My spouse and I used this company to combine a few of their options for our 8 day trip. We did the full day in Athens, 3 day classical Greece and half day Sounion. All of our drivers and licensed tour guides were absolutely amazing! We had Vasilis for our driver for the 3 day tour and half day in Sounion and we was the best we could have hoped for. He pointed out so many sites along our drive, helped us find great spots for taking photos, got us reservations for the best views at local restaurants and shared so much information both about the archaeological sites as well as current sites and knowledge. By the end of our time it felt like saying goodbye to an old friend. We'd absolutely recommend this company!
About Activity
What's Included
Includes
- Minimum 4-Star or Boutique style Hotels with breakfast
- DISCOUNT PACKAGE: Superior Class Sedan, Mercedes Minivan or Sprinter. Depending on group size
- Professional English speaking experienced Tour driver throughout the day
- GOLD PACKAGE: Luxury EClass Mercedes Sedan, Minivan or Sprinter depending on group size
- PLATINUM PACKAGE: EClass Mercedes Sedan, Minivan or Sprinter depending on group size; 3-Course Lunch
Excludes
- Entrance Fees
- Expert Licensed Archaeological Guides. Available on request at one or more sites
- Pickup from Airport & areas outside Athens on request. May require a supplement.
Departure & Return
Departure Point
- Traveler pick up offered
Itinerary
Day 1
1
Our first stop is at the impressive Corinth canal as your driver describes its many interesting ill-fated and varied History’s from Ancient times to the present.
After a short drive further into the Peloponnese we stop to explore the beautifully preserved remains of Ancient Corinth, one of Greece’s most powerful and influential city states of Antiquity. Stroll through the streets, temples, markets, and fountains in the footsteps of the Classical Greeks, Ancient Romans & St. Paul before you. Refreshments & rest stops are also on hand at the local Cafes at its entrance if needed.
Next we come to the imposing remains of Ancient Mycenae, one of the most important sites in the development of Ancient Greece. Home to the citadel of the legendary Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks during the Trojan War. The ‘Mycenaean period,’ from 1600 to 1100 BC, references this ancient city, indicating its importance in Greek civilization. Pass through the 20-foot-wide (6-meter) city walls, enter the Lion’s Gate to Agamemnon’s throne room, and explore the very buildings of his palace and enter into the awe-inspiring treasury of Atreus, You will also have the time to visit the modern on-site museum housing the many precious artifacts uncovered from the site.
After a short drive through olive fields & small countryside roads our next stop is at the UNESCO-listed Sanctuary of Asklepios, first healing centre of the Ancient World. You will also see the impressive Theatre of Epidaurus, one of the most visited ancient sites in Greece. The temple and theatre date from the 4th century and feature masterpieces of classical Greek architecture. Join the other visitors who test its world famous acoustics with a poem or a song
After the many sites of the morning we enjoy lunch in the beautiful medieval & historical port city of Nafplio by the sea with views to the Venetian castle of Bourtzi in the bay. This city has a definite artistic feel so take time for a stroll and explore the many local craft shops & boutiques of the charming old city before your evenings onward travel to your hotel in Olympia and the comfort of your specially selected Boutique or 4-Star Hotel
Day 2
2
Our morning is dedicated to Ancient Olympia, and one of the most magical locations in Greece. Famous for its Olympic Games of antiquity you will see the places where the original athletes were taught & trained, and go through the tunnel to emerge in the stadium in which they competed. The site is still home to the Temple of Zeus and Hera where the Olympic Flame is lit, workshop of Phidias, and an extensive Museum containing significant masterpieces from the site.
After Olympia we head to the west coast to find one of the longest suspension bridges in the world & a great fete of engineering as we travel over this impressive landmark connecting the Peloponnese back to the Greek mainland on your way to Delphi
Stunningly beautiful picture postcard Venetian port, & perfect lunch stop. Nafpaktos is a little known village you will never forget. Seemingly forgotten & untouched by tourism with a Medieval charm and a fairy-tale vibe. Overlooked from the hillside above, its 15thCentury Venetian Castle is a reminder of its former Historic importance, from the time of the Crusades & stretching back to the Peloponnesian wars of Antiquity.
Lying by the sea near the ancient port of Delphi, this beautiful village is an ideal location to spend your evening wandering through the pretty streets, cafes & restaurants with sea views away from the more mass touristic feel of Delphi. A warm welcome awaits you as well as amazing local and authentic cuisine.
