14 Best Performing Arts in Athens, Greece

This rooftop-garden movie theater, which offers Dolby Digital sound, is the oldest (dating from 1920) and most romantic in Athens. It's located on pedestrianized Kydathinaion Street, which also means it's close to many hotels and tavernas. In the lobby there's a store selling vintage film posters. It is open from May to October. Most films are in English (with Greek subtitles).

Films at this open-air theater, among the oldest in Athens (dating from 1935), come complete with a view of the Acropolis. It's on the Unification of Archaeological Sites walkway and conveniently offers tables among the seating, for your film-munchies spread. In fact, the bar sells homemade cheese pie, sour cherry juice, and tsipouro accompanied with bottarga fish roe from Messolonghi.

The country's leading folk dance company performs exhilarating and sublime Greek folk dances (from all regions) in eye-catching, authentic costumes in programs that change every two weeks. Performances are held Friday through Sunday from the beginning of June through to September.

World-class Greek and international artists take the stage at the Megaron Mousikis to perform in concerts and opera from September through June. Information and tickets are available weekdays 10–6 and Saturday 10–2. Prices range from €12 to €90; there's a substantial discount for students and those 8 to 18 years old. Tickets go on sale a few weeks in advance, and many events sell out within hours.

Big acts fill what was originally the main Athens 2004 Games arena with music. Lady Gaga, The Rolling Stones, and Madonna have performed here—the latter actually holds the arena record, with 75,637 people attending her 2008 show.

This state-of-the-art performance center specializes in slick song-and-dance acts from around the world, occasionally geared towards children, as well as events.

The Ejekt Festival, which brings together global pop, rock, and electronica bands, usually takes place every June in one of the Olympic venues in the southern suburb of Faliro.

Performances by well-known Greek performers and ancient Greek theater classics are staged in an attractively remodeled old quarry, now known as the Theatro Vrahon Melina Merkouri (and its sister stage nearby, the Anna Synodinou). The festival begins in early June and lasts until the end of September every year; most performances start at 9 pm. Buy tickets (€20–€100) at the theater before the show.

Like Ticketmaster in the United States, Hunter Agency sells all sorts of performing arts and popular music concert tickets.

The specialty of this theater (capacity: 5,000), set on a pinnacle of Mt. Lycabettus, is popular concerts; past performers have included Bryan Ferry, Marianne Faithful, Pink Martini, and Cesaria Evora. Since buses travel only as far as the bottom of the hill, either take a taxi, or buy a one-way ticket on the funicular and then walk about 10 minutes to the theater. Check local listings for scheduled concerts during the summer months.

The Onassis Cultural Centre hosts events from across the whole spectrum of the arts, mainly in their highly contemporary version, from theater, dance, and music to performances of the written word. Inside the airy rectangular shell are two amphitheaters, a Greek bistro (Hytra Apla), an award-winning restaurant, a rooftop bar (in summer), and exhibition spaces that occupy more than 18,000 square meters and can be seen bustling with activity from October to June.

Inexpensive classical or jazz music concerts are held throughout the year at this conservatory. Tickets cost about €12.

You can buy tickets for popular concerts and performing arts events at this electronics store chain with convenient locations in Central Athens.

An alternative cultural center located in a 1960s concrete block that used to be a printing plant for popular magazine Romantso. Come here for a drink at the postindustrial minimalist bar, to attend a yoga session, a talk, or to watch a film at the auditorium (check the listings). Upstairs are "incubators" of emerging companies/start-ups.