Adrianou Street is a heavily touristy thoroughfare which runs through the middle of the Plaka area. It’s colourful and crowded and quite a fun area to walk.
It is lined with a mix of shops, restaurants, bars and cafes. The shops are a mixed bag, with plenty of the familiar T-shirt and fridge-magnet variety of souvenir, a few higher end brands like Swarovski and Pandora and some small, more interesting clothing, shoe and jewellery shops.
Adrianou Street is said to be the oldest Athenian street still in use but it’s
a commercial thoroughfare, rather than an historic sight-seeing destination.
It runs roughly from Monastiraki Square area through to the Acropolis, so there are lots of sight-seeing opportunities at both ends.
At the Monastiraki end, are Hadrian’s Library and Monastiraki Square. Nearby are the Roman Agora, the Tower of the Wind, and the Ancient Agora.
From Adrianou St, you can see down over part of the Hadrian’s Library site so if you don’t want to pay the 8EUR entry then this this is a good vantage point. If you continue around to the Monastiraki Square side, you’ll see the front of the Library as well.
At the Acropolis end, you are very close to the ancient Lysikrates Monument, with Hadrian’s Arch and the Temple of Zeus not far away. The Acroporlis Museum and the southern entrance to the Acropolis are just a little further on past the Lysikrates Monument. We used the southern entrance - it's not the main entry point but it's less busy and quicker to get in here.