Everyone arrives in Piraeus to leave it — off the metro, onto a ferry, gone to an island by lunch. That's a mistake. The port has a pretty side, and it's all on one hill: the yacht harbour of Mikrolimano, the neoclassical climb of Kastella, and a view that makes the whole detour worth it.
Start down at Mikrolimano, the small curved harbour lined with boats and fish tavernas — walk the quay first, before you earn anything. Then turn uphill into Kastella, where the lanes climb steeply between old houses and the water keeps dropping away behind you. Near the top, the church of Profitis Ilias marks the brow; the terrace beside it gives you the first real sweep of the bay.
The Veakeio open-air theatre is the moment: the Saronic Gulf laid out, the islands on the horizon, best in the late afternoon light. Then drop down the far side to Pasalimani — the circular marina once an ancient war harbour — and follow the seafront back. The metro home is where you started, but you'll leave knowing what the port was hiding.
