Cape Sounion or the Plaka ??? Opinions, PLZ

[RJake1]

We have a day in Athens. All the tours we've looked at start with the Acropolis and hit the usual sights in town.

 

The dilemma comes in afterwards. Some tours take you into the Plaka for shopping or include one Museum. Others take a drive to Cape Sounion to view the Temple of Posiedon .

 

Which to do? Are the Cape Sounion tours too rushed? Would we miss out on anything at the Acropolis?

 

We'll be seeing a number of the Greek islands on the cruise so I assume we'll have plenty of other shopping opportunities.

 

Your opinon counts! Thanks.

[marazul]

We have a day in Athens. All the tours we've looked at start with the Acropolis and hit the usual sights in town.

 

The dilemma comes in afterwards. Some tours take you into the Plaka for shopping or include one Museum. Others take a drive to Cape Sounion to view the Temple of Posiedon .

 

Which to do? Are the Cape Sounion tours too rushed? Would we miss out on anything at the Acropolis?

 

We'll be seeing a number of the Greek islands on the cruise so I assume we'll have plenty of other shopping opportunities.

 

Your opinon counts! Thanks.

 

Going to Sounio would take the best part of the afternoon. It is beautiful, but there is too much to see in Athens to go all the way out there in one day. Take the most comprehensive tour of Athens you can. It seems your ship's offerings are too quick and with too much emphasis on shopping. Consider some of the private tours discussed on this board. Athens itself is good for 2-3 days. Make the most of it.

 

You are right about the shopping. You'll see most of the same souvenir stuff in any other port. It is beter to wander around the little shops by yourself than to go to the shopping stops on the tours.

[homeinboca]

We have a day in Athens. All the tours we've looked at start with the Acropolis and hit the usual sights in town.

 

The dilemma comes in afterwards. Some tours take you into the Plaka for shopping or include one Museum. Others take a drive to Cape Sounion to view the Temple of Posiedon .

 

Which to do? Are the Cape Sounion tours too rushed? Would we miss out on anything at the Acropolis?

 

We'll be seeing a number of the Greek islands on the cruise so I assume we'll have plenty of other shopping opportunities.

 

Your opinon counts! Thanks.

 

I was faced with the same dilemma, and decided against going out to the Temple of Poseidon. It's a long journey there and back and spending 2+ hours of travel for an hour of viewing, didn't sit well with me after a morning of touring around Athens. It made for a very long day. We figure we'll just have to go back.

[eh2zed]

Cape Sounion is another ruin. A bit of a drive. Well worth it if you had the time. But given your schedule I would stay downtown and do the Plaka. While there is a lot of shopping available there, there is a lot of sightseeing (and people watching) as well

[paul929207]

Where does your cruise go from Athens? We were on one that went to Volos next. We sailed right by Cap Sounion and the Temple and had a beautiful view.

[tomtal]

Tom - taking the opportunity to but-in and say hallo from Keith and Pam. Haven't seen you on the boards lately and trust you and your wife are well and enjoying life. We are off to Sorento this Sunday and then cruising to Eastern Mediterrean on Nieuw Amsterdam in September. Went to Eastern Canada last year but got caught in the ends of the hurricane and most ports were cancelled. Had only one day in Toronto, but our favorit was Ottawa. Kind regards from me & 'im.

[Andym]

Depends on when you are going. We went to Sounion in August after the Acropolis. It was a nice drive, coach was air conditioned, had a lovely meal in a very nice hotel, right by the cape. Then we went up to the temple. It was too hot to visit, we went up and could only bear about 10 minutes. Everyone was wilting and headed back to the bus.

[eh2zed]

Tom - taking the opportunity to but-in and say hallo from Keith and Pam. Haven't seen you on the boards lately and trust you and your wife are well and enjoying life. We are off to Sorento this Sunday and then cruising to Eastern Mediterrean on Nieuw Amsterdam in September. Went to Eastern Canada last year but got caught in the ends of the hurricane and most ports were cancelled. Had only one day in Toronto, but our favorit was Ottawa. Kind regards from me & 'im.

 

Sorry for the sidebar. Great to hear from you Pam/Keith. We are well and you 2 as well it seems from your heavy travel schedule. That is terrific. Contact me at agallo6@yahoo.ca and we can get caught up.

[account4fun]

We have a day in Athens. All the tours we've looked at start with the Acropolis and hit the usual sights in town.

 

The dilemma comes in afterwards. Some tours take you into the Plaka for shopping or include one Museum. Others take a drive to Cape Sounion to view the Temple of Posiedon .

 

Which to do? Are the Cape Sounion tours too rushed? Would we miss out on anything at the Acropolis?

 

We'll be seeing a number of the Greek islands on the cruise so I assume we'll have plenty of other shopping opportunities.

 

Your opinon counts! Thanks.

 

I have this same dilemma! I'm trying to make this cruise a balance of cultural sights and scenery sightseeing. The Cape appealed to me because you spend the morning seeing the ruins and the afternoon on a beautiful coast but now I'm thinking it sounds like a lot of driving for a little visiting.....decisions, decisions :o

[cruisemom42]

Athens has so much to offer. I would not recommend making the drive to Cape Sounion for anyone visiting for the first time.

