From Athens: Small-group Mycenae, Epidaurus & Nafplio Trip

This short trip proved incredibly valuable to us, thanks to a wonderful young woman named Chrisia, who served as our guide. Ther was also our handsome a very kind and reliable driver; with his calm demeanor and reassuring driving style, he made us feel completely at ease. My dear Chrisia, thank you for dedicating your youth to studying history and for so generously sharing your knowledge with those who may not have the patience to spend years taking notes and studying. You shared your insights so freely, helping us understand the experiences of humanity throughout the ages—you explained everything so well! You are truly one of a kind. I feel honored to have met such a remarkable person and to have learned from you. I send a kiss to your beautiful eyes from afar. May you have a long life, and may happiness be your constant companion always.

The experience was truly wonderful! Both the guide and the driver were exceptional at what they do. I was particularly impressed by how well-organized the tour was, from the guide’s engaging and informative explanations to the driver’s excellent driving and professionalism throughout the journey. Everything felt smooth, well-coordinated, and thoughtfully planned. I would absolutely recommend this tour! Be mindful, you will walk a lot and all 3 entrances to the sites are not included. The cost is €20/site.

It was a really great trip, the guide was very nice and knowledgeable about the places we visited. The bus was comfortable, just a little too warm for my taste. The meeting point was a little confusing because there were many buses around the area and we weren’t sure which one was our bus, but the guide saw us and came to ask us. Problem solved. Overall, I would recommend it.

All 3 places are top notch. Nafplio is so beautiful, especially after Athens 🤪 Great value for money. You have the driver and the guide for some stories on the bus. You explore everything by yourself at your own pace.

We had a little problem about knowing where to meet our group at the plaza but she contacted me and we found her. The tour guide was fantastic! Very knowledgeable about archeology and the sites. Mycenae was amazing! I would put it on the scale right with Machupicchu. Nafplio was this town like Venice but with no canals. Very ornate with flowers and architecture and castles all around you. We had lunch on the square. So relaxing and beautiful! I could have stayed there all day! Epidaurus was fun too! A very fun day! I must if you go to Athens!

Great experience - the guide instructions and the journey was awesome. They provided an audio guide for Mycenae as the guide does not travel inside with you

this bus tour went to interesting historic sites and a unique "venetian" style fishing town. However, the meet up location was a bit confusing due to many tour buses parked in same area- we were given only the overall address of the "square", but not the bus/operator name or name of tour guide or how to find him. he suddently appeared at one corner and started calling names of people on his list and we luckliy heard and walked to that corner of the street. The guide also did not enter any historic site with us -thought he would do this. also the audio guide did not work well and one site and it kept disconnecting. hard to understand what we were looking at with no information.

We had a wonderful day trip to Mycenae, Epidaurus and Nafplio! Our guide, Orpheus, was terrific: knowledgeable, informative, engaging, and fun. The day trip is well paced, with enough time to explore the archeological sites and also have a well-timed, nice lunch break and walk in the beautiful town of Nafplio. Highly recommended!

It was a mix of education pertaining to artifacts and cultural experience. The food was excellent in Nafplio.

This was a great trip with lots of things to see and do. Mycene, Nafplio and Epidaurus are great places to visit. And there even was a short stop at the Korinth Canal. The guide was very nice and very knowledgeable. Gave a lot of interesting information about (ancient) Greece. And drove very pleasantly.

There is a driver who gives some information on sites visited but he does not guide you around. Also needs a microphone so people in the back of the vehicle can hear.

The meeting and drop-off location provided by Viator was incorrect. The tour operator did send out advance notice of the meeting location, and promptly responded to our inquiry as the correct meeting location, which was a 18 minute walk from the location provided by Viator. There was no wifi available on the van. The self-guided website at Mycenae worked somewhat, but not perfect as it was dependent on our internet connection which did not accurately provide our location at the site. Other than those issues the tour was very good, as the driver/guide was very knowledgeable and provided a detailed explanation of the sites visited. As was expected based on the tour description, the driver/guide did not go into the sites with the group. This allowed us more time to see the areas at each site of more interest to us. The small group tour allowed for a more comfortable ride in a smaller van, and it was easy to hear and talk with the driver/guide. I would have rated this tour at least 4 stars, if it would have not been for the issues listed above.

