Athens tour guide question

[Profguy]

In case you were wondering if there are two great companies, they are one and the same. Sounds like the only question is which guide is the best! (Dimitris:))

 

Actually, there are three in the same, as they also use the name Athens Private Walking Tours. I vote for Athanasia as best guide...I am biased, as she gave us our tour. :D

[itstoffee]

One more big applause for PK Travel and their wonderful tours. We were met on the dock by Nick and were blessed to have a knowledgeable driver/guide take us on an unforgettable half day tour of Athens. Everything mentioned in the above accolades are true and then some! Anyone booking a tour with this company will be fortunate enough to see a piece of Greece through the eyes of a passionate native. Well done and a big thank you!

[shar257]

We booked a full day Athens tour with PK Travel for 6 of us and one was in a wheel chair during a Disney Cruise. From the initial e-mails to the day of the tour, customer service was friendly and responsive. Billy was waiting for us when we got off the cruise ship, and he was very gracious to show us the city he loves. He was actually born in the New York but moved with his family back to Athens as a boy. We were able to see so much more and learn so much more than going on our own or doing a cruise excursion. Billy was very friendly and informative. He took us to all the main sites, provided information before we went in to each site, brought us to a lovely restaurant for lunch and shopping area. We booked private tours in each port, and we all agreed that our day with Billy was the best!

[antonietta22]

A lot of people recommend PK Travel to us. We booked an excursion with PK Travel in Athens on November 12, 2012 when I was cruising with Celebrity Equinox last year. We started to contact PK Travel (Potoula) in August 2012 and she was very helpful to put our sightseeing wish list into our one day travel in Athens. She even advised us to start an early day @ 8 am so that we did hit the rush hour. Her immediate response to all my emails had impressed me a lot. Some travel agents will not respond to you immediate but to wait for a few days. By then you may want to switch to somebody else.

 

We were group of 10 persons, Potoula gave us a minivan for 12 at the cost of 350 euros and allowed us to take up 2 more persons at the same costs. These two persons just needed a ride to Acropolis and Dimitri did not charge us extra. This costs included everything but tips extra. Which we were more than happy to tip our driver Dimitri.

 

Dimitri was a wonderful driver and gave us a lot of background information on our way to Acropolis. He knows the city very well and speaks fluent English. The minivan is very comfortable and has air- condition. Dimitri drove us closiest to Acropolis and waited for us to come down after our tour. Then he brought us to the other sites and waited for us while we enjoyed our picture taking. During lunch he dropped us close to the Agora that we can have lunch at the Plaka area. Believe it or not, our lunch was only less than 4 euros with gyros and drinks. Very cheap. Finally, he brought us to the dock safely on time and we missed our driver Dimitri very much.

 

Many thanks to Potoula and Dimitri. All the best to the business and we will recommend you to our friends for sure.

 

:)

[5030340]

This family run company was first recommended by my parents, who used them in May, 2012. Their wonderful experience was confirmed by many TripAdvisor reviewers, so I booked our tour. Potoula was responsive to my emails and made the booking process go smoothly. Nick, our wonderful driver/guide, made our day in Athens fun and easy! He was friendly, extremely informative, and navigated us easily and comfortably though this large city. We asked him to show us the highlights, as well as attractions not on the full day itinerary. He had no difficulty fitting everything in, and we never felt rushed. We appreciated that he took us to the Acropolis early in the morning (by 8:00) to avoid the crowds and the heat. I highly recommend this well-run and reasonably priced company!

[CruiseVirgin!]

Not sure that I can really add any more to the rave reviews below but we, too, had the same excellent experience! Why just take a cab from the port when you can organise a brilliant private tour as well and get so much more out of the experience?

 

Potoula from PK Travel was fast and friendly in all our email communications prior to our trip and we thought that 150 Euros was well spent for over 5 hours of personal chauffeuring and guiding round Athens for the four of us - two adults with a 15 and 12 year old.

