After your delicious breakfast, you will meet with your guide at your hotel and depart for a Private Half Day Guided Tour starting from Panathenaic Stadium known as Kallimarmaro. In Antiquity it was used for the celebration of Panathenaea in honour of Goddess Athena. Next we'll head to see the Zappeion Hall, the
Greek Parliament and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the symbolic monument in the memory of the Soldiers who died for their country. Then, along Panepistimiou Street, one of the most central streets of Athens, we will see the triad of neoclassical buildings:
The Library,
the Academy and
the University.
Next most important visit is the
Acropolis with magnificent monuments such as the
Parthenon, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheion, the Propylaea, the Ancient Agora, the theatre of Dionysus and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. We will have the chance to walk around the Parthenon Monument, which was built in the 5th century BC by the architects Ictinus and Kallikrates.
Afterwards, we will visit the
New Acropolis Museum which includes mainly findings of the archaeological site of the Acropolis. The Museum started its operation in 2009 and the buildings were designed by the French-Swiss Benar Tschumi. Free time at the city center and the traditional settlement of Plaka.
In the afternoon, we’ll depart for a Private Tour to
Lake Vouliagmeni, in the heart of the Athenian Riviera, which is the hidden treasure of Attica’s nature. Its current spectacular shape has probably been created during Hellenistic years. It is assumed that a huge volume of hot water was running inside the cave causing the erosion of the walls and forcing the roof to collapse and submerge. Lake Vouliagmeni is included in the official list of Greece’s Natural Thermal Spas. Its brackish waters, rich in salts and minerals, have a temperature between 22 to 29 degrees all year round.
We continue our Private Tour to
Cape Sounion, which is a wonderful drive along the scenic coastal road with a splendid view of the Saronic Gulf, passing through some of Athens’ most beautiful suburbs (Glyfada, Vouliagmeni, Varkiza). At Cape Sounion we will visit the
Temple of Poseidon, built during the 5th century BC and standing until today. According to the legend, Aegeas, King of Athens, waited there for his only son, Prince Theseus, to return from Crete, where he went to kill Minotaur. Theseas was successful but forgot to raise white sails on the ship, as his father made him promise. Believing that his son was dead, the King leapt off the cliff and died, thus giving his name to the Aegean Sea. Late in the evening we will be back to our hotel.
Overnight in Athens