The Athens Experience

You will be greeted at the airport by our local representative and transported to your hotel. Along the way, enjoy your first taste of the sights and sounds of this remarkable city, birthplace of the West.

From the Acropolis to Omonia Square, you’ll see with this full day trip all the famous sites of ancient and modern Athens. Offering a perfect overview of the modern city, this guided tour will help you get your bearings if this is your first visit to Athens.
The Athens full-day tour depart for a photo stop at Panathinaiko Stadium where the first Olympic Games took place in 1896. Proceed, passing by Zappeion and Temple of Olympian Zeus. You will then drive past the Athens Trilogy which includes the University of Athens, the Academy of Athens, and the National Library. Continue passing by National Garden, Hadrian’s Arc, St. Paul’s Church, Parliament, Tomb of the Unknown soldier, Schliemann’s House (Numismatic Museum), Catholic Cathedral, Old Parliament, Constitution Square, Russian Orthodox Church, and finally ACROPOLIS.
Continue the expert guided Athens sightseeing and Acropolis museum one day tour with a pleasant short walk passing by Herodion and Dionysos Theater, in order to visit the ACROPOLIS museum. Avoid and skip the lines of the new museum. Main attractions such as votives, statues from archaic period, Caryatids, and of course the Parthenon hall with the metopes, the pediments and the frieze will impress you.
After a morning tour full of images continue in a local restaurant under the slopes of Acropolis for lunch. After lunch depart for a wonderful drive along the scenic coastal road which affords a splendid view of the Saronic Gulf, passing through some of Athens most beautiful suburbs (Glyfada, Vouliagmeni, Varkiza) to CAPE SOUNION. Cape Sounion is only 45 miles (70 kilometers) from Athens, making it the perfect lazy afternoon tour destination. The Cape’s Temple of Poseidon is perched on a rocky hilltop overlooking the sea. The view across the Aegean is magnificent with one of the most breathtaking panoramic views in the world, extending all the way to Kea and the Peloponnese on a clear day. The Temple of Poseidon was built in 44 B.C., and many of its original Doric columns are still standing. One of the columns has a graffiti left by none other than Lord Byron in the early 1800s. The precipice is a sheer 197 foot drop to the sea. (B, L)

We set sail for the Island of Hydra from marina Trokadero – our celebration of the sea begins! The lack of cars on the island makes it the ideal place for a stroll along the waterfront – explore shops and galleries or maybe have a swim. Back on the boat we’ll have lunch as we sail the narrow strait between the mainland of the Peloponnesus and the Island of Poros – destination: Aegina. Upon arrival at the island, you can explore the town or join the tour to the Temple of Aphaea, sister to the Parthenon and the Temple at Sounion. You’ll return to Athens for the night. (B, L)

We travel northwest, through the fertile plains and lush hills of Boeotia, land of Oedipus – this land, and especially the city Thebes is the spiritual centre of Greece. Much of the mythology surrounding Dionysus – god of wine and ecstasy, and Herakles’ doomed labour to Mt.Olympus took place right here. These plains bore witness to countless battles that shaped the very nature of Greece itself. We will pass through Thebes and its neighbouring towns Levadia and Arachova as we travel to Delphi for the ancients, the Omphalos, the “navel”, or centre, of the world. As you stand here, on the slope of Mt.Pernassus, the sight before you is awe inspiring. Behold the Sacred Way, the theatre, and the great treasury of the Athenians – built with the spoils from the victory over the Persians at the battle of Marathon, and finally, take in the glory of the Temple of Apollo.Our expert guide will breathe life into these ancient stones and the role they played long ago. The visit to the museum will bring you face to face with the greatest finds of the complex – the bronze charioteer of Delphi, with eyes of silver and lips of copper, the statue of the athlete Agias, attributed to the great Lysippos, and many other unimaginable treasures. We will share a lunch in modern Delphi, and make our way back to Athens. (B, L)

After breakfast, we’ll bid farewell to the friends we’ve made, exchange some numbers and transfer to the airport for our flights. (B)