11 Best Sights in Greece

Known as "the oldest house in Athens," this Byzantine mansion was once the home of the prestigious Benizelos Paleologou family, and Athens's patron saint Agia Filothei (1522–89). Filothei dynamically sought to protect and secretly educate women and the poor, while engaging in diplomatic affairs in her effort to oust the occupying Ottomans, who eventually killed her. Dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries, the space with its lovely marble-arched courtyard, a fountain, and remains of a Roman wall is now a folk museum of sorts, presenting visitors with how people of that caliber lived. There is also a screening room to watch a short documentary about the family and the Byzantine era.

In front of a small park is Bouboulina's House, now a museum, where you can take a 45-minute guided tour (available in English) and learn about this interesting heroine's life. Laskarina Bouboulina was the bravest of all Spetsiot revolutionaries, the daughter of a Hydriot sea captain, and the wife—then widow—of two more sea captains. Left with a considerable inheritance and nine children, she dedicated herself to increasing her already substantial fleet and fortune. On her flagship, the Agamemnon, the largest in the Greek fleet at the time, she sailed into war against the Ottomans at the head of the Spetsiot ships. Her fiery temper led to her death in a family feud many years later. It's worth visiting the mansion, which is run by her fourth-generation grandson, just for the architectural details, like the carved-wood Florentine ceiling in the main salon. Tour times (in groups of up to 35 visitors) are posted on the museum website, in front of the museum, and in announcement boards at the port of Dapia. 

Celebrated travel writer Patrick "Paddy" Leigh Fermor settled in the Mani in 1964, building a beautiful house from scratch just down the road from Kardamyli, in what has become the tiny suburb of Kalamitsi. Locals knew him by the name "Michalis," a nom de guerre Fermor adopted when, during the Second World War, he disguised himself as a shepherd in the mountains of Crete to help capture a German general. As a travel writer, his writings were no less courageous, and his book on the Mani is still well-thumbed by travelers to the area. His old home was donated to the Benaki Museum upon his death in 2012, and has been sensitively restored—they used old photos to place furniture and antiques in their original spots. Tours are by appointment only on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Visits are limited during summer, when rooms are available to rent for 90 days a year (June through August), to help with the upkeep and restoration of the property. There is a three-night minimum stay.

For generations the Tossizza family had been one of the most prominent in Metsovo, and to get a sense of how Metsovites lived (and endured the arduous winters in style), visit their home, a restored late-Ottoman-period stone-and-timber building that is now the Tossizza Museum of popular art and local Epirote crafts. Built in 1661 and renovated in 1954, this typical Metsovo mansion has carved woodwork, sumptuous textiles in rich colors on a black background, and handcrafted Vlach furniture. In the stable you'll see the gold-embroidered saddle used for special holidays and, unique to this area, a fanlight in the fireplace, ensuring that the hearth would always be illuminated. The goatskin bag on the wall was used to store cheese, one of the area's most noted products. Wait for the guard to open the door prior to the tour. Guides usually speak some English.

In this 19th-century mansion, furnishings, precious icons, and quotidian antiques from around the world make this a fine showcase of the life and traditions of a local family of high standing from a time when Skopelos was a hub for a well-traveled, politically influential, and highly cultured society. Andigoni Vakratsa and her father were doctors who offered free medical services to the poor. Head upstairs to view the living room (it was used only for very special occasions) where you can admire a traditional island engagement dress with its 4,000-pleat skirt. 

The soldier and statesman who established the Republic of Turkey and became its president, Atatürk (Mustafa Kemal) was born here in 1881. He participated in the city's Young Turk Movement, which eventually led to the collapse of the sultanate and the formation of the modern Turkish state. About eight blocks east of the Agios Dimitrios church, the modest pink house is decorated in Ottoman style. It has been turned into a museum, with personal items and documents of Turkey's founding father.

