Your Guide to Athens
What to See and Do

A Guide to the Acropolis, the Sacred Rock of Athens

48 Hours in Athens: What You Shouldn’t Miss

50 Best Art Spaces in Athens

Athens for Adventurers: The Alternative Tours Edition

Escape the Heat in Athens’ Awesome Parks

Your Guide to the Agora of Athens

Fabulous Finds at Athens Best Museum Shops

Best Monuments and Landmarks in Athens
Where to Eat

Athens Restaurants 2024: Where To Eat Now

14 Best Brunch Spots in Athens

15 Best Vegan Restaurants in Athens

Slice of Heaven: Τhe 10 Best Pizza Spots in Downtown Athens

Athens, City of Michelin Stars

Top 10 Ethnic Street-Food Stops in Athens

Best Ouzo Tavernas in Athens

Best Places to Eat in Koukaki Now

Athens in Cooler Climes: Fireplaces, Wine Tastings and Snug Cafes

Best Places to Eat in Pangrati Now
Where to Stay & Wellness

Athens Hotels 2024: Where to Stay Now

Best Hotel Spas in Athens
Night life

Best Cocktail Bars in Athens

The Guide: Best Athens Wine Bars 2024

Athens by night

The Best Rooftop Bar Restaurants in Athens Now

Enjoy wines and beers in Athens
Shopping, Quick Stops & Ice Cream

From Antiques to Designer Boutiques: Shopping in Athens

Excellent Coffee & Bites in Athens

Where to Find the Best Ice Cream in Athens

Some More Shopping in the Capital
Features

Hills of Athens

Street Art in Athens – The Urban Culture of the City on its Walls

Petraki Pedestrian Street

Unlock the Secrets of Athens with Expert Guided Tours
Useful Information

Your Driving Tips for Athens

Getting There and Around – Athens

Useful Telephone Numbers – Athens

A visit to Athens’ top-quality spas and hammam bath houses can be the perfect gift to offer yourself or a loved one this year. A deep, powerful massage with essential oils and other sumptuous ingredients in a calm and soothing atmosphere can be an excellent way to de-stress after a busy day, week or year.

20

The combination of soft lighting and dreamy music, sophisticated healing aromas and warm, welcoming staff creates a deeply soothing environment. Meanwhile the treatments are designed to help alleviate even chronic muscle tension and promote a quickly resultful mental, physical and emotional experience. It’s vital that we take time for self-care, and visiting these hand-picked places is the perfect way to do so.

01

Grand Hyatt Hotel Spa

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Entering the Grand Hyatt Hotel spa is an instant immersion into luxury. The large, grey marble-clad facility features a vast swimming pool, steam room, whirlpool, and an invigorating cold plunge pool. Aegeo Spas, the renowned spa brand behind this sanctuary, also offers a range of high-quality, locally sourced skincare products. We began with the ‘Cretan Massage,’ a therapeutic experience created with the use of warm olive oil, orange extract, and raki, targeting the back and neck.

Following this, we indulged in the ‘Royal Blue’ exfoliation and ‘Aloe’s Majesty’ body mask, which left the skin feeling silky smooth for weeks. For the face, we chose the ‘Beauty Slip’ facial treatment, designed to firm and brighten the skin. The technique enhanced collagen production and lymphatic drainage, reducing dark circles and giving my complexion a refreshed, youthful glow.

Website

02

Hotel Grande Bretagne Spa

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With classically lavish aesthetics, the spa at the Hotel Grande Bretagne is one of the most luxurious in the city. It offers a broad range of sophisticated body and facial treatments, as well as a choice of ‘Pre & Post Natal Treatments’. To experience ultimate relaxation and rejuvenation, we tried the four hour ‘Signature Ultimate Urban Retreat’ which includes body wraps based on your personal needs, a hot stone massage and the ‘GB Prickly Pear Luxury Facial’, a natural lifting method that provides a rejuvenating effect using natural active ingredients such as skin-renewing prickly pear seeds and acai berry. Don’t miss out on a dip in the indoor heated pool and a visit to the sauna or hammam. Sessions are concluded with a light meal on the patio.

