Exarcheia and Strefi Hill: bookshops, murals, the climb
The student quarter's bookshops and political walls, then the scramble up Strefi for the view. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Plateia Exarcheion
Come up from Omonia and start at the square the quarter is named for. Cafés ring it, the politics are on every wall, and the talk at the tables runs late into the afternoon. Sit for a coffee before you walk; you'll read the place faster.

2. The bookshop streets off Themistokleous
*Exarcheia* keeps more independent bookshops per square metre than anywhere in Athens. Wander the run of them, Greek-language and second-hand mostly — browse, don't buy, nobody minds the lingering.

3. The political murals of Tositsa and Stournari
The walls here are a running argument in paint — slogans, stencils, full-wall pieces layered over older ones. This is mural as manifesto, not decoration. Read a few; they tell you what the quarter is arguing about this year.

4. Strefi Hill foot
Where the streets give out and the pine path begins. The climb is short but real — ten minutes of switchbacks and rough steps. Take it slowly; the quarter falls away beneath you as you go.

5. Strefi Hill summit
A scruffy, beloved outcrop with the rooftops of Athens spread out and the Acropolis off to the right. Locals bring a beer up at dusk and stay. The view costs nothing and feels earned.

6. Café back on Kallidromiou
Drop down the far side onto leafy Kallidromiou, the quarter's gentlest street, and find a café table under the awnings. Then it's a short walk south to Panepistimio for the Metro.

Exarcheia and Strefi Hill: bookshops, murals, the climb