Athens to Delphi + Acropolis in a day? No cruises have Athens overnights?

[mikeerdas]

On my RCL cruise, the Athens port stop is 7am to 7pm. Since the cruise is a year from now, RCL isn't letting me see excursion possibilities.

 

So I'm wondering, from Athens is it possible to see both the Acropolis (obviously a must) and Delphi in a day? To me, Delphi is a must.

 

It surprises me, but no cruises I've seen (at least on the low to mid-range cruise lines) do overnights in Athens. Really a shame.

[marci22]

It might be possible, but Athens was one of our most strenuous days. (we did walk to the train on our own)

 

We loved the Acropolis and the walk up was fairly gradual. The heat was tremendous, though. Once on top, we spent about 1 and 1/2 hours, but the walking was treacherous and required constant attention.

 

Although I loved this site the most, it left me the most exhausted.

[mikeerdas]

> It might be possible, but Athens was one of our most strenuous days.

> (we did walk to the train on our own)

 

Excellent, thanks. Do you recall how long of a ride it was to the final metro stop?

 

> We loved the Acropolis and the walk up was fairly gradual. The heat was

> tremendous, though. Once on top, we spent about 1 and 1/2 hours, but

> the walking was treacherous and required constant attention.

 

I visited the Acropolis many years ago and didn't find it difficult to walk around; but then I like hiking, it was dry, and it was in May. I'll be back in late September. You must have been there in the summer? I've read that the heat is agonizing then, especially in July.

 

I don't know about connections from Piraeus because I'd flown into Athens and walked to the Acropolis from my hotel. Visited Delphi on my own from Meteora, traveling independently. And then from Delphi I headed to Olympia. So I'm not sure how far Delphi is from Athens.

 

Mike

[CruseKrazy]

On my RCL cruise, the Athens port stop is 7am to 7pm. Since the cruise is a year from now, RCL isn't letting me see excursion possibilities.

 

So I'm wondering, from Athens is it possible to see both the Acropolis (obviously a must) and Delphi in a day? To me, Delphi is a must.

 

It surprises me, but no cruises I've seen (at least on the low to mid-range cruise lines) do overnights in Athens. Really a shame.

 

We are doing Oceania and the stop in Athens is 10 hours. They offer an excursion tour to Delphi that takes 9 hours and includes lunch in Arachova.

 

With the extra 3 hours you have, a stop over at the Acropolis seems doable.

 

Dave

[mikeerdas]

> We are doing Oceania and the stop in Athens is 10 hours. They offer an

> excursion tour to Delphi that takes 9 hours and includes lunch in

> Arachova. With the extra 3 hours you have, a stop over at the

> Acropolis seems doable.

 

Thanks Dave. Hopefully I can find an excursion to Delphi that takes less than 9 hours. It may be 12 hours of clock time in port, but I like to be back on the ship an hour before departure--that's 11 hours. And I'm not sure at what time the excursion would actually leave the port. If it left immediately at 7am (doubtful?), that leaves 2 hours (11 minus - 9 hrs) to get to the Acropolis and back to the ship. A little too tight for my tastes.

 

I need to do more homework on potentially getting there and back using public buses. I don't need an hour break for lunch and I don't need or want to be taken to tourist trap jewlery and souvenir shops (seems to happen often on excursions).

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I don't think it's doable. If I were you, I'd find myself a Delphi tour, and just do that. It's a magical place. And you will enjoy yourself more if you're not rushed trying to see everything.

 

I agree it's too bad that none of the cruise lines seem to overnight in Athens. I think perhaps that's because so many cruises start or end there, and so people who takes those can choose a pre- or post-cruise stay.

[cruisemom42]

You might be able to find a private guide who would meet you off the ship as early as possible, get you to the Acropolis at 8am opening, then whisk you to Delphi for the remainder of the day. I hope to do something like that (Acropolis and Mycenae) on my next Med cruise in 2010.

 

Of course, a private guide is not the cheapest option, but if you find someone from your roll call to share with you it is often no more than the cost of a ship excursion -- and YOU get to direct where to stop for lunch and whether or not to allow time for shopping....

[marci22]

>Excellent, thanks. Do you recall how long of a ride it was to the final metro stop?

 

> We loved the Acropolis and the walk up was fairly gradual. The heat was

> tremendous, though. Once on top, we spent about 1 and 1/2 hours, but

> the walking was treacherous and required constant attention.

