Last Updated on 1 July 2026 by Vanessa
If you’re visiting the Greek capital, the Cats of Athens Walking Tour might just be the most heart-melting and impactful way to explore the city.
The tour takes you through the Thissio neighborhood, where you’ll meet several colonies of friendly community cats, help feed them, and learn how the local initiative Cats of Thissio works to support their wellbeing and daily care. Every booking directly funds the feeding and sterilization of the colonies you encounter.
If you’re a cat lover—or you’re traveling with someone who can’t resist stopping to say hello to every cat they see—the Cats of Athens Walking Tour is well worth adding to your itinerary.
But what exactly is a cat tour—and why do people love it so much? My partner and I joined the experience ourselves during the first weekend of June. Here’s what we thought.
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Quick overview
- Duration: Approximately 1 hour
- Location: Thissio, Athens
- Group size: Small groups of up to eight people
- Suitable for: Cat lovers and families with children
- Booking: You have to reserve your cat tour in advance here.
(Affiliate disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you book through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. More importantly, every ticket also directly supports the care of Athens’ stray cats.)
What is the Cats of Athens Walking Tour?
Basically, the tour is like any other walking tour: you sign up in advance, meet with a group of people, and a guide takes you through a specific route. However, this route is not planned around Athens’ ancient ruins and historic sites. It is designed to see as many cats as possible.
The walk takes place every Saturday morning and starts outside the Thissio metro station, where you’ll instantly notice that you’ve arrived in Athens’ cat neighborhood: stallholders selling cat-themed souvenirs and lots of happy and healthy felines going about their day.
From there, Eirini guides you through Thissio, a neighborhood at the foot of the Acropolis, stopping at several cat colonies that she cares for every day. Some live in parks, others in abandoned buildings.
The best moments happens at each feeding stop. As soon as the cats hear the familiar sound of the food trolley, they come running from every direction. Within seconds, the streets fill with curious faces waiting for breakfast.
While the cats eat, Eirini introduces them by name and tells entertaining stories about their personalities and quirks.
There’s Axel, a chunky ginger who actually has an owner but still joins the colony every morning because, apparently, breakfast is so much better with friends around.
Then there’s Kíli, whose name means “hernia” in Greek because that’s the condition he was suffering from when volunteers rescued him.
Tom was the newest arrival when we joined the walk, and our group even got to help choose his name.
You’ll also meet Madonna and hear how one of her kittens found a forever home in the Netherlands through Cats of Thissio’s adoption network.
Along the way, you’ll also learn what it’s like to care for hundreds of free-roaming cats.
Why do they all have clipped ears? How do you prevent animals from getting skin cancer? Why are so many of them odd-eyed? Why do certain cats have bald patches?
Every answer comes from Eirini’s own experience caring for these colonies.
By the end of the walk, you’ll not only have plenty of new feline friends, but you’ll also understand that caring for the community cats in Athens goes far beyond putting out a bowl of food.
Your booking helps the cats you meet
One thing I really like about the Cats of Athens Walking Tour is that your booking doesn’t just pay for a fun morning in Athens. It directly helps care for the cats long after the walk is over.
Cats of Thissio doesn’t receive government funding. Instead, it relies on income from the walks, donations, Patreon supporters, and people who simply want to improve life for the city’s stray cats.
By joining the walk, you’re helping pay for things like:
- Daily food for several cat colonies.
- Fresh water stations throughout the neighborhood.
- Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) and sterilization programs.
- Veterinary care for sick and injured cats.
- Parasite prevention and medication.
- Emergency treatment when a cat gets hurt.
If one of the cats steals your heart, you can even continue supporting them through the group’s virtual adoption program after you return home.
It’s nice knowing that the cats you’re feeding during the walk are the same cats your booking helps care for afterwards.
Still wondering whether Cats of Thissio’s work really makes a difference? Compare the cats you meet during the walk with the ones living on the outskirts of Athens. The contrast is hard to ignore.
Meet the woman behind the cats
Eirini, originally from Corfu, is your guide and the person who created Cats of Thissio.
From the outside, people often assume there must be a larger organization running everything in the background. But it’s mostly her. She feeds multiple colonies, refills water stations, traps cats for sterilization, takes injured animals to the vet, gives medication when needed, and keeps track of the many cats in her care.
Eirini knows each cat individually, not just as part of a group. She knows their names, habits, favorite hiding spots, medical history, friendships, and occasional disagreements. She knows them so well that she can tell almost immediately when one of them isn’t feeling well.
That’s also why so many cats recognize her instantly.
Tickets and booking info
If you love cats and meaningful travel, this is the perfect experience for you!
The Cats of Athens Walking Tour only runs once a week. Spaces are limited and tours often fill up early, especially in high season, so book your tickets well in advance
Reservations can currently be canceled up to 48 hours in advance. This makes planning a bit easier if your itinerary changes.
👉👉 Reserve your Cats of Athens Walking Tour here.
What’s included:
- A friendly and knowledgeable tour guide
- Cat food for feeding all the stray cats
- A contribution to feeding and sterilization work
- Lots of fur and kitty cuddles
What’s not included
- Hotel pickup
- Food and drinks for humans
Is the Cats of Athens Walking Tour worth booking?
