Acropolis without a guide?

[Pickeringtraveller]

Hi Everyone,

 

Our cruise will be stopping in Athens in June and like everyone else our main destination will be the Acropolis. I have never been to Greece, let alone the Acropolis so I am wondering if others that have been to the Acropolis before can give me some insight as to if it is beneficial to hire a guide.

 

I'm worried that I won't truly understand and appreciate what I'm seeing without a guide.

 

Any insight would be much appreciated!

[cruisemom42]

If you are worried about not understanding and appreciating the Acropolis without a guide, I'd probably go with your hunch. It's really hard to depend on the recommendations of others. For example, I know a lot more than the average person about ancient history (particularly Roman but also pretty good with Greece). It's a hobby. Anyway, the first time I visited the Acropolis was with my mom on a Med cruise. She wanted to do deluxe ship tours with guides at every port. I'm typically not that sort of traveler, but she insisted.....

 

I didn't feel that the guide we had for our time on the Acropolis really added much to what I already knew. But many, many people have said that having a guide did add a lot to their experience.

 

The next time I visited, I just went on my own with two in-depth guidebooks. I was there when they opened the gate (even watched the soldiers, who had just raised the large flag at the point of the Acropolis come out). I plonked myself down with my books and my camera and learned much more during about the same amount of time. That's just my traveling style. Not everyone likes reading from a guidebook, but for me it gives me a chance to really think and reflect on what I am seeing.

 

At any rate, if you don't want to book a tour through the ship, there are generally guides waiting near the ticket booth at the Acropolis site who are looking to have you hire them for a tour (in English).

[chipmaster]

First, guides are available for hire/sharing there, they aren't cheap.

 

We had a party of 15 or so and decided to hire one. What works for you depends on how you like to tour and hope to get at these historical places.

 

Guides have their plus and minus, a lot of one's experience can depend on the quality and style of the guide versus what you hope to get.

 

I'd first do some reading about the place, including history that helps. Once you familize yourself with sites than you can decide if a guide might offer more. Of course there are lots of other stories that can tie the things togather that a guide can provide. No reading can ever substitute for the human interaction of a great guide at the attraction. ON our tour we had 4 different guides on our cruise, 2 great, 1 good, 1 average, YMMV.

 

The question is do you just want to see the place and take a few pictures or in your tour hope to get an hour or two of Greek history to?

 

Hi Everyone,

 

Our cruise will be stopping in Athens in June and like everyone else our main destination will be the Acropolis. I have never been to Greece, let alone the Acropolis so I am wondering if others that have been to the Acropolis before can give me some insight as to if it is beneficial to hire a guide.

 

I'm worried that I won't truly understand and appreciate what I'm seeing without a guide.

 

Any insight would be much appreciated!

[William Dean]

How do you view the Parthenon?

 

If you regard it as simply one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, you may get little from a guide.

 

If, on the other hand, you regard it as the centrepiece of an area that was central to the ancient Athenians and their lifestyle, then a guide would probably assist.

 

Neither viewpoint is wrong. Indeed, both are probably right. I certainly know that the first is!

 

WD

[Cornishpastyman1]

Hi Everyone,

 

Our cruise will be stopping in Athens in June and like everyone else our main destination will be the Acropolis. I have never been to Greece, let alone the Acropolis so I am wondering if others that have been to the Acropolis before can give me some insight as to if it is beneficial to hire a guide.

 

I'm worried that I won't truly understand and appreciate what I'm seeing without a guide.

 

Any insight would be much appreciated!

 

Hello Heather

 

The Acropolis has so much history that for on-the-spot 'drilled-down' information and answered questions a guide would be ideal, but of the famous sites we all go to on cruise days I think the Acropolis is one of the easiest to research before you go or find out about before your visit. On my day in Athens I equipped myself with a few printed sheets and took everything at my own pace. That, plus 2 hours in the NAM was fine for me, and I made this from my few hours there

which has a few snippets of its history.

 

Have a great day/cruise !

All the best, Tony

[swifs]

I am also a history nerd so I usually so a lot of my own studying before I go anywhere. But for a simple, easy-to-use guidebook, the Rick Steves series is hard to beat. We are going to Athens in April and even though I have been there before, I picked one up and sure enough, there is a walking tour of the Acropolis where he walks you from one spot to the other and tells you what you need to know. We have one for the Rome beginning of the trip also. The money you will save on a "live" guide you can spend on a nice dinner with a view of the Acropolis!

[Pickeringtraveller]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

 

I think we are going to do some research before hand and take some materials with us, so that we don't have to hire a guide.