Greece for Families: Athens, Delphi and Naxos

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Athens, gods and heroes after dark

   Athens International Airport to your hotel, then a mythology walk to Plaka

   • Environ 45 min de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Athens
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Athens International Airport (ATH), about 35 km east of the centre, where a driver meets you in arrivals and takes you to your hotel within walking distance of Plaka and the Acropolis. To join the walk and dinner, plan to land by about 3 pm; the exact meeting time comes with your final itinerary. After a rest, your See Sight Tours guide meets the families for a short briefing on the week, then leads a mythology walk timed for the cooler early evening. We start at the Panathenaic Stadium, the marble stadium rebuilt for the first modern Olympics in 1896, pass the Zappeion and look through the fence at the giant columns of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, king of the gods. At Hadrian's Arch the stories turn to Athena and Poseidon, and their contest for the city, before we climb into the lanes of Plaka. Dinner is a welcome meal at a taverna there, early enough for younger children.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Athens International Airport (ATH)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Evening mythology walk: the Panathenaic Stadium, the Zappeion, the Temple of Olympian Zeus from outside, Hadrian's Arch and Plaka
   • Welcome dinner in Plaka

   Temps libre : Free until the early-evening briefing

   Activité : The walk is about 2 km on flat pavement, with stops for stories.

   

2. Jour 2 : The Acropolis at opening, gold from Mycenae

   Athens: the Acropolis, Plaka, then the National Archaeological Museum

   • Environ 18 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Athens
   Détail du jour 2

   We walk to the Acropolis for the first timed entry at 8 am, before the heat and before the big groups come up mid-morning; the tickets are booked in advance by time slot. A licensed Athens guide who works with children leads the visit with your See Sight Tours guide and tells the rock as a set of stories: Athena's olive tree, the Parthenon built between 447 and 432 BC, the six stone maidens of the Erechtheion porch holding up its roof, and the small Temple of Athena Nike, goddess of victory. We come down by the Theatre of Dionysus, where Greek plays were first staged, to a sit-down lunch in Plaka, then the hottest hours are free for a rest at the hotel. In the late afternoon a short van ride takes us to the National Archaeological Museum, quieter at that hour, for the gold masks found in the royal graves at Mycenae, the bronze god from Artemision and the Antikythera mechanism, a 2,000-year-old geared calculator.

   Compris

   • The Acropolis on the 8 am timed entry with a licensed storytelling guide: the Propylaia, the Parthenon, the Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike
   • Sit-down lunch in Plaka
   • The National Archaeological Museum in the late afternoon: the gold of Mycenae and the Antikythera mechanism

   Option plus facile : Skip the museum and stay at the hotel or in the shade of the National Garden; your guide arranges a walk back.

   Option plus active : Add the Acropolis Museum straight after the site with your guide, before lunch, to see the original Caryatids.

   Temps libre : Early afternoon free for a rest; evening free

   Activité : About 2 hours on foot on the Acropolis on polished marble with a steady climb; shoes with grip and a hat for everyone.

   

3. Jour 3 : Delphi, the centre of the ancient world

   Athens to Delphi via Thiva and Livadia, then back through Arachova

   • Environ 5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Athens
   Détail du jour 3

   Today is the longest drive of the trip, about two and a half hours each way to Delphi, roughly 5 hours in the van in all. That is over our usual 4-hour daily cap; we keep it because the alternative is packing up for a single night away, which is harder on children than a long day from the same hotel. We leave at about 7 am with breakfast boxes, stop once on the way and are at the site by about 9:30. A licensed guide tells how Zeus released two eagles from the ends of the earth and they met here, at the stone called the navel of the world. We climb the Sacred Way past the Athenian Treasury to the Temple of Apollo, where the oracle gave her answers, then the theatre and the stadium at the top, where children can run the length of an ancient race track. The museum, cool and indoors, follows, with the bronze Charioteer. Lunch is a long one in Delphi or Arachova, with the view down the olive valley to the sea. We are back in Athens by early evening.

   Compris

   • Delphi with a licensed guide: the Sacred Way, the Athenian Treasury, the Temple of Apollo, the theatre and the stadium
   • The Delphi Archaeological Museum and the Charioteer
   • Sit-down lunch in Delphi or Arachova
   • A stop in the mountain village of Arachova

   Option plus facile : Stop at the theatre and let your guide take the climbers up to the stadium; or spend more time in the museum, which is level and air-conditioned.