 

We found our friendly driver, "Jimmy"/Dimitri, to be the perfect gentleman who calmly and efficiently took us round the sites of the wonderful city without rushing us but ensuring that we were able to make the most of our cruise's day stop. His extensive knowledge of the history and mythology of all we saw (his memory for all the dates and statistics is awesome) meant that we really didn't need a licensed tour guide and could soak up the sights and atmosphere in a more relaxed way. For memory refreshing and identifying the different structures at the Parthenon when Jimmy was waiting outside we had downloaded an iPhone app which was helpful but not essential.

 

Apart from the Acropolis we also saw: The Temple of Zeus, The Panathenaic Stadium (the original stadium built in the 1863 for the first modern Olympic games in 1896), The Hill of Lycabettous, the Changing of The Guards, the Plaka, and the Agora. For 12 Euros each we got entry to the ancient sites (not the Olympic Stadium) and kids under 18 were free so it seemed reasonable value.

 

We also enjoyed chatting with Jimmy about the economic issues facing Greece at the moment and parted having a far greater insight into Athens and Greece than we would have got from a ship's tour. We left feeling we had made a firm friend who we would certainly try to book if we were in Athens again, perhaps for a longer trip out of the city to Delphi. PK Travel are well recommended!

[ReturnCruiser]

We just returned from our Celebrity Reflection cruise to Italy and Greece. We used PK Travel in Athens for the three of us. Dimitris was our driver and he provided a great deal of information about Greece and Athens. He also had a terrific knowledge of the narrow streets of the Athens central district.

 

It was great having having convenient (and cool) transportation readily available and the sharing of national, local and historical information during our visit. We recommend PK Travel for a great option to a cruise ship tour of Athens.

[retiredmls]

We joined a cruisecritic group for an Athens tour with Greek Taxi Tours (PK Travel). Paul was our driver and Athanasia our tour guide. Of the 3 private tours we took (Athens, Ephesus & Santorini), this company was by far the best. Both Paul and Athanasia were extremely knowledgeable and best of all, understandable. I could not imagine touring either the Acropolis or the Acropolis museum without a guide. Athanasia was so good, a non-group family followed us around to listen to her narrative. (they should have given her a tip). A perfect ending to the day was the fact that there was no pressure to go shopping (unlike Turkey). We were given the opportunity to be dropped off at the Plaka, but we declined. Great company, memorable experience.

Edited September 15, 2013 by retiredmls

[Opal91086]

We booked George's Taxi based upon both cruise critic and trip advisor reviews and were not disappointed. I used the George's taxi website to make initial contact. After that, contact and confirmation by email was easy. We even received a thank you from Nicholas, George's son, following our tour.

 

George was waiting at the pier in a Mercedes for the four of us. We were traveling with my sister and brother-in-law and each couple was given an Athens guidebook - a nice touch!

 

George spoke excellent English, was interesting, entertaining, accommodating and gracious. We started off getting coffees at a local shop that gave us warm pretzel type bread. It was delicious.

 

We saw all of the usual Athens wonders and they were breathtaking. He drove us up to the highest spot and the panoramic view was exquisite. George brought the past to life with his knowledgable discussions.

 

We requested a stop for lunch. We wanted a local place, not a tourist trap. We were so happy with our meal!!! We were served about 6 or seven traditional dishes, two salads on the house, a couple of beers and a half carafe of wine made by the proprietor's father - total cost for all four of us 40 euro! Loved loved loved this meal. One of the highlights of our trip for food.

 

George let us walk across the street to buy baklava!

 

What can I say, this was a wonderful and memorable day. ( we did take about an hour at the end for shopping.)

 

I don't think Athens could have been covered in one day as we did without George.

