If you wish to see the major sights of mainland Ancient Greece including UNESCO listed ancient site of Mycenae, Epidaurus, Olympia, Delphi and Meteora monasteries, then I recommend you to join a 4 Day Classical Greece Tour. The tour typically departs and transfers back to Athens.
DAY 1: Athens – Corinth Canal – Epidaurus – Nafplio – Mycenae – overnight in Olympia
From Athens, I headed to Epidaurus in the morning. My first stop was the Corinth Canal. It was actually just a 15 minutes stop.
Next is the Askeplion of Epidaurus. The well preserved amphitheater, built over 2 thousand years ago is indeed beautiful. I walked all the way up to marvel at the amphitheater and the surroundings.
Well, it was a long stop here in Epidaurus. So I visited the nearby excavation and the museum.
Next up is the sea side town of Nafplio. It’s only a 30 minutes stop actually. I was actually hoping to have my lunch in this beautiful town. Unfortunately it’s just a short stop. Well, I made good use of the 30 minutes to explore the town.
After having lunch in the middle of nowhere (a lunch stop after visiting Nafplio), the tour proceeded to ancient Mycenae. The famous Lion Gate is the crowning jewel of the archeological site.
Plenty of time to explore the site of Mycenae.
After a long and tiring day, the tour ended at the hotel.
Hotel Europa Olympia and all other hotels are located on the top of a hill in Olympia which offers a scenic view of the surrounding.
Nice room with a baby cot for my baby.
Hotel Europa Olympia is a four star hotel with a swimming pool to dip and relax after a long day. Official website: http://www.hoteleuropa.gr/index.php?language=en
If you have the time you can always visit the modern town of Olympia which is about 10 minutes walk downhill from the hotel. But it is a steep uphill climb all the way back to the hotel. Maybe around 30 minutes walk.
The buffet dinner is included in the tour price.
DAY 2: Olympia – Rion-Antirion Bridge – Nafpaktos – overnight in Delphi
After a hearty buffet breakfast at the hotel, the tour continued to Ancient Olympia, home of the Ancient Olympic Games……….
……………..and the Archaeological Museum of Olympia.
Crossed the bridge of Rion-Antirion Bridge and a short 10 minutes stop to take pictures of the bridge.
An hour lunch stop at the beautiful town of Nafpaktos.
Ended the 2nd day of tour at the four star Hotel Amalia at Delphi.
The hotel lobby of Amalia.
The room of the hotel.
Hotel Amalia, is pretty close to the town of Delphi. It’s around 3 minutes walk. Delphi town is located in a hilly area, so expect lots of steps!
The view from the hotel and the town of Dephi is just breathtaking.
Buffet dinner is served at the hotel and it’s included in the tour price.
Official website: http://www.amalia.gr/delphi-hotel
DAY 3: Delphi – Thermopylae – overnight in Kalampaka
First stop of the day is none other than the archeological site of Delphi. Delphi was considered by Ancient Greek to be the center of the world.
After that, I proceeded to the Archeological Museum of Delphi.
After Delphi, the tour bus passed by Thermopylae where 300 Spartans held of the Persian army. Stopped for about 15 minutes at the Spartan King Leonidas monument.
The last destination of the day was Kalampaka, a town located below the rocks of Meteora.
Stayed the night at Hotel Divani Meteora.
Hotel Divani Meteora is a four star hotel which is located at the end of Kalampaka town centre.
The bedroom of Hotel Divani Meteora.
After checking in the hotel, you can actually explore the town of Kalampaka and don’t miss the 9th century church at Kalampaka. The church is about 15 minutes walk from the hotel.
As usual, buffet dinner is included as part of the tour package.
Official website: http://divanimeteorahotel.com/
DAY 4: Kalampaka – Meteora – Athens
Well, it’s now the fourth day of the tour.
The tour includes visits to two of the six monasteries of Meteora.
After Meteora, we had a long journey back to Athens. We say our goodbyes to to our fellow travelers as the tour bus drops us at our respective hotels. I checked into Hotel Divani Palace Acropolis in Athens for the night before leaving Greece the next evening.
Hotel Divani Acropolis is a five star hotel in Athens. Of course, the night I spent in Athens is not included in the tour package.
If you want to have dinner with a view of Acropolis, you can head up to the roof top of Hotel Divani Acropolis. The roof top host the Acropolis Secret Roof Garden Bar restaurant
Official website: http://divaniacropolishotel.com/
As the tour group was small, we got to know each other pretty quickly.
5 UNESCO World Heritage Site in 4 days. Not Bad! Though, I have to warn you that 4 out of the 5 World Heritage Site is actually in ruins. The tour which I joined is GO Tours. Further info can be found at their website at http://www.gotours.com.gr/en/
However I did not book through their website. I booked it through an agent called Astoria Travel http://www.astoria.gr/price-tours-classical-4day.html and can be contacted at their email address at athens@astoriatravel.gr. I emailed Mr. Kosta and since I booked the tour through him, there was a free arrival transfer to my hotel. Kosta actually came to the airport himself and took us to the hotel.
After browsing through the web, I found that Astoria Travel offers the cheapest tour packages in Athens. Initially I was quite skeptical. How can this tour agent offer such a low price (20% cheaper) compared to the travel company’s price. Is this a scam? Well, believe it! I even book my first two night in Athens at Hotel Arethusa (very near Syntagma Square) at a very cheap price through Astoria Travel.
I took the First Class package as the price difference was not much compared to the Tourist Class package at that time. During the tour, some of my fellow travellers took the Tourist Class package. Frankly, I don’t think there was much of a difference compared to the First Class hotels. In fact, the Tourist Class hotels were located nearer to the town while the First Class hotels were located at quieter locations.
With this I end my Greece blog post.
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