Alas my overriding take from the tour is the bad very dangerous driving of our guide. It is not really what you want or expect, that your tour minibus ia the quickest vehicle on the road. The driver was always going above speed limits, and tailgating the cars in front. I was in the front seat and not long into the journey my foot had motioned for the non existent passenger brake a couple of times. On the way from korinth to Mycenae, the driver didnt seem to notice a car infront and we nearly went into the back of it, both myself and my companion calling out to the driver to brake. I was a little apprehensive of the journey back from a safety issue and my fears were realised when going at great speed on the motorway we turned a corner and there was a traffic jam ahead. Again me and my companion shouted out to driver to brake and he slammed the brakes on from 140kmh causing the car to skid and zigzag on itsway up to the car infront very narrowly avoiding it. I was surprised we avoided the car, luckily the van had excellent brakes. I let rip at this moment in time and told the driver he had been driving way too fast all day and tailgating . No other cars approaching the traffic jam had needed drastic braking like ours To finish up on a positive, the driver/guide apart from what i stated about the drivong, was a friendly likeable man and did slow down after the skid incident and my scolding for it. I hope the driver takes note of his driving moving forward for his and others sakes.

This is not a tour. This is a ‘ride’ to the sites. The van was pretty bad. They booked 8 people in a passenger type van. The seat in front center by the driver (mine) should not have been sold. Hours in a seat with a gear box in front so i had to sit sideways. Our driver was fine and pleasant filling in a few historical trivia but you were dropped off at the sites and left there. It was really too long a day. So use this as a ride not a tour.

Excellent trip. I gave 4 stars instead of 5 for the pickup because the pre-tour instructions say to arrive 20 to 30 minutes early for the 8 am pickup, but the driver did not arrive until about 8.

Great day, lovely seeing some of the countryside/ coast. Loved Nafplio, such a quaint old town. Lots of history here and our guide was fantastic.

Amazing trip. You see and learn so much history in one day. We had only 6 in our group but I hear sometimes there are more people. The tour guide was friendly and knowledgeable. My two kids loved it.

The sites were wonderful. It is a very long day! Our guide was terrific! Plan to takes lots of water.

Excellent communication, small group. Our guide was excellent: talked about history, metrology, and answered our questions. The tour was easygoing, with great timing to beat the crowd at the locations visited. Excellent choice if you want a small-group, personal experience without the hustle.

Our driver/ guide was very knowledgeable & informative. It was a long day with lots of things to see & learn about. A very interesting day.

great immersion to Greece history and culture. tour guide is superb. itinerary is just right for the time allocation

We had an absolutely amazing time. We had Alex as our driver who was great, fun to talk to, very knowledgeable but also respectful when we got tired. What really made the day great was we ended up having it as a private trip. Really recommend this trip, all the places you go to are great. Nafplio was absolutely stunning.

This was a great trip. Alex was a great guide and our bus driver was excellent to. It was a nice, new bus that was comfortable. It was nice to take a break in Nafplio and eat and not have to walk as the Mycenae and Epidarius stops have lots of walking...uphill! But worth it! After walking all over Athens the day before, it was nice to ride for the day and have moments of walking. They even stopped at Corinth canal which I was super happy about.

Alex was a hilarious and informative guide bringing history and local character to ancient ruins in Mycenae and Epidaurus. It was a big day—we met at 8:00 and returned around 17:00, but the schedule felt reasonable with ample time for lunch in Napflio and breaks along the way. Climbing the hill at Mycenae was incredible. It’s hard not to feel the weight of history taking in those panoramic views and examining the cyclopsian walls. Only negatives were the somewhat chaotic pickup process and fellow highway drivers, though the Mercedes minibus was pleasant enough. Good luck to Alex in his studies—we wish him the best!

