooftop dinner
You cook moussaka, a baked dish of eggplant and minced meat, and spanakopita. Then you eat on a rooftop with a view of the Acropolis.
from $112.76 per personSee dates
Also on Viator: from $112.89
Cooking class4 hoursAthens · Viator · ★ 4.9 · 1,210 reviews
Cooking class with market visit and wine
Greek home cooks first take you through the Central Market. Then you cook several dishes and eat them with a glass of wine.
from $78 per personSee dates
Cooking class4 hoursAthens · GetYourGuide · ★ 4.9 · 1,316 reviews
Market visit and cooking class with wine
You shop at the Central Market with a chef and prepare several Greek dishes. At the end you eat with wine and soft drinks.
from $76 per personSee dates
FAQ
Before you go.
Here are answers to the questions people ask most often before a food tour in Athens.
Compare toursHow much does a food tour in Athens cost?
A group food tour in Athens costs $65 to $103 per person. The most-booked Central Market tour starts at $81. A private tour, where the guide leads only your group, starts at $271 per person.
Is a food tour in Athens worth it?
A food tour is most worth it at the start of your trip. In a few hours you get to know several places you can go back to on your own, and the guide explains what you are eating. On the tours on this page, one tasting costs between $3.17 and $14.22. If you already know Athens well and like picking your own places, you don't need a guide.
Should I tip on a food tour in Athens?
Tipping the guide is optional. Tips in Greece are usually modest. For a half-day group tour, travel guides suggest €2 to €5 per person. Most guests tip in cash at the end of the tour.
Can I cancel a food tour in Athens for free?
Yes, on almost every tour on this page. On GetYourGuide, all 7 listings can be cancelled up to 24 hours before the start for a full refund. On Viator, this applies to 11 of 12 listings. Only the Plaka lanes tour with seven guests max is non-refundable on Viator.
Which food tour in Athens is booked most often?
The Monastiraki and Central Market tour with twelve tastings has 5,869 reviews on Viator. Next comes the street food tour with 4,896 reviews on both booking sites combined.
Can I take a food tour in Athens on a Sunday?
Yes, but not one that visits the Central Market. The market is closed on Sundays, so market tours only run Monday to Saturday. Four tours on this page do not need the market, such as the street food tour and the evening tour through Monastiraki and Psyrri.
Will I get full on a food tour in Athens?
Yes. Several operators say the tastings add up to a lunch or dinner. On the Central Market tour with a full meal, you finish by eating in a taverna.
Are there food tours in Athens for vegetarians?
Yes. The street food tour offers vegetarian souvlaki, according to the operator. The semi-private tour with wine tasting also offers meat-free alternatives. Many Greek dishes, such as spanakopita, dakos and olives, are vegetarian anyway.
What is the difference between souvlaki and gyros?
Souvlaki is chunks of meat grilled on a skewer. Gyros is meat cooked on a vertical rotating spit and then sliced thinly. In Athens, both are often eaten in pita with tzatziki.
Your day in Athens starts here.
Groups are small, usually 12 to 15 guests. Check the available dates as soon as your travel dates are set.