Half-Daytrip From Athens - Corinth, Hydra or Cape Sounion?

[dcinmb]

My friends and I will be on a cruise ship docking in Piraeus on Wednesday, November 18th, from 7 am to 7 pm, and we're looking for a half-day trip from Athens. We've been to Athens before but would like to re-visit the Acropolis and the Plaka in the morning and hopefully visit another city in the afternoon. Cape Sounion sounds very tempting but I'm concerned about the reliability of the bus system and potentially missing our ship. Corinth and Hydra seem easier to get to via public transportation and have the advantage of being closer. Does anyone have any opinions as to which of the three are most worth visiting? Or any other suggestions for an afternoon trip? (We've already been to many of the islands, including Santorini, Mykonos, Corfu, Poros, Crete, Rhodes, etc.) Any advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

Diana

[cruisemom42]

My choice would be Corinth, but then I'm the one who goes crazy over ancient ruins.

[Whitby Lass]

I would definately reccommend Corinth. It is truely awesome and very atmospheric.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Boy, that's going to be one busy day! An afternoon going over to Hydra and back might be a bit more relaxing. I have no idea about public transportation to places like Corinth, but it's several hours away I think.

[Susan-M]

Corinth is a 60-70 minute drive each way (if traffic is moving). We really enjoyed an all day trip (during a 3 day stay in Athens) to Corinth, Mycenae, Nauplion and Epidaurus, but I don't think I would do a half day trip to Corinth on a port day. Instead, if you want to do a repeat visit to the Acropolis (which we did, and I enjoyed even more the second time as it was more leisurely), I would spend the full day in Athens and explore additional sites and/or museums. Athens is worthy of a few days, and I think you would find more than enough to enjoy by spending your full day there. Visiting the 6 sites that are included in your Acropolis ticket, plus the new Acropolis Museum, maybe even a couple of hours at the National Archaeological Museum, and lunch will nicely fill your day.

[dcinmb]

Thanks so much for your suggestions! This will actually be my third visit to Athens (first time for two days, second time for three days), so we'd really like to try to go somewhere else in the afternoon. I'm now even more intrigued by Corinth. I do have a quote for a private Athens/Corinth tour from a tour company but I'm also going to look into the possibility of getting there ourselves, although I don't want to fall victim to an unreliable public transit system and risk missing our ship! And yes, it's going to be a busy day but that's why we have sea days, right? ;)

 

Thanks again for your help!

 

Diana

[CintiPam]

All three of your suggested destinations are quite far from town. A fast boat to and from Hydra will take over three hours at least RT just for transportation alone from Piraeus! Cape Sounion also is at least 90-minutes each way from central Athens.

 

Corinth is the closest time-wise, but I too suggest you stay in central Athens, which has wonderful museums. Also, as Susan just posted, with your 12-Euro Acropolis ticket, you also have admission to the Agora (with its own small but very good museum), the Roman Agora, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Keremeikos Cemetery, etc.

 

The New Acropolis Museum costs only one Euro per person through the rest of 2009, and has fabulous views and a nice cafe, as well is being situated right by the Acropoli metro stop at the bottom of the Acropolis and very near the Plaka area. Of course, the National Archelogical Museum is the best collection of Greek artifacts in the world, including fabulous Mycenae gold, Cycladic figures and Akrotiri wall paintings.

 

Whatever you decide to do, enjoy your day!

 

PS. I just saw that you posted the same time I was writing. Corinth certainly is the most doable of the three in 1/2 day!

[Susan-M]

Diana,

If you do it yourselves, I would head to Corinth first and do Athens in the afternoon (always best when DIY touring to go to the furthest destination first and work your way back). If going with a driver, have you considered an all day tour, but skipping the historic centre of Athens since you've been there a couple of times already (or is it a first for your friends?) ... the other places I mentioned above in addition to Corinth are all very interesting...esp. Mycenae.

[cruisemom42]

I have a similar problem on my upcoming cruise. I've visited Athens (1 port day) before and did the Acropolis thoroughly as well as the (old) Acropolis museum and the National Archeological Museum.

