Cape Sounion & Athens

[ncsongbird]

We are trying to decide if we want to take a private tour of Athens that includes Cape Sounion. Is Cape Sounion really worth the 2 hour round trip it takes to go see it? I'm open to anyone's comments. Thanks.

[Fblack]

I was considering the same thing. I decided I would rather spend a couple of hours shopping and having lunch at Plaka rather that going so far away.

[paul929207]

I would vote for the extra time in Athens.

 

Does your ship sail past Cap Suonion? We sailed from Athens up to Istanbul and went by it in the late afternoon. We had a beautiful view of Posidon's temple.

 

Paul

[cberge]

There are plenty of ruins to see in Athens,and if your cruise includes more there will be plenty(unless you are really into ruins) so as the other posters have said I would spend the extra time in Athens hands down.There are always postcards of where you don't go is MHO...enjoy Athens.

[Bruin Steve]

While on the Millenium, we took the Athens and Cape Sounion Shore Excursion...We actually enjoyed the excursion...including the drive out to Cape Sounion, which was quite scenic (and certainly didn't feel like 2 hours--at least not in one direction!...We did the whole drive out, the visit, some free time there and the drive back ALL after lunch)...The Temple of Poseidon itself is quite stunning and picturesque, sitting on a windswept promontory at the very end of the peninsula...When we went in 2003, the excursion cost ony $99 per person, including lunch and was well worth the cost...

 

Some of our tablemates did the same, exact route by private driver...and from their description, got pretty much the identical experience we got, except the drove in the back of a taxi rather than on a bus...and paid considerably more...

 

Our last cruise to te Med, this past July, we opted for a private tour to the Pelopenesse...To be completely honest, there was far more to see on THIS tour--Epidaurus, Mycenae, Corinth, et al...more ruins...and more of the countryside out of busy Athens...Paid 250 euro plus tip for the driver for the full day...If you've been to Athens before and have no need to see the Acropolis again (this was our third visit...and we saw the Acropolis on the first two)...

 

Athens is an extremely busy and hectic city...makes me enjoy the countryside...

[Susan-M]

We are trying to decide if we want to take a private tour of Athens that includes Cape Sounion.

 

We opted to spend the whole day in Athens since it was our first visit there. We had a fantastic day and found lots of interesting sites to keep us occupied from 8 a.m. till 7 p.m. (an extra day would have been nice!). If you like walking, it's a very easy city to explore on your own (we did it via subway and walking).

 

Rick Steves has a great introduction to Athens (we used this as guide material during our day there) : http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/greece/athens.htm

[H2Otstr]

Went there on a Trafalger Tour a couple years ago and opted for the extra trip to Cape Sunion. Did not think it was worth it. The bus ride was very long. We got about 45 minutes at the Cape, and then back to Athens. Barely had time to grab a bite to eat in the lunch room. Service was not very good, slow. I would rather have stayed in Athens and walked around.

[ncsongbird]

Thanks everyone, for all the comments. I think my question has been pretty well answered. The Cape Sounion tour sounded like a long day with a lot of driving time. Instead I plan on doing the ship's tour of the Acropolis and the Plaka on our own. I found some pretty detailed descriptions of do-it-yourself walking tours in the Plaka from Rick Steve's and Matt Barrett's websites.

[HeinBloed]

 

 

A nice place to see.

 

But there will not so much to have a guide there...

 

Get a taxi to this place - use this pricelist as reference:

 

 

The ship's shore excursion tour was

 

1 1/2 hour transfer to Cape Sounion.

1 hour stay

1 1/2 hour same route back

 

If you make a private tour:

 

Ask the driver to return via the highway alongside of the new airport and get you back via Athens.

 

So the route will not so boring.

 

Based on the reference you should get your tour with a private taxi driver for about 100 EUR.

 

I would get one here and keep him all day long:

 

 

It's easy to get a taxi in Piraeus but later in Athens it CAN become a nightmare!!!

 

Regards,

HeinBloed

[awms]

We are trying to decide if we want to take a private tour of Athens that includes Cape Sounion. Is Cape Sounion really worth the 2 hour round trip it takes to go see it? I'm open to anyone's comments. Thanks.

