carlposter05

Hi all,

We are planning a visit to Delphi this November, from Athens, and am trying to decide whether this should just be a day trip from Athens (gives us about 5-6 hours in Delphi), or whether should spend a night there.

Also how is the drive to Delphi from Athens ? I found a local rental company, Swift Car Rentals, who drive you till the highway, so that you dont have to negotiate the city traffic. Would driving be better or would taking the bus be better ?

Thanks in advance.

DejaVu

It depends on how big an archaeology buff you are and whether you want to spend time in the town itself. My first trip there was a daytrip from Athens, and I was able to see the Sanctuary of Apollo and the museum just fine, plenty of time, but had no time to shop/hang out in the modern town.

Second trip was a two-night stay (stayed at Hotel Acropole). Spent time at the Sanctuary of Apollo and the museum again, also went down the hill to the less-visited Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia, and took an afternoon trip to the not-far Byzantine monastery of Hosios Loukas (amazing). That time I had time to shop, hang out in the modern town and it was overall a more leisurely paced trip.

I can tell you that staying overnight gave me a wonderful experience, quite inadvertently: I am an insomniac and I woke up insanely early one morning, around 6 am...decided to get up and go for a walk, and had the pleasure of seeing Apollo's sun rising over Mt Parnassos. Greeting the dawn in Delphi was a special moment. (Site was not open of course, but I walked to its gates.)

I took the public bus the first time (I just posted about this today--to you?) and that was fine. It's not hard to manage. The second time I was with a seminar group so we had our own bus. Can't comment, therefore, on driving.

smalti

Hi, Carl!

Another vote for Osios Loukas here! The mountain setting of that monastery, and the mosaics inside, are wonderful, whether you're a big fan of Byzantium or don't care about it at all. To see the monastery, or even to view Delphi thoroughly, you'd be well served to stay overnight (though it's not absolutely necessary).

Personally, I don't drive while abroad (and don't even drive in many US cities), so I have nothing to offer there. The young man we hired to take us from Athens did drive insanely fast, but seemed to manage the trip fairly easily.

Have a wonderful trip!

Matrexx

We just got back from Greece. We rented a car at the airport (easier to get an automatic there and we were continuing to Meteora). We drove directly to Delphi. It took about 2.5 hours to get there (with one minor inadvertant detour at Lamia). We stayed the night in Delphi so that we could have the entire day to explore the site. In the end it took us about 5 hours to see the Sanctuary of Apollo with museum and the Sanctuary of Athena. Staying the night was worth the view alone. We stayed at Hotel Sybilla which gave us a wonderful view out over the mountains down to the coast and Itea. We had a balcony and so enjoyed our breakfast watching the mist burn off before heading off the next morning.

rkkwan

Another vote for spending the night. I acutally joined one of day tour from Athens, but paid extra to get the hotel and rejoin the next day's tour group. The town is quiet and magically after most of the daytrip tourists have left.

I believe we stayed at the Amalia. Spacious and airy rooms with balconies. Nice.