Pick up from your accommodation in Athens or your cruise ship pier at Piraeus port. The Port of Piraeus is the chief seaport of Athens, Greece, located on the Saronic Gulf on the western coasts of the Aegean Sea. Piraeus port is the largest port in Greece, home to Europe's biggest passenger port, and as such is a huge draw for cruise ships from around the world bringing tourists eager to explore this centuries-old city, and one of the largest in Europe. But yet another major draw is the fact that it's easy to visit Athens because it's located nearby. The Greek capital city of Athens is just 12 kilometers or 7 miles from Piraeus port. We will drive directly to the Acropolis to admire the Temple of Democracy!
You will be traveling through Attica, a journey” in 6,000- year history, the land that gave birth to ideas and arts, has created and shaped what we call today the western civilization. Today, a visit to Attica offers visitors a unique experience. A “journey” in its 6,000-year history, including the chance to see renowned monuments and masterpieces of the art of antiquity and the Middle Ages, and the architectural heritage of the 19th and 20th centuries. Here lies Athens, the capital of Greece, the busiest city of the country with the most prominent archaeological site and symbol of the country, the world-famous sacred rock of the Acropolis. Attica is home to some of the world’s most important and fascinating museums and archaeological sites, testimony to its long and prominent role in world history. Festivals featuring ancient Greek drama, as well as performances, sports, or culinary events are organized throughout the year, spellbinding the audience. Then travel towards Peloponnese!
Admire the travel along the coastal road of the Saronic golf till we will arrive at the famous Corinth canal in Peloponnese. The Peloponnese is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which separates the Gulf of Corinth from the Saronic Gulf. Peloponnese grape varieties have a very special place in the treasure of native Greek grape varieties. Τhe Peloponnese Wine Roads take you on a journey to a modern, sometimes rare and definitely unknown to many wine world, full of authenticity and history. Native Peloponnese grape varieties do not only reflect the diversity of Greek and Peloponnesian wine, but also the significance of some very special Greek varieties. Among them are two of the four most renowned varieties of the Greek vineyard in the world’s best markets: the exotic Moschofilero-Mantinia and the captivating Agiorgitiko-Nemea. Moreover, Mavrodafni is known for the popular dessert
The Corinth Canal is a waterway that crosses the narrow isthmus of Corinth to link the Gulf of Corinth to the Saronic Gulf. As such, the canal separates the Greek mainland from the Peloponnese, turning it into an island. It is an important navigational route that once allowed ships to enter the Aegean Sea. Dug through the isthmus at sea level, the canal is 6.4 kilometers long with a width of only 25 meters. The canal, though executed in the late 19th century, has been a 2000-year-old dream. Before that, ships in the Aegean Sea that wanted to cross to the Adriatic or anchor in Corinth, a rich shipping city, had to circle the Peloponnese, which would prolong their journey an extra 185 nautical miles. It is believed that Periander, the tyrant of Corinth (602 BC), was the first to conceive of the idea of digging the Corinth Canal. As the project was too complicated, Periander constructed the diolkós, a stone road that allowed ships to be transferred on wheeled platforms.
After our visit at Corinth canal we will be traveling approx 20 min to reach ancient Corinth. Ancient Corinth was first inhabited in the Neolithic period (6500-3250 B.C.) Its fertile soil but mainly its strategic location at the intersection of land routes from the Balkan peninsula of Aimos and mainland Greece on towards the Peloponnese and waterways that connect the western Mediterranean to its Eastern counterpart, to Asia Minor and to Syro-Palestine, offered the region from very early on enormous potential for communication, growth and prosperity. The city, known since the Mycenaean period. The tremendous output of agricultural products, already in earlier historical periods, favored intense expansion in trade activities mainly towards the Western Mediterranean, while in the 8th century BC Corinthian colonies were founded, like Corfu in the Ionian Sea, Syracuse in Sicily, with an important role in the history of the ancient Mediterranean world.
