Athens Sightseeing (also can be done from Piraeus port for cruise passengers)
6 hour Private Athens Highlights tour – suggested itinerary, modified for each client
You will be met at the lobby of your hotel by your licensed tour guide and you will board your private vehicle to start your tour. Driving from your hotel to the center of Athens your officially licensed tour guide will comment on the city’s historical elements. While being amazed by the first views of the Acropolis and its Parthenon that you will be having from inside your private vehicle, you will also be impressed by the view of the massive remaining marble corinthian columns of the temple of Zeus which still stand in the triangle between the Acropolis, the Panathenaic stadium and the Zappion Mansion which in 1896 used to be an Olympic Commitee building. Next comes the Panathenaic marble stadium of the 1896 Olympics where you can stop for photos or even for an inside visit. The sightseeing will proceed passing the Parliament house, the Sydagma square, the Athenian Trilogy consisted by the Academy, the Library and the University buildings, the semi-byzantine building of the first eye clinic building in Europe and the church of St. Dionysios which is the Metropolis of the Catholic church in Athens. The drive will proceed through the Stadiou Avenue and the other side of Sydagma square, the Arch of Hadrian and will either end by the statue of Melina Merkouri and the pedestrians street between Plaka and the Acropolis or closer to either the Acropolis or the museum, depending from where your walking private guided tour will start from. Also during your city guided tour you will visit the top of Lycabettus hill and make a stop for photographs there, and enjoy panoramic views of the cities of Athens and Piraeus, as well as the Saronic gulf.
At the New Acropolis Museum, characterized as one of the best museums in the world, is where you will spend approximately 1 and a half hour, seeing parts of the excavations of the ancient city through its glass floor, an amazing exhibition of “Kores” and “Kouroi” statues, the Karyatides e.t.c. As you will be ascending the different levels of the museum, you will reach the top floor, all glass, where admiring the remaining pediments and frieze of the Parthenon, you will also have an excellent view of the Parthenon itself. This is the next best view of the Parthenon, if any of you for any reason would prefer to not climb up the Acropolis hill.
Stopping before the Propylaea, you will have an excellent view of the temple of Wingless Nike and the Ancient Agora, where Socrates, Plato and Aristotle introduced great philosophical schools. Walking through the Propylaea you will reach the top and you will see the breathtaking Parthenon and the Erechtheion temple opposite it, where the Karyatides stood instead of columns to support the roof.
At the end of the private guided tour, you can either enjoy some free time to explore on your own and take pictures of the roof tiles of the buildings in the Anafiotika and Plaka districts below, the Lycabetus hill e.t.c. or you can descend with your tour guide and enter for a walk to the Plaka area. Alternatively you can walk down passing parallel to the Ancient Agora of Athens and end up at the Monastiraki(Flea market) area for some free time to shop, dine or stroll around. Plaka is one of the most famous districts of central Athens and one of the few parts of the city which remain untouched, full of neoclassical buildings where people still reside, as well as several gardens, terraces and squares where small traditional restaurants are serving their specialties. Monastiraki(Flea Market) is a very interesting walk through small shops one next to each other that practically sell everything from Antique items and Art to used clothing and gramophone records. If you are interested, among the many shops that sell leather ancient Greek style sandals, you can also visit one of the most famous, the Melisinos Sandals Workshop, which is located very close to the Monastiraki square. In Monastiraki you will also be able to taste pita gyros, since some of the most famous restaurants of this kind are located next to the square.
The order of the visits on this tour might change, according to your guide’s judgment, depending on the location of your hotel, the weather, traffic or other reasons that might affect the timings and your enjoyment, which is our main goal.
This tour involves a considerable amount of walking. Expect crowding and congestion at the Acropolis.
Available with lunch.
Cape Sounion Private tour 5 hours
For those of you that would be interested in seeing the southern districts of Athens, as well as in enjoying one of the most beautiful coastal drives in the country, this tour is one of your best options.
Your professional English speaking driver will meet you at the lobby of your hotel in Athens. You will board your private vehicle and start driving south towards Cape Sounion. Your English speaking driver will give you information about the districts you will be driving through.
On your way you will pass through some of the most beautiful suburbs of Athens right next to the sea, like Faliro, Voula and Vouliagmeni which among other things, is famous for its underground lake.