We also tried the Ayurveda session, which starts with a foot bath followed by skin exfoliation and a body wrap, and then a relaxing massage on the body’s energy ‘marma’ points, as well as the application of hot stones and warm essential oils of Ayurvedic herbs. The session is concluded with a head massage and the inhalation of healing aromatic oils. The impressive spa menu includes many exfoliation treatments, therapeutic massages that focus on relaxing the deeper muscle groups (like the ‘Deep Muscle Massage’), and firming, lifting and hydrating facial treatments. You can also choose a combination of treatments for two people in the beautiful Couples Suite.

Website

03

Holmes Place Spa

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Holmes Place’s spas are ideal for both after-work and after-work-out pampering. Located in key locations in Maroussi, Athens and Glyfada, they offer a range of treatments that will not only relax but also rejuvenate you. The ‘Holmes Place Relaxing Massage’ is aimed at reducing fatigue and restoring strength and balance. It is a combination of specialized massage techniques that combines the use of hot stones with warm herbal pouches that are placed on the chakras to activate Kundalini energy.

If it’s a good detox you’re after, have a ‘Lymphatic Drainage Massage’, which helps to remove various toxins that are stored in the tissues and helps boost the immune system and keep your skin looking and feeling radiant. If you have a tension headache or tense neck, then the ‘Indian Head Massage’ is for you; it promises to help your head, neck and shoulders feel alleviated of all the worldly weight you have been carrying. For a full body treatment that combines relaxation with beauty, we chose the ‘Secret of Argan’ which includes a full body exfoliation, a relaxing body massage with beurre d’Arganier, an ultra-nourishing butter, and a lovely facial massage with argan oil to regenerate and the skin while reducing tiredness.

Website

04

Electra Metropolis Hotel Spa

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Tucked away in the heart of Syntagma Square, Electra Metropolis Hotel offers a small yet inviting spa experience. The space, though intimate, exudes elegance and cleanliness. After a dip in the indoor pool and some time in the sauna, we chose the “Gentle Kiss’ Swedish massage, a 55-minute session that released long-held tension and effectively soothed aches and pains. Lavender oil, sourced locally, complemented the therapy, enhancing relaxation and easing neck pain.

The facial treatment that followed, ‘Looking Fabulous – Antiaging Face & Neck,’ introduced us to the Japanese Kobido massage technique. This method, involving rhythmic pulling and pinching, significantly released tension stored in the facial muscles. The facial skin appeared firmer and more radiant post-treatment, with noticeable improvements in tone and texture.

Website

05

Cocoon Urban Spa

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Another Athenian temple of relaxation and rejuvenation is Cocoon Urban Spa. With a relaxed atmosphere and interesting decor touches, its staff is friendly and provides a wide range of treatments such as face and body massages, scrubs, aromatherapy and more. We tried the ‘Double Herbal Nirvana’, a ritual with elements from India and Thailand that is essentially a massage that starts with herb-filled and warmed linen pouches being placed onto tense parts of the body with the aim of reducing aches and inflammation and is then followed by a relaxing full-body massage. The ‘Ayurveda Journey’, which aims to restore innate harmony and relieve you of all kinds of stresses and strains, is another highly recommended choice.

We also enjoyed the ‘Hatsumomo’ session, a combination of treatments with therapeutic methods from the Far East. It involves a body exfoliation with sandalwood and powdered bamboo bark, a mask of green tea and clay, a hot bath with lemongrass-scented salts and finally, a head-to-toe massage with relaxing essential oils of lime, ylang-ylang and petitgrain. There are also treatments suitable for pregnant women that protect the skin from stretch marks and relieve tension in the back and legs.

