Advice please - Athens tour

[hertsfamily]

We have been quoted 470 euros for a party of 7 for a half day Athens tour. We are a party of 7. I am a little nervous of doing it by ourselves as we have kids (youngest 10) and as we will be there on 30th July it will be HOT. We could include a few more in the party, but I don't know how likely we would be to find anyone - there doesn't seem to be anyone else on the roll call. We could use one of the Royal Caribbean excursions, which would be cheaper, but you seem to have to choose between the Acropolis and the Archaeological Museum and we really want to do both. Our eldest daughter is an archaeology student and doesn't want to miss anything! The tour we've been quoted for is through Athens Taxis, but Paul himself is already booked and has passed us on to one of his colleagues.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Paul is reliable, for sure. I presume he's explained that they are not licensed guides, so cannot actually guide you in the Acropolis.

 

Despite the heat, it seems to me you could take taxis and save money, but then with 7 that might be tough. Why just the half day? You could probably just book rides between the ship and the Acropolis, then make your own way to the museum, then have a ride booked back? Just thinking out loud.

[martyap]

I hired Paul for October 2009 and his price was similar but for a full day tour. If the price is 470e for 3-4 hours I would consider other options. That seems like the going rate for a full day, not a "half day" day...............also, if RCCL offers an Athens on Your Own, that's a possibility...............Marty

[sea-explorer]

I've bookmarked this site I saw recommended on these boards some time ago. I haven't been in contact yet as our trip is sometime away, but you may want to give him a try.

 

http://www.athens-tours.gr/city_tour.html

[hertsfamily]

Thanks for the advice, though I am still not quite sure what to do. The price for a full day tour was 650, but this is for a minibus, as there are 7 of us. The other price might have been for a taxi. The Athens on your own tour leaves a little late, given the time of year. I think we need to get to the Acropolis early, or it will be unbearable. The e-mail I have from Paul says that the quote includes the services of a licensed tour guide - maybe the colleague he is suggesting is one.

[Bruin Steve]

We've been to Athens three times now...

Once we took the ship's Athens and Cape Sounion full day excursion...as part of it, they gave us a guided tour to the Parthenon, then free time to visit the Archaeological Museum there on the Acropolis before continuing on for brief photo stops and shopping, then lunch, then on to Cape Sounion...

 

Last visit, we hired a taxi tour (Spiros) for the full day and visited the Pelopennese...some fairly incredible archaeological sites at Epidaurus and Mycenae, among other places...Cost for 2 of us (this was July 2006) was 250 euro...

 

Personally, I would recommend doing a full day...especially if you are into Archaeology...If you have a private van and driver, have them help design an itinerary that can get you to much more than just the Acropolis...

 

It would be a shame to limit your visit to just that...

 

Good luck...

[einsteinsmom]

We just returned from Athens with a 10,12, and 14 year olds.( we took them there as well!) We used Athens Walking Tours and were very pleased with them. Our 10 yr old was suffering from jetlag, lack of sleep, a cold etc and was in a foul mood when we started. By the end of the day our guide had won him over. We got tons of great info and history. Most of the sites in Athens are all within walking distance of each other. They sit you down alot to rest your feet- always on the lookout for shade. We saw Syntagma, Acropolis, The guard at the presidential palace, the gardens, the temple of Zeuss and Hadrians gate one day and Agora, 4 winds tower, Monastiriki and somewhere else the second day.

Most of these sites are within blocks of each other. The car might be nice though for summer weather. however, is the guide a professional guide? In greece to be an official guide, you have to do a 3 yr? course?

Good luck!

Kristy

[JoeyJoJoShabadu]

The subway and a map would be about 350 Euros cheaper.

[atlanta99]

It seems that you clearly should go for a full day to see both the Acropolis and sites nearby as well as the Museum. Particularly with archaeology interest in your family you should see as much as you can.

 

We also did a walking tour with Despina of Athens Walking Tours. I forget the actual price, but the full day tour for a party of four was much less than you are talking about for the half day (I don't think it would have been any more for seven people). Despina was simply outstanding and so enriched our visit to Athens.

 

As Kristy said, most of the sites around the Acropolis are within walking distance. We then took the metro from Syntagma to the station closest to the Museum.

 

It will be hot, but there are plenty of places to sit and rest, and my mother in law in her 70's did just fine. At just the right time, Despina took us to a great out of the way taverna with a beautiful shady garden for refreshing lunch and drinks.

 

Whatever you do, you definitely want to get to the Acropolis as absolutely early as you can. The crowds just keep coming all morning long as the 40 person ship tours steadily arrive. With that in mind, the only problem I see using a guided walking tour instead of Paul's taxis is that you then still need to be able to get quickly from the ship to the Acropolis or wherever you would meet your guide.

 

However it works out, you will have a great time !

[einsteinsmom]

Our guide was Despina as well! We really liked her and she was a font of information. By the end of the two days with her we felt like we had made a new friend and my youngest really liked her!

Kristy