 

I visited the Acropolis many years ago and didn't find it difficult to walk around; but then I like hiking, it was dry, and it was in May. I'll be back in late September. You must have been there in the summer? I've read that the heat is agonizing then, especially in July.

 

 

Mike

 

I think the metro ride was about 20-25 minutes? We got off at the Thesio/Thesium stop and walked up a long (hot) hill to the Acropolis. They sold cheap waters along the way, 2 eu for big 1.5 litre bottle.

 

The heat was worse below the Acropolis. Once you were on top, there was a nice breeze blowing and it didn't feel so hot. We were there last week. Definitely not agonizing, just hot.

 

It was quite crowded up there, but dry. The problem was that there were many stoney areas that jutted up from the walkways and if you tried to walk on top they were extremely slippery. I wore Merrill's and caught myself a few times. My son slipped on some marble steps, and fell down and scraped his knee :(

 

We loved the Acropolis and Rick Steve's Athen's guide was quite helpful in navigating it, and in finding great gyros for 2 eu each.

 

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/greece/athens.htm

 

Print it out and take it along, you'll be glad you did.

[photographia]

I don't think it's doable.

 

I agree, it sounds like a horrendous day, frankly! The drive to and from Delphi is really long, for one thing, and you don't want to be a zombie when you do the Acropolis, believe me! Sounds like you'd be so rushed that you'd have no time to appreciate either place, and both deserve some time and thought--being frazzled will ruin it.

 

More reasonable, time-wise, would be to do the Acropolis in the morning, and then do a tour of Corinth, which is only about an hour from Athens. If your heart is set on Delphi--which really is a wonderful place--save the Acropolis for the next trip!

[mikeerdas]

Thanks folks. I hadn't thought of Corinth being so close--been there before and loved it. But the real jewel of Corinth is Acrocorinth up on the hill behind Corinth. Most people don't ever see the ruins up on Acrocorinth because the road is too narrow for tour buses. Fortunately when I was there, a Frenchman I'd met in Olympia gave me a ride on his rented scooter up to the top. That's one of the reasons I love independent travel over cruising; but I've gotten lazy and find cruising much more relaxing than making my own accomodations.

 

Can't spend 3 days hiking around the monasteries of Meteora on a cruise port stop (8 hour train ride north of Athens)--although I guess people do pay big bucks for cruise tours.

 

Unfortunately, my cruise is a Rome RT--doesn't originate or end in Athens; so I can't do any land tours affordably.

 

Did some research elsewhere and found some non-CC posts recommending renting a car to get to Delphi.

 

Now, having been to Greece twice, I remember drivers being absolutely insane--including bus drivers passing other vehicles around blind corners on mountain roads. I've also read that Greece has the highest rate of vehicular traffic fatalities in all of Europe.

 

But others have said it's an easy drive to Delphi and quiet relaxing.

 

Can anyone give me some advice on renting a car from Pireaus? Just want to consider all my options. Did learn that the public bus to Athens leaves at 7:30am and then 10:30am. No way I'd get off the ship in time and to the correct bus stop by 7:30am when the ship arrives at 7am. And 10:30am is too late.

 

Combining the Acropolis with Corinth may be a good compromise, but I figure I owe it to myself to check out renting a car. Private driver would be an option if I could find other travelers to split the cost who I trust. Unfortunately it's just me and my wife.

[piper28]

Personally I question whether it's real viable. Heck, even the Delphi trip could be pushing it. I looked at doing it by renting a car when we were in Athens last year, with the thought to do it the day we boarded. We ended up not doing it because I felt the timing was a bit tight (heck, all it would take is for something minor to go wrong with the car and you'd be in trouble), and I have to admit, the drivers there were entertaining (and I'm not easily intimidated by bad driving). I think once out of Athens proper it wouldn't be an issue, but they're definitely entertaining in town.

 

We'd also priced a driver to do it for the day, and while I don't remember the price exactly (I think my wife sent the email, so I don't have a copy), I remember it being quite pricey (like 350+ euros).

[mikeerdas]

So you don't think Corinth + the Acropolis is viable on a 12 hour port stop? I'll have to check the map to see where Mycenae is located.

 

I loved Mycenae (and since I was traveling independently, staying overnight in a town nearby, I had the place to myself). If you've ever had an ancient greek art class, you'd recognize the famous Lions Gate at Mycenae.

 

My struggle, if I rented a car, would be to time things to try to avoid the tour buses. Hate to say it, but when I traveled Greece independently I often cursed to myself, "those damn tour buses again!"--not a huge problem because they were often quickly gone, but annoying. I dislike crowds.

