Start this historical Athens walking tour by meeting your local guide in Syntagma Square, the most important and crowded square in Athens, surrounded by impressive neoclassical buildings. The best known is the Grande Bretagne, once a royal palace but now a luxury hotel which has housed everyone from Churchill to Madonna.
At the upper end of the square see the Evzones, the guards of the Constitution, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The Evzones are traditionally dressed in 17th and 18th century clothes: an impressive white skirt, red hat, and an old rifle. The changing of the guard happens every hour, and you simply cannot tour Athens without seeing this spectacle – which is why we’ve incorporated it into this tour! Watch the ceremony while your local guide explains the tradition.
Next on this Athens tour you’ll jump on the metro and travel to Acropolis station. You’ll exit the station and take a walk around the walls of the famous Athens Acropolis, passing by the Ancient Agora. We’ll walk along ancient roads, admire new architecture, and hear about the customs and traditions that still exist today. This is the central hub of classic Athens history, and you’ll hear the stories behind this monument from your local guide. (Please note that if you wish to tour inside the Acropolis, this will have to be done separately on your own time.)
Shop for souvenirs along Adrianou Street, where you can find local products such as ouzo (Greece’s national alcohol). You’ll also see shops that specialise in olive oil, sponges, leather sandals, and bags — something you won't experience on other Athens tours.
Continue walking to Diogenis Square, under the impressive wall of the Acropolis. See Hadrian’s Arch, built in honour of one of the most glorified Roman emperors.
You can see the ruins of the Jupiter (Zeus) temple as you taste and feel the history of Athens.
The white marble Panathenaic Stadium is where the first Olympic Games took place and where the 2004 Olympic marathon ended.
Finally, you’ll be taken back to present-day Athens to admire some of Athens’ more modern architecture. We walk through the new city highlights, where life goes on in modern rhythms. See where locals wander, shop, and gather. Visit the Kolonaki area, which is the heart of today’s Athens.
The Athens walking tour comes to an end at the Academy of Athens.
Gina was an amazing guide, sharing both her knowledge and personal stories of Athens. She adjusted the tour schedule to accommodate our need to walk at a slower pace. We learned so much more about the history of Athens as it developed over the past 4,000 years and Gina made our tour very special.
We had a great guidance who knew the history of the area and was able to show us sights historical sights. We were even able to visit a hidden underground passage under one of the oldest churches.
Our first trip to Athens in late September/early October was an absolutely wonderful adventure. We flew over on Turkish Airlines, which treated us very well; their customer service, flight crew and Business Lounge (in Istanbul through which which we connected) were exceptional. The car service we used from airport to hotel and back was provided by Welcome Tours; punctual, reasonably priced and very safe driving. Our hotel in Athens was the Grande Bretagne Athens, situated in the heart of the city on Constitution Square, diagonally adjacent to the Greek Parliament (notable for its hourly Changing of the Guard. The hotel is an old-world gem with high-ceilinged rooms and efficient and friendly staff. The concierge staff was especially helpful. During our five-night stay, we benefitted tremendously by having booked three private three-hour tours offered by Context Travel; we've now also used them in Dublin, Istanbul, Paris and Rome and they are simply, hands down, the very best! We toured the Acropolis, Parthenon and Acropolis Museum on our first day of touring; the National Archaeological Museum of Athens on the second; and the Ancient Agora with Plaka Neighborhood on the third. Just outstanding tours led by by totally knowledgeable and super friendly tour guides. Words to the wise: Wear very comfortable shoes and always carry water with you. Lastly our meals: Starting every day with an expansive breakfast buffet at our hotel's Rooftop Restaurant energized our tours of the city. We enjoyed two delicious dining experiences at this same restaurant looking out at the picture-postcard-perfect lit-up Acropolis. Another evening we dined at Tudor Hall in the Grand Bretagne's adjacent sister hotel, the King George; a very elegant, impeccably served and rather pricey restaurant, but a tad more fancy than appetite-satisfying. Cookoovaya was perhaps a more trendy eatery, a little off the beaten path, but with delicious menu, very ample servings and reasonably priced. On our final night in Athens, we were able to get in (reservations way in advance recommended) to Dionysos Zonar's; outdoor dining with a perfect view of the nearby lit-up Parthenon made for a most memorable evening! During our entire stay in Athens, we felt appreciated, safe and very welcome. It's a wonderful city with a truly amazing history and so very, very much to offer!
This was an exceptional tour. Our guide on the day, Babis, was fantastic. Babis, had an incredible breadth of knowledge of Greek history which made the tour so worthwhile. I would thoroughly recommend this tour. Thank you Babis for making our brief Greece stay so memorable.
This tour was fantastic! My wife and I had a great time and we visited sites/places we would have never known about without the help of our guide, Theodore. He was a spectacular guide who had such a wealth of knowledge and sense of humor! We learned so many facts about the buildings, people, and stories of Greece and had an amazing time doing so! I would recommend this tour to anyone who visits Athens as it covers so many aspects of Greek culture.
I can't say enough great things about this tour and it's all because of our tour guide, George Kontoulis! Visiting Greece was always top of our bucket list George being a professor of Archeology made our experience a memorable and educational one. George is the best guide we have ever had the pleasure of meeting. He is warm, generous and true expert in all things Greece. We look forward to referring him and your company to our family and friends. Thank you for a wonderful experience. Shari and Steve Sherwood May, 2023...
We had an unforgettable tour with our guide Thodoris. The tour is focused on Greek recent history . So finally, you could learn more about Greece off the typical antiquities tours. Thodoris was very communicative and knew how to give us knowledge about life in Greece, politics and historical developments in a very entertaining way. We had a fun time and will recommend to everyone.
