Greece: Athens, Delphi, Meteora, Olympia and Nafplio

1. Day 1: Arrive in Athens

   Athens International Airport to your hotel in central Athens

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Athens
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Athens International Airport (ATH), about 35 km east of the centre, and a driver meets you in arrivals for the drive to your hotel; plan to land by about 3 pm. At about 5 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week, then we walk. From Syntagma Square we watch the Evzones, the presidential guard in kilts and pompom shoes, change at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We cut through the shade of the National Garden to the Zappeion, a 19th-century exhibition hall whose round colonnaded courtyard is usually open to walk through, and on to the all-marble Panathenaic Stadium, where the first modern Olympics opened in 1896. Past Hadrian's Arch and the columns of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, we climb into the lanes of Plaka as the light goes. The Acropolis is above us all evening. Dinner is a welcome meal of meze at a taverna in Plaka; tomorrow we are at the Acropolis gate when it opens.

   Included

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

   Free time: Free until the 5 pm briefing

   Activity: About 2 hours of easy walking on city pavements.

   

2. Day 2: The Acropolis at opening, then north to Meteora

   Athens to the Acropolis and its museum, then Thermopylae and Kalambaka

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Kalambaka
   Day 2 details

   We are at the Acropolis gate for its 8 am opening, with a timed ticket and a licensed local guide, ahead of the cruise and coach groups that queue from mid-morning. Climb through the Propylaia to the Parthenon, built for Athena in the 440s and 430s BC, then walk round to the Erechtheion and its porch of Caryatids, with the city spread out to the sea. At about 10 am we walk down to the Acropolis Museum, where the top-floor Parthenon Gallery lines up the surviving frieze, originals and casts, with the temple itself in view through the glass. We leave Athens at about 12:30. This is the longest drive of the trip, about 4 hours and 360 km on the motorway north, so we break it with a sit-down lunch near Thermopylae and a short walk from the Leonidas monument to the low hill where the Spartans and their allies made their last stand in 480 BC. Across the Thessaly plain the Meteora rocks rise behind Kalambaka as we arrive at about 6 pm. The evening is free.

   Included

   • The Acropolis at its 8 am opening with a licensed local guide: the Propylaia, the Parthenon and the Erechtheion
   • The Acropolis Museum and the Parthenon Gallery
   • Sit-down lunch near Thermopylae
   • The Leonidas monument and the hill of the last stand at Thermopylae

   Easier option: Skip the short climb up the hill at Thermopylae and read the battle from the monument by the road.

   Free time: Evening free in Kalambaka

   Activity: About 2 hours on foot on the Acropolis, on steep, polished marble with no shade. The day's drive is about 4 hours, broken by lunch.

3. Day 3: Meteora: the monks' path and the monasteries at opening

   Kalambaka to Kastraki, on foot to the Great Meteoron and Varlaam, then a sunset viewpoint

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Kalambaka
   Day 3 details

   At 8 am a short drive takes us to Kastraki, the village tucked under the tallest rocks, and we walk up the old stone path the monks used before there was a road: a steady uphill walk of roughly 45 to 60 minutes, with the towers closing in above. We reach the Great Meteoron as its doors open at about 9 am, before the first coaches. Founded in the 14th century on a rock more than 600 m above sea level, it is the largest of the six monasteries still lived in, with a frescoed church, the old kitchen and a long view down to the plain. Next door, Varlaam keeps the rope-and-net winch that once hauled up supplies. A local guide tells the story of the hermits who first lived in the caves here, and of how Meteora became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988. Lunch is a sit-down meal back in Kastraki, and the hot afternoon is free. Before sunset we drive up to a viewpoint above the Roussanou nunnery to watch the light leave the rocks. Dinner is your choice.

   Included

   • Guided walk on the old path from Kastraki to the monasteries
   • The Great Meteoron at opening with a local guide
   • Varlaam monastery
   • Sit-down lunch in Kastraki
   • Sunset viewpoint above Roussanou

   Easier option: Ride the van up to the monastery doors instead of walking; the monasteries themselves still have up to a few hundred steps.

   More active option: Walk back down to Kastraki after the visits instead of taking the van, on the same stone path.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Kalambaka

   Activity: Dress for the monasteries: skirts below the knee for women, long trousers for men, shoulders covered; wraps are usually lent at the door. The walk up is a steady uphill walk of roughly 45 to 60 minutes on an old stone path. Day 3 never falls on a Tuesday or Friday, when the Great Meteoron and Varlaam close.