From Athens: Small-Group Mycenae, Epidaurus & Nafplio Trip Athens This is the only tour we booked with an unknown company on our 5 weeks of travel in 3 countries and a cruise. There were 8 of us and I wanted those with me to at least have a chance to see some of the Athens Peninsula (not just Athens and the cruise ports). This is an area i had never been and heard so much about so after much research and several emails back and forth (they had great communication), and discussing the options with the rest of the family we booked the Small Group tour. I had been told we would have a van too ourselves. I asked if the guide would use a microphone in the van (several have hearing aids) and was told we were so close to guide it wouldn’t be necessary. We opted for the not included lunch, to do it on our own. This was to be a ‘non-rushed- at our own pace tour since we didn’t have to wait for others or be in a crowd, avoid bathroom crowds, all the inconveniences of a big tour. Imagine our surprise when we were at the meeting spot with a LOT of other people. Lots of confusion over which group was which. We were then loaded onto a BUS without any explanation of the change! (and wound up in the back where we couldn’t hear). (it seemed several others on the bus also booked a small group tour). I immediately sent an email to the company from the bus and ask what was going on, why were we on a bus??? The reply was that my confusion and inconvenience was understandable. …….“Due to a last-minute operational issue, combined with increased demand ahead of the public holiday, we were required to adjust our planning and merge the groups. As a result, the tour was operated with a larger vehicle than originally scheduled.

That said, we would like to clarify that the group itself remained relatively small, with approximately 30 participants, meaning that the bus was only about half full. While this still falls within our broader small-group approach, we fully understand that it may not have matched your expectations at the time of booking.

As a gesture of goodwill, we would like to offer you a complimentary tour with our company, which you may join on any available date after May 2nd, depending on your preference and availability. We would be happy to assist you in selecting an experience that better reflects the small-group setting you were expecting.

Thank you again for your understanding, and we truly hope to have the opportunity to welcome you again and provide you with a much better experience.”…… WHAT? Compensation with a free tour? That didn’t fly with us. We booked a small tour in good faith to have our family together. In actuality the bus was pretty full. We left for a cruise the next day and the other 6 flew to USA the day the Cruse returned. The tour itself was really nice, the guide was wonderful. We would have shortened some of our stops at some places, and asked for a tad longer at others. In Nafplio we looked all over for ‘street food’ where the guide told us to go and wasted a lot of time as there was nothing except at the far side of the town where we entered. A few of us walked up to the castle but barely had time to get to the top, then return, and jump on the bus. Too little time to see the area. At one location the ladies room had a Huge line. My hubby had to stop the men from using theirs and guarded the door so the line of women could go in and use it….thus no time to see the museum at all. No time at the canal to read the signs…last off the bus and had to rush back after that bathroom line. There was no way to find our group which was very confusing when were in heavy crowds. No lanyard or marker, even finding our guide was hard at times. At the ruins the audio didn’t work. (took a very long time to load) No map. It wasn’t in sync with pathway markers so I never knew where to look for what the info was talking about. We got separated, turned around, had to rush back. Maybe downloading a tour from home if there is one would be better. All in all, I wouldn’t count on having a small group and if the price is comparable, at least the larger group may be more organized or allow more time. The tour was great to go on, but the rush and limited time on sights was very discouraging. Scenery was beautiful.

First things first: this is a small group bus ride out to the sites. Separate site admission is required. If you qualify for Discounted Tix (students, kids, 65+, Disabled) this is the best choice for you! My biggest gripe is the lack of time allotted for visiting. Stop at the (lame) Corinthian Canal for a pee break. Mycenae is really cool, but without a tour guide, 90m is not enough time for anything beyond "oh wow, great views...and lots of footprints of structures that used to be..." The Tomb of Atreus is unremarkable (10m stop on the way out). Nafplio could be a whole day into itself -- we got 90m. And spent half of it waiting for the ferry to take us to the island fortress (cool, but not really worth the extra 7€ on top of the 7€ ferry ride -- especially with only 90min. The town itself looks cute and could be fun for a couple hours. Epidaurus is interesting, but again, not nearly enough time to see everything and use the free Hellenic audio guide. Absolutely no food allowed on the bus. No wifi on the bus. The host (Alex) was friendly and knowledgeable, and had good stories on the way to/from the sites and the driver (Goran) got us there and back. Only reason this is not less than a 3. Overall, this "tour" was nothing special. Cheaper than renting a car and driving out yourself, but if you have more than 4 people in your group, consider doing just that.

