PRIVATE: Athens in a Nutshell-The Best of Athens Tour

Discover the best highlights of Athens, such as ancient sights, food, art, and more. On this best-of-Athens tour, see, taste, and explore.

If you’re a first-timer in Athens, this tour is the perfect solution for you! In just under 6 hours you will explore the gems of the city, step on the Acropolis Hill, go behind the scenes at the Acropolis Museum, stroll around Plaka, try wrapping a gyro, and of course eat it, visit a famous Greek sandal maker, and admire the Acropolis with a cocktail in hand!

Duration

7 Hours

Highlights

• Stroll the historic neighborhoods of Makrygianni, Plaka, Anafiotika, and Philoppapos Hill and marvel at ancient monuments and neo-classical mansions.
• Visit the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum with an awarded archaeologist guide
• Savor freshly baked pastries and homemade sweet bread at a family-owned bakery and a neo-classical gem.
• Boost your energy with a Freddo espresso or frappé coffee, the famous Greek-style iced coffee.
• Dig into the country’s largest open-air market for undiscovered “antiques.”
• Enjoy a cocktail on a rooftop with Acropolis views
• Taste It, See It, and Experience It — In Athens!

Discover the best of Athens in a Day!

Tour snapshot

Immerse yourself in the Athenian culture by exploring ancient masterpieces and mingling with hipsters in trendy neighborhoods. Explore the best of Athens in a day!

Learn all about ancient Greek Mythology while visiting the Acropolis. The city that invented cities has survived for 5,000 years and remains a world-class destination for travelers. Taste it, see it, and experience it with a Local Adventures local guide. Sure, the ancient monuments are exciting but wait until you taste the savory pies hot from the oven and enjoy refreshing cocktails with a view!

Behind-the-Scenes Access: Explore the new, modern and impressive Acropolis Museum and walk around the excavations underneath the glass floors.
Hands-on Element: Try wrapping your own gyros, at one of the city’s oldest establishments.
Local Interactions: Meet local shop owners who have been continuing their family businesses, including a sandal maker who is also a poet and who has had customers such as The Beatles, Barbra Streisand, Lily Tomlin, and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Local impact — How you help the local community by joining this tour

• Your tour supports locally-run businesses, such as a sandal-maker, which helps preserve traditional crafts for the next generation.
• All of the stores you visit on your tour are 100% locally owned and run.

Full Itinerary

Begin just off the Acropolis Metro Station in Makrygianni, where you can see 5,000-year-old city remnants nestled beneath the new Acropolis Museum. Follow your licensed guide and walk uphill to admire the Acropolis and listen to myths and tales that formed Greek Mythology.

Stroll around Koukaki, one of Athens’s hippest and liveliest neighborhoods. Stop at Taki’s Bakery, which has been satiating neighbors since 1962, for a koulouri sesame ring or tsoureki, a sweet Greek bread.

Immerse yourself in the Athenian coffee culture by sipping a Freddo espresso or frappé coffee. In Greece, iced coffee drinks are popular year-round.

Next, visit the Acropolis Museum! Explore the new, modern, and impressive Acropolis Museum with your awarded guide. Learn amazing details about all the masterpieces on display and grasp the opportunity to walk among the excavations underneath the glass floors!

Then, head to Philopappos Hill. Follow the trail with the marble monument of Philopappos, completed in 119 A.D., and the monument of Pnyx, where ancient Athenians like Pericles and Themistocles spoke. There’s a great view of the Acropolis. More great views await as you stroll Anafiotika, with its cobblestone alleys and the white-washed homes nearly stacked on top of one another.

Wander around the historic neighborhood of Plaka and stop for a delicious variety of local pites, or Greek homemade savory pies. Continue to the country’s largest open-air market for treasures, some billed as “antiques” but probably not.

Meet a sandal artisan and poet in his workshop. Three generations of his family have served celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker, The Beatles, and Barbra Streisand. Perhaps order a pair for yourself.

Then, try wrapping your own gyros at one of the city’s oldest establishments. It’s not so easy to get the pita filled with meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, tomato, onion, tzatziki sauce, and, sometimes, French fries.

It’s cocktail hour, so we’ll finish up at a hipster bar’s rooftop which has breathtaking views of the Acropolis, the Roman Agora, and Hadrian’s Library. It’s a perfect spot to say “yiamas” to your new friends.

Language:

English

Inclusions:

Local, English-speaking licensed guide, one Freddo espresso or frappé coffee, one local Koulouri or Tsoureki, one large portion of Greek pie, one gyro, hands-on Greek experiences,

Exclusions:

Entrance fees: Please make sure you have cash (euros) as well as hold a valid ID or Passport for verification of age and nationality to purchase the tickets. We buy the tickets for you in advance, in order to avoid lining up.
We offer complimentary skip-the-line service: You pay in cash your guide upon meeting him.
Adults 25+: 28 euros
Citizens from non-EU countries between 6-24: 14 euros
European citizens 65+: 14 euros European citizens under 25 years of age are entitled to free entrance to all sites visited during the tour
All children 5 years of age and under are entitled to free entrance to all sites visited during the tour

Additional food and drinks, souvenirs or personal shopping, tips/gratuities for your guide and driver.