Athens...Plaka Market or Cape Sounion

We have Nikos of Private Greece Tours booked for a full day in Athens. But we have to decide if we would rather visit Cape Sounion or go shopping in Plaka. Unfortunately, there will not be time for both. Which should we pick and why? Thanks!

My choice would be Plaka, it's a vibrant, lively, fun part of Athens, with some pretty lanes to stroll around.

I'm not much of a shopper, and I find the Plaka very touristy for the most part. So my vote would be for Cape Sounion, if that is your only option.

BUT -- what else are you seeing in Athens besides the Acropolis? Are you going to the Acropolis Museum? To the Greek and Roman Agoras? Theatre of Dionysius? Temple of Zeus? National Archaeological Museum?

Seems to me there is plenty to do in Athens without leaving the city to to go Sounion....

We loved the Roman forum in Athens -it was more about daily life of the times. You can walk to the plaka from there. It is touristy -but lots of good cafes too.We did not find Cape Sounion to be spectacular.

Not sure of the big attraction of Sounion. Many years ago, having been to Athens (and other parts of Greece) quite a few times, DW and I decided to rent a car and drive down to Sounion. The drive down the coast was quite picturesque and we even stopped at a beach and went swimming in the sea. Once we arrived down at Cape Sounion the view was quite nice. The Temple of Poseidon was OK, if you like ruins...and worth a few minutes. Otherwise we thought it was rather ho hum. So we drove up a different route inland and stumbled on an interesting cave. My point is that if this is what you want to do with your day...go for it. Personally, we find Athens more interesting and there is a lot to the region that is foreign to most cruisers. For example. the train line that connects Pireaus to Athens is the Green Line. If you were to continue on this line right through Athens and to the end of the line you come to the suburb of Kifissia which is a very wealthy part of the region with excellent high end shopping. But cruisers (and most tourists) will run to the Plaka (we enjoy the Plaka) to shop in an area that has a lot of touristy shops mixed with a few decent boutiques. But if you truly are looking to shop, have your guide take you to a better shopping neighborhood then the Plaka. In fact, if you were to ask a professional guide to list the 10 best shopping places in Athens...we suspect the Plaka would not be on the list. Personally, if we were to choose a shopping neighborhood closer to the center of Athens it would be the Monistiraki neighborhood. It is a fun area with some interesting shopping.

Hank