Who wouldn’t want to go to see the home of King Agamemnon? This is such a great day out immersed in history. You can almost imagine Achilles running through the Lions Gate! It is a very hilly area terrain but my hubby managed this in a moon boot as had a broken metatarsal and loved it! we especially loved visiting the ancient Spartan port of Nafplio. This was a beautiful little village for a spot of lunch and meander around the shops. I loved that it was a small group tour as getting on and off the bus was stress free

Really great affordable tour on a comfortable bus with a great tour guide (Alex). So knowledgable and funny. Just the right number and duration of stops. The total bus riding time was just right for a simple day-trip out of Athens. The fees to access Heritage sites NOT included but still this is good value. Recommend.

Wonderful trip. Only reall negative was needed an extra half hour at Epidaurus. Not enough time to see everything comfortably.

Nice trip and full of knowledge!

One of the best tours and our tour guide was very knowledgeable and informative . She is and archeologist too. Really nice places to see.

It was the last day in Athens and it was such a great idea to take this trip and be taken to 3 very different places to discover their history and Nafplio is such a cute town that’s very Instagrammable! Alex is a super guide and I regret he does not go into the site for detailed explanations as he is very well versed in the history and George is a safe driver who got us everywhere. Highly recommended to all.

The location we were sent to join the trip was incorrect so we needed to run to join the trip! See photo - that address is massively inaccurate! I had to call twice to get the correct location. Trip was okay but it was a jam packed bus which was too busy and therefore uncomfortable.

Really enjoyed this tour and seeing so many different and interesting places. Our guide shared great history and did a great job of keeping us on a good schedule to try to beat some of the crowds. The Theater of Epidaurus was especially incredible and worth climbing to the top to gain perspective from that location. Very glad we fit this tour into our trip.

Great trip! The time was divided well between the three sites. There was plenty of time to see each. The guide was very knowledgeable. He provided a good balance between describing things to the group and allowing us free time to explore. It was a great rest day from a bicycle tour!

First, driver and guide were fantastic. Really worked hard at educating and making sure we had our bearings on locales and getting back to the bus. And bus was quite comfortable (though it got too warm later and I should have spoken up). Note no bathroom, and no food or drink on the bus (though a passenger or two apparently missed the sign on the bus). Main issues were crowds and traffic. But it was a Saturday on a holiday weekend so I should have known better. That limited our stop times and I was particularly disappointed not really being able to enjoy Nafplio. Personally, Mycenae was simply boring to me, and not even close to being worth 20 euro per person. And gotta love 50% discount for seniors BUT NOT if non-EU. We didn’t even bother with going into Epidaurus site for another 20 euro. Unless you’re really into historic stuff in the middle of nowhere, just take a day trip to Nafplio (ideally with a 20 minute stop at Corinth Canal). But, again, kudos to our driver and guide.

First i want to thank Ammon Express as we missed our bus in Athens and the company gave us the tickets for the next day. Our guide Alexandros (Alex) was very good, friendly and knowledgeable. The driver was also very good, we were in the front seats and saw how carefully he was during the whole trip. The itinerary was great. The archeological sites were absolutely amazing. Our only complains are that we were given less time than we wanted to spend at each destination, we’d be very happy if we had 30 minutes more at every stop. It’s a great day trip from Athens.

The tour guide and bus driver were great, but the sites are crowded and the time estimates were way off. We didn't get anywhere near the promised two hours in either of the first two sites. Tip: Ask the tour guide when you will arrive and buy site tickets online, allowing you to go straight to the scanners at the gate.

There are a couple stops to grab refreshments. Wear sturdy boots or walking shoes, as Mycenae can be slippery if it's been raining. Our guide was great and informative including a great lunch recommendation in Nafplio. We did another tour with Ammon Express the next day based on our experience.