After Ancient Corinth we will travel approx 35 min to Mycenae. Mycenae 'Rich in Gold', the kingdom of mythical Agamemnon, first sung by Homer in his epics, is the most important and richest palatial center of the Late Bronze Age in Greece. Its name was given to one of the greatest civilizations of Greek prehistory, the Mycenaean civilization, while the myths related to its history have inspired poets and writers over many centuries, from the Homeric epics and the great tragedies of the Classical period to contemporary literary and artistic creation. Perseus, son of Zeus and Danai, daughter of Akrisios, king of Argos, and descendant of Danaos, is traditionally considered its mythical founder. Pausanias reports that Perseus named the new city Mycenae after the pommel (mykes) of his sword, which fell there, or after the Perseia spring, discovered there under the root of a mushroom (mykes). Perseus's descendants reigned at Mycenae for three generations.
Our next visit after Mycenae is Nafplion 20 min travel.Here you can enjoy a tastefull lunch (not included). One of the most beautiful towns in the area of Argolis (in eastern Peloponnese) as well as one of the most romantic cities all over Greece, Nafplio was the first capital of the newly born Greek state between 1823 and 1834. According to mythology, the town was founded by Nafplios, the son of god Poseidon and the daughter of Danaus (Danaida) Anymone. The town’s history traces back to the prehistoric era when soldiers from here participated in the Argonautic expedition and the Trojan War alike. The town declined during the Roman times and flourished again during the Byzantine times. Frankish, and Venetian conquerors left their mark in the town and strongly influenced its culture, architecture and traditions during the centuries. Ancient walls, medieval castles, monuments and statues, Venetian or neoclassical buildings mesmerize the visitor with their unique architecture and beauty.
We will take now the way back to Athens and Piraeus port. Our tour ends by dropping you off at the same spot we have picked you up. Thank you for choosing us for your tour in Greece!
It was the best!! Our guide Foivos was so knowledgeable about everything we saw and could answer all our questions. He was fun, personable and really made sure we were getting the most out of the experience! I would definitely recommend this tour! I really liked seeing things beyond Athens. A shout-out to Alex our driver. He was helpful, considerate, and a smooth driver!
Very knowledgeable professional driver (not licensed guide) provided plentiful information all along the way. All admission fees to historical sides/museums are extra, but it was clearly communicated by the agency. We were picked on our scheduled time from Piraeus port and spent 10 hours visiting ancient exciting sites of Peloponnese in a very friendly atmosphere. In the middle of April tourist sites were not overcrowded. As we traveled with a cruise, we had only one day opportunity to visit Peloponnese and this trip was very good.
We had a great trip. Our driver, Vasilis (Bill) was an excellent informal tour guide. The private tour was catered to our needs. Places we visited was beautiful and car and driving was excellent. Also, the Athens Tour agents were courteous and responded to all my questions promptly when I was planning for the trip.
This excursion would not have been the same without our driver Vasilis! What a wonderful, encouraged, and knowledgeable man! The way he shared his insight on Greek modern life, ancient history and mythology was so enthusiastic and lively, that even our grumpy, not interested teenager tuned in and became interested. This day never felt like a “booked tour“, with Vasilis it felt like we were driving around with a friend and having the best conversations and laughs while learning so much about Greece. I wish we could have done all our excursions with Vasilis!
Our guide was Michael..he was outstanding. Very informative, personable, friendly and flexible. Could not imagine a better guide or experience!
It was an amazing experience. Customer service was extremely easy to work with to accommodate our pick up and drop off location. We had some other friends that we needed to get on the same tours them and they were able to help us with that. Our driver was super friendly and helpful. Made the experience incredibly memorable would recommend this to anyone. 5 STARS.
We enjoyed our trip with Michael of Athens Tours Greece very much! He was able to answer all our questions with his vast knowledge of Greek history. He was very accommodating, polite, gracious and made sure that we were comfortable. His restaurant recommendation in Nafplio was superb! We will be happy to book with them again in the future. Highly recommended!
The trip was professionally managed with the knowledgeable and attentive driver. Historical places and events were covered in an interesting way
Great tour with Alex to Corinth and Nafplio. Alex was very knowledgeable about the history of the sites and kept the narrative going throughout our drive of the countryside. Had plenty of time to explore the ancient city of Corinth and a leisurely lunch and time to stroll in Nafplio. Truly a great day!