Day 3
3
Inset on wide terraces along the hillside we are fortunate that the landslides of previous centuries preserved much of the ancient remains for us to witness including the 4th century BC temple of Apollo from where the Oracle spoke her prophesies along with the Castilian spring of Mythology, theatre, treasury buildings, temples of Athena and Gymnasium where athletes gathered before the Pythian games to bath in the sacred waters. During your visit to Delphi, see the physical structures associated with this incredibly long history, and learn about their rich mythology. A beautiful addition to the site is the modern museum dedicated to the finds which stretch back in time to at least 1500 BC, as well as those notably which adorned the temples & streets of the ancient city at its peak around the 4th century BC with outstanding pieces such as the Naxos Sphynx, the twin Kouroi and famous Bronze Charioteer among others.
Set in beautiful countryside on the slopes of Mt Parnassos we next visit one of the most important and well preserved Byzantine Monasteries & which is UNESCO listed. Explore its 1100 year old Architecture along with its unique & impressive fresco's. An optional visit you can choose to omit this site if you wish.
Lunch Stop. Spend time enjoying the local craft shops and wonderful views over the olive filled Pleistos river valley over lunch before your final return following the coast road to Athens.
EXTRA OPTION WITH METEORA ON REQUEST: With additional traveling it is possible to complete both the sites of Olympia and Delphi on the second day (omitting Arachova & the Monastery in Delphi), then travel to Meteora for the night which means the Monasteries there can be included in the tour in the morning of the third day. This schedule has approximately 5 additional hours of road travel with a late arrival at Meteora. Please let us know if you would like this option.
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Additional Info
Cancellation Policy
Reviews
I made a last minute decision to tour Greece for a few days, and David from Warm Penguin efficiently put the itinerary together for me. Yanis was assigned to be my private chauffeur for the 3 days and the airport transfers. He is such a deft driver and knowledgeable about the places we went to. I will definitely book my future Greece tours with Warm Penguin.
We were very impressed with WarmPenguin and our driver Elias and recommend this tour as the best way to see the most UNESCO sites and still survive the heat. Elias was so accommodating and professional in getting us to each place, staying as long as we wanted, and being ready with cold drinks and an air-conditioned vehicle when we were ready to move along. He has the giving heart of many in Greece, always hoping to make our vacation perfect. We appreciated his attitude of "Yes, of course, let's go..." and his knowledge of historical Greece. Due to a scheduling difficulty on our end (and flexibility by David and WarmPenguin), we ended up taking the 3-day tour in two segments. The Delphi and Meteora overnight trip is a must-do and we liked the Amalia Hotel. We had to miss the Olympia portion, but here are our thoughts on the Peloponnese sites, all superb: first stop, Corinth Canal is an overlook with a very interesting history with nearby food and bathroom options; second stop, Ancient Corinth is a medium-sized archaeological site with a well-thought-out museum. The Apollo monument is worth the stop. Third site, Epidaurus, is one of those places that is good to experience. Be sure to find the center block in the theatre and try projecting your voice. We ate at a wonderful and breezy seaside restaurant with traditional Greek food, stopped only briefly in Nafplio at our request so we could see the fortress above the city. What a view! Nafplio and that area is the kind of place to book a return vacation. Finally, Mycenae, which like the other sites is still half-buried but beautiful nonetheless. My kids list this as one of their favorite places of our entire trip. It's that feeling you get when you know the history and mythology, stand at the actual site, and then realize how truly old it is. In fact it was centuries old when the Parthenon was built. We found the tour descriptions, photos, and time estimates on TripAdvisor to be completely accurate, although we changed up the order. It's a trustworthy tour company and a full three days of exploring some of the best Greece has to offer.
Excellent, professional, flexible - all around perfect - highly recommend! Fantastic driver and knowledgeable tour guides at the sites.
From the time our driver picked us up at our hotel to the time he dropped us off 3 days later we could not have been taken better care of. The sights were amazing the food was great and the Amalia hotels we were wonderful. Our guide Tolis was friendly, funny and very knowledgeable. I would highly recommend this tour and company
We had a fantastic time and will defo recommend Warmpenguin. We felt very much looked after from start to finish. David was very flexible and knowledgeable My daughter is very much interested on Classical Civilization and Mythology and she loved this tour. The level os expertize was fantastic. Also our amazing driver (Yannis) was very professional and we truly enjoyed his company.
