Opinions of privategreecetours

[littlemimi]

We used Private Greek Tours for our day in Athen in May 2011. Making arrangements with them was very easy and they were waiting for us at the pier. Our driver, Mikas, was incredible. He was very easy to understand, passionate about "his" Athens and fun. Of all of the tours we took, our day in Athens with this tour company was the best.

[rckar916]

We used Private Greek Tours and had a great experience. Nikos communicated thoroughly with us prior to our visit and knew just we wanted. We were not disappointed.

We were able to see the ancient city of Corinth and then be able take in Athens with no problem. After visiting the Acropolis we decided we wanted the driver to take us on "his" tour of Athens and it was wonderful.

I would use them again and recomment them to any of my friends traveling to Athens>

[discovertheworld]

After checking out the reviews from the other Cruise Critics members on this company, we decided to use them for our May 2011 full day tour in Athens for a party of 8. From the early stage of my inquiry to the week of the departure for our trip, Nikos has been very prompt in his responses.

 

We were not disappointed when we met him upon the arrival at the port. He is friendly, speaks good English and professional. The air-con van is clean and comfortable. We saw lots in one day. It all depends on how much you want to see and do. My party all had a great time in Athens.

 

I have no hesitation in recommending Nikos for your private tour in Athens.

 

Joyce

[elndz]

We just returned from our 12 night Ruby Princess cruise to the Mediterrean. This being our second time in Athens, we opted for the Fort Sounion and Athens tour offered by Private Greek Tours. From start to finish, Nikos Loukas responded quickly to my emails. We wanted to see beyond Athens, and our tour guide Frank, and driver George, made our wishes a reality. The tour was customized to our desires, which is why we go the private route. Thanks to Cruise Critic, we were able to reduce the per person charge by finding another couple to join our group of 5. Nikos was very specific in his instructions on what to do upon disembarking the ship. It was reassuring hearing a good recommendation about him from one of his competitors when we had to call him upon reaching the meeting point. The tour was a positive learning experience thanks to our knowledgeable guide, Frank. Private Greek Tours offers a variety of tours. I look forward to venturing out even further the next time I visit Greece.

[seaofwonder]

I was on an E. Med cruise through Royal and booked with Nikos. I was in charge of booking this port for a group of 18 (all people we met on our M&M thread here on CruiseCritic).

 

Anyhow, Nikos was VERY responsive to all of my emails. He responded quickly with rates for an all day Athens cruise. When I needed to add more people, he was very quick to confirm and provide updated rates.

 

As for the actual tour:

 

We paid for the all day Athens tour with a private guide. For 18 of us it was somewhere around 900euros (approx.). We got off the ship a little early and our guide + driver were already waiting for us. Our guide was Gabrielle and her English was impeccable. Turns out she was originally from Germany and had been in Athens for the last 10-20 years.

 

Anyways, she was more than accommodating. She asked if we wanted to do the Acropolis in the AM with bigger crowds and cooler temps, or the PM. We chose the AM. In addition, there were a few of us who wanted to do the Acropolis Museum (which I highly recommend) and she was able to do this. Portions of our group had longer shopping in the Plaka and the rest of us went for a guided tour of the museum.

 

If I was ever returning to Athens on a cruise, I would use Nikos in a heartbeat!

[wantocruisemore]

My family just returned last night from a wonderful cruise on the Navigator. On July 6th we had Nikos for our driver and Anna for our guide for our group of 9. We had a perfect day!!!! The ONLY blip was that when I exited the ship first thing I was shuttled to a different terminal and when the rest of my group got off 20 min. later they were told both terminals were open. Thanks to George the taxi driver and another they used their phone to call Nikos and he changed over to the terminal we were at. Other than the initial confusion caused by both terminals open, everthing was PERFECT!!!!

 

We got to the Parthenon before the bulk of the crowds although it was still crowded. They had closed the gates as we came down so we missed the big rush. Anna was great for our group and told us a wealth of information. A couple members of the froup were really tired so we did the driving tour around Athens and up Lycebatus (I know I messed up on the spelling) Hill instead of to the National Archeological Museum. Next was lunch in the Plaka and then the Agora and the temples there. Members of the group really wanted the changing of the guard so we did that. My husband collects Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts so Nikos stopped for us to run in for some. We then had a wonderful tour of the Acropolis Museum which we loved.

 

After saying our good-byes to Anna Nikos showed us the replica of a Greek fighting ship that had been built near the harbor. We got back to the ship with 15 min. to spare.

 

WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL day with Nikos and Anna. I'm so glad we were with them and can recommend them highly!!!

[BklynBorn47]

Just echoing the praise of Nikos Loukas by Wantocruisemore. We had almost the exact same experience.

[Gracie115]

My family just returned last night from a wonderful cruise on the Navigator. On July 6th we had Nikos for our driver and Anna for our guide for our group of 9. We had a perfect day!!!! The ONLY blip was that when I exited the ship first thing I was shuttled to a different terminal and when the rest of my group got off 20 min. later they were told both terminals were open. Thanks to George the taxi driver and another they used their phone to call Nikos and he changed over to the terminal we were at. Other than the initial confusion caused by both terminals open, everthing was PERFECT!!!!