 

Go see one of Athens' wonderful museums if you will be there in the scorching summer heat.

 

If not, I highly recommend going to see the ancient Greek agora. It's fascinating and too few people take the time to see it. No reason to go all the way to Sounion to see a ruined temple when there are several more in Athens. IMHO of course. ;)

[William Dean]

You can easily do both Sounion and Athens.

 

We arranged a day with a private hire driver - Jordan - http://www.athens-tours.gr/ - who was great. He was on the quay to meet us, and we drove to Sounion, stopping at the warship Averof as well as at a fishing village - but only for a few minutes. We arrived at Cape Sounion when it was early enough not to be over-run.

 

We then made our way back to Athens on a different route, before doing the main sites - Acropolis, Temple of Zeus, Lycabettus, Changing of the Guard, Panathenian Stadium and driving past most of the others, including the main squares. And then a quick drive through Plaka.

 

We didn't feel rushed at any point, and this was a full day. We didn't stop at any point for shopping.

 

WD

[William Dean]

Athens has so much to offer. I would not recommend making the drive to Cape Sounion for anyone visiting for the first time.

 

Go see one of Athens' wonderful museums if you will be there in the scorching summer heat.

 

If not, I highly recommend going to see the ancient Greek agora. It's fascinating and too few people take the time to see it. No reason to go all the way to Sounion to see a ruined temple when there are several more in Athens. IMHO of course. ;)

 

Cape Sounion is so much more than just "a ruined temple" - the setting is what makes it.

 

I loved it - as did my wife, who was on her first visit.

 

WD

[cruisemom42]

Cape Sounion is so much more than just "a ruined temple" - the setting is what makes it.

 

I loved it - as did my wife, who was on her first visit.

 

WD

 

To each his own. For me (being an ancient history devotee) there is so much more to see in Athens, and Sounion is a longish drive for one site, however nicely sited it may be. (Which is why I added "IMHO" ;))

 

BTW, I used Jordan as well for a separate tour (Corinth and Mycenae); it was a great and memorable day.

[FinelyRetired]

Where does your cruise go from Athens? We were on one that went to Volos next. We sailed right by Cap Sounion and the Temple and had a beautiful view.

 

Approx. how long after you sailed did you pass Sounion? Thanks.

[Lady Chew]

You can easily do both Sounion and Athens.

 

We arranged a day with a private hire driver - Jordan - http://www.athens-tours.gr/ - who was great. He was on the quay to meet us, and we drove to Sounion, stopping at the warship Averof as well as at a fishing village - but only for a few minutes. We arrived at Cape Sounion when it was early enough not to be over-run.

 

We then made our way back to Athens on a different route, before doing the main sites - Acropolis, Temple of Zeus, Lycabettus, Changing of the Guard, Panathenian Stadium and driving past most of the others, including the main squares. And then a quick drive through Plaka.

 

We didn't feel rushed at any point, and this was a full day. We didn't stop at any point for shopping.

 

WD

 

We did something similar in 2009. Private tour met us off the ship around 8am, we went straight to the new Museum, which was fascinating, and from where we could see the hordes of people slowing creeping up the Acropolis ... then we drove up Lycbettus, saw the changing of the Guard, Temple of Zeus, etc, drove through the countryside to Sounion, spent quite a bit of time there, had a fabulous lunch in a local taverna, took the freeway back to Athens, got to the Acropolis around 3pm and had almost an hour up there with no one else around - it was great!

 

Sounion was fabulous, beautiful views, interesting history & lots of fun.

 

We had communicated with the tour company in advance to tell them what we wanted and they were able to design our tour, makiing use of their knowledge of local traffic, how to beat the crowds, etc.

[Vegastime]

We are debating this same thing, as well. Part of the attraction is the actual drive, to see more of the country.

 

How is the drive itself? Is it a scenic drive, or, just a plain highway with not much to see until you arrive at Cape Sounion?

[Vrilissia]

We are debating this same thing, as well. Part of the attraction is the actual drive, to see more of the country.

 

How is the drive itself? Is it a scenic drive, or, just a plain highway with not much to see until you arrive at Cape Sounion?

 

The drive is along the beach area of Athens and the Southern suburbs along the coastal road which is not a Highway in the traditional sense. After you leave Barkiza it's all countryside to Cape Sounion.

[Lady Chew]

Our drive down to Sounion was on the coastal road, with very beatiful views of the coast & sea. Our driver/guide gave us a running commentary on the country's history & culture, geography/topography, answered our questions ... the time flew by.

 

On the way back he took us on the highway that cut directly through from the south back into Athens. I think it went by the airport? It was about 45 miinutes, more Q&A, more history (more politics this drive!) and a different view of Athens as we got closer.

 

I can't remember the name of the company, I found it here on CC. Not at home right now but I can try to find it in a day or two when I'm back home if you're interested.