How to Book Athens for Easter

My husband and I had been dreaming about taking our kids to Greece. We liked the idea of traveling there in the spring, before the country is overrun with tourists and extremely hot. Last fall, I was curious about how many points we’d need to travel there for a future trip in April…just to see.

I used my favorite flight search tool Points Yeah to look for one-way flights from NYC to Athens. With a free account, you can search a 4 day window. You can set filters to the number of stops or what points you have to use or transfer. This search shows that the flight is bookable through Emirates which has several transfer partners. **The flight highlighted below is for 2026** – but this was the exact route we booked. Total cost 17,500 Emirates points + $49.50 for taxes and fees/person.

Then I searched the one-way return. Although there were cheaper points options through other airlines – it was worth the extra points to have direct flights. The 30,000 return flight was an economy flex plus ticket which gave us 2 free checked bags and seats closer to the front of the plane.

Totaling: 47,500 points + ~$150/person. For our family of 5 it cost us 237,500 points + $750.

When I found this great deal – with direct flights, over my kids’ school break – it took 1 day for us to make the decision to go. FYI – Business class for this itinerary are 87,000 points + ~$100-130 per flight.

If Emirates Airlines is in your future travel plans (it should be – service and food were top notch).. head there right now and set up an Emirates Skywards account. When you plan to transfer points, it can look suspicious if the account is new, so setting up frequent flyer accounts in advance helps with instant transfers.

We stayed in Athens for the whole trip at this 3 bedroom AirBNB in the Pangrati area. This was a more local area, walkable to the sites, and had an amazing terrace where we ate breakfast every morning with a view of the Acropolis and Lycabettus Hill.

Athens over Easter

Orthodox Easter in Greece often does not align with Western Easter, so if you plan to go for these events, check the calendar. In 2026, Orthodox Easter falls on Sunday, April 12 where Western Easter is Sunday, April 5th.

Good Friday

Daytime – Stop by one of the many local churches during the day – the women in each parish decorate the wooden bier which is on display inside the church. Bells of the churches toll constantly throughout the day, eat outside and enjoy this extremely unique backdrop.

9:00pm – head to a plaza outside any church and buy yourself a wax candle. Candlelight is passed along with whoever is there and some follow the wooden bier in a procession through the neighborhood.

Many locals go out to eat after this procession, there were many busy spots around Montastiraki square.

Easter Saturday

11:30pm – The most spectacular celebration is on Easter Saturday at midnight. We headed to the Holy Church of the Prophet Elias at Pangrati around 11:30pm with our candles. We looked inside the church, but stayed outside with many other people. Just before midnight, the priests exited the church where they started singing hymns, the bells began tolling and fireworks were set off. It was amazing!

Easter Sunday and Monday

Almost all the local stores and restaurants are closed both of these days, so make sure to prepare. Shops and restaurants in Plaka were still busy though. Many Greek Orthodox refrain from eating meat during Lent, so they break their fast with lamb that is roasted on a spit. There were still amazing plant-based dishes to be found. We ate at Psaras Tavern which had the options for rooftop views of the Acropolis..book in advance for those tables.