   

4. Day 4: A last monastery, then Delphi

   Kalambaka to Delphi, by Lamia and the slopes of Mount Parnassus

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Delphi
   Day 4 details

   One more monastery before we go: at about 9 am we visit whichever of the two nunneries, Roussanou or St Stephen's, is open that day. St Stephen's is reached by a short bridge, with no long stair. Then we drive south, about 3 and a quarter hours and 235 km, back across the Thessaly plain, past Lamia and up into the mountains to Delphi, which sits at about 570 m on the slopes of Mount Parnassus above a sea of olive trees running down to the Gulf of Corinth. Lunch is on a terrace in the village. In the heat of the afternoon we start indoors, with a licensed guide in the Delphi Archaeological Museum: the bronze Charioteer, cast around 475 BC, the Sphinx of the Naxians and the offerings that kings and cities sent to the oracle. Late in the day we walk down the road to the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia and its round Tholos as the light turns gold. Dinner together on a terrace over the valley, and the night in Delphi village.

   Included

   • A third Meteora monastery at opening: Roussanou or St Stephen's
   • Sit-down lunch in Delphi
   • The Delphi Archaeological Museum with a licensed local guide
   • The Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia and the Tholos
   • Dinner in Delphi

   Easier option: After the museum, ride the van down to the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia and back instead of walking along the road, or rest in the village.

   Activity: About 1.5 hours on foot, mostly in the museum; the path down to the Tholos is short but steep on the way back up.

5. Day 5: Delphi at opening, then across the gulf to Olympia

   Delphi to Nafpaktos, over the Rio-Antirrio bridge, then Olympia

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Olympia
   Day 5 details

   At 8 am we are at the gate of the Sanctuary of Apollo with our guide, well before the first coaches from Athens, about 180 km away, arrive. The Sacred Way zigzags up past the rebuilt Treasury of the Athenians to the Temple of Apollo, where the Pythia gave the oracle's answers, and on to the theatre with its view across the valley. The stadium is higher still, a stiff climb that is worth it for the quiet. Delphi was listed by UNESCO in 1987. We leave at about 11, drive down through the olive groves to Itea and west along the north shore of the Gulf of Corinth to Nafpaktos, where lunch is by the small walled Venetian harbour; the naval battle of Lepanto was fought off this coast in 1571. Then we cross the Rio-Antirrio bridge, about 2.9 km of cable-stayed deck, onto the Peloponnese and drive south to Olympia, arriving about 4 pm. In all it is about 3.5 hours of driving. The evening is free in the village.

   Included

   • The Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi at 8 am with a licensed local guide: the Sacred Way, the Treasury of the Athenians, the Temple of Apollo and the theatre
   • Sit-down lunch at the harbour in Nafpaktos
   • The Rio-Antirrio bridge crossing

   Easier option: Stop at the theatre and skip the climb to the stadium; wait in the shade below the Temple of Apollo.

   More active option: Climb on past the theatre to the stadium at the top of the site, where the Pythian Games were run.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Olympia

   Activity: About 2 hours on foot at Delphi on steep, uneven paths and steps.

6. Day 6: Olympia at opening, then across Arcadia to Nafplio

   Olympia to Nafplio, by Tripoli and Argos

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Nafplio
   Day 6 details

   Olympia opens at 8 am and we are there with a licensed guide while it is still cool under the pines, in the green valley where the Kladeos stream meets the Alpheios river. The Games were held here from 776 BC. We walk past the columns of the palaestra, where wrestlers trained, the workshop where Pheidias made the gold-and-ivory statue of Zeus, the fallen drums of the Temple of Zeus, and the Temple of Hera, where the Olympic flame is still lit before each Games. Then through the vaulted tunnel into the stadium: the track, about 192 m long, is still there, and you can run it. The museum holds the pediment sculptures of the Temple of Zeus, the Nike of Paionios and the Hermes attributed to Praxiteles. After lunch in Olympia we drive about 3 hours across the mountains of Arcadia, by Tripoli and Argos, to Nafplio, arriving about 5 pm. An evening walk with your guide through the old town's lanes ends at the harbour, facing the island fortress of Bourtzi. Dinner is your choice.

