Exarcheia sits just north of central Athens, close enough to walk from the Acropolis but built on the opposite instinct — anti-establishment, anarchist in its politics since the 1970s, and covered corner to corner in murals and graffiti that read as a running argument rather than decoration. Former squats have become galleries and cultural centers, and the neighborhood tavernas draw a local crowd rather than a tour-bus one. Go for the street art and the after-dark energy, not a checklist of sights.