Day tours out of Athens

Helen I really like Corinth. There are actually two sites there Roman Corinth - as in Epistles to the Corinthians - which has reasonably extensive remains. There are some nice pictures here http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-photo/sonyagoltz/1/1279297857/1_corinth.jpg/tpod.html Acro Corinth - the ancient fortress. This is vast and, if you are active, you can walk up to the top of the walls. From here you can see both ends of the Corinth canal. Again photos give a better idea than I can http://www.magiceuropeanshores.com/?p=7908 It would be worth checking the tour covers both sites. I probably wouldn't do a day tour to Hydra. It's easy enough to do independently. Cheers Alan

Is there a reason you don't mention Delphi? Maybe you already decided to go there. But it not, I highly recommend it both for the ancient ruins and the scenary.

Thanks for your suggestion, Doug. Yes, we already have Delphi on our schedule. We also are planning a day trip to Mycenae & Epidaurus. We were mainly curious about Corinth, especially since Rick doesn't mention it in his guidebook. Also we're considering Hydra but comments about small boats (150 to 200) and rough seas make me wonder about seasickness.

Helen I spent 45 minutes writing detailed answer & thanx to Rick website glitch it wouldn't go thru, and all my work Vanished. Grrrr. I'll recap, writing it offline so as not to lose it again! To reiterate: Most 1-day tours have TOO many hrs driving then rush-rush onsite. CHAT & KEY tours are main co's. Their 1-dayers cram Epidaurus/ Mycenae in with only lunch stop in Nafplio. Crime! I advise multi-day tours (Hotels fine with this, u just explain when reserve). More relaxed 2-day tour gives PM, O'nite, & AM in Nafplio;you'll Loove it. (choose tourist-class hotel; its in town, 1st class hotel stuck way outside). Re Delphi: I did 1-day tour in '99 hated it, went back solo in 2011 stayed o'nite Pan Hotel, did museum 6 pm NO crowd, ruins 9 am NO crowd, loooved it! Rick has good D-i-Y site tour to use. Chat/Key 2-dayers have guides, but waste excess time, drag u to rug stores. AND --If you can start on a Monday, a nifty tour adds Olympia – and gives u o'nites in Nafplio, Olympia, Delphi, no rug stops. http://www.toursingreece.info/monday_special.htm A smaller tour-op, long-established, your agent can check it out: (agents may not plug it because they may not get as much commission for this). Because of RS word limits, I'll post re Corinth & Hydra separately.

To Continue: CORINTH: in 10 trips somehow haven't got there. Easy brief stop by car but I don't drive in Greece & companions who do aren't interested. When solo, a daylong taxi-bus-taxi rigamarole doesn't appeal. PLUS I'm a "Greek ruins purist," & Corinth is 90% Roman. Acrocorinth is Byzantine ruins. Your call. BOAT TOUR: Forget 3-island thing; on the boat most of the time, then a rush-rush off for pix, get back on. Yuck. HYDRA Rick touts it (but it's all he knows in Saronic). SImple to D-I-Y. A 30min Metro to Piraeus, ferries hourly. (NOTE: be aware of metro pickpockets that target cocky male tourists who insist wallets are safe in pockets; Wrong!! Make husband use moneybelt or give wallet to you). AEGINA Hydra is over-hyped IMHO. Huge tour crowds. U walk around harbor, then what else is there? Aegina is not as "prettified," no tour groups, much more to see & do. See a great photo-essay by a friend of June day trip – even shows ferry dock and Metro station details http://www.flickr.com/photos/36264706@N03/sets/72157621604646139/detail/?page=2 When I went to Aegina I stayed o'nite, managed w. bus, taxi, walks, but one can hire a taxi (or rent a car, to take your time) and see it all ... port ruins, cute museum, monastery, FAB greek Temple (!!!), then lunch & a refreshing swim at Ag. Marina. Return to port, browse nontouristy back lanes, sunset dinner if u wish, twilight ferry back to Piraeus. A relaxing day, full of discoveries.

PS: Ferry to Aegina is only 45 minutes... there are 2 kinds (1) hydrofoil ... fastest (40 minutes) and large enough, but no outer decks, u are inside seating only, not much of view and (2) conventional ferries (1 hour)... much larger and most importantly, lots of deck seating .. great for enjoyment, & breeze and photo ops, as shown by the photo essay I provided. No need to reserve tickets ahead. You can check sailing times of conventional ferries, on Internet at hotel http://www.openseas.gr/OPENSEAS/index_en.vm or at any ticket agency by your hotel, and wait until you get to Piraeus to buy a ticket-- offices line the waterfront. And to Aegina, seasickness is a non-occurrence (except maybe in some awful winter storm!). On a conventional ferry you barely have the sense of motion, except for visual.

Janet - Thanks again for all the info. Now we need to make some decisions about our tirp!