We did not want to visit any archaelogical sites so we had a longer stop in New Corinth and we had more time hiking to the top the Acrocorinth. We also extended the tour to 10 hours to have more time in Nafplio. It was a lovely day trip with Theodore who was very friendly and knowlegable.
We had been on a cruise and our flight wasn’t until 10.15 pm so had a full day to find something to do with two weeks of luggage. I can highly recommend as they picked us up from the port took us out visiting various interesting historical sites at our leisure. The driver was informative and very sociable. Went out of his way to ensure we had a good day. It is a long day but can highly recommend. We were then dropped off at the airport to check in.
We were picked up at our hotel in Athens by Peter, our tour guide. As he drove through Athens and on our way to Corinth, he pointed out many sites along the way. He was very knowledgeable explaining the Greek history. He took much pride in his heritage and all of the historic surroundings. We stopped at the Corinth canal first, and then headed to Ancient Corinth. He gave us enough time at each stop to explore the ancient buildings and archeological ruins there. We then headed to Mycenae and had about an hour or so to explore and climb to the ruins there. The views were amazing. We then drove to Nafplio. It is a beautiful town on the water. We had lunch at Buonas, right across from the harbor, very scenic. The lunch was delicious. Peter was very friendly, and we really enjoyed chatting with him. We had a very nice ride back to our hotel in Athens and he kept the conversation interesting. The time went by very quickly. A wonderful way to spend our last day in Greece!!
A special note of Thanks to Antonio Ruka / Athens Touring based in Athens. We did several tours with Antonio where he provided special / superb tour guide agenda's & venue's. This included Athens - where he knows the complete "lay of the land" with contacts & places to visit in the most convenient manner possible. We also experienced a fantastic Peloponnese tour that covered all the noteworthy sights. On top of that Antonio provided extra attention to detail by providing trips to sightseeing area's and destinations. He is a very outgoing, friendly host and provided the extra attention & care that made our journey's with him so special...One of our best travel experience's ever. Check Athens Touring out.
Our guide George was a fountain of information and learning, and my spouse and I loved conversing with him on our way thru ancient Corinth and Mycenae, and the coastal town of Nafpoli. The lunch spot he chose was also fantastic and had reasonable prices for seafood lovers. Highly recommend! Our one regret was not getting a picture with George before the day was done!
George was our driver and he had so much knowledge of history and mythology. We enjoyed our tour immensely. He even took us on a quick stop to Acrocorinth that was not on the itinerary. Our family of 5 booked (3 kids) a van for 4 and we fit perfectly as the van is big enough 8 (including driver).
This was a great experience. Initially planned a larger group of our family but 5 of us went. We could have downsized to mini van but kept the micro bus and what a treat it was. Spacious and comfortable. George was our host and he is a true gentleman: knowledgeable, accommodating, interesting to talk to, well studied on all the sites and all things I could think to ask pertaining to Greece. Our second trip to Greece and wanted to see even a small part of the Peloponnese. Saw, Corinth, Mycenae, and Nafplio in style and comfort. The tour exceeded my expectations and George really enhanced the experience.
Knowledgeable and friendly driver and guide, and very knowledgeable expert guides at archaeological sites. Very accommodating of physical limitations. All in all, very skillful and hospitable.
Many thanks to Danai and Nicolas for guiding us through the Peloponnese. They were super helpful and knowledgeable of the area. Great trip!
Alexander was very knowledgeable and friendly. He was a very safe driver. We really enjoyed seeing these ancient attractions of Greece!
We sent a potential itinerary, for a tour that covered the homeward footsteps of Odysseus and his sons travels to discover the whereabouts of his father. We asked for a tour of all Ancient sites in the Peloponnese including best lunch and dinner places along the way. The outline was the following: Athens to Corinth to Epidaurus , Napflion., Mycenae to Ancient Sparta, to Bassea to Pylos, to Olympia and return to Athens. Professional guides were organised to meet us at key places of interest. All accom was organised. The best lunch spots and dinner venues were organised. Our driver ( George ) was / is also a knowledgable history guide, who came with a large comfy Mercedes van. After finishing the tour, we have reflected that this was a trip of lifetime. It exceeded all our expectations at every level. George ( our driver ) was a most wonderful man and gentleman. He would drop us off for dinner at a lovely restaurant and pick us up later that night to return us to our hotel. His knowledge was wonderful. All the hotels booked were the best in the area. Very lunch and dinner spot carefully chosen. We are now considering bringing back our family to do a northern tour of ancient greek battlefields with George. We loved our trip to Greece. A huge vote of sincere thanks to Athens Tours for making a vague collection of wishes into a such an incredible tour.
