We will be in Athens for 4 days late Sep. We plan to spend 2 days walking the sites in Athens then take one or two day tours. Leave in morning, tour, back to hotel that same day. Any suggestions? Experiences etc...?
Posted by
Brighton, UK
1396 posts
Den Unless you are doing an island as some other part of your trip I'd recommend a day trip to Aegina. It's a nice little island with two sites and a good waterfront for lunch. Only about 40 minutes on a flying dolphin (hovercraft) from Piraeus. Piraeus itself is around 30 minutes from central Athens by metro. A couple of tour companies - Chat Tours and GO Tours - do day tours of both the Peloponnese - taking in Mycenae and Epidavros - and of Delphi. I would be torn to choose between them but would probably, if my arm was twisted, go for Delphi. If you do either of these I would skip the lunch included deal and take something with me. The included lunch is not usually great, is overpriced, and you'll lose time that could be better spent exploring. Alan
Posted by
Louisville, KY, USA
255 posts
I'd highly recommend Delphi. It was my favorite ancient site outside of Athens. I'd recommend also, arriving at 8:30 am when the site opens and long before the tourists start to arrive. I rented a car and it is a 90 minute drive, 2 hours at the most and it's an easy drive. I'd also recommend seeing the Acropolis/Parthenon when it opens at 8:30 am. It gets crowded in about 45 minutes!