Half an hour’s train ride from the center of Athens we find Nea Ionia. The name means New Ionia and was one of the areas where many greeks who were living in Ionia in Turkey moved to when they in the 1920s’ were forced to leave Turkey. Today, Nea Ionia is a lively place that still keeps it’s charm and special character. Narrow streets with low family houses in all sorts of colors and shapes are mixed with bars, coffee-shops, taverns and mostly stores.
For you who really like shopping the Irakleiou avenue – which runs through the most busy parts of Nea Ionia – will make you extremely happy. Regardless if you want to buy something small, something big, cheap or expensive, you will not go home emptyhanded from this place. Both street-sides are full with stores for all tastes and needs. Here you can find famous stores like H&M, Zara and Gant but also smaller private-own stores. A hot tip is to walk down some of the side-streets to Irakleiou avenue where you can find nice bars and coffee-shops as well as some taverns that are a bit hidden in calmer neighbourhoods. On the backstreets you can also locate some stores that sell local delicacies like dried fruits, nuts but also fish etc.
To come to Nea Ionia with a taxi it is usualy enough to say “take me to Ionia center” which is the building in which H&M and other stores are located right in the middle of Irakleiou avenue. A trip here with taxi from Athens costs about 8-10 euros.
Traditional gyros on “Meraklis”
Many of us really appreciate a Pita Gyros when we are in Greece, regardless if we are staying on an island or in a big city. Gyros is a cheap and satisfying quick meal. The mixture of the greasy meat, the tomatoes, the tzatziki and the fried potatoes is a winning coombination. 
On a side-street to Irakleiou avenue that is called 28th Oktovriou you find the souvlaki-place ”Meraklis”. It has been here for many decades and even if the owner is not the same as 20 years ago you can still eat a traditional Pita Gyros here. The main difference from the more common version we know of today is its size. The traditional one is usually smaller and you should order one extra of these. If you usually order two, order three and if you usually manage with one, order two etc. Another difference is its content. The gyros is here replaced with a small kebab or beef or by a small meat-skewer and the other ingredients are fewer and simpler. The tzatziki is replaced by a fresh simple yogurt topped with paprika. For those who are used to the big pita gyros with fried potatoes, lettuce and everything else inside, this variant may seem “poor”, but we promise, it’s just poor on paper. The fame of “Meraklis” has spread to other parts of the town and people now travel from far away to eat here – especially after a night out.
The family-owned restaurant “Βύρων” (Byron)
Here you can try out greek home-cooking and this is a very popular lunch-place for people working in the area and around Nea Ionia. The looks of this resturant are not so inviting but the food is very good. The menu is only written in greek but that is not a big problem as you can go in to the kitchen and see all the prepared meals and show them what you choose to eat. For only 6-7 euro you get a really big portion of food. “Βύρων” is also located on the street 28th Oktovriou near Irakleiou ave. behind a street-kiosk and it is actually not so easy to see so keep an eye open for a few chairs and tables on the sidewalk and maybe you will find it.
“Archontaraki”
This is a very nice “ouzeri” with very tasty food. This small tavern is situated near Irakleiou avenue on a pedestrian street called Paleon Patron Germanou. Every day and night there are many kids playing here and there are many small coffee-shops and bars around. “Archontaraki” offers live rebetika-music every tuesday and friday evening and that is something we relly recommend to you.
Vintage bar
“Vintage” is a cosy neighbourhood-bar with very good coffee and amazing coctails! Thay are open from morning to late in the evening and fit every apetite and need. With its cosy outdoor-seating and furnishings as well as its extremely nice owner and staff it is easily spotted and shouldn’t be missed. Vintage is located on the pedestrian street Mesolongiou amongst other bars and coffee-shops just behind Irakleiou avenue.
In Nea Ionia there is also some history for you to take part of as you can still see traces of ancient Greece here. But this is a well kept secret not many know of. In this area there is a part of the aqueduct that the roman emperor Hadrian desided to build in year 125 A.D. and which was standing ready fifteen years later. It went all the way from the Parnitha mountain, through Athens and down to mount Lycabettus. The water was carried more than 25 kilometers on it and the bigest part of it was built under the ground. Some parts though were built above the ground and it is them we can still see today. It functioned as an aqueduct until the yar 1456 when the turkish occupation began in the area. To see these parts of the aqueduct in Nea Ionia you have to go over the railway-tracks to the other side and find the local football-arena called “Icarus”. The aqueduct is actually right on the opposite side of the arena.