 

We got to the Parthenon before the bulk of the crowds although it was still crowded. They had closed the gates as we came down so we missed the big rush. Anna was great for our group and told us a wealth of information. A couple members of the froup were really tired so we did the driving tour around Athens and up Lycebatus (I know I messed up on the spelling) Hill instead of to the National Archeological Museum. Next was lunch in the Plaka and then the Agora and the temples there. Members of the group really wanted the changing of the guard so we did that. My husband collects Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts so Nikos stopped for us to run in for some. We then had a wonderful tour of the Acropolis Museum which we loved.

 

After saying our good-byes to Anna Nikos showed us the replica of a Greek fighting ship that had been built near the harbor. We got back to the ship with 15 min. to spare.

 

WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL day with Nikos and Anna. I'm so glad we were with them and can recommend them highly!!!

 

 

WOW !! This is so great to read another review from you on a tour operator that we are booked with for our Sept. cruise. Glad to hear they did such a great job, kind of thought they would as all my communications with them via email have been great. Thanks for the info, yet AGAIN!!:):D

[mmcdeb]

During our recent cruise on the Celebrity Equinox, we booked a full day tour through Nikos and toured with Alex. I cannot imagine a better experience. We were met at the ship and driven everywhere in an air conditioned Mercedes sedan that was new and spotless. In one day we went to virtually all the ancient Greek sites, the Presidential palace, the Plaka, and both of the important museums. Alex was a wonderful host and did an excellent job of filling us in on Greek history from ancient times to the present, scheduling the stops along our way in close to chronological order so we would really appreciate everything we saw. The day couldn't have been better and the price value was excellent for an 8 hour tour.

[jesse]

This was our second trip to Athens, and booking Private Greece Tours with Nikos was the best thing we could have done. Not only did we always get excellent, fast responses, I had also made a special request and Nikos dug in and researched for me, and got me the answers I needed. He went above and beyond what I ever expected. Our tour guide was Steven, and we had a fantastic day, so much more of a positive experience than the first time we were in Athens. I did get a chance to speak to Nikos as well, while we were there, and the group of us, all 15, just loved the day. We went to unique spots, learned so much, stopped for fun drinks here and there, and the kids were accomodated as well. We had a fantastic lunch and overall, Athens turned out to be one of our highlight days on our 12 day cruise. Thanks Nikos! I highly recommend him.

[SDakota Cruiser]

Another option for you is Dennis at www.toursofathens.com. We used him last May and plan to use him again. If you are shopping for a private tour, check out his website. A couple of my personal pictures are used on it!

 

Hi Sioux City Sue,

 

I'm from Sioux Falls, SD. I'm in the process of putting together a tour with Dennis to tour both Ancient Athens and Cornith on Aug.13th. We'll be on a 20-day cruise in the Mediterranean aboard the Holland America Noordam.

[globalhoneymooning]

Sounds like Private Greece Tours is a great company to deal with. Our cruise ends in Athens and we will be staying there for 2 days. Has anyone booked a tour with Nikos and been dropped off at a hotel at the end of the tour instead of the port? I suspect it wouldn't be an issue, but curious if anyone used them upon disembarkation.

[nana629]

We recently (June 2011) booked a full day tour with Private Greece tours on our day in Athens from our Celebrity cruise. Our guide was "Tom" and we had a great day! He met us promptly and took us straight to the Acropolis. We were amazed how uncrowded it was--until we left and saw the crowds approaching. Tom had gotten us there before eveyone else. In fact, we saw some cruisers from our ship that had taken a cruise tour and they were just arriving as we were leaving. And so went the rest of the day. He got us to the Presidential Palace right before the changing of the guard. All we had to do was step out of the car and start taking pictures. It was a wonderful day as we saw everything on our list plus some. Tom was a very helpful and informative guide. We would HIGHLY recommend this company.

[wantocruisemore]

Sounds like Private Greece Tours is a great company to deal with. Our cruise ends in Athens and we will be staying there for 2 days. Has anyone booked a tour with Nikos and been dropped off at a hotel at the end of the tour instead of the port? I suspect it wouldn't be an issue, but curious if anyone used them upon disembarkation.

 

 

We did Athens as a port stop but Nikos and I were talking about his other tours to outside Athens that he offers, like Cape Sounion. When I told him I wanted to come back to stay longer he said he would be glad to help and work something out. And he had some contacts on a couple of the other islands if we wanted to do the island ferry hop. So, it sounds like it would not be an issue at all.

 

Nikos was wonderful for the day. You cannot go wrong with him or his company.

[Esojac]

Nana629 - did you also hire a private guide? I booked with Nikos for our group of 6 for September 2011. I'm just trying to decide if we want to spend another $50 per person for a guide.

