Trying to choose an Athens guide.

[Shirleya53]

I have quotes from Spiros and George for the day we will dock in Athens. Which one would you choose?

 

How important is it to have a licensed guide? :confused: These two are not licensed.

[willmschen]

We spent a day with Spiros last October. He has a very nice and clean Mercedes taxi, speaks excellent English and was flexible in taking us whereever we wanted to go. My understanding is that taxi drivers are not allowed to act as tour guides. However, we easily toured on our own all of the places that Spiro took us. We went to the Acropolis, the Plaka, Lycabettus Hill, the Temple of Zeus, the Old Olypic Stadium, Cape Sounion and a few other places. I have had no experience with George, but we were very pleased with Spiros.

[conan]

We're also looking for a guide to Athens for the end of September. Where'd you find Spiros and George??

[conan]

Since I last responded to your thread, I've been advised by a fodorite that Jordan Ntaioglu is excellent. He has a website at http://www.athens-tours.gr. His e-mail address is jordantaxi52@hotmail.com. Not having personal experience with him, I have to rely on the recommendations of others

[willmschen]

Sprios web site is http://*****/.

[SheilaNC]

Paul's Taxi is another one. We used Paul last fall...good service and he comes from NJ so no language problem. Note: he's not a guide and didn't accompany us into sites like the Acropolis, but took us where we wanted to go and included a visit to a lovely old monastery outside of Athens which was a very nice side trip to see a bit of the country side. He also does all day trips that go out to the coast. http://www.*****/

[Andee]

We also enjoyed our time with Spiros.

[LindaB1]

Has anyone used Jimmy Vakirtzis as a guide in Athens?

[Jancruz]

I suggest you not use George..people have not been happy with him lately..

Jan

*****

[jfb128]

We used Jimmy and were very happy with him. He speaks very good English and will let you do your own thing or serve as a guide.

[LindaB1]

Thanks for letting me know. Did Jimmy go into the sights with you?

[shoshona2]

We also used Spiros last August and spent a wonderful two days with him. He is a true gentleman and speaks wonderful English since he spent years in NY. He met us at the Athens airport and took us to our hotel and then two weeks later we did our two day tour. We had been to Athens years ago and went to Cape Sounion, Corinth Canal, Delphi, the new Olympic Stadium, etc.

 

sheila

[jfb128]

You will need a licensed Athens guide to accompany you to the Parthenon. Jimmy was unable to do that. We had been to Athens before and had hired a person named Christophe and he had the same problem. However, we got some information beforehand and did our own thing. There are some sights that Jimmy can accompany you and others like Plaka where he gave us an overall orientation and we wandered off on our own. When we got back he was there with a nice cool Mercedes waiting for us. (temperature was 95 degrees that day)

[LindaB1]

Thanks again for the info.

[Shirleya53]

We also used Spiros last August and spent a wonderful two days with him. He is a true gentleman and speaks wonderful English since he spent years in NY. He met us at the Athens airport and took us to our hotel and then two weeks later we did our two day tour. We had been to Athens years ago and went to Cape Sounion, Corinth Canal, Delphi, the new Olympic Stadium, etc.

 

sheila

 

We have Spiros booked for the end of May. Does the back seat of his vehicle seat three comfortably? We are not thin, but not real big either. :p We are two couples traveling together.

[shoshona2]

Hi Shirley,

 

Have to be absolutely honest and tell you that the back seat really only holds two adults -- it is a small Mercedes sedan. Spiros doesn't use vans so you might need to book someone with a van.

 

Sheila

[conan]

We used Jimmy and were very happy with him. He speaks very good English and will let you do your own thing or serve as a guide.

So how does one make contact with Jimmy???

[jfb128]

Here is his email:

 

jimmy_vak@yahoo.com

 

I have more information if that doesn't work email me at jfb128@aol.com