As Greece gears up for a bumper tourist season, with over 21 million visitors expected this year, Athens is surfacing from austerity. Its cultural and night-life scene is blossoming as locals start up creative cooperatives or become city guides.

Sleep

1 City Circus
Two friends ditched corporate careers to set up this hip hostel in Psirri, a central neighbourhood of lively meze joints and gift shops. With mid-century antiques, frescoed ceilings, and graffiti art, it's way cooler and cheaper than the average boutique hotel. Nine rooms in an annex open this summer, along with a bar/restaurant that will screen films and serve cheap cocktails. The roof terrace has dazzling Parthenon views.
• +30 213 0237 244, citycircus.gr, dorm beds from €15 a night

2 Alice Inn
Decent lodgings are surprisingly scarce in Plaka, the touristy old town. This stylish "three-and-a-half-room" guesthouse is the exception. Greek-Irish architect John Consolas has converted a crummy hostel into a cosy, art-filled bolthole. Consolas, who lives on site, is a laid-back host who makes guests (everyone from top DJs to IMF inspectors) feel like old friends.
• +30 210 323 7139, aliceinnathens.com, doubles from €50

Eat and drink

3 Black Duck Garden
Modern Athens' first public park was the gardens at the City of Athens Museum, with palm trees and fountains. One palm tree survives in the secret garden behind the museum, which now hosts a sweet, summer-only bistro. An oasis of shady calm, it's a relaxing spot for brunch or coffee.
• +30 210 3252396, blackduckgarden.gr

4 Romantso
The team behind Bios, the alternative arts space that turned the red-light Keramikos district into a hipster hotspot, have set their sights on another neighbourhood. Off seedy Omonia Square, Romantso is a coolly modern bar and cultural centre named after the magazine that was printed in this starkly beautiful industrial building for 60 years. The original neon sign flashes on after dark.
• Anaxagora 3-5, romantso.gr

See

5 Greek Gastronomy Museum
Dreamt up by four twentysomethings and run by volunteers, the first museum of Greek cuisine opens this summer, in a 150-year-old townhouse just behind the central food market. The admission price includes a half-hour cooking lesson. There's a lovely courtyard cafe and the restaurant does good-value tasting menus that showcase regional Greek dishes. 
• For reservations call +30 210 321 1311, gastronomymuseum.gr

6 Museum of Contemporary Art
After 14 years of false starts, Athens' first modern art museum (EMST) launches this summer (date to be confirmed). It's in the old Fix brewery, a modernist landmark with a 92-metre facade of horizontal windows. The unveiling of the permanent collection is hotly anticipated. It includes works by more than 100 artists, from Jannis Kounellis to Bill Viola Diohanti (who represented Greece at the 2011 Venice Biennale). Eventually, a promenade will connect EMST to the Acropolis Museum nearby.
• Kallirois Avenue, emst.gr

Shop

7 Forget Me Not
Plaka's souvenir shops are a soul-sapping collection of Greek clichés. Smack on the main shopping drag, this shop breaks the mould. Everything is beautifully made in Greece. Owner Filippos is constantly on the lookout for innovative designers. Standouts are Rainy July's waterproof pouches, made from old swimming caps, Studiolav's witty Atlas tote, and Zylo wooden sunglasses handcrafted on Syros.
• Adrianou 100, forgetmenot-athens.gr

8 B38
Young designers Mirella Manta and Ioli Michalopoulou recently opened this chic boutique in Athens' most exclusive shopping street. They stock their own designs – a mix of hi-tech tailoring and floaty florals – plus more affordable accessories and trinkets.
• Voukourestiou 38, facebook.com/B38.NeckOfTheWoods

Explore

9 Alternative Athens
Tina Kyriakis is the dynamo behind these offbeat walking tours and workshops. She'll take you to places the typical tourist never sees – from street art tours to home-cooked meals with locals. Tina has activities for kids, too, including ceramics workshops and mythology trails in the woods around the Byzantine monastery of Kesariani.
• alternative-athens.com

10 Dopios
Dopios means local in Greek. This web-based travel concierge match-makes travellers with local experts. Whether you're looking for gay bars, extreme sports or cycling routes, you'll find someone to take you there. Your chosen guide will customise activities, dispense travel advice, make reservations and set the price for their services. Dopios helps travellers feel like insiders and hard-up locals earn some extra cash. It's a brilliantly simple idea that has been much imitated.
• dopios.com/locals/greece/athens