Katakolon - how much for a local tour?

[Jo and Rob]

Is it possible to pick up a local tour? Any idea of the cost? How much is a taxi to Olympia? How long does it take? We only have a half day and are wondering whether to stay local or venture out (travelling with our children 8 and 6). We are looking to go in October.

[onthebalcony]

There is more information below about Katakolon and tours in other threads.

This is what I found:

Rent a car for 40 Euros plus 10 Euros for gas. Additional 9 euros for Olympia museum and site.

Andreas Stamos: olympiataxis@yahoo.gr: sent email on 7/19/10 and awaiting for an answer on a private tour.

We usually do independent tours and not ship tours.

Our cruise is in Dec. so we are certainly off season so I assume you can get good rates with taxis.

[Fblack]

We just hired a taxi at the pier. Not the cheapest way to get to Olympia but convenient if you are short on time. There will be several taxis. You can negotiate a bit form one to the other. It's been 18 months since we went but I think it was 150 Euros or maybe a bit less for a 2.5 hour trip. We had a Mercedes E class that held 5. It's 35-40 minutes to the ruins. They drop you off at the ticket booth, you get a free map of the area when you pay, and then plan to meet the driver back at a pre-arranged time. There is a small museum about 10 to 12 minutes walk from the ticket booth.

 

I am not sure how your kids will like it. It's really just mostly piles of rocks. Nearly every thing has been knocked down. It's not like the Acropolis in Athens.

[Jo and Rob]

We just hired a taxi at the pier. Not the cheapest way to get to Olympia but convenient if you are short on time. There will be several taxis. You can negotiate a bit form one to the other. It's been 18 months since we went but I think it was 150 Euros or maybe a bit less for a 2.5 hour trip. We had a Mercedes E class that held 5. It's 35-40 minutes to the ruins. They drop you off at the ticket booth, you get a free map of the area when you pay, and then plan to meet the driver back at a pre-arranged time. There is a small museum about 10 to 12 minutes walk from the ticket booth.

 

I am not sure how your kids will like it. It's really just mostly piles of rocks. Nearly every thing has been knocked down. It's not like the Acropolis in Athens.

 

Thanks for the info that is exactly the sort of thing I was after. What about Katakolon itself, any recommendations?

[KirkNC]

There is more information below about Katakolon and tours in other threads.

This is what I found:

Rent a car for 40 Euros plus 10 Euros for gas. Additional 9 euros for Olympia museum and site.

Andreas Stamos: olympiataxis@yahoo.gr: sent email on 7/19/10 and awaiting for an answer on a private tour.

We usually do independent tours and not ship tours.

Our cruise is in Dec. so we are certainly off season so I assume you can get good rates with taxis.

 

We used Andreas last summer and he does a good job. He is not real chatty but still very pleasant. For the Olympia part of the visit, he is not really a tour guide, more of a taxi driver, he gave use a book with plastic overlays so when you looked at the ruins (and they are pretty ruined) you could understand what it looked like and a little about what it was. It worked fine but he does not "guide" you through Olympia. He does have a nice ride, A/C Mercedes.

 

After Olympia we had lunch, yum, and than went to the museum and an ancient stadium. According to my notes he was 140 euros for the day. There were three of us. Very relaxing, we enjoyed it.

 

Kirk

[onthebalcony]

Kirk,

Thanks for the info. We are only in port from 10:30 to 4:00 so we are limited on what we see. Waiting for a response from Andreas for a tour with 4.

Anne

[Fblack]

The town is about 100 yards from the ship. The taxi parking lot is between the ship and the town. It's not really a town. Almost looks like a Hollywood set built just for cruise ships. It's about 2 or three streets that are well under a mile long. Mostly little gift shops, restaurants etc. They have some nice places to eat right on the water so you can see the ship. Here are two photos of the town.

[Jo and Rob]

The town is about 100 yards from the ship. The taxi parking lot is between the ship and the town. It's not really a town. Almost looks like a Hollywood set built just for cruise ships. It's about 2 or three streets that are well under a mile long. Mostly little gift shops, restaurants etc. They have some nice places to eat right on the water so you can see the ship. Here are two photos of the town.

 

Thanks for the pictures, it is great to see photos of places.

[cruisemom42]

Kirk,

Thanks for the info. We are only in port from 10:30 to 4:00 so we are limited on what we see. Waiting for a response from Andreas for a tour with 4.

Anne

 

If you are in port from 10:30 to 4:00, seems like you would have plenty of time to take the train to Olympia. Very easy and inexpensive.

[agabbymama]

If the train is running. The day we were in Katakolon, we walked to the train station only to see a note that the train was not running, it needed repair.

 

So we walked the town, shopped, then headed back to the ship for lunch.

Total of maybe two hours in town. But by that time the taxi's were gone from the pier area. Had I known the train wasn't running, we could have taken a taxi. And I wasn't interested in renting a car ourselves.

 

It is a quaint little town though.