2 day tour (Private tour)
Athens - Corinth - Epidaurus - Nafplion - Mycenae - Olympia - Athens
Day 1: If you haven't been to the Peloponnese before, where actually some of the most beautiful archaeological sites and landscapes of Greece are, and where you would need to spend several days to explore the most important ones, we have this alternative suggestion in order for you to visit the three most important of them in two days. Your 2 day tour will start with the drive through the National Highway to the Peloponnese. A stop will be made by the famous Corinthian Canal or else Isthmus that separates the Peloponnese from the Greek mainland, for pictures and coffee. Your journey towards Epidaurus will continue with a 40 min. scenic drive along the coast of the Saronic gulf. On the way your driver will point out for you to see the ruins of the ancient port of Kechries where St. Paul embarked his ship after preaching to the Corinthians to get to Ephesus. Reaching Epidaurus you will have a private tour of the spiritual sanctuary of Asclepius and the theatre with the most famous acoustics in the world. Leaving ancient Epidaurus you will continue with the drive to Nafplion, a picturesque sea port town on the Argolic gulf. This was the first capital of modern Greece; it's a city with beautiful monuments and neoclassical buildings as well as two famous forts Palamidi and Bourtzi, which is located on an island opposite the port. You will be able to stroll around, take pictures and have lunch in the "shade" of the tall neoclassical buildings next to Sydagma square. Continuing your journey in the afternoon you will also drive and visit Mycenae, the centre of power in the late Bronze Age till the 11th century BC. There lies the famous Lions Gate and the Acropolis where Agamemnon was murdered by his wife Clytemnestra and that is where you will be able to explore all of its pathways. Leaving the Acropolis you will also make a short stop by the treasury of Atreus, also known as the tomb of Agamemnon. Then you will start your approximately 3 hour drive to Olympia where you will spend the night.
Day 2: After breakfast, you will finally be able to admire the unique and serene landscape of the Olympia land, surrounded by several hills, filled with pine trees. Then you will enjoy a private guided tour through the site - birthplace of the Olympic Games, where still lie the ancient gymnasiums, the temple of Zeus and Hera and the stadium. A few meters away from the site is where you will visit one of the most impressive museums in the world, since it houses the originals pediments of the temple of Zeus and Hermes by Praxiteles. Then you will start the drive back to Athens through the large and lush valley of Ellis. Along the way you will pass the city of Patras and you will have a view of one of the largest suspended bridges in the world. Afterwards you will pass again over the famous Corinth Canal and soon after that you will arrive back to Athens and be dropped off at your hotel or the airport.