 

I'm going back next summer but have to revisit the Acropolis (a "must" for my son). I briefly considered doing a private tour where we could make a quick stop at the Acropolis in the morning, then head to Corinth, but I didn't want to shortchange DS's experience of Athens. I reluctantly came to the conclusion that I must leave Corinth, Mycenae, and Epidavros for another visit. Instead, we will have time to see more of the Greek and Roman agora, and other nearby ancient sites in Athens.

 

I foresee a separate land trip to Greece in my near future, so I won't fret too much. I have to admit that I'm really dying to see Mycenae!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

A land trip is really the way to take in all those great places, and have lots of time to do so.

 

We took a cruise from Athens a few years back, and spent a week in Greece first. Overnight in Athens, dumped the cruisewear in storage, then took a ferry over to Poros, and then on the Peloponnese where we stayed in Napflion and took in Mycenae and Epidavros at our leisure. It was great.

[dcinmb]

Diana,

If you do it yourselves, I would head to Corinth first and do Athens in the afternoon (always best when DIY touring to go to the furthest destination first and work your way back). If going with a driver, have you considered an all day tour, but skipping the historic centre of Athens since you've been there a couple of times already (or is it a first for your friends?) ... the other places I mentioned above in addition to Corinth are all very interesting...esp. Mycenae.

 

Good advice, Susan-M. I haven't cruised since I was a kid tagging along with my parents so I'm still getting used to the concept of missing the boat! We were hoping to re-visit just the Acropolis and the Plaka before heading out somewhere for the rest of the day but I agree that we'd be better off going "somewhere" first. It seems that Corinth may be too ambitious, especially as we would prefer to travel DIY, not to mention the fact that it's in the opposite direction. Since the three places I came up with are not practical for a half-day trip, can anyone suggest someplace else? The only other places I've been on the "mainland" are Delphi and Cape Sounion, which I would love to re-visit but we've already established is a bit far for a half day.

 

Our other option would be to skip Athens as you've suggested and head out to Corinth and the Argolis. Would it be crazy to rent a car and do it on our own? I've driven in France, Germany, Holland and Italy, but in Greece I've only driven on Santorini, which was easy.

 

I had no idea planning for a cruise would be this exhausting. These Mediterranean itineraries are so port-intensive (and ours is two weeks long) and even though I've been to most of them before, they're all so fabulous I'm trying to make the most of each one!

 

Diana

[Wendy The Wanderer]

If you decide to skip Athens and do a full-day trip, DIY, then perhaps Aegina for the day would be your best bet. Just keep an eye on the ferry schedule!

[Susan-M]

 

Our other option would be to skip Athens as you've suggested and head out to Corinth and the Argolis. Would it be crazy to rent a car and do it on our own? I've driven in France, Germany, Holland and Italy, but in Greece I've only driven on Santorini, which was easy.

 

 

Since you aren't driving into the centre of Athens, I don't think driving would be a problem. There's a main highway to Corinth and the roads to the other areas are quite good as well. We did it with a driver in late October last year and things were pretty slow then ...light traffic other than the highway between Piraeus-Corinth.. and light attendance at the sites. Road signs might be a bit tricky, but if you have your route mapped out ahead of time, it should work.

 

We were tempted to go to an island during one of our days there, but were a little concerned about weather and rough seas at that time of year.

 

Not sure if you've researched on Tripadvisor (sister site to CC) ... but I rely on it as well for planning our DIY port days:

 

Corinth Forum: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g189484-Corinth_Peloponnese.html

Athens Forum: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g189400-Athens_Attica.html

 

Yes...planning can be a lot of work...but at some point it becomes enjoyable (once the plans start falling into place) ... good luck.:)

[jeana]

Another vote for Aegina! Beautiful island, and only 40 minutes away by hydrofoil. There are two companies, so check the schedules. If not Aegina, then I'd vote for Cape Sounion. More interesting (IMO) than Corinth.