Athens Tours Greece is a wonderful company with amazing drivers & guides and so many your options to choose from. We did two tours with them in late September 2021-- an 8 hour democracy tour of Athens and an all day tour of the Peloponnese (ancient Corinth, Mycenae, and Nafplio). John, Danai, Chris, and Aliki were incredible. We had such an inspirational time and are looking forward to coming back. We will definitely book with Athens Tours Greece again.
The driver Panos (sp) was very knowledgeable about Corinth, Mycenae and Nafplion, Greece and the sites that we visited. Very personable and affable. He made the whole trip perfect for us with lots of laughs. No push to hurry along like with the bus tours. Arrived on time and dropped us off at our front door. We booked this as a second tour in the same week after we had such a splendid time when we traveled with George D. to Delphi and Thermopylae. George D. kindness knew no bounds and he was so patient with our "adult" children. We are not people who do well with large bus tours and we found that all the places we visited had English speakers and the museums were also written in English. First tour was via a van and second a car. Newer vehicles and very , roomy, comfortable and easy in and out in crowded conditions. Booking was easy and itinerary clear.
The day trip was amazing and very comfortable. I never felt like a "normal" tour but very customized and our guide Nikola was very engaged to make our day great. The atmosphere was very relaxed and it was all in all a perfect day.
We complete this trip to Corinth, Mycenae, Epiduras and Nafplio last week and thoroughly enjoyed it. We had originally booked a private car and driver, but on the day, we had a trainee driver with us and so were upgraded to a mini van at no extra cost. Christos our guide and Dimitrius our driver were excellent. Christos has an extensive knowledge of Greek history and was not just confined to the history of the areas we visited. We left our hotel at 8am and returned again at 6pm. Christos gave us as much (or as little) time as we wanted at each site. Could not fault the trip in any way - highly recommend!
My husband and I spent one very full day with Nikola as our tour guide. He guided us to the Corinth Canal, Ancient Corinth, Epidavros, Mycenae and Nafplion! Given all that we wanted to see, we put the sights over stopping for a long lunch, but we ended the day with a tasty and relaxing seafood meal in Nafplion. I know we could not have done this on our own. Nikola organized the time as efficiently as possible, and we managed to spend a good amount of time in each locale. We toured each site in a leisurely fashion, spent time in the museum in Corinth, and even managed to do a little shopping. I think the entire tour was to be 10 hours, but Nikola told us not to worry about the time -- just enjoy. We went over 10 hours for sure. Our biggest concern was what to tip -- it was such a valuable service to have him drive us around and engage us in all the history of the area. I would recommend this tour as the area is so full of history -- and what a beautiful countryside! Thank you for making this day so memorable.
Together with my wife and my two young daughters, we booked the 1 day exploration of Corinth (canal and ruins), Mycenae, Epidaurus and Nafplio while stating in Athens. Our tour guide Christos really went to lengths to make our day a great one. Everything was evenly paced and we never felt stressed to rush any of the places he took us to, we even had a the time to visit a few more small places as well as a pleasant lunch in Nafplio. He told us the history behind the places, as well as the Peloponnese and I had a great number of good discussions with him. Doing this sort of driving day trip with small children can always be challenging, but Christos took extra care to entertain our children and stayed back with the car while our youngest slept and we went to explore. I recommend considering to fit in a visit to the theatre at Epidaurus as this easily gives you the best experience on how advanced the culture was at the time. So we extend our thanks to Christos and Athens Tours Greece for making the highlight of our visit to Greece.
Monday through Friday 9 am to 7 pm EST
Reach us by phone
Reach us by email