Buying a home on Athens coastline? Look for blue flags

The Athens coastline is drawing strong interest from foreign buyers looking to pick up a home on the beach that also offers close proximity to the lifestyle offered by the Greek capital.

Real estate agents report that a home on the coast is among the top priorities set by buyers from China, Russia and Turkey, among other countries, but which beaches in Athens are the cleanest? Apart from offering a nice place for a dip, clean beaches help add value to property investments. Data for homes in areas such as Glyfada and Voula show prices to be more resilient to drops seen in Greek real estate due to the crisis, with some beachside areas showing a spike in values in recent months, industry officials say.

The Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature is a non government organisation that awards blue flags to Greek beaches, based on how clean the water is and other environmental issues. For 2017, the group came out with a list of clean, or blue flag, beaches across the country and can be seen here.

For the broader Athens area, blue flags have been awarded to the areas of:

Municipality of Marathon

Schinias/Karavi

Municipality of Markopoulos Mesogaias

Avlaki

Municipality of Saroniko

Mavro Lithari/Eden Beach

Lagonisi 1-Grand Beach/Grand Resort Lagonissi

Lagonisi 2-Mediterraneo/Grand Resort Lagonissi

Lagonisi 3-Kohilia/Grand Resort Lagonissis

Municipality of Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni

Varkiza

Asteras Vouliagmenis/Astir Beach Vouliagmeni

Vouliagmeni

Voula A

Munipality of Glyfada

Glyfada

Municipality of Spata-Artemida

Limni