   Option plus active : Walk down from the main site to the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia and its round Tholos, about 1 km on a roadside path, while the van follows.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Athens

   Activité : About 2 hours on a stepped hillside path at Delphi, with little shade above the temple. Bring water and hats. Children who get carsick should sit up front; the last stretch to Delphi winds through the mountains.

   

4. Jour 4 : Ferry to Naxos, sunset at the Portara

   Athens to Piraeus, ferry to Naxos, then Naxos Chora on foot

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Naxos
   Détail du jour 4

   After a later breakfast we drive about half an hour to the port of Piraeus for a mid-morning ferry to Naxos. Depending on the boat, the crossing takes about three and a half to six hours, usually calling at Paros on the way; we book the seats, handle the luggage and choose a sailing that needs no early pickup. Children can watch the islands come up from the deck, and lunch is your own on board. Naxos is the largest of the Cyclades, green, quieter than Mykonos or Santorini, and known for its long sandy beaches with shallow water. We stay four nights in or near Chora, the main town, close to the harbour. After time to settle in there is a swim at Agios Georgios, the town beach a short walk away, where the water stays shallow a long way out. At sunset your guide walks the group along the causeway to the Portara, a huge marble doorway, all that stands of a temple to Apollo left unfinished around 530 BC.

   Compris

   • Transfer to Piraeus and ferry tickets to Naxos, with luggage handled
   • Swim at Agios Georgios beach
   • The Portara at sunset with your guide

   Temps libre : Evening free for dinner in Chora

   Activité : The Portara walk is flat along the harbour and over a short causeway.

5. Jour 5 : Naxos: a pottery workshop and a beach afternoon

   Naxos Chora to a village pottery workshop, then the west-coast beaches

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Naxos
   Détail du jour 5

   Naxos has made pottery for thousands of years, and this morning we drive about 20 minutes inland to a working pottery workshop in a village. The potter shows how island clay becomes a jug or a bowl, and then everyone, parents included, has a turn at the wheel or shapes a small piece by hand to paint and take home. Workshops vary in what they can fire in time, so we tell you at booking what you will carry away. We stop for a sit-down lunch at a taverna on the way back to the coast, then the afternoon is for the beach. Agios Prokopios and Plaka, on the west coast, are long stretches of soft sand with clear water that deepens slowly, good for younger swimmers, and tavernas behind the sand for shade. We drop you where you choose and the van brings everyone back to Chora in the late afternoon. The evening is free for a walk up into the Kastro, the old Venetian quarter on the hill above the harbour.

   Compris

   • Hands-on pottery workshop in a Naxos village
   • Sit-down lunch at a taverna
   • Transfers to and from the west-coast beaches (Agios Prokopios or Plaka)

   Option plus facile : Skip the beach and spend the afternoon at the hotel or in Chora.

   Temps libre : Afternoon on the beach; evening free

   Activité : Sunbeds and umbrellas on the beaches are run by the tavernas and paid locally.

6. Jour 6 : A boat to Koufonisia

   Naxos by boat to Koufonisia and back

   • Environ 18 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Naxos
   Détail du jour 6

   Today is a day on the water. After breakfast we take a short van ride to the boat and head south to Koufonisia, a pair of small islands in the Small Cyclades, about two hours away depending on the boat and the sea. We go in the morning, before the meltemi wind usually builds. Ano Koufonisi is flat, with a single small village and coves of pale sand and very clear, turquoise water, some shallow enough for small children to wade far out. We spend the middle of the day there: a swim at Fanos or Pori, a sit-down lunch of grilled fish or souvlaki at a taverna, and time to look for crabs in the rock pools. Bring masks and snorkels if you have them. We are back on Naxos by late afternoon. If the wind is too strong to sail, your guide swaps the day for a sheltered beach on the Naxos coast with lunch, and the boat moves to another day if the forecast allows.

   Compris

   • Day boat from Naxos to Koufonisia and back
   • Swimming at Fanos or Pori beach
   • Sit-down lunch on Ano Koufonisi

   Option plus facile : Stay in the village of Ano Koufonisi, a few minutes from the harbour, with a shaded taverna and the shallow town beach.