Impressed by the architecture they saw abroad, shipowners incorporated many of the foreign influences into their archontika, old, gray-stone mansions facing the harbor. The forbidding, fortresslike exteriors are deliberately austere, the combined result of the steeply angled terrain and the need for buildings to blend into the gray landscape. One of the finest examples of this Hydriot architecture is the Lazaros Koundouriotis Mansion, built in 1780 and beautifully restored in the 1990s as a branch of Greece's National Historical Museum. The interior is lavish, with hand-painted ceiling borders, gilt moldings, marquetry, and floors of black-and-white marble tiles. Some rooms have pieces that belonged to the Koundouriotis family, who played an important role in the War of Independence; other rooms have exhibits of costumes, jewelry, wood carvings, and pottery from the National Museum of Folk History. The basement level has three rooms full of paintings by Periklis Vyzantinos and his son, friends of the Koundouriotis family. From 2021 they have a temporary exhibition celebrating the 200 years of Greek independence. Part of the exhibition includes 30 Playmobil characters specially designed for the occasion---kids will love them.

Take a peek into Lena's House, an annex of the local Folk Museum, and experience an accurate restoration of a middle-class Mykonos house from the 19th century. The name refers to its last inhabitant, Lena Skrivanou.

The former royal palace of Mon Repos is surrounded by gorgeous English-style gardens that lend magic to an idyllic setting. The compact neoclassical palace (really a villa) was built in 1831 by Sir Frederic Adam for his wife, and it was later the summer residence of the British Lord High Commissioners; the architect, Sir George Whitmore, also designed the Palace of Sts. Michael and George in Corfu Town. After Corfu was ceded by Britain to Greece in 1864, Mon Repos was used as a summer hideaway for the Greek royal family and its many European cousins. The late Prince Philip, consort of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, was born here in 1921 (he was a royal prince of Greece and Denmark; the Corfiots, who have no love of royalty, call him "the penniless Greek who married a queen"). When King Constantine fled the country in 1967, the Greek government expropriated Mon Repos. Throughout the 1990s, the estate was entangled in an international legal battle over ownership; the Greek government finally paid Constantine a settlement and opened the fully restored palace as a museum dedicated to the area's archaeological history. Displays of items found in the area—as well as interpretive displays, rooms showcasing Regency design, contemporary antiques, and botanical paintings—make for a truly eclectic museum collection. The room where Prince Philip was born (on the kitchen table, it is said) houses a 3D interactive map of Corfu Town and its environs.

After touring the palace, wander around the extensive grounds (entrance is free, so you can do this even if you don't visit the palace), which include the elusive remains of a Doric temple from the 7th and 6th centuries BC and the small but beautiful beach that was once used exclusively by the Greek royal family and is now open to the public. Bring your bathing suit and join the locals on the long pier jutting out into the crystal-clear waters of the Ionian Sea. Opposite Mon Repos are ruins of Agia Kyriaki, the 5th-century church of the Old City, and adjacent to the gate is an ancient Roman bathhouse.

The modest home of one of Greece's finest writers, Alexandros Papadiamantis (1851–1911), lauded by some as "the Greek Dostoyevsky," is filled with his modest furniture, personal belongings, and vintage photographs. The author's native Skiathos played a prominent role in his essays, short stories, and novels, as did his Greek Orthodox faith and simple rural life. Several of his novels have been translated into English, including the internationally acclaimed The Murderess.

What was once a summer retreat for the Greek royal family has, for decades, been slowly reclaimed by both the wild and wildfires. It's an unusual tale, even by Greek standards, and a setting that makes for a remarkable walk on the southeast slopes of Mt. Parnitha. The first piece of the estate was bought by King George I in 1871, who slowly built up the land around it and commissioned a mansion in the style of Russia's Peterhof Palace. Over the next century, the estate grew and grew as vineyards, a cemetery, stables, a pool, a hotel, and various buildings were added to its 10,000 acres. Then it all came to a halt. The abolition of the monarchy in 1974 preceded a long-running dispute over the estate's ownership and saw its buildings fall into neglect. Until recently, they were mostly boarded up and remained off-limits to visitors; now plans to develop them into a museum, spa, and hotel complex are supposedly taking shape. This part is off-limits as building work gears up, but at the time of writing, much of the surrounding area was still free to roam, even if it has suffered heavily from wildfires over the years. There is parking nearby to allow access, but that is the extent of the facilities; there are no cafés, toilets, or running water, just glimpses of what once was.