From the planning stages David demonstrated a high degree of local knowledge and flexibility. The tour itself was flawless, with our driver Yiannis being perfectly congenial and insightful, providing helpful suggestions along the way for fine-tuning our experience. The local guide at Delphi was intelligent, funny and wonderful to be with. Overall a near flawless experience handled with the utmost professionalism and flexibility.
You know when you go to the shops to buy a pint of milk and come back with 3 bags of shopping? That's pretty much what happened when I started customising this tour 😂 Think it was 9 days in the end 🙄 WarmPenguin did a great job of pulling everything together with very little notice. The tour packed a lot in, and that's exactly what we were looking for. It covers all the major sites without any wasted days. We also added a day in the middle for a break, and some days either end for exploring Athens and the Saronic islands. For getting to know Athens, we had a great e-bike tour with Dimitris of Athens by Bike - but I'll write a separate review for that... We also recommend Lake Vouliagmeni (you need an hour or two at least) and Temple of Poseidon on Cape Sounio(n) - get there for sunset if possible. Anyway, back to the tour... The hotels were nice, the tour was great, the car was immaculate every morning - but the real star of the show was Yannis our driver 🤗 He was extremely knowledgeable about the local history, he gave us plenty of background and insight without wasting any of our valuable sightseeing time. He was always there when we needed him, always on time, courteous and eager to help in any way he could. Three months on, and we are still chatting with him via WhatsApp and hope to see him again some day.
Without exaggerating this 3-day private tour was the highlight of our trip in Greece. This tour included visits to some of Greece's most important sights as well as visits to some of Greece's most picturesque little towns. The whole trip was perfectly planned and made the whole experience completely stress-free. When scheduling our trip, David, who was our contact with the tour company went above and beyond to make sure that the trip was tailored the way we exactly wanted it. Even though we were trying to schedule this trip from the US and there is a significant time difference with Greece, David's responsiveness was remarkable (we would get responses to our queries in the wee hours of the morning in Greece) which made planning a breeze. Our driver, Apostolis ("Tolis") picked us up from our hotel right on time and made the experience a memorable one. We immediately hit it off and he went above and beyond to make sure we had the best time possible. We shared a lot of laughs and he is the best representation of Greek hospitality. We have taken private tours abroad and it makes a huge difference when your driver/guide is good. Tolis was just fantastic - with his positive energy and knowledge for the sights we were visiting he definitely kept us going! He was so eager to make sure we had the best time possible that he would even offer to take us places even after we reached our overnight destination for the day - thankfully so, as the 999 steps to go up the Palamidi in Nafplion would not have been fun to climb on foot... As part of this tour we had also arranged for tour guides to walk us around the ancient sights. This was a fantastic choice as it made the experience even more memorable. All of the tour guides (that David booked for us) were fantastic. They had great energy and were really invested in keeping our interest and showing us the must-see highlights of each sight. The lunch stops at each location were fantastic as well. These were not stops at your typical tourist-trap-restaurants. The food was exceptional and the views even more so. The highlight as far as restaurants were concerned for us must have been taverna "Vakhos" in Delphi; the food was out of this world. We had the opportunity to eat on the restaurant's terrace overlooking a cliff with a view of the entire valley filled with olive trees - it was like starring in a sea of green. Truly a remarkable view! The hotel selections for our trip were also great. This included a bigger conference-style hotel in Nafplion (with all the amenities one would expect) to the more B&B style hotel in Galaxidi with a beautiful picture-worthy garden where you could enjoy your breakfast and coffee. Breakfast was included for both hotels. Overall, I cannot stress how pleased we were with this trip. This was an exceptionally organized trip that with Tolis' amazing company during the trip we will look back on for years to come. We are already looking to schedule our next trip with the same company next time we are in Greece (we just hope Tolis will be available to be our driver!). Book this trip and you will not regret it!
It was a great tour to the classical hotsots of Greece. Due to Corona on all visited sites were only a few tourists what I never had before. The hotels were at nice places in walking distance to the city center, so that we could enjoy Greece evening life easily. Our driver did a great job and had always interesting stories about ancient history and modern Greece to tell during our journey - thank you for this experience Yanis!