The tour, our guide Alex, and our driver Taksi were great. We enjoyed all the stops especially Nafplio. Communication from the company that runs these tours was very poor. There was no email before and the address given was incorrect. We and another group went to the wrong pickup point because that was the address embedded in the Google map link. We had to rush from the wrong address to the correct one and we were a bit late. Read their instructions do not use the Google Maps link.

I used Ammon Express for a few day trips during my stays in Athens and Thessaloniki. The tour guides were fine and the travel accommodations were comfortable. The reason for my rating is my complaint regarding their on board no-food, no drink travel policy. Although this is stated on their website, during one of my trips, after seeing passengers being forced to throw out breakfast foods and drinks before boarding, I watched the driver drinking coffee and the tour guide eating an entire Toblerone chocolate bar while we were en route. In addition to this policy being ridiculous because we’re talking mostly about tourists having croissants and coffee here and not spaghetti and pizza, I consider this flagrantly unprofessional, and for that reason alone would never use them again.

Excellent day trip! The tour guide was exceptional and very knowledgeable. We had enough time in each place and it is a fascinating mix. The tour bus was small and comfortable. Our kids (12 and 16) enjoyed the tour as well. We went in spring when the temperature was mild and it even rained a little so check ahead because without a hood or umbrella it would be tricky since everything is outdoors. Be cautious about doing the tour in mid summer since the area can get very hot.

The trip was very well organised, with a great guide, Alex, who gave us enough information but didn't go into too much depth as some guides have done on other trips. All three sites were excellent and well worth the visit plus they were easily accessible, even for someone with a walking stick. We had enough time to explore on our own and get a meal too.

The tour was amazing, our guid was Greeca and she was very nice and polite. Very knowledgeable and we had no issues with the trip!

I got lucky on a sunny winter day with this trip. Only six people in a van, we got all the info about history from our guide Orfeas. He was simply amazing. With his degree in history and being well informed about current events he gave us an overall briefing of not just the history of Greece from antiquity till today. He also explained everyday life, customs, politics, food, and anything we could think of and ask in the 10 hours we spent with him. His knowledge of the sites made it easy and practical to visit them. He also has good local recommendations for food and programs. I would highly recommend this company and this trip. My advice is packing lunch ahead so you can eat while traveling and use the time at the sites for actually seeing them. It is a great day trip out of Athens, seeing 4 attractions and the countryside around.

This was a lovely day trip from Athens to Mykines, Nafplio, and then Epidaurus. There were six of us, so we took a minivan, which wasn't bad, since we made frequent stops as the trip was broken up. So you weren't really in the van for more than an hour. Dimi and Christos were knowledgeable and helpful guides. Dimi was an amazing driver, offering a lot of historical information and answered any questions we had along the way and before or after the site visits. Mykines is a beautiful site. The audio guide was ok - there were enough signs inside the site that I didn't need the guide as much. Plus you can wander the trails as you want, which is nice to do at a site like this. The small museum has some very interesting finds! Nafplio was tourist trap-py, but very laidback and had good food options. I enjoyed just wandering the side streets, but others had walked to the fortress. There were lots of artisanal shops instead of the usual souvenir shops (though there were some of those!) We ended at Epidaurus, wandering through the theatre and the Temple of Asklepios sites, with lots of trees and fresh air. The museum is free with entry, which is good, because it had limited items. The Temple of Asklepios site is vast and I suggest going through that part first, so you can see everything in the time allotted. We arrived back in Athens by 6 pm. Everything was done efficiently, but there was plenty of time at each site, with some rest in Nafplio. I recommend this trip, and Dimi and Christos were A+ - it felt like getting a tour from friends!

Our guide Dimitra was outstanding. Knowledgeable, articulate and happy to answer any questions we had.

It was a beautiful day with not too many travelers and the sites are amazing to experience! A day very well spent! It may seem like the allotted times at the sites are short, but you truly have enough time to see it all AND browse the gift shop! Finally, our tour guide, Vassily (sp?), was terrific… personable and extremely knowledgeable. Super guy! Loved it!

We were greatly directed by Dimitra and Elefteria as our driver and tour conductor. Both were knowledgeable as an archeologist and historian answering our questions and showing us special points during our tour... We were very pleased and highly recommend this tour.