Day trip in January

I’ve done the Delphi day trip in late December. We had sleight some of the way and so the coach was about an hour and a half getting back to Athens. On the plus side the site itself is beautiful and at that time of year it was comparatively quiet (although cold.) I wouldn’t take the lunch included option on the trip. You spend time sitting eating a fairly bland meal. It’s better to get a sandwich to take with you and have more time on the site and museum.

I’ve never done the 3 island trip but have been on both Aegina and Poros and seen the boats arrive and depart. My impression is that passengers just about have time to have a quick look around or a cup of coffee and then they are back on the boat. It’s not great unless you enjoy spending time on ferries. If you do want to visit an island I’d do a day trip to Aegina. You have time to visit the temple, have lunch and have a decent look around. Janet, who often posts here, has good instructions on this.

OK, Alan, I guess I'm up! Yes, Aegina is a good option, as long as it's fair weather (I always advise checking weather report the day before -- if it's rainy, do some museums instead. I'm going to cut-paste-adapt an answer I constructed for this frequent topic:

Here's a wonderful photo album of a day tour to Aegina -- it was created in June, but I still recommend it highly. http://www.flickr.com/photos/36264706@N03/sets/72157621604646139/detail/ Please note in photos, the ferry rides is on a CONVENTIONAL ferry - where you can sit on the open deck ... where you can see the lively Piraeus port with huge cruisers, freighters, lilners -- and sleek powerboats, 3-masted schooners & tiny sloops. It''s a relaxing 1-hour "mini-cruise"

By contrast, the more-frequent hydrofoils trap you inside, in assigned seats, windows r salt-rimed; NO view. The open-deck ferries outbound are only 3x a day I think -- about 8:30, noonish, late aft. --worth it to taxi to Piraeus (about €25 from Central Athens in AM) to get early ferr.. I think there's open-deck inbound ferry around 6 pm. Good idea to buy your tickets the day before, at any agency near your hotel, so you can be sure to buy the correct tickets. Then with tix in hand, you can step right out of taxi onto the ferry boarding area. (Coffee & pastries available on ship).

THe photo-allbum shows the many highlights - Stunning Aphaia temple has 360° view of Saronic bay.. also lovely church-monastery if that's your thing... nice beach view for lunches You can rent a car ... or use E-bikes if you're adept & comfortable. There's an (infrequent) bus service you can combine with taxi. Going in May, I took bus to Aphaia Temple, then walked down road & took hillside "shortcut" to get to At Marina beach v quickly. After Lunch I took bus back... or you can taxi. The Port town is fascinating, not that touristic -- many people live in Aegina & commute to work in Athens. Fun to walk the back streets, explore groceries, home-goods stores,, see how locals shop, & furnish their homes. Have a drink at seaside late in day, sunset on the ferry, and be back at your hotel for dinner.

Janet, I think the OP is talking about a daycruise like this:

https://www.athensonedaycruise.com/

No taking the usual ferries.

Like Alan I think it's mostly a lot of time on the boat without seeing much of the islands. On average 1 hour on each island and at least 6 hours on the boat.

Yes I was talking about the tour around the three islands of hydra, Aegina, and Poros. I understand that most of the time is spent on the boat with just 1-2 hours at each island.
Thus, I am also looking at the idea of visiting just Aegina as Janet suggested. Delphi is also a contender. I have my husband, 19 yr old son and 78 yr old mom in law traveling with me, so I will ask for their votes and go with the consensus. We all are in good health and very active, so hiking and biking are not a problem. It sounds like we can’t go wrong with any of these trips! I do like the idea of waiting until we get there to see what the weather is like- in January might it be a problem with tours booking up if we wait?
Thank you for your input. Any additional info is welcome!

I recognize that they were thinking about the 3-island tour. But every single person I've heard from or read about on several Greece forums has Hated that 3-fer.... half your time getting on/off the boat... only time to walk around each port, buy postcards or junky souvenirs In summer, even worse, boat became drinking party . Just trying to avoid another disappointment.

I would choose visiting Delphi over those islands. Delphi is in a beautiful mountain setting in addition to it’s historic significance.

On my first trip to Greece (in MAy 1999 -- 12 more trips stince... yes i'm addicted) ... I was solo and a classics buff, and took one of those Delphi day tours. A frustrating experience I'd been warned about: Bus took forever leaving Athens because picked up passengers at hotels... then there was a 20+ minute rest-stop half way. At about 10:30, About 6 - 8 busses arrived same time, hundreds of people scrambling uphill in ruins while Guides bellowed very basic ancient history (naming the Olympic gods etc). Just before noon, we were rounded up and all 8 busloads crammed into the museum, so jsmpacked you couldnt see many of the exhibits or hear the guide spiel. Then, before you could see closely, we were marched out of the museum -- but not downhill to the outdoor "Athen tholos temple" that's on all the brochures. No, herded into bus, for mediocre taverna spaghetti lunch that YOU pay for (kickback?). Back into the bus for -- guess what? -- stop at tacky souvenir store (kickback?). Then another 3.5 hr drive, to hit Athens precisely at rush hour.

I was so disillusioned I gave up on Delphi, while taking ancient archeology & classics courses at Penn. Then 10 years later I decided to try again, with a companion. We took KTEL intercity bus mid-day, arrive late afternoon, enjoyed the wonderful (well signaged) museum, had sunset terrace dinner looking down mountanside to sea, stayed overnight in modest hotel with seaview balcony, then at 8 AM entered the peaceful empty ruins for hours of wandering. When tour busses arrived, we caught a KTEL bus back to Athens. A wonderful experience I treasure.

I don't necessarily recommend my DIY approach unless you are very well prepared / prepped and have good maps & maybe an audio guide (available online to download to your mobile). As for group tour -- in January there would not be 8 busses at once (but of course you could have cold & rainy weather). You could bring packed lunches and opt-out of the group lunch/souvenir shop scam (visit tour office & insist before booking). I'm just sharing my 2 experiences. The only other 1-day options are expensive or tiring or both -- having private driver, or renting car ... and hiring licensed guide onsite (about €60 per hour, usually 2-hr minimum).