My fiancé and I booked the three-day classical Greece private tour and it was hands down one of the greatest travel experiences we've ever had! Our driver, Vasilis, was all around incredible, very knowledgeable of Greek history, and super fun to talk to. He is a very safe driver (with superb coffee recommendations) and always made sure to give us extra information before arriving at an archeological site. The hotels booked for us were absolutely beautiful and in lovely areas. Overall, this experience was unforgettable and I would highly recommend this tour to anyone traveling to Greece.
A very well planned tour, comfortable vehicle and an outstanding driver - Panos. We were not only treated to some of the greatest historical sites in Greece, Panos made sure we had dining and housing experiences which were very unique. This was a great way to travel and would highly recommend it.
We spent 3 days/2 nights with a WarmPenguin tour (booked through Viator) to Corinth, Mycenae Nafplio, Olympia, Delphi. We had not taken a private tour previously as a family; this was a fantastic experience. Our driver, Yannis, was exceptionally good - prompt, friendly, knowledgeable, caring and available 24/7. We paid the extra bit for specific tour guides for each site; this was completely the right choice. Betty, Elena, Penny - their extensive backgrounds in archaeology, museum studies came through in opening our eyes to the origins of Greek myths & the underpinnings of Greek philosophy, ancient thought on democracy, war, citizenship and how these carry through to modern times. We were educated, informed, taken through amazing Unesco heritage sites; experienced them in a far deeper fashion than we would have if we explored on our own, and to be honest, were pampered by excellent service. Would highly recommend. Camera is a must (obviously). Good walking shoes/hikers highly recommended. Not particularly strenuous, but comfortable shoes are helpful! We did this in the spring; the weather was perfect; sunny with a cool breeze. Sun hats/sunscreen helpful but there's lots of shade in most places (the ancient Greeks had to escape from the heat of summer too so trees abound). Yannis was especially accomodating to specific requests; he dropped us off at one end of the village just so we could walk through & experience the novelty of a ski village in Greece, picking us up at the far end. His patience was endless. He took us to his favourite beach on the Med for a dip (well, we dipped our feet in anyway; it was a bit chilly for a swim). All in all an excellent experience we will remember for a very long time.
Four of us went on a private Warm Penguin 3-day/2-night post-cruise tour out of Athens to Corinth, Mycenae, Epidaurus, Nafplio, Olympia and Delphi. We shared a Mercedes minivan and stayed in very good hotels in Nafplio and Delphi. The key to our tour, however, was Vassilis, our driver/tour guide. Vassilis was very friendly, very knowledgeable and experienced, and spoke excellent English. He took us to local waterfront restaurants in Tolo, Nafpaktos and Chalkida for lunch where American tourists don't normally go. Vissilis made our tour really special. I could not recommend it more highly.
<p>The service from the private tour guide John was excellent. He was friendly and his involvement in taking care of our safety and dietary requirements was exceptional. John was flexible on the places we want to go/see and worked a plan for us. Overall we had a great time in Greece</p>
We met Vasilis, our driver for a three day private tour of the Peloponnesian peninsula and Delphi, in our hotel lobby promptly at 7:30 AM. Thus began a fascinating, fun, and memorable tour of Greek historical archeological sites. Vasilis made this trip awesome for several reasons: I am a conservative "safety first" driver and his driving style fit very well within my comfort zone; the tour is set up with many interesting stops and he would provide information about each site or town; within reason, we could set our own schedule, but, we stayed within his guidelines since there was so much to see; and most importantly, Vasilis was fun to discuss all things "Greek" with, which made the many kilometers slip by unnoticed. The comfort of riding in an Audi SL6 was also very nice. You can refer to the website for Warm Penguin to see their tour itineraries and options. The reason we chose this company was for the flexible tour options provided and other positive reviews. The reason we would use this company again is the quality and fun we had touring the archeological and historical sites of an unfamiliar area and being able to relax by leaving the driving to them.
<p>On Time pick-up, very comfortable car, nice hotels. This company is a cut above. The guide/driver Vasilis made the trip He is professional, knowledgeable, friendly, speaks English ,and willing to adjust schedule to meet our needs. Learn about Greece past and present.</p>
<p>Our guide Constantinos made our trip a much richer and more interesting one. Extremely good natured and accommodating, he introduced us to people and places that we never would have experience otherwise. Many thanks, and apologies for this late review we took his tour back in April.</p>
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