   Included

   • Ancient Olympia at 8 am with a licensed local guide: the palaestra, the workshop of Pheidias, the Temples of Zeus and Hera and the stadium
   • The Archaeological Museum of Olympia
   • Sit-down lunch in Olympia
   • Evening walk in Nafplio's old town with your guide

   Free time: Dinner free in Nafplio

   Activity: About 2.5 hours on foot at Olympia, on flat gravel paths with some shade.

   

7. Day 7: Mycenae and Epidaurus

   Nafplio to Mycenae, then Epidaurus and back to Nafplio

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Nafplio
   Day 7 details

   We leave Nafplio at 8 am and reach Mycenae at about 8:30, soon after it opens and well before the coaches. In Homer's telling this was Agamemnon's citadel, and it was at its height around 1350 to 1200 BC. With a licensed guide we walk in under the Lion Gate, past Grave Circle A, where Heinrich Schliemann found gold funeral masks in 1876, and up to the palace on the summit, then down the road to the Treasury of Atreus, a beehive tomb with a stone dome about 13 m high. About an hour's drive takes us east to Epidaurus, the sanctuary of Asclepius, the healing god, and its 4th-century BC theatre, which seats about 13,000: climb to the top row while someone on the stage drops a coin, and hear it land. Lunch is a sit-down meal in a village near the site. We are back in Nafplio by about 3 pm, and the afternoon is free: swim at Arvanitia beach, wander the old town or climb to Palamidi. Farewell dinner in the old town tonight.

   Included

   • Mycenae with a licensed local guide: the Lion Gate, Grave Circle A, the palace, the Treasury of Atreus and the site museum
   • Epidaurus with a licensed local guide: the theatre, the Sanctuary of Asclepius and the site museum
   • Sit-down lunch near Epidaurus
   • Farewell dinner in Nafplio

   Optional experiences

   • A boat ride around the Bourtzi island fortress (paid locally, when it runs)

   Easier option: At Mycenae, stay in the lower citadel and skip the uneven path up to the palace; at Epidaurus, watch from the lower rows of the theatre.

   More active option: In the free afternoon, climb the long stone stairway to the Palamidi fortress, built by the Venetians in the early 18th century about 216 m above the town; entry included.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Nafplio

   Activity: About 3 hours on foot over the two sites, on rough stone paths and steps; the Palamidi stair is several hundred steps.

8. Day 8: The Corinth Canal and the gold of Mycenae

   Nafplio to the Corinth Canal, the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, then Athens International Airport

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast
   Day 8 details

   We leave Nafplio at about 8:30 and drive an hour north to the Corinth Canal, cut through the isthmus between 1881 and 1893. Walk out on the bridge and look straight down the narrow cut, about 6.4 km long, to the water far below. Then it is about an hour and a quarter into Athens and the National Archaeological Museum, where we finish the story we began at Mycenae yesterday: the gold masks and cups from the shaft graves, including the one Schliemann called the Mask of Agamemnon. Your guide also takes you to the Antikythera mechanism, a bronze geared calculator from the 2nd or 1st century BC, and the bronze god from Artemision, poised to throw. Small-group dates keep day 8 off Tuesdays, when the museum opens only at 1 pm. Lunch is your choice near the museum. Then we drive you to Athens International Airport, about 45 minutes away, arriving about 3 pm, or drop you in the centre if you are staying on. Your guide checks your flights before saying goodbye.

   Included

   • The Corinth Canal
   • The National Archaeological Museum with a licensed local guide: the Mycenaean gold, the Antikythera mechanism and the Artemision bronze
   • Drop-off at Athens International Airport (ATH) or central Athens

   Easier option: For a flight before about 6 pm, we drive straight from Nafplio to the airport, about 2 hours, with a stop at the canal on the way.

   Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 6 pm to see the museum. The museum opens only at 1 pm on Tuesdays, so small-group dates keep day 8 off a Tuesday; a private trip ending on a Tuesday visits at 1 pm, reaches the airport at about 4 pm and needs a flight after about 7 pm.

   

Wildlife and weather: April to June and September to October are warm and bright, with wildflowers on the hillsides in spring and a warm sea in early autumn. July and August often pass 35 C and the sites are at their busiest. Orthodox Easter fills Meteora and Kalambaka with Greek visitors, and from November most sites keep shorter winter hours.

• Athens1 night
• Kalambaka2 nights
• Delphi1 night
• Olympia1 night
• Nafplio2 nights