TOURS IN ATHENS

Athens tour 1

HALF DAY TOUR OF THE ACROPOLIS HILL AND THE NEW ACROPOLIS MUSEUM (duration 4 hours)
This guided tour involves an uphill climbing to the sacred hill of Athens: the Acropolis. After walking up a combination of new steps, paths and ramps we reach the top (about 450 feet tall above sea level). Over there we see the masterpiece of the ancient Greek architecture: The Parthenon! The temple of the patroness goddess of Athens: the goddess Athena! Up there we also see some other monuments, like the Propylea, the temple of Athena Nike, the Erectheion etc. Also, we enjoy a panoramic view of the entire city, with its mountains all around, and the Aegean Sea at the south part of the city.
After that, we walk for about 10-15 minutes all along the most beautiful promenade of Athens towards the newest museum in town: The New Acropolis Museum, which opened first time in June 2009 and in the year 2010, was proclaimed as the best museum in the World by several European countries. The architecture of the building is more than impressive, and the collection of the more than 4.500 objects, all coming from the Acropolis hill, just breathtaking! Highlight of the museum is the third level, where the frieze, the metopes and the pediment of Parthenon are displayed in a room which offers a wonderful view of the Acropolis hill right opposite!

This is a very comprehensive tour, which gives you a very good overall visit of the cradle of civilization. The Acropolis Hill with its panoramic view of the entire city (from where we will be able to point out to you some more monuments like the Agora, the Temple of Zeus, the Dionisus Theatre), the New Acropolis Museum and some walking between the two will make your visit unique and unforgettable!

Athens tour 2

HALF DAY TOUR OF THE ACROPOLIS HILL AND THE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM (duration 4 hours)
This guided tour involves an uphill climbing to the sacred hill of Athens: the Acropolis. After walking up a combination of new steps, paths and ramps we reach the top (about 450 feet tall above sea level). Over there we see the masterpiece of the ancient Greek architecture: The Parthenon! The temple of the patroness goddess of Athens: the goddess Athena! Up there we also see some other monuments, like the Propylea, the temple of Athena Nike, the Erectheion etc. Also, we enjoy a panoramic view of the entire city, with its mountains all around, and the Aegean Sea at the south part of the city.
After the visit of the Acropolis hill, we proceed to the National Archaeological Museum, the biggest in Greece. It houses treasures from excavations in various areas of Greece, more than 10.000 objects, dating back to different chronological periods.

Together we will visit the highlights of the museum, such as the marble Cycladic figurines, the 14 kilos of golden finds coming from the citadel of the King Agamemnon in Mycenae, including the famous ai???Death Maskai??? marble statues of the archaic ages, the Bronze statue of Poseidon from the early classical period, and other objects depending on your interests (ex. pottery art, sculpture and so on).
Very interesting is also the gallery that houses the find, which come from the Pre-historic settlement of Akrotiri, on the island of Santorini. After the eruption of the volcano of the island, everything was buried under enormous layers of volcanic material. The archaeologists have revealed beautiful pieces of pottery, wonderful wall paintings and other objects of the everyday life of the people back then!

This tour, apart from giving you a guided walk at the top of the Acropolis hill where you will learn many things about its history, gives you the chance to become a little bit more familiar with some other very important historical places away from Athens, which are among the highlights of Greece and the ancient Greek civilization!

Athens tour 3

HALF DAY TOUR OF THE ACROPOLIS HILL AND PLAKA (duration 4 hours)
This guided tour involves an uphill climbing to the sacred hill of Athens: the Acropolis. After walking up a combination of new steps, paths and ramps we reach the top (about 450 feet tall above sea level). Over there we see the masterpiece of the ancient Greek architecture: The Parthenon! The temple of the patroness goddess of Athens: the goddess Athena! Up there we also see some other monuments, like the Propylea, the temple of Athena Nike, the Erectheion etc. Also, we enjoy a panoramic view of the entire city, with its mountains all around, and the Aegean Sea at the south part of the city.
After the visit of the Acropolis hill we walk towards Plaka: the old town of Athens! This is a nice area to walk around, to see the architecture of Athens during the last two centuries, to shop, to have lunch and to interact with the locals!