 

 

Hi there:-

 

My wife and I stayed in Athens last May/07 for three days, post cruise, and seeing Cape Sounion and the Temple of Posiden was a must particularly for us after reading Matt Barrett's Greek Survival Guide (www.athensguide.com) and the greek mythology behind the Temple. We read that viewing Cape Sounion at sunset was the best, so we arranged for driver to pick us up at 5:00 p.m. We arrived the site and enjoyed the view of the sea and surrrounding islands as well. Following which our driver took us to a small greek tavern below where we sat outside and enjoyed our dinner while watching the sunset fall on Cape Sounion. The cost of the driver was 150 euros plus tip, which did not include the cost of the meal. I personally would not bother to go out to Cape Sounion during the day time as it does not have same ambience as it does at sunset. I must say we enjoyed the scenic drive there and back so much that when we go back to Athens this May for three days pre-cruise we are going to stay outside of Athens in the Vouliagmeni Beach area which we passed by instead of staying in downtown Athens, having seen everything we wanted to on our last trip.

 

Have a good trip.:cool:

[dbh62ark]

While the sites in Athens such as the Parthenon were wonderful, I found Athens to be very crowded, polluted, hot, etc. on a previous trip. We could have easily gone to Cape Sounion too, and I wish we had. We are going this year and look forward to seeing the sites in Athens again but also getting away from the city to go to Cap Sounion.

 

Donna

[Globaliser]

Cape Sounion is a lovely place to visit, but I agree with those who say that it's too far and too long on a one day visit. If you have a week in Athens, then I think it's a must.

[nole62]

Mary lou,

I forgot to tell that I had the people in our office look at the tour options, and they suggested the Athens & Corinth tour. We haven't decided what we are going to do either.

Helen

[dbh62ark]

Mary lou,

I forgot to tell that I had the people in our office look at the tour options, and they suggested the Athens & Corinth tour.

Helen

Did they say what they liked about Corinth other than the historical interest? I was interested in that option too.

 

Thanks,

Donna

[Bruin Steve]

Did they say what they liked about Corinth other than the historical interest? I was interested in that option too.

 

Thanks,

Donna

 

Donna, I'm not sure what they cover on the shore excursion...but there were basically only two things we saw IN Corinth when we did our private excursion to the Pelopenesse this past July...1) The ruins of ancient Corinth and 2) The Corinth Canal...

 

Frankly, I wasn't overly impressed with the canal...it's a big long dirt ditch...We stopped at the bridge over the canal and got some photos...I guess it's an impressive engineering feat for its time, but not much more to do than the photos...

 

Corinth's ruins were worth a quick stop, but were nowhere as impressive as the ruins at Epidaurus (an incredible ancient ampitheater) or at Mycenae (a city on a mountaintop)...

 

But, for me, IF I were taking a ship's excursion, I'd definitely go with a full day excursion that includes something outside of Athens...Athens itself can get exhausting...it's really a congested urban city...I think with a half-day Athens excursion, you might get back to the ship and not want to venture out again on your own...Either Corinth or Cape Sounion would work for me...

[KarenR_UK]

The weather might have a bearing on what you decide to do!

 

I did a ships excursion to Athens and Cape Sounion in August last year : the queue to get into the Parthenon was horrendous, as all the tours from all the ships in port (about 5) arrived at the same time!. Our guide got into the enclosure a full 20 minutes before the final members of the group. It was too hot and crowded and all I wanted to do was get out again.

We then had an air conditioned coach trip to a bay side restaurant for a lovely dinner, and then a further trip to Cape Sounion, where it was hot, but breezy. We also were the only coach there (other coaches from our ship turned up as we were leaving, but saw no other ships excursions there).

There is not as much to see as at the Parthenon, but I felt I saw more of it simply because I was so much more comfortable and relaxed.

 

Karen

[Susan-M]

The weather might have a bearing on what you decide to do!

 

Karen

 

Karen - I agree. We spent a whole day (8 a.m. till 7 p.m) exploring on foot and by subway in September, when temperatures were mid-70's. With comfortable temperatures and being on foot, the traffic congestion didn't bother us - although I don't think I would attempt the same thing in 85+F weather.

