Day trips from Athens
A Delphi day trip from Athens is a long day: 10 or 11 hours with the drive. Two guided tours make it, at $58 and $66 per person, and both take you to the Temple of Apollo and the Delphi museum with its bronze Charioteer. Here is how they differ, and which one to book.
Quick answer
The short answer. For most people, the Delphi day trip from Athens to book is the Arachova tour at $58 per person: 6,063 reviews at 4.6, the site, the museum and an afternoon in a mountain village. Pick the licensed-guide tour at $66 per person if you want the higher rating, 4.8, and more of the site named on the listing.
Two tours, side by side
Both prices are per person. Lengths and ratings are the live listing figures for each Delphi day trip from Athens.
| Tour | Price | Length | What you see | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arachova tour | $58 per person | 10 hours | The theatre, the Temple of Apollo, the museum, Arachova village | 4.6 · 6,063 |
| Licensed-guide tour | $66 per person | 11 hours | The Temple of Apollo, the Athenian Stoa, the museum, a taverna stop | 4.8 · 2,592 |
The Arachova tour
Delphi, its museum and a mountain village, in one 10-hour day.
At $58 per person, this is the lower price of the two and the most reviewed Delphi day trip from Athens on this page: 6,063 reviews at 4.6. It runs 10 hours and starts from an office about 3 minutes on foot from Acropolis metro station.
On the way north you cross the land of King Oedipus, whose fate turned on a message from the oracle, and stop for coffee in Livadia. At Delphi you see the theatre with the mountains around it, step onto the Temple of Apollo and hear how the old rituals worked. In the museum you meet the bronze Charioteer, the Naxian Sphinx and the statue of Antinoos.
Then the coach goes on to Arachova, a village of stone houses on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. You get time on your own for its streets, a taverna lunch and shops selling handmade textiles and local cheeses; the listing does not say lunch is in the price. The live guide speaks English and Spanish, with an optional audio guide in German, French, Dutch, Italian, Japanese and Spanish. The tour offsets its carbon emissions.
Hour by hour
The order of a Delphi day trip from Athens on the licensed-guide tour. The Arachova tour runs the same way, with a coffee stop in Livadia and an afternoon in Arachova village.
Meet the guide at the corner of Chatzichristou and Makrigianni Streets, 150 metres from Acropolis metro station. Look for the blue umbrella.
An air-conditioned vehicle crosses the Boeotia plains while the guide tells the myths of King Oedipus and of Apollo.
A guided walk to the Temple of Apollo and its oracle, the Athenian Stoa and the Polygonal Wall. The ground is uneven, with steps.
The Sphinx of Naxos, the statue of Antinous, the Siphnian Treasury and the Charioteer of Delphi. The listing says museum entry fees are paid on site.
Lunch at a traditional Greek taverna, at your own cost, and time on your own to look around.
Another drive of about 3 hours. The listing warns that traffic can change the timings.
The licensed-guide tour
A licensed guide, more of the site named, and a taverna stop.
This Delphi day trip from Athens costs $66 per person and is the better rated of the two: 4.8 from 2,592 reviews. The listing names a licensed guide who speaks English, and an air-conditioned vehicle for the drive.
It also names more of the site: the Athenian Stoa, the Polygonal Wall and the Siphnian Treasury, on top of the Temple of Apollo and the Charioteer. One honest note: the summary lists the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia, but the same listing says the tour does not visit it at present, for safety reasons.
As on any Delphi one day trip from Athens, the road takes a large share of the clock: about 6 of the 11 hours. The lunch stop is a taverna on the mountainside rather than a village afternoon, and the meal is not in the price. The tour runs rain or shine.
What you pay for
Each Athens to Delphi day tour here is sold with entrance tickets and without them. Check which option you are booking.
Both prices cover a live guide and the trip from central Athens to Delphi and back.
Without them, buy tickets yourself for the entry slot: 13:00 to 14:00 on the Arachova tour, 12:00 to 13:00 on the licensed-guide tour.
The licensed-guide tour says taverna costs are not included. The Arachova listing mentions a taverna lunch but not that it is in the price.
For youth or child tickets, the licensed-guide listing asks for a valid photo ID or passport; without it you may pay the full adult price.
Before you go
A day tour to Delphi from Athens is long. Four things to sort the night before.
Both tours meet a few minutes from Acropolis metro station, at different spots. Check the address on your booking.
The site has uneven ground and steps, and the licensed-guide listing asks for a moderate level of mobility.
The licensed-guide tour runs rain or shine, so dress for the day you get.
Both tours fill 10 or 11 hours, and traffic can move the return time.
Our verdict
Book the Arachova tour. Of these two, it is the best day trip to Delphi from Athens for most people: the lower price, 6,063 reviews, and a mountain village after the site and the museum.
Here for the site itself? Then the best Delphi tour from Athens is the licensed-guide one: rated 4.8, with a licensed guide and more monuments named, for $8 more per person. If you only have room for one Athens Delphi tour on a short stay, either gives you the oracle, Apollo and the Charioteer.
Book direct
Two ways to make a Delphi day trip from Athens, priced per person, then our top pick and the most reviewed catamaran from Alimos Marina.
★ 4.6 · 6,063 reviews
★ 4.8 · 2,592 reviews
★ 5.0 · 395 reviews
★ 4.9 · 675 reviews
Pair it with a boat trip
A Delphi day trip from Athens is mostly road; the next day can be sea. Our top pick, the catamaran with a Greek barbecue cooked on board, costs $191 per person for 5 hours from Alimos Marina, with two swim stops and drinks included. Compare it with the other nine catamarans in our list of sails.
Common questions
10 hours on the Arachova tour and 11 hours on the licensed-guide tour. The licensed-guide listing puts the drive at about 3 hours each way and warns that traffic can change the timings.
$58 per person on the Arachova tour and $66 per person on the licensed-guide tour. Both are sold with or without entrance tickets; without them, you buy tickets for a set entry slot. Lunch is extra on the licensed-guide tour.
Not among these two. Both are priced per person, and neither listing describes a private option. Check the options on each listing before you book.
Neither listing gives a group size, so we cannot promise a small group. The licensed-guide tour travels in an air-conditioned vehicle; check the details on the listing.
The reviews say yes: 4.6 from 6,063 on the Arachova tour and 4.8 from 2,592 on the licensed-guide tour. Expect about 6 hours on the road on a Delphi day trip from Athens, for the Temple of Apollo, the oracle and the Charioteer.
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