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Guided day trips in Athens

I will be traveling to Greece for a month from beginning to end of May. I'll be spending 9 days in Athens. I'd welcome recommendations for guided day trips in and around Athens that are reasonable in price and a good value. I plan to visit Nafplios, Mycenae, Epidavros, Delphi and Meteora for a few days on my own, as well as 14 days on the Cyclades Islands.

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There are 3 main tour companies in Athens offering out of town tours (as well as tours of the city); other agencies may advertise day excursions or multi-day trips, but basically they are just passing them on to these 3 Companies: KEY tours, GO tours, CHAT tours. All have very similar prices, use modern busses. You can google reviews (trip advisor has many), but be aware that people's reviews are VRY much affected by their experience with the particular licensed guide(s) leading the tour. To be licensed these must do intensive study and pass tough tests, so they are knowledgeable, but of course everyone has good days & bad days. YOu can easily do homework by looking up the lists of tours in all 3 websites, pick out some tours that appeal to you and cross-check for price & description. These 3 will offer the most moderate prices for standard tour destinations, because other companies with smaller groups will naturally charge more. It is hard to know what you feel is "reasonable." There are some personal tours that can become reasonable if there are 4-5 to split costs, but you are going solo.

You might consider googling things such as "food tours" or "architecture tours".... one is called Eating Athens. there's also a volunteer group called "This is My Athens" where locals show y ou special places, and another called Athens Greeters, which is sponsored by local govt, also free I think. Another "quick walk-by" tour is called Athens Free Walking Tour --- started by young college grads a few years ago, this one gives you a 90 orientation to the historic landmrks at a swift walking pace, no charge (but you tip the leader), very popular with young travelers.