This tour gives you a nice idea of Athens, which as a city is very well known about this great combination it offers: the glorious past and the modern present aspect of the city!
This guided tour is highly recommended to people that enjoy being outdoors more, rather than visiting museums. It is very relaxed because after the visit of the main highlights of Athens, -the Acropolis and its monuments- you can decide what you would like to do in the old town of Athens. You might want to enjoy an ice cream or a glass of wine doing some people watching, or maybe you would like to try some typical greek food or do some shopping for yourself or your friends and family. The area of Plaka is a place where the locals also love going, and when you are exploring it, through the various winding cobblestone streets, you just have the illusion that you are somewhere else, far away from the heart of the city of Athens!

Athens tour 4

ATHENS AT LEISURE (duration about 4 hours)
This tour gives you the opportunity to see the highlights of the city through a city drive and some photo stops.
Leaving your hotel, port, airport etc with the vehicle we decide (depending on how many people will be in your party), we drive around Athens, so I will have the chance to point out to you some of the most beautiful buildings, squares and avenues of the historical center. We could drive up to the Lycabettus hill to see the panoramic view of the city. We could stop for photos at the Panathenaic Stadium of Athens, where the first Olympics of the modern period were held back in 1896. Watch the changing of the Guards of Honor outside of the Greek House of Parliament. Stop at the bottom of the Acropolis Hill to take photos of the monuments, without doing the uphill climbing.

Then we could be dropped off in PLAKA ai??i??the old town of Athens- and depending on how much you want to walk, we could explore it together by walking, or you could relax in a local cafAi?? or restaurant and enjoy a snack or a meal with some people watching! Or you could do some shopping too!
This tour can be combined if you feel a little bit more fit and energetic or if you really like history and archaeology with any other Tour of Athens. We could add on this one any site or museum you would like to visit.

Athens tour 5

VISIT OF THE TEMPLE OF POSEIDON AT THE CAPE SOUNIO (duration about 4 hours)
This trip takes you to the southernmost point of Athens, the cape Sounio, where we visit the beautiful white columns of the classical temple of Poseidon (Neptune) dating back to the 5th cent. B.C. The highlight of this trip is the beautiful drive, during which we will be passing by the most well known south suburbs of Athens, located on the coastline and facing the Aegean Sea.
Beautiful beaches, little bays where people are fishing or doing scuba diving, country houses, is just an idea of the beautiful coastal road we follow, which gives you an overview of the Athenian Riviera!

This trip is ideally combined with any other of the previous tours: Acropolis Hill – New Acropolis Museum, Acropolis Hill – National Archaelogical Museum, Acropolis Hill – Plaka, Athens at leisure as an afternoon activity, creating this way a FULL DAY TOUR of Athens, with a duration of approximately 8-9 hours.

Athens tour 6

OTHER PLACES OF INTEREST IN ATHENS
Except from the sites and the museums mentioned in the above tours, there are some other places of interest in the city, such as:
1) THE GREEK ANCIENT AGORA
This was the down-town of the ancient city of Athens, where the citizens used to meet with each other , find out the news of their city, talk about politics, do their shopping etc. This is where we imagine Socrates and Plato strolling around and sharing their philosophical theories with the ancient Athenians! The highlight of the site is the temple of Iphestus (Vulcan) dating back to the 5th cent. B.C., which is the best preserved classical temple in Athens.
2) THE TEMPLE OF OLYMPIAN ZEUS
Another very important Greek temple, dedicated to the father of the twelve Olympian gods: ZEUS (Jupiter). A temple that took a very long time to be completed, and where today we admire the huge Corinthian style columns which are preserved in a good condition.
3) THE ANCIENT GREEK THEATRE OF DIONYSUS
The birthplace of the ancient drama and comedy plays! The famous tragedies of Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides and the comedies of Aristophanes were performed here for the very first time! The beautiful marble seats we see today have substituted for the original wooden seats of the ancient spectators.
4) MORE MUSEUMS IN ATHENS
– BENAKI MUSEUM – CYCLADIC MUSEUM – WAR MUSEUM – BYZANTINE MUSEUM – HISTORICAL MUSEUM
Depending on your interests (history, art, archaeology, modern life, shopping, food, modern market places etc) and the time you will be spending in Athens, we could make any possible combination of the above ATHENS TOURS, so we maximize what you visit in the city!
Do not hesitate to contact me for any other requests of yours!