Day in Athens Review

[SeaCBear]

Disembarkation and Athens

 

(Excerpt from my full review of the Regal Princess cruise, posted on the Princess forum)

 

Of the approximately 2,400 passengers on board the inaugural cruise for the Regal Princess, only about 700 were leaving in ship in Athens. Sadly, that included us. I did wish we were staying on board to continue on to Sardinia (although it sounds like that was a wild time!), Olympia, Dubrovnik…. But unfortunately my husband wasn’t able to get more time off. We did also feel, and we heard this from many, that this cruise was quite tiring with few sea days, and ports that often required a lot of walking and often over uneven cobble stones, or hills, or bridges, so I was looking forward to a few days rest!

 

With only 700 leaving the ship, disembarkation was a very fast process. Afer our final cappuccino / espresso and egg muffins, we walked off with our luggage, as we usually opt to do. It felt very peculiar as so few people were leaving the ship at that time. We had pre-booked an all-day shared tour with PK Travel. All of my dealings with family-owned PK Travel, via email and PayPal, were very prompt, friendly and courteous. I thought this boded well for our full day tour and I was not wrong.

 

We were to meet our driver and guide at the port terminal at 7:30. We were the first to arrive, and by 7:30 we were just waiting for a family of four. They arrived shortly after. In total there were 10 of us, including Av8tor and his wife. We were the only party with luggage, as we were the only ones leaving the cruise. :-) We all piled into the very nice Mercedes van, and with our driver Dimitris (the owner, Pete’s, son) and our guide Michael. On the way to our first stop Michael, who is 25 and completing his Masters in Archaeology, in Britain (giving him a charming British-Greek accent), talked about Greece and the economy, and buildings we were passing, and much more. I really thought Michael was delightful – so knowledgeable, kind and courteous, and funny, as was Dimitris.

 

We arrived at the Acropolis before 8:00 I think, and walked up the hill to the ticket office. Michael collected our money (entrance fees were not included, and totaled 17 Euros each for the day) and lined up in the Tour Guides line to get our tickets. It wasn’t very busy yet, but unfortunately there was some sort of dispute in the tour guide line, and it actually took a while for Michael to get our tickets, about which he was quite embarrassed.

 

Once we had our tickets we started up to the Acropolis, stopping along the way (in shade whenever possible) for Michael to tell us some history or mythology. It really was spectacular and jaw-dropping to see the ruins of the Acropolis and more below, and it was more enjoyable because it wasn’t yet too hot, or too crowded. We spent about two hours in total up there, and it got hotter and incredibly busy by the time we left. On our way down, walking single file down a steep path with hundreds of others and ahead of and behind us, I was reminded of the photos I’ve seen lately of expeditions on crowded Mount Everest.

 

 

 

 

It was a fairly strenuous activity, visiting the Acropolis, but we all managed including one woman who had two replacement knees. I think most of us were quite hot and tired by the time we returned to the van (where bottles of cold water were provided), but Michael assured us that was the most work we’d have to do all day, and he was right.

 

From the Acropolis we headed to Syntagma Square (Constitution Square), to watch the changing of the guard. We’ve seen the changing of the guard in a few different places (Prague, London, etc.) and I didn’t find this any more interesting really, except for their peculiar choreography. My husband kept making jokes quietly to me about Monty Python’s Silly Walking Contest ;-) But while we waited (and some of us had our photo taken with one of the soldiers), Michael talked to us about the army and the mandatory requirement to serve one year, and his own personal experiences, which was all very interesting.

 

 

After we were back in the van we requested a bathroom break. Dimitris and Michael discussed, in Greek, where we should go for this important itinerary diversion, and decided we would just drive across the road to one of the nicest hotels in town, the Grande Bretagne. So, the van stopped outside, and we all just trouped in to the hotel lobby (which even smelled wonderful) and found the luxurious washrooms. Dimitris did talk to the doorman before we entered the lobby, and they seemed please to have us. Very nice!

 

Now more comfortable, we drove next to the Temple of Zeus. We stood under a tree in the shade while Michael told us about the temple, and we admired the view of the Acropolis where we had just been. Following the Temple, we drove to the Panathenaic Stadium, the site of the first modern Olympics, and also the site of a few 2004 Olympics competitions. I think this was my least favourite stop. I just didn't find it that interesting, but others did.

 

From the stadium we headed to the Plaka, the oldest area in Athens, where we would have 1 ½ hours on our own to have lunch, or shop. We went to a restaurant Michael recommended (he also ate there, but separately), the Antica Cafe, and we weren’t disappointed. We sat outside, enjoying huge and delicious portions of Greek salad and chicken kebabs and it was a very nice spot with lots to watch along the narrow street. We liked the Plaka area of Athens very much.

