We have one day to see the sites in Athens. Is it necessary to hire a driver? What are the alternatives (renting a car, walking??) Thank you.

It all depends on what you want to see. Have you done some research? You can get around central Athens by local public transportation easily, but if you want a guide to explain the city to you and take you places you might not see on your own, definitely get a driver. The most famous is George the Taxi Driver.

http://www.greecetravel.com/taxi/

I went with my 80-year-old mother last May, and we used the train and taxis and walked. The taxi drivers have a reputation for palming your 20-Euro and saying it was a 1-Euro, so be very careful. They usually drop you off in the middle of nowhere (saying it's close to where you want to go) when they do this, so there is noone to complain to. I've heard of this numerous times and my mother had it happen to her. The train was easy and very inexpensive.

It is relatively easy to get around and see the area around the Acropolis, the Plaka, the Roman Agora and the Ancient Agora on foot. A driver would be no advantage in these areas, which are mostly on pedestrian streets. And renting a car would be really stressful. The sights are not that far apart, and driving and parking would be very unpleasant.

If you want to see a larger area than the one I have described, you can take a half day bus tour offered by several companies in Athens.

Athens' subway is quick, clean and convenient, plus it's easy to plot your day out ahead of time. All-day passes are cheap.

i'm with repete on using the metro (subway) as the means of getting around athens. Combined with walking, this is fast easy and convenient.

Thanks evryone for all the responses. Sounds like a driver is not necessary for what we plan to do. You saved us a bunch of money!

We loved having a driver who explained and pointed out things that we would have missed, timed the day so it flowed smoothly, took us to the changing of the guard at just the right time, drove us to more outlying sights, such as the Olympic facilities that it would have been more challenging to see on our own.

And every place we went, when we were done, there was an air conditioned car waiting for us. Those rests between sights really added to our enjoyment of the day.