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06

Etherfloat

Etherfloat, a certified floatation center in Greece, expanded its services post-lockdown to include a variety of massage therapies such as deep tissue, lymphatic, sports, neuromuscular, and Swedish massage. The floatation experience begins with a pod filled with Epsom salt-saturated water, in which one can float effortlessly. Initially, the pod is gently lit, and soothing music plays, before transitioning to complete darkness and silence, called ‘sensory deprivation’. Floating is known to promote deep relaxation, mental calm, and help alleviate stress, anxiety, and muscle soreness. Regular sessions can improve sleep, reduce pain, and enhance cognitive clarity. Our own floating experience left us physically relaxed and mentally clear both times.

For the massage therapy, we opted for the deep tissue treatment. The therapist skillfully combined techniques like Thai, shiatsu, and reflexology, using her forearms and elbows to work on areas like tight shoulder blades. The result was a deeply satisfying feeling of relief. Whether you opt for floating, massage, or a combination of both, Etherfloat offers a holistic wellness approach that leaves you feeling rejuvenated and refreshed.

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07

Hammam Baths

Despite its minimalist aesthetics, this Hammam with three stores in central Athens and in Thessaloniki, immerses you in a peaceful healing ambiance. You can combine a steam bath with a massage or just try one of the two. We tried the ‘Ali Mama’, a body exfoliation with a traditional ‘ketse’ glove that is used to create a foamy full-body wash with olive oil soap, followed by a relaxing head and body massage.Also wonderful to experience was ‘Hamamda’, which includes a full body massage with olive oil soap foam followed by a muscle-relaxing massage based on a combination of various techniques, pressures and stretches.

Another powerful treatment here is ‘Gommage’, in which after slathering your body with black soap, the skin is exfoliated and then massaged with green soap foam, followed by another exfoliation with salts and honey, followed by a clay mask on the face and body and a hair mask with clay, shea butter and argan oil. If you prefer to go Greek, there’s also the ‘Ancient Greek Massage’, a holistic treatment using brushes, powder and suction cups that help boost circulation and release muscle tension, and a full body massage with various oscillations and reflexology pressures.

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08

Polis Hammam

At Polis Hammam you can try a series of bathing sessions such as the ‘Ancient Greek’, ‘Moroccan’, or ‘Egyptian’, each with its own special traits. We loved the ‘Ancient Greek Bath’, which aims to provide detoxification, relaxation, anti-ageing, longevity and radiance. It combines a bath with masks on the body, face and hair made from natural minerals that are packed with over 70 trace elements. For the body, the recipe used is said to have been also used by Alexander the Great: a cocktail of beneficial oils with fragrances that relax the muscles, immediately soothe the nervous system, relieve musculoskeletal pains and clear the respiratory system.

Another amazing experience we delighted in was the ‘Egyptian Bath’, inspired by the habits of the pharaohs, combines a steam bath, body and head wash with special mineral and vegetable oils, skin exfoliation, body, face and head massage with donkey milk, honey and many other ingredients as well as a brief head-to-toe massage. If you just want a simple massage then opt for the ‘Olympus Massage’ which helps release tension and stress and rejuvenates the senses and skin through a combination of controlled manipulation, gentle strokes and pressure on various muscle groups.

Website

09

Al Hammam

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In a wonderful traditional Turkish bath house atmosphere with lit candles and warm shades, you can enjoy a relaxing hammam that will leave your skin soft and your mind relaxed. You’ll find everything from simple hammam services where you can have an exfoliation with the ‘ketse’, an olive oil soap foam massage and more specialized treatments such as the ‘Sabun Beldi Morrocan Hammam’ which includes the use of black soap and a clay body mask.

We were blissed out by the ‘Harem’, even more indulgent, as in addition to the steam bath, exfoliation with the ‘ketse’ olive oil soap foam massage and hair shampoo, it includes a chocolate wrap to rejuvenate the skin and then a back massage to release tension and stress. The ‘Ottoman’ was also excellent, lasting 2.5 hours and in addition to the basics, you will enjoy a deep relaxing rose water body massage for an hour and a thirty-minute facial massage. You can also add other treatments to your massages such as a foot bath with salts or foot massage and body scrub with gold, jasmine or chocolate.

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