[celebrity]

We joined a cruisecritic group for an Athens tour with Greek Taxi Tours (PK Travel). Paul was our driver and Athanasia our tour guide. Of the 3 private tours we took (Athens, Ephesus & Santorini), this company was by far the best. Both Paul and Athanasia were extremely knowledgeable and best of all, understandable. I could not imagine touring either the Acropolis or the Acropolis museum without a guide. Athanasia was so good, a non-group family followed us around to listen to her narrative. (they should have given her a tip). A perfect ending to the day was the fact that there was no pressure to go shopping (unlike Turkey). We were given the opportunity to be dropped off at the Plaka, but we declined. Great company, memorable experience.

 

We also used PK travel 2 weeks ago. We didn't have a separate guide, but our driver George was extremely knowlegable and we thoroughly enjoyed our day. We were at the Acropolis before all the tour busses arrived, saw Olympic Stadium, the changing of the guard, shopped in La Plaka and much more. I highly recommend booking with them.

[momo09]

We used PK Travel (aka Greek Taxi Tours) about a month ago when we were in Athens.

 

From my initial query with Potoula to the day of the tour with Dimitri, my experience with PK Travel was fantastic. I wanted to make sure we made the most of the day in Athens and Potoula was very helpful in suggesting an itinerary to meet my requirements (basically see as many sites as possible with time for lunch).

 

Dimitiri picked our group up promptly at 7:30 which ensured that we were one of the first groups to arrive at the Acropolis. Not only were we there before the crowds and before it got really hot, we managed to stay ahead of all the big bus tours all day. He was very personable and informative. We didn't find that a tour guide would've added much more to our experience. He suggested changes to our itinerary throughout the day (to avoid crowds at the sites, traffic due to a strike and timing). We ended up at the New Acropolis Museum instead of the National Archaeological Museum at his suggestion and everyone on the tour agreed after that it was the better choice. Dimitri was also very accommodating in pointing out a local gyro stand and making an extra stop for us to get baklava on the way back to the port.

 

I would definite recommend PK Travel. They took very good care of our group from beginning to end.

[timnicsholiday]

We arrived in Athens on a cruise ship on Sept 28' 2013 and were met at the port by Nick right on time. We were immediately impressed by his professional appearance and clean Mercedes taxi. What we were expecting was just to be driven around the sights of Athens but Nick was able to speak with great knowledge and passion not only about his city, but also it's history and also its way of life. We took the full day Athens tour as it was our first time to Athens and would highly recommend it to other cruise passengers who are conscious of time or those seeking great value for money. It was a full day but it was broken up by a fantastic lunch of Greek culinary delights and more than enough time to explore each sight. We are a family of four from Australia and Nick was able to make sure our teenage children also appreciated what they were visiting and explained it in a way they easily understood. In booking our tour we dealt by email with Nick's sister Potoula who was very responsive and of great assistance. Overall we could not fault this tour and would strongly recommend it. If only all the taxi tours we undertook during this cruise were as professional as Nick and PK Travel - but then again PK travel is probably more than a taxi business.

[thuyronald]

Hi All,

 

Our group of 14 did a private tour of Corinth, Mycenae and Nafplion from Pireaus last month (Oct 2013) and used the service of PK Travel.

 

I can not recommend them enough. As others have said, their service was exceptional, from the prompt email replies (thanks Potoula) to the punctual greeting at the port and the day with Paul our driver and Georgia our guide. Everything went as planned and could not have been better.

 

Thank you PK Travel for making this trip back to Greece a wonderful one. We will definitely use you again, without any hesistation.

 

Twee

[I-Cruiser]

Like so many others I have the highest praises for Athens by Taxi aka PK Travel.

I used them for a full day tour with a guide in Athens.

We were met 15 minutes before our meeting time by our guide and driver.

The car was very comfortable for the 11 of us with lots of space.

Our guide Georgia was very knowledgeable and new everything there is to know about Athens, the mythology etc. I am still amazed:)

The booking process was easy and dealing with the office was fast and efficient.

You can tell that the company take great pride in their work.

I will for sure use them again.

