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Use a tour guide or self guide

My wife and I are traveling to Greece for 10 days. We will be in Athens for 3 days then on a 7 day cruise to the Greek Islands via Celestryl Crusie Line. My question is should we go on guided tours of the sites or do a self guide. My wife loves taking pictures and will sometimes take time to get the perfect shot. I'm worried if we take a guided tour she will be left behind taking pics.

We are renting a car on the 2nd day in Athens and driving to Delphi for the day. Any suggestions would be great.

Posted by
882 posts

There is at least one other option - hire a private guide. Your wife could have all the time she requires to "get the perfect shot" while your in depth experience can be enhanced by a knowledgeable local expert.

Posted by
6431 posts

A private guide would be ideal, if your budget allows. Otherwise, as far as Athens is concerned, a good guidebook may be enough. The RS books include walking tours with a lot of information. You can read aloud while your wife lines up the perfect shot. The more research you can do ahead of the trip, the less you need to do "on the fly" while you're there.

Posted by
7280 posts

On our trip last year, we used Rick’s Greece book and audio guides for guiding ourselves most of the time, but hired a private guide for Archaea Olympia. Even then, the tour pace was pretty brisk, with a lot to be shown, so there was time to take a few slightly-extended photo ops, but we didn’t have all day. She had another tour-with French speakers- right after ours. If you had a guide for the whole day, the schedule might be more tailored to a more leisurely pace.

At one sight after another, our experience was that crowds were much less right when a sight opened, and the last hour before it closed. If “the perfect shot” might mean fewer tourists in the picture, early and late are good times to be there. At Delphi, though, after the museum and the sights uphill from it had closed for the day, the temple a half mile down the road in the valley was still accessible, and was mobbed.

Posted by
255 posts

Also, Free Walking Tours of Athens is a good idea, too. Yes, it says "free" but they expect tips, from 5 to 7 euro per person in the group. I have used them once and plan to use them again this summer. The first time was great! The guide was friendly and well-informed.

https://www.athensfreewalkingtour.com