We arrived at the Acropolis before the tours which made a big difference and left by 11 a.m. (when it seemed to be at its peak) to explore the rest of the sites.

 

I thought Athens would be one of my least favourite ports .... but it turned out to be a highlight.

[dbh62ark]

Steve, thanks for leaving the information on Corinth. Karen, we appreciate your tips on timing too (will be there in late May).

 

:) Donna

[KarenR_UK]

Steve, thanks for leaving the information on Corinth. Karen, we appreciate your tips on timing too (will be there in late May).

 

:) Donna

 

May should be better! September is fine in the Med, (North Western Italy was anyway), so I would expect May to be too (or at least not so bad).

 

In fact, given the choice, I don't think I would go to southern Europe again in August : I didn't enjoy Pompeii as much as expected because I was just so uncomfortable. I am looking to Venice for next year and while, on my chosen cruise line, most of them leave in July and August, I am hoping the May one there has been for the last couple of years will be available in 2008.

 

Have fun no matter what you decide.

 

Karen

[Hlitner]

I do not think a full-day tour to Sounion is worth the effort...unless you have already been to Athens and explored the cities wonderful sites. We have driven ourselves to Cape Sounion and actually loved the day, but we had a lot more fun than the long tour. The coastal road from Athens to Cape Sounion runs along the coast and we made a couple of swim stops when we saw some great beaches. After visiting Cape Sounion we drove back to Athens via some of the inland roads and stumbled on some interesting villages and caves during the drive (tours do not usually give you these options).

 

Hank

[Denn33]

For those recommending exploring Athens on your own for the day:

I am consideirng doing this and taking the train from Piraeus into Athens to see the Acropolis first thing in the morning. (We get to port at 8 AM and depart 8PM). (There's a description on how to get to Athens from Piraeus here: http://www.europeportreviews.com/Athens3.htm).

What would people suggest as priorities to see in Athens after the Acropolis that can be done in a reasonable amount of time?

[Hlitner]

Certainly spend some time exploring the Plaka and adjacent Syntagma Square (you can google for info on the "Changing of the Guard" ceremony. If the weather is too hot or you like history consider walking over to the Archeaological Musem. There is also some excellent shopping in Athens and my wife has been impressed by the high quality of many of the jewelry designs seen in the better shops.

 

Hank

[Susan-M]

What would people suggest as priorities to see in Athens after the Acropolis that can be done in a reasonable amount of time?

 

There are quite a few interesting ruins within a short distance of the Acropolis, such as

- Tower of Winds

- Temple of Zeus

- Ancient & Roman Agora

 

You can walk through the Plaka on your way to the Tower of Winds and Roman Agora. We also walked to through the National Gardens (not as nice as I thought they might be) to the Olympic Stadium (Panathinaikon).

 

Syntagma Square, where the Parliament Building and Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is, is also a popular site.

 

I found this map really helpful - each square is 1/3 of a mile, and if you click on the blue "P", it shows a picture and gives a description of the sites.

http://www.chem.uoa.gr/Location/AthensMap/Athensmap.htm

 

The directions to Piraeus train station are good http://www.europeportreviews.com/Athens3.htm, I would print it and take it with you .... we had good written directions, but somehow missed the right turn mentioned. Pictures would have helped a lot.

 

Re the subway, I thought it was worth transferring from the green line to the red line at Omonia, and then going 3 stops to the Akropoli stop ... it saved some walking from Monastiraki, the stop mentioned in the portreview directions - by getting off at the Akropoli stop, you'll be right there. You can get English maps in the subway station - as with all subways, you just need to know what the end stop of the line is so that you head in the right direction (except when leaving Piraeus, as it only goes in one direction from there.)

[NAS-KARR]

We did the Acropolis,Plaka w/lunch,changing of the guard,Olympic Stadium,Cape Sounion a Greek Bakery and stopping at an overlook on hwy too Souion all in a loooong day. It can be done with "no sweat".

 

Good Luck e CIAO,