Then you will enter the windy road by the Saronic Gulf and you will enjoy driving next to the sea, passing several villages, little islands and areas that are mainly consisted by summer homes of the Athenians, with exceptional architecture.
Before your arrival to Cape Sounion, you will have the view of the remaining standing columns of the temple of Poseidon, from quite a distance. This was why in the past, sailors used to call the port next to it “Cavo Colones”, meaning the port with the columns, which was also helping them find their way towards Attica. You will make a short stop for photos with the nice background of the temple of Poseidon.
As soon as you arrive in Cape Sounion, you will be given the chance to enjoy walking all the way to the top where the temple of Poseidon is and take pictures of the magnificent view all around you. When the atmosphere is very clear, you can see a lot of the Greek islands of the Aegean Sea from a distance. The temple of Poseidon was built in 444 BC to calm down Poseidon, after Athena was honored so much, by having the Parthenon built in honor of her. Since Athens was a great naval power in the ancient times, and their ships were exporting goods all over the known world, but also had many enemies, it was smart of them to use Cape Sounion as an alternative port.
On the way back to your hotel, if time allows it, you can stop at one of the many seaside tavernas to enjoy lunch or dinner, or you can stop at one of the beaches for a swim.
Enjoy a walking food tour of Athens as a local – approximately 4 hours private tour
Be our guest! Every time we Athenians welcome a friend coming from another city or country to Athens, we have to feed him well and at places he would never discover on his own.
Walking you around the city center we will also stop and see points of historical or cultural interest, since we are so proud of our city and its long ancient and modern history, makes it very interesting to see from the side of a local expert foodie!
Let’s meet half past the hour at your hotel and walk across to the front of the Parliament house, to watch the changing of the guards, which takes place every hour, on the hour, while we are enjoying eating the famous “koulouri”, the crispy bread roll with sesame seeds, which you can also feed a few small bites with the pigeons that love “hanging out” in front of the Monument of the Unknown Soldier, where the changing of the guards takes place.
From there let’s proceed to the most famous down town store, where you can see and taste dry nuts, “pasteli” (honey with sesame seeds), loukoumi, koufeta, dry fruits and a shot of Mastiha liqueur from the famous island of Chios.
Our walk will continue through some of the most busy or narrow streets of central Athens, in order to get to either Monastiraki or Psyrri area and drink a “Greek coffee”, which has such a long tradition and while enjoying it, we will tell you all about it.
But after the coffee you will need a bite again, so let’s pick according to our mood of the day the right spot to taste a Greek pastry made with “phyllo” that is freshly prepared every day. There are a few special places like that, where we will taste either a bougatsa or spanakopita or baklava.
And now comes the most challenging part! Now you will prove how brave and open to new adventures you can be! Let’s walk pass the fresh vegetables market and taste some olives, before we walk across and enter the “Varvakeios Market”. It’s a large indoor market where the largest variety of fresh fish, spices and meat from all around Greece arrives every day, therefore the Athenians come and visit it from all over the city.
We should warn you! It’s not a supermarket with everything beautifully packed in special packages. It’s an indoor market composed by many stalls one next to the other, which looks very much the way the ancient agora (market) would have looked like, where you can see the fish or animals’ meat full body and head, smell them, touch them to check how fresh they are and bargain with the salesmen. Being your local friends we try to show you the real Athens and we want you to experience this, but if it is more than what you can take, we can enjoy an alternative walk outside of the market and see it from a distance.
If we do go in though, we will go and taste some Greek “mezes”, at one of the “holes on the wall” there are. Mezes is a sacred word for Greek gastronomy, and means something very tasty that usually accompanies a glass of wine or beer or ouzo, and is similar to tapas.
Finally, the time has come, after all this multicolor experience and long walk, to sit down and chat about our experience.
Let’s turn into a small alley, which will travel us to a total different setting, which looks more like a “beach front taverna” on an island rather than the crowded city center. Here we will enjoy a few more sea food mezes and some house wine.
This is where our tour will end and until we meet again… enjoy!
Duration: 4 hours
Distance: approximately 3 kms
Activity level: Moderate
These are just ideas, contact us to design a trip to Athens .
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