[DDuck58]

Based on good reviews of PK Travel, I decided that this would be the best way to see Athens for my mom (90 years young) and myself when our ship (Celebrity Silhouette) docked at Piraeus on September 30, 2013. All communication was done via email and it worked like a charm! Potoula was a great help sorting everything out for us. She was always very prompt and informative. The excursion was tailored to the sites that I was interested in and I was able to spend as much time at each site as I wanted. We started out at 7:30am and were at the Acropolis in good time before it got too warm. Our driver was Macos and he was great. We had a lot of fun with him. He was able to fill in details about the sights that we saw. In addition, I made use of Rick Steves' wonderful audio tour guides and Tom's Port Guides. Having our own mode of transportation was ideal for my mom - no climbing in and out of buses. Would definitely do this again, if we are ever back in Athens! Thank you Paul, Potoula, and Macos for a fantastic excursion

[dolfans0704]

We are looking forward to our tour with PK Travel in May. We have arranged 2 groups of 16 from our Roll Call based on the wonderful reviews on CC and must agree with others that Potoula has been great with addressing all our questions. Very much looking forward to our upcoming tour! :)

 

 

Dolfans from Miami

Edited November 5, 2013 by dolfans0704

[law@115]

We used PK travel a couple of weeks ago. First to get from the airport to the hotel and then next day for tour and transfer to the port. Highly professional organization. Prompt, informative and pleasant folks. My group of 4 would certainly use Nikos as our driver for a next visit to Greece.

[Pickaway Cruiser]

I'm adding a comment since it's always good to hear updated opinions. We toured Athens with Dimitri of PK Travel on October 24, 2013. It was great. We had a roomy minivan (there were 8 of us from the Sunshine). Dimitri was waiting on us in the morning and dropped us off in plenty of time. Dimitri knew everything about Athens! The historical sites are amazing, and we had plenty of time to enjoye them all. I compared notes with someone who took a 'large bus' tour and the people on that tour only had drive-by's of a lot of what we got out to see. Those large busses really have a challenge in Athens. We were totally thrilled with our tour.

[2travel4life]

We toured Athens on August 12th, 2013. We had a wonderful private guide. He actually preferred that we not post his name, but I hope everyone had/has as fantastic a time as we did!

[juliana1027]

We booked a 6-7 hour tour of Athens On Oct.30 2013 We PK tours. There were 12 of us. The limo van was great and I recommend the tour.

[StartrainDD]

We had an amazing day in Athens with Billy, son of George the famous taxi driver of Athens last week during our Constellation cruise. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g189400-d1905851-r133929535-George_s_Taxi_Private_Day_Tours-Athens_Attica.html

 

Here is my log for the day:

 

WOW! An incredible day in Athens began early with a 6:30 breakfast meeting followed by our group of twelve gathering at Café El Bacio at 7:15. All arrived promptly and we left the Constellation. We were shuttled by port bus to the terminal. Exiting the terminal we found a few drivers but not “Billy,” our pre-arranged driver. It was 7:28 and our meeting time was 7:30. I checked my phone and sure enough I had a text from Billy that he ran into unexpected traffic and would be there by 7:35.

 

A very short time later Billy came running up all apologies. He confirmed we were all present, and ran back to get his Mercedes Sprinter mini-bus. We all boarded the very comfortable bus and Billy gave us the plan for the day. Our first stop was to be the Acropolis. Billy was able to drop us off at an entrance that actually “Saved” us more than half what the climb would have been if we had taken the metro or a public bus into town. He gave us a lot of information on Athens during the drive into to town, and explicit directions on buying the Acropolis entry tickets and not to lose the paper ticket as it would also be used for sights later in the day. We prepped our MP-3 players and I-Pods that we had pre-loaded with Rick Steve’s audio tour.