 

 

 

We met up with the group after our very pleasant break, and back in to the van we went. We then drove to and up the highest point in Athens. At the top we parked long enough for us to get out and admire the view and take a few photos. From here we proceeded to our final stop, the Acropolis Museum. This very modern museum was just opened in 2009 and is really impressive, with a stunning view from the top floor of the Acropolis. Although the museum itself is modern, glass floors allow you to view the ruins of houses and other buildings found under the museum. I really recommend a visit to this museum if you’re in Athens. We spent most of our time on the top floor where Michael explaining the various panel pieces that had decorated the Acropolis, and some other sculptures and ancient art.

 

 

This concluded the tour, and it really was a great day and well worth the 60 Euros each we paid. My husband and I had not really looked forward to Athens. We had both heard and read that it was dirty, polluted, and worse. We were very pleasantly surprised, and liked it very much.

 

Anyway, we had arranged with PK Travel for transportation to our hotel, the Sofitel, at the aiport (we had a flight at 9:00 the next morning). As the rest of the group went back to the Regal in the van, our luggage was transferred to the waiting taxi driven by Pete, PK Travel’s founder, to the airport. Pete, who was born and grew up in New Jersey, moving to Greece in his 1920’s, was an interesting man to talk to on our way to the hotel, telling us about his business, Greece, etc. He told us the shared tours for cruise ship passengers is a new service they have added and are trialing this year. We were certainly very pleased with the day and all staff.

 

I had booked the Sofitel hotel on LastMinuteTravel a few months ago for $225. US – a bit of a splurge, but it was just so convenient. You can just walk into the airport from the hotel. So we booked it for the convenience, but we actually thought the hotel was terrific. Our room was beautiful, and absolutely soundproof. We had free WiFi. We enjoyed a drink on their outdoor patio, and a good dinner in their lobby restaurant (they also have a much more expensive restaurant with great views on the 9th floor). After a drink in the outdoor bar, we walked across the street to check in using the self-serve terminals, and got our boarding passes. We thought about visiting the pool on the top floor, but ran out of time. The next morning the included breakfast was much more than I had expected. Cold meats, cheeses, pastries, individual carafes of coffee, an omelette station, fruit, yoghurts, and more – even cherry cheesecake! I would definitely stay at the Sofitel again if flying in to or out of Athens.

 

Check in the next morning at the Athens Airport was fast and efficient, as was security. We flew Aegean Airlines (very good) to London, and home to Toronto on Air Canada.

 

So our vacation, which was fantastic, was over :-(

 

Please note: all of my photos of Athens can be viewed on Flickr. To see all photos from this cruise, please click on the link in my signature below.

 

If anyone has any questions, just let me know!

 

Thanks for reading.

[SeaCBear]

[js4rq]

Glad you had a lovely day in Athens. Athens is a gorgeous place, I am glad we got to stay there a few years ago. Hope to return next year! :D

[SeaCBear]

Yes I'd love to go there again, which is such a surprise to us as we had NO real interest in going before!

 

Glad you had a lovely day in Athens. Athens is a gorgeous place, I am glad we got to stay there a few years ago. Hope to return next year! :D

[Zukini]

Great photo review, I really enjoyed it. Thanks for posting!

[mickeysgal]

Great review! Thank you very much for taking the time to post.

 

A few questions are we are considering PK Travel as well (still debating on full day tour of Athens or 1/2 day Athens, 1/2 day Cape Sounion.)

 

What kind of car/bus did you have for the tour? With the size tour group that you had (10), did you have a hard time hearing the guide? Did you get a pick of lunch places and did you all sit together as a group? Were you happy overall with the tour guide? Was there anything about the tour you didn't like? Anything you wished you did instead?

 

And...my husband would have been making the Monty Python Silly Walk comments too, lol! :)

[SeaCBear]

The tour was in a new Mercedes van. it was very comfortable - two seats on one side, and two or three single seats on the other. The air conditioning worked well, and Dimitris asked several times if it was cool enough for us. They provided cold bottled water.

 

I thought our guide, Michael, was terrific, but PK Travel uses many different guides. Michael provided a LOT of detail, but you didn't have to listen too closely if you didn't want to, and he answered any and all questions with enthusiasm. The van was small, but he did use a microphone so we had no trouble hearing him.

 

 

 

At lunch we were on our own to do as we pleased in the Plaka - Michael pointed out different areas for shopping and restaurants, and we agreed as a group how long we wanted ( 1 1/2 hours).

 

I really don't there's anything I would change about the tour. We saw a lot, and really felt that we got a very good overview of Athens in the short time we were there.

 

Yes, that choreographed marching that the soldiers do is very unique! :D

 

 

 

Great review! Thank you very much for taking the time to post.

 

A few questions are we are considering PK Travel as well (still debating on full day tour of Athens or 1/2 day Athens, 1/2 day Cape Sounion.)

 

What kind of car/bus did you have for the tour? With the size tour group that you had (10), did you have a hard time hearing the guide? Did you get a pick of lunch places and did you all sit together as a group? Were you happy overall with the tour guide? Was there anything about the tour you didn't like? Anything you wished you did instead?

 

And...my husband would have been making the Monty Python Silly Walk comments too, lol! :)