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Athens - Meteoras - Delphi - Athens - 3 or 4 days?

First time poster so apologies if this is a repetitive question:

I'm traveling with my wife and 3 kids ages 6 - 11 in early July

Which plan is better, A) or B)

Plan A) 8 days island tour. Then on Tuesday, we rent a car, (5+ hour drive), arrive mid afternoon, explore or relax, stay one night in Meteoras, then on Wednesday visit monasteries in the morning. After lunch, drive 4 hours to Delphi, explore Delphi until sundown, and then drive back to Athens to catch an afternoon flight home on Thursday

Plan B) 7 days island tour. on Monday, drive to Meteora, spend most of Tuesday there. Late Tuesday, take the 4 hour drive to Delphi, arrive in Delphi in the evening, and spend the night in Delphi. Then we could explore Delphi on Wed before heading back to Athens Wed afternoon, and catch an afternoon flight on Thursday.

I'm a little concerned Plan A is too hurried.

Thanks

Posted by
16893 posts

I think you will be more comfortable with the extra day in the plan, if you can steal it from the islands. When I visited Meteora, I had two nights and one full day there, which was plenty. Our tours don't spend a lot of time at Delphi - just an afternoon visit to the ruins and an overnight.

Posted by
4535 posts

Plan B hands down. With three kids, it will be hard enough to coral them at each stop and you want some time for them to run around. Plus you might to actually see the sites...

You could also modify plan B to drive back to the airport on Thursday morning if your flight is late enough in the day. Give yourself at least an hour for rental car drop off and at least two hours at the airport (three is really better).

Does your overall schedule have time to see Athens for a day or two? You really should see the Acropolis and the Archeology and Acropolis Museums are excellent.

Posted by
2 posts

Thank you for the tips! The front end of our trip has us in Athens for 2 full days, so we'll be able to see all the great sites while there. I think I'll end up doing the following: Plan B), BUT instead of coming back to Athens on Wed night, I'll stay the last night in Delphi, and then drive out in the morning to arrive at Athens airport by 11am for our 2pm flight home. That way I have a little bit more time in Meteoras and Delphi and I can bypass Athens traffic on the way home.

Again, thank you for the feedback!