   Option plus active : Walk the coast path from the village to Pori, about 3 km past sea caves and rock arches, and meet the group there.

   Temps libre : Evening free

   Activité : Boats in the Cyclades can be choppy in a strong north wind; bring motion-sickness tablets for anyone who needs them.

7. Jour 7 : Naxos: a morning on a farm

   Naxos Chora to a family farm in the hills, then a free afternoon

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Naxos
   Détail du jour 7

   Naxos grows nearly everything it eats, from potatoes to the hard graviera cheese, and this morning we drive into the hills to a family farm. Children meet the animals, help with whatever the season brings, collecting eggs, picking vegetables or feeding the goats, and watch how cheese is made from the morning's milk. Then everyone sits down at the farm table to a long lunch made from what the farm produces. We drive back through the mountain villages of the interior and are in Chora by mid-afternoon, with the rest of the day free for the pool or the beach. For families who want a walk, your guide takes the active option to the Cave of Zeus on the slope of Mount Zas, the highest mountain in the Cyclades, where the story says the young Zeus was hidden. In the evening we gather for a farewell dinner in Chora, our last on the island.

   Compris

   • Morning visit to a family farm, with the animals and cheese-making
   • Lunch at the farm
   • Farewell dinner in Chora

   Option plus facile : After the farm, ride straight back to Chora for the pool or the beach.

   Option plus active : Walk with your guide from the Aria spring above Filoti up to the Cave of Zeus, roughly an hour uphill on a rocky path, then back down to the van.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free

   Activité : The cave walk has little shade; carry water and do it only after the hottest part of the day has passed.

8. Jour 8 : Paros on the way back to Athens

   Naxos to Paros by ferry, Parikia, then ferry to Piraeus and Athens

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Athens
   Détail du jour 8

   Instead of one long crossing, we break the journey back. A morning ferry takes under an hour to Paros, Naxos's neighbour, and we stop for a few hours in Parikia, its main town, as long as the summer timetable allows, with the luggage looked after. Your guide walks the families through the whitewashed lanes to the Panagia Ekatontapiliani, the Church of a Hundred Doors, one of the oldest churches in Greece, with Byzantine work from the 6th century, and children can try to count the doors. Lunch is at a taverna by the water, with time for a swim at the beach near the port. In the afternoon a second ferry carries us back to Piraeus, about three to five hours depending on the boat, so there is time for a nap or a card game on deck. The van meets us at the port for the short drive to our Athens hotel, where we arrive in the early evening. Dinner is free tonight, and your guide will point you to a place near the hotel.

   Compris

   • Ferry tickets Naxos to Paros and Paros to Piraeus, with luggage handled
   • Walk in Parikia to the Panagia Ekatontapiliani
   • Sit-down lunch in Parikia
   • Transfer from Piraeus to your Athens hotel

   Temps libre : Evening free

   Activité : Ferry times change each summer; your final itinerary has the sailings.

   

9. Jour 9 : Fly home from Athens

   Your Athens hotel to Athens International Airport (ATH)

   • Environ 45 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 9

   A last breakfast in Athens, then our van takes the families to Athens International Airport (ATH), about 35 km and 45 minutes from the centre, with the transfer timed to your flight. Because we came back to Athens the night before, nobody has to fly home straight off an island ferry, and a missed boat cannot cost you your flight. If your flight leaves in the evening, the morning is yours: the Acropolis Museum, the changing of the guard at Syntagma Square on the hour, or the playgrounds and duck pond of the National Garden. Your guide helps you store luggage and plan the morning, and checks the group's flight times before saying goodbye. If you want more days, we can add nights in Athens or on an island before your flight. Your final itinerary has the airport transfer time, which we set once we have each family's flights.

   Compris

   • Drop-off at Athens International Airport (ATH)

   Temps libre : Free until your airport transfer

   Activité : Any flight time works; book a flight after about 11 am to avoid an early start with children.

Faune et météo : June and September are warm, with the sea warm enough to swim and fewer crowds. July and August are school-holiday peak: hot (Athens can reach about 40°C), busy at the big sites, and the meltemi wind can blow hard in the Cyclades, which can make crossings rough and move the Koufonisia boat day. We keep the middle of each day slow.

• Athens3 nuits
• Naxos4 nuits
• Athens1 nuit