Safety

Athens is generally a very safe city. The streets teem with people and traffic around the clock. Like every big city, there are pickpockets and petty criminals—be especially vigilant with your belongings on public transport. Common sense precautions include:

• Always use a licenced taxi. 
• Use well-lit, well-populated ATMs
• Avoid leaving your phone lying around on café tables, or it might be snatched. 
• You might see open drug use in some areas (especially around Omonia and Exarchia Squares, Keramikos-Metaxourgio, Pedion tou Areos park, and Athens Law School). Ignore them and they will generally ignore you. 
• Avoid Exarchia and Syntagma Squares on days when strikes and demonstrations are planned, as police occasionally use tear gas to dispel protestors.