Athens, Greece

Yes. You can go to a cruise forum like cruisecritic.com and look for your ship to see if any else recommends a specific company. Or you can google "Athens shore excursions" or "Piraeus shore excursions" and see what TripAdvisor posters say. My experience with shore excursions in the past is that there are always people with signs or booths near the cruise ship terminal offering tours. I;ve booked shore excursions before where the guide meets you past the customs area. If you have a guidebook and know what you want to see, a taxi might work for you.

The sights in Athens are pretty compact, with the most interesting with a guide being the Acropolis and the Agora, which are basically together. If you are up to it, you could catch the Metro at Piraeus, get off at the Plaka, hike up to the Acropolis, and find a guide there. From there, take a taxi to the Arch. Museum, see that on your own or use an audio guide, then back to the Plaka where you could wander, get something to eat, shop, until time to head back to the ship.

We used Athens Walks (?) for a walking tour that was described in the Steves' Athens guidebook. Very good. About a mile hike or so from the cruise dock to the metro. And then directly to Constitutional Sq where we met the tour guide. Easy to do.

In 2009 we were on a cruise that stopped in Piraeus, the port for Athens. We walked to the train station (about a mile, easy walk) and rode the train into Athens. We got off at the Monostrioka (not sure of spelling) train stop and from there just walked up and bought our tickets to the Acropolis. We walked through the agora and visited Thission. After touring that, we walked through the Plaka and then on to Stigmata Square and watched the changing of the guard. We walked back and caught the train back to Pireaus. We felt we got to see and do more than any of the shore excursions did and for much less money and more time actually in Athens. If you research on the internet, you will find all the info you need to do this on your own. There's really not a language barrier as most speak some English. Try some of the "French" fries--guess they are Greek fries. Best we ever ate!!!! Also in the Plaka there are places to buy baklava--yummy. Have fun.

Thanks so much for your suggestions.