[torybruno]

Another recommendation! Our day was amazing in Athens.

 

We had booked with Nikos Loukas of privategreecetoursdotcom for our cruise last month after contacting several companies I read about on cruise critic. He was very good about answering questions and emailing responses.

 

Our driver was Alex. He did an amazing job. Both of my sons (21 & 16) are into soccer and so was our driver, so besides his knowledge of the city of Athens, there was a lot of soccer talk. We were in Athens the day before the two day strike. My son kept asking him to read the signs from the protesters. We had a list of what we wanted to see, and we did it all, with a bonus trip to an amazing lookout of the city of Athens at the end of the tour.

 

Alex met us at the ship. We were there on a Monday so the museum was closed, but honestly, I don't know how we would have fit it in. He took us to all the sights, timed the changing of the guards perfectly so we didn't have to wait around, was very mindful of how much time we could spend at each attraction. Gave us shopping and lunch time at the Plaka, and stopped at an amazing bakery for baklava before we headed back to the ship.

 

I was impressed Nikos called Alex while we were touring and asked to talk to us to make certain everything was going well.

 

I would highly recommend Nikos with privategreecetours.

[Railer]

These recommendations make me happy. We have Private Greece Tours booked for the end of our cruise for three days. First day from ship, tour Athens then drop off at hotel. Next two days to Corinth and Delphi. He has been very quick to respond to my questions but I'll have to let everyone know my opinion of their tours when we get back from Greece mid November.

 

Russ

[candr]

We also booked through Nikos. We had been to Athens three times before and had seen most of the sites. On this trip we wanted to see the highlights again and the Agora and the new Acropolis Museum and to do it all with the comfort and security of having a private car and driver and the ability to go at our own pace.

 

Our driver was Alex who was outstanding. He gave us the same information we would have gotten from a guide except that he couldn't go into the sites with us. Instead, before we got to each stop he gave us the history and other background and then loaned us guidebooks to take with us to the site if we wanted. He spoke English fluently. We assumed he had lived in the US but he said he had not. Parts of the city were going to be closed off in the afternoon for a demonstration, so Alex suggested we change the order of our itinerary so we would get to see everything we wanted. That worked out great. It resulted in our going to the Acropolis around 1 PM, instead of the first thing. It was hot, but there was a breeze and there were few tourists, so we saw much more than on prior trips when it was very crowded. A real highlight of the day for us was the new Acropolis Museum which was excellent and very comfortable. What an improvement over the old museum. We highly recommend it.

 

The car, a Mercedes, was very clean and comfortable and at every stop Alex told us exactly where he would be when we were ready to move on. At one of the stops on the tour Nikos came by to introduce himself to us and make sure we were happy with everything. Alex took us to an area near the Agora where there were several choices for a nice outdoor lunch. Alex got us back to the ship at the time we requested. On the way back, he stopped for us at a safe ATM so we could get cash to pay for the tour.

 

We can't say enough good things about Alex and Nikos' company. Despite some concerns about the situation in Athens when we were there, we felt completely safe and secure the whole time.

[picesfl]

Hi

Read all the valuable information and want to thank everyone.

We are a group of 10, Celebrity November 2011.

Can you give me an idea of the approximate cost of his private tours.

Thanks so much

[quanmama]

Hi

Read all the valuable information and want to thank everyone.

We are a group of 10, Celebrity November 2011.

Can you give me an idea of the approximate cost of his private tours.

Thanks so much

 

You should email Nikos and ask for a quote (not sure if we are supposed to discussed prices here on this forum). Nikos is very responsive and prompt with his emails. Our group of 11 just booked a tour for June 2012. We are all happy with the price quote given. I am sure you will find it affordable too.

[cyberfive]

We recently sailed on the Ruby Princess and used Nikos Loukas as our guide. He was wonderful. He is very knowledgeable and he timed the tour so we could see changing of the guard. It was fantastic. We wanted to have a guide with us at all times so he arranged one for us. She was very well versed and could answer all the questions we had. We had 10 people in our group which was a nice size. We were all very happy with our wonderful day. Thank you, Nikos. We hope to see you again!!

[Froggitt]

+1

 

We had a driver called George booked thru Nikos and PGT......very knowledgable, excellent English, and couldnt fault the day.

 

Had a comfortable air-conditioned Mercedes van, and the A/C really was needed after walking down from the Parthenon.

[globalhoneymooning]

So far so good...I have been exchanging emails with Nikos and he is very responsive and kind.

[zeenichka]

We used Private Greece Tours in Athens and we were very pleased with the whole arrangement.

From the initial contact with Nikos, to the booking of the tour, and finally taking the tour it was all hassle free. There were 7 of us and we all enjoyed the tour very much. Our guide was Maria and she was knowledgeable and very pleasant. Our driver (Unfortunately, I can't remember his name) was very good and professional.

When we go back to Greece I will use Private Greece Tours again.:)

Zina

[themnms]

after reading all the great reviews we booked him for next June. I think we have a total group of 24 at the moment!!