I checked Urban Adventures tours online and read the great reviews about them so I decided to participate in their Walking Athens tour myself. Our tour guide was Babis, to be honest he is one of the most sweet, funny and very very informed tour guide I ever came across. I would highly recommend booking a tour with him, you’ll be so lucky and you wont regret it. Athens is definitely a beautiful destination and Babis makes it even more unforgettable!!
George was super knowledgeable and very friendly. We had an awesome time! We would definitely do another tour with him in the future.
George was very full of knowledge and like a local friend to us sharing his interesting stories about Athens and greek culture. Having a small group was such added value as well. Definitely recommend!
Barbis was one of the excellent guide. He has a lot of knowledge about history and architecture. His explanations were clear. Thanks
I highly recommend it. Do the tour during the winter, there are way less people compared to the summer season.
We had a great time doing the walking tour of Athens.Babis our guide was excellent and very knowledgeable. A great way of getting to know the city and its geography. This is a must do trip for all first timers to Athens.
My husband and I wanted an introductory walking tour to Athens before starting to explore on our own, and this tour worked perfectly for this. Babis was a very knowledgeable guide and showed us so much and many places in the city that we would never have come upon on our own. He was very enthusiastic, personable, and well-prepared. We are very happy we started our vacation with his tour and had Babis as our guide. Will definitely recommend to our friends and family when they visit Athens.
Babis was a wonderful tour guide. He was knowledgeable, enthusiastic and gave us the opportunity to see parts of Athens that we wouldn't have known to seek out on our own. Highly recommend this tour!
Babis, our tour guide, made this walking tour a truly great experience. He was very personable during the tour and extremely knowledgeable with this history of the sites. He was very friendly and ensured we got our pictures along the way! I would recommend this tour!
Great tour! Evelina/Eveliner ( not sure how to spell) was a knowledgeable guide who gave us a good idea about the different areas of Athens.
Babis was a great tour guide with exceptional knowledge - I would highly recommend this tour and especially Babis - thanks for a great morning.
From the first moment we met Theodore he engaged us with his warm personality and continued to do so with his wealth of knowledge on the city of Athens. This adventure gave a good insight into how 'real' people in Athens live as well as touching on the history of the past Athens lifestyle. Theodore was genuine, helpful and made this Urban Adventure well worth doing. Shane and Leigh
Theo was so great, would thoroughly recommend doing this tour. Very informative and fun, loved his humour and the intimate group. Can’t wait for the next Athens trip!
This tour is not only great for what it offers but also to become oriented with the city as it covers a fair bit of ground. Theo was a fun guide - laid back, extremely knowledgeable, and considerate of his guests. He was happy to answer questions outside of the topic of the tour and help welcome guests to the city, even providing suggestions on other things to do. Highly recommend.
Theo was an excellent tour guide. Funny and informative, we never felt rushed. Lots of local information on anything we asked about too. Highly recommend. Surprise meet up with him later in Psiri where he gave us even MORE info on a very cool area!
We had a great city tour in Athens with Thodoris. He was really fun, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic. We learnt little things about the city, people, and culture that we would otherwise miss if it wasn't for Theo and this tour. Highly recommend and thank you Theo!!
This was our first visit to the great city of Athens which is filled with all the sites we read in our history books. When we booked this tour, we were very excited that it will give us an opportunity to tour and see this city through the eyes of a local. It was the most disappointing tour ever. Our guide Evelina from Urban Adventure was the most disinterested tour guide I have ever met. She walked us through the streets showing us malls and skipping any historical sites till we reached the Olympic stadium. When we asked her simple questions such as when it was built, her answer was I don't know. She did not have any reference material and took no initiative to look it up. Later she walked us in front of the Parliament and showed us the last 2 mins of the change of guard that is done every hour. I chose this tour especially on a Sunday after viewing the elaborate Change of Guard ceremony on internet which was what we were expecting to see. When I mentioned it to her, she was a bit irritated and reluctantly told us that ceremony was at 11 am. When I told her that per the title of this tour, I was expecting to see that ceremony, she agreed to take us through the gardens nearby and come back for the ceremony. Through the tour of the garden she kept checking her cell phone very sparingly talking to us. It almost felt she was ignoring us. We did see the ceremony and it lived up to our expectations. The rest of the tour was as boring ending with her taking us through the Plaka and leaving us in the Monastiraki Square. We had to do the Acropolis by ourselves. We went around Athens by ourselves after researching the points of interest and saw the real gems that dot this city.
On what truly felt like the hottest day I’ve ever experienced, Vicky showed me around the beautiful, bustling city of Athens. She was knowledgeable and answered the dozens of questions I had about the Greek history, the city, and daily life. It felt like I was exploring with a friend. We hit some of the major sites during the morning, stopped for coffee, wandered through a few neighborhoods, and then Vicky helped me make a plan for the rest of the day to explore on my own since I was only in Athens for the day. Despite the oppressive heat, Vicky was upbeat, energetic, and led me all over the city. She went above and beyond my expectations, and I hope that next time I make it to Greece, I’ll be able to take another tour with her. I’ve done a few Urban Adventures tours in multiple cities, and she was hands down the nicest guide I’ve had. Thank you, Vicky!!!
<p>This tour has been an absolute gem. Maeva makes it a very special experience - she makes you trust her immediately and just leave yourself in her hands. The tour feels like exploration and discovery of a lot of the Athens must sees combined beautifully with the atmosphere which only a person showing you his/her city with heart and love may give you. And Maeva is exacltly this person. Thank you, Maeva!</p>
<p>We hadden Maeva als gids. Ze was ontzettend vriendelijk en kon ons heel veel vertellen.</p>
Monday through Friday 9 am to 7 pm EST
Reach us by phone
Reach us by email