Without hesitation, yes. But you do need to be a cat lover—the kind who gets excited about meeting lots of cats and learning more about them.
The walk also takes you through a residential part of Athens you probably wouldn’t visit otherwise. Without the cats, it’s not an area most visitors would end up in. That’s a nice bonus.
You’ll leave with plenty of cat photos and a clearer understanding of the people who take care of Athens’ street cats every day.
Most importantly, your booking directly supports that care.
What to do before and after the Cats of Athens Walking Tour
The Cats of Athens Walking Tour only lasts about an hour, and it starts and ends in Thissio. That puts you in a great spot to keep exploring one of the nicest neighborhoods in the city.
If you’re planning your day, I’d stay in Thissio and neighboring Plaka. You can easily spend the rest of the morning and afternoon there.
Here are some of the best things to do in Thissio.
Visit the Athens Cat Café
If one hour with cats isn’t enough—and let’s be honest, when is it ever?—head over to the Athens Cat Café, which is at a walking distance from where the tour ends.
Like other cat cafés around the world, you can have lunch, a snack, or a drink with a large group of adoptable rescue cats.
Athens Cat Café also actively supports cat rescue organizations in Greece by donating part of its profits.
If you’re planning to visit, I’d recommend booking your spot in advance since sessions can fill up quickly.
I also featured the Athens Cat Café in my guide to the best cat cafés in Greece, where you’ll find more photos, practical information, and a few other feline-friendly stops around the country.
Explore the Ancient Agora
The Ancient Agora, the former political and commercial center of ancient Athens, sits only a few minutes’ walk from where the tour takes place, so it’s one of the easiest attractions to visit afterwards.
It’s quieter and less crowded than the Acropolis, and you’ll keep spotting cats among the ruins.
You can buy a ticket at the entrance or reserve your visit to the Ancient Agora online.
See the Acropolis
Thinking of visiting the Acropolis on the same day as the cat walk? You can, but go at 08:00 am when it opens.
Later in the day, it gets too hot and too crowded, and it stops being fun really quickly.
If you go in the morning, you’ll come out very close to Thissio, so you can just walk over to the meeting point without any extra planning.
One more thing: the Acropolis often sells out in advance, especially in summer, so book your ticket early.
Wander through Thissio’s artisan market
The streets between Thissio and Monastiraki are lined with artists, jewelry makers, and small stalls selling handmade souvenirs.
Unlike many tourist markets, this area has a pleasantly relaxed atmosphere. Street musicians perform nearby, local artists display their work, and it’s easy to spend an hour browsing.
By the way, many of these artisans have their “own” cats that they feed and keep company.
Find a café with a view of the Acropolis
By the time the walking tour finishes, there’s a good chance you’ll be ready for a break. Fortunately, Thissio has no shortage of cafés with outdoor terraces overlooking the Acropolis.
We ended up staying longer than planned on the terrace of Phidias Hotel by Oniro, just watching people pass by while the neighborhood cats moved between the tables and curled up on the seats next to us.
By the way, Phidias Hotel by Oniro is one of the hotels in Athens that feeds the neighborhood strays.
Walk up Philopappos Hill
You’ve probably heard that Thissio offers the best Acropolis views in Athens. That’s true, and the best place to see it for yourself is Philopappos Hill.
The hill sits right on the edge of Thissio, just across from the pedestrian streets along Apostolou Pavlou.
Sunset, when the Acropolis and the rest of the city are illuminated, is when Philopappos Hill works best.
Watch an open-air movie
If you’re spending the entire day in Thissio, consider ending it at Open Air Cinema THISION.
Watching a film outdoors with the illuminated Acropolis rising next to the screen and cats rubbing against your legs is just wonderful.
The cinema offers two screenings each evening, mixing recent releases with classic films. When we were there, they showed John Landis’ National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) and Kane Parsons’ Backrooms (2026).
Food and drinks are available on site.
The price is only 10 euros (or 8 at a reduced price) and are only sold at the cinema box office.
Final thoughts
Do you like the idea of spending a morning in Athens meeting tons of cats and helping care for them at the same time? What could be better, right?
If you’re not the biggest cat person yourself but you’re traveling with someone who is, this makes a fun surprise. There’s a good chance it’ll end up being one of the highlights of their trip.
Know someone who’d love to attend a cat tour? Send them this article so they can add it to their travel plans. It helps more people find this activity and support the work behind it.
If you’d like to help Cats of Thissio directly, you can donate via PayPal at catsofthissio@gmail.com or through Patreon.
Cats of Thissio also has a cat calendar. It cost €12 plus shipping. All proceeds go directly to rescuing, feeding, and caring for cats in need. To order, just email or send a DM to catsofthissio@gmail.com.
By the way, the cat calendar features photos by Jeff Bogle. He’s the author of Street Cats and Where to Find Them, in which he wrote about the Cats of Athens Walking Tour. If you like reading about cats around the world, Street Cats and Where to Find Them is well worth picking up.
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