1-Day Trip from Athens to Mycenae, Tiryns, Nafplion & Epidavros -- Recommendations? Used these Companies?
 

I want to take a day trip from Athens to ancient Corinth, Mycenae, Tiryns, Naplion & Epidavros and would appreciate recommendations or comments from anyone who has taken such a tour or knows someone who has. If it matters, this would probably be in September.

I have found several bus tours and a private taxi tour, both 10 hours total and am trying to select one.

The private taxi tour is operated by Greece Taxi, www.greecetaxi.com. It goes to all the places I want to visit, and time at each can be adjusted as I wish (to a degree). It is 280 euros for 2 people, not including entrance fees and cost of lunch. The driver/guide is English- speaking and non-smoking, and the car is air conditioned.

The bus tour is operated by Hop In Sightseeing, www.hopin.com. It does not visit ancient Corinth or Tiryns. The group is small, and the guide speaks only English. The bus is high-decked with wide windows and is air-conditioned. It costs 96 euros per person, including entrance fees and lunch.

Does anyone have any thoughts on which would be the best way to experience these sights in a limited time? Thanks in advance.

The "driver/guide" of your taxi service is NOT a licensed guide and will be breaking the law if he goes on an ancient site=-- so you will be on your own!


I very much doubt whether the bus "driver-guide" is licensed either and the same law applies. I have known some people who took the "Go" Athens tours; they & were not pleased with the level of narrative at all and said it was all jokes... I do not know whether it was a guide or the driver but, whatever. NG.

Have you looked at reputable tour co's like CHAT and Key? CHAT is Athens' longest-established tour co & their guides are highly-educated. Trip Advisor forums has praises from those who tried it.
http://www.chatours.gr/company.asp

They have a 1-day tour (96€) and a 2-day trip(146E]i HIGHLY RECOMMEND the latter... because u have all afternoon & evening and next AM to appreciate Nafplion, which is a true Gem, a world heritage city. It now has FREE audio guide available at a kioskm on the seafront, that walks you by more than 40 historic and architectral highlights. .. and a 1st class hotel for the night.

If you do a 1-day thing, u only have 90 mins in Nafplion, for lunch .. no more than a Glimpse. Do consider 2 days... you can easily arrange with your hotel to be gone a day, since you are planning so far in advance, and they deal with this kind of thing ALL the time.

PS. If you want to see Tiryns, the 2 day would make that easy, since it is only 5 km outside of Nafplio a cheap cab ride (or, I took a bus & walked back). U could do it in the aft of 1st day or morning of the 2nd.

I have CHAT on my list to check on, and am glad to know it gets favorable reviews. However, it is my understanding that the Hop In tour is "reputable" since it is recommended in Fodor's guidebook and by Rick Steves. The driver of the bus tour is not the guide; they have a separate guide. I would not take a tour that was not reputable. I'll definitely look at CHAT though.

Frankly, I am not that concerned with having a guide at the sights, just getting there with minimal hassle (so if the taxi driver stayed in the car, which I suspect is the case, that would be fine with me. As I understand, most of his commentary is provided en route.) I have read quite a bit about ancient Greece and like to do my research ahead of time.

I plan to tack this day-trip onto the end of a longer Greece tour that ends in Athens. Since I will be keeping my hotel room at the Grande Bretagne before leaving Athens for the U.S., I really don't want to be out of Athens longer than a day.

I found a recommendation for a private driver service on TripAdvisor, for Paul at greektaxi.gr. Has anyone used his service?

I e-mailed him, and he responded that he would tailor a trip to my needs, visiting Mycenae, Tiryns, Napflion & Epidauros in 1 day. His cars are air-conditioned E-class Mercedes, and the cost for this trip, for 2 people, would be 250 euros. Entrance fees and food costs are not included. For what I want, this seems quite reasonable, especially in comparison with the costs of invariable bus tours.

Regarding previous concerns, he fully discloses that he does not accompany passengers inside the sites and that he is not a licensed guide. However, as he is knowledgable about Greek history and mythology he talks about the sites en route.

I can't comment on your proposed tour provider but I did the exact itinerary last May and it worked out just fine. Sure, 2 days would have been better but with the time I had to work with it was just right.

If you use Paul, get him to take you back to Athens via the sinking bridge at the Corinth canal... he'll know it! ;^)

Rob

Delaine:
Sept is the perfect time to go to those places in the Pelopponese. I went for the first time in Sept. 2006 and found my Grandfather's village. Had an excellent driver/guide, Takis. Nice air-conditioned Mercedes, speaks excellent English. and is very informative of the areas and sites. Also fun to be with. Even though he can't go into sites to guide you, as mentioned against the law, he gives you fabulous infomation before you go in.
In 2007, I hooked up with him again and he had a big surprise. He introduced me to my 2nd cousin Kostas, whose Grandfather and my Grandfather were brothers.
Please contact me at [email protected] and I will be happy to put you in touch will Takis.
Marinos