 

When I visited the Acropolis on my own, I arrived when it opened. There were literally only 4 other people at the gate, plus a local dog. Had the Acropolis to myself. About 30-45 mins later, the tour buses arrived and overwhelmed the place.

 

So... if the Acropolis opens at 8 and I can get off the ship shortly after 7am, maybe I could get there in time to beat the masses. I've talked it over with my wife and we may just stick to Athens-on-our-own. There's the Acropolis, the Agora, the Plaka, and national museum (although we're not big fans of museums--we like seeing artifacts out there in the "wild"), and other things to see--very cool park on another hill across from the Acropolis that affords fantastics photo ops. I doubt most package tourists ever get up there.

 

We probably ought to leave Delphi for another cruise... but still, I wonder about Mycenae.

[mikeerdas]

While reading my Lonely Planet book for Greece (highly recommended; I've used it before to travel overland on my own), I discovered there are overnight ferries to Pireaus from Heraklion, Crete--the last port stop before the ship returns to Rome.

 

So, another option for me might be to do an open jaws flight arriving in Paris or Rome and departing from Athens. Then simply not get back on board the ship--it leaves without you anyway if you're late... board the overnight ferry to Piraeus, and *then* see Delphi. Of course I miss one night's free lodging and dinner, and have the cost of the ferry and a hotel / meals in Athens... well, I'm considering it.

 

Noticed also that there are frequent ferries from Heraklion, Crete to Santorini--a place I'd love to visit, but my 7 night Rome <> Rome RCL itinerary isn't on it. So, I could ferry to Santorini, check that out, ferry back to Athens, then see Delphi.

 

Anyone ever done this? e.g. ditched the last port stop? In my case, I *may* go and see Knossos (the Pireaus ferry doesn't leave until 10pm at night), but I'm not very excited about Crete as a port stop; I've read it's one of the least beautiful places in Greece you can visit; Santorini being one of the prettiest...

 

Mike

[agabbymama]

While reading my Lonely Planet book for Greece (highly recommended; I've used it before to travel overland on my own), I discovered there are overnight ferries to Pireaus from Heraklion, Crete--the last port stop before the ship returns to Rome.

 

So, another option for me might be to do an open jaws flight arriving in Paris or Rome and departing from Athens. Then simply not get back on board the ship--it leaves without you anyway if you're late... board the overnight ferry to Piraeus, and *then* see Delphi. Of course I miss one night's free lodging and dinner, and have the cost of the ferry and a hotel / meals in Athens... well, I'm considering it.

 

Noticed also that there are frequent ferries from Heraklion, Crete to Santorini--a place I'd love to visit, but my 7 night Rome <> Rome RCL itinerary isn't on it. So, I could ferry to Santorini, check that out, ferry back to Athens, then see Delphi.

 

Anyone ever done this? e.g. ditched the last port stop? In my case, I *may* go and see Knossos (the Pireaus ferry doesn't leave until 10pm at night), but I'm not very excited about Crete as a port stop; I've read it's one of the least beautiful places in Greece you can visit; Santorini being one of the prettiest...

 

Mike

 

I'd check with the cruiseline to see if you could indeed leave the cruise early, not just assume that you could. There might be fines involved, you never know with all the rules.

 

Delphi is definitely not doable in a port day. Not only do you have the drive to get there and back, the site itself takes about 2+ hours, there is a lot of walking and it is spread out, so driving yourself or hiring someone to drive you it's still the same amount of time. And I think Mycenae isn't much closer. You'd have to cross the Corinth Canal and travel quite a ways into the Pelopenese (sp?). Both sights are worthy of the trip, but not on a port day.

 

If you could end your cruise early as you suggested, and spend a few extra days in Athens, you could definitely do one or both. We actually stayed in a small town named Akrata on the Pelopenese so it took us about 3 hours to get to Athens, Delphi, or Mycenae. We also went up the mountain to Kalavrita (spectacular). We spent 3 weeks there and still only saw the tip of Greece.

 

For my Med cruise I opted to go with Princess to include Italy as well as Greece. The Grand stops in Santorini, Mykonos, Athens, Olympia, and Corfu.

 

Have a great trip whatever you decide to do.

[mikeerdas]

Thanks El. True, you never do know with cruise line rules. I'd better make sure I pre-pay gratuities.

 

Maybe I ought to start a new post over on the RCL boards.