If you’re anything like me, one of the first things you check out when you visit a city is its bookstores. I’m sorry for all the bookworms who’ve passed through Athens over the years and weren’t aware of the existence of this here gem.

“Platonos Politeia” is Greek for Plato’s Republic. “Politeia” can also mean state (as in the United States) or land/country. Quite literally, Politeia is the land, the republic, of books.

I’m going to be perfectly clear with you: when it comes to size, selection and prices, this is hands-down the best bookshop in Athens. This is where I bought my José Saramago collection; my Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy of Four; my first Discworld novel… I could go on, but the point is that you can find just about anything here. It’s so big as to have four separate entrances divided by genre: literature, fiction and sci-fi, non-fiction and arts & misc.

One of the biggest reasons I feel so excited to be sharing this spot with you is that Politeia has a surprisingly large selection of books in English as well as Greek – as good if not better than the likes of big media chains like Public, but with stunningly better prices. The only reason I don’t visit more often is because it’s virtually impossible to leave without spending half the day browsing and then buying some random book I didn’t even know existed.

Note: I took the picture during Christmas — it’s not always that busy!