 

We followed Billy’s instructions and were quickly climbing the hill. We first saw Mars Hill, the outcropping on which the Apostle Paul preached. We next saw the Arena of Herodes, which is still used today for concerts and artistic presentations. Then we turned a corner and witnessed the magnificent Propylaea, or the “Grandest gate ever built.” Many photos were taken and we all were amazed at the incredible structure and also what a marvelous day the weather had given us. This was certainly the “Clearest” day so far. Not a cloud in the crystal blue sky. Continuing with our climb through the Propylaea, we reached the summit and beheld the Parthenon, or actually, the Temple of Athena Nike. Athens is named after the goddess Athena, the patron of the city, and goddess of wisdom.

 

The temple has been in the process of being rebuilt with the original stones since 2001, when it was completely disassembled. The hope of the Greek government and EU (who is footing much of the bill) is that when complete the temple will be ready to last another 2,500 years. In our photos scaffolding can be seen from some angles and I actually shot some video of a crane moving a large section of stone into position.

 

Not much less impressive was the Porch of the Caryatids, part of the Erechtheion. This structure was perhaps more prestigious that the Parthenon in its day. Even here, on ground with over 2,500 years of history, more recent history was made as the Greek Flag flies on the far end of the Acropolis. This flag can be seen from almost everywhere in Athens and when the ****s occupied Athens this flag pole became the first rallying point of the resistance.

 

We gradually descended from the Acropolis to meet Billy at the designated 10:00 AM meeting time. This was just the right amount of time, not too little, nor too much. Next Billy drove us to the ruins of the Temple of Zeus. These are the highest historic columns in Greece, at 15 meters. A handful of columns remain, the rest having been scavenged over the centuries for “Recycling” in other buildings. The ruins only hint of what must have been an incredible structure.

 

After the Temple, we made a quick photo-stop at the all-marble “Modern” Olympic stadium, built in the 1800’s. This stadium, built entirely from white marble, is still used and in fact was being prepared as the finish line of the Athens marathon just two days later.

 

Next we climbed Lykavitros Hill, to the highest point in Athens. From here, we could take photos looking down towards the Acropolis, and got a good bird’s eye view of the sprawling city.

 

The Ancient Agora was the next stop on our whirlwind tour. Billy left us here for two hours, the idea being one hour to tour the Ancient Agora and another hour or so for lunch. It took almost exactly one hour to tour the Ancient Agora using Rick Steve’s audio tour. The highlights were the museum and the Temple of Hephaistos (a.k.a. the Theseion), one of the best preserved temples, being built in 450 BC. Another building just too inspiring for superlatives.

 

Lunch could be quite another story, but one left for telling at another time. Suffice it to say that for a very reasonable cost, all were fed with authentic Greek dishes.

 

Billy picked us up at 1:30 for the 15 minute drive to Syntagma Square, for the changing of the guard ceremony in front of the Greek Parliament building. When we arrived, there were two guards at their post, but also about 1,000 pigeons all over the ground. We watched some people feeding the pigeons, and others letting pigeons rest of the heads, shoulders, and arms. We wisely kept our distance – although this did prompt us to think that the Parliament may be “For the birds.”

 

The ceremony was very interesting and caught on video. After this brief stop, as discussed during our drive, Billy split the group up. Seven of us went to the Plaka, or “Central market” for an hour or so of shopping. Five of us went to the Acropolis museum to enjoy the highlights of this truly world class museum in one hour.

 

At 3:30, the pick up being made at the museum, Billy began to return us to the ship. He had one question for us? Would we like to visit the best bakery in Athens for Baklava (or whatever we wanted?) It was directly on the route. All agreed, and what a great bonus stop this was. Most everyone seemed to buy something, and they even had Gelato. Outstanding Gelato – the best I’ve ever had. During the drive back to the port, Billy told us that the bakery had won the Europe-wide competition for the best Gelato. They use only natural ingredients and no preservatives.

 

We returned to the port and said our goodbyes to Billy, one of the greatest guides ever.

Edited November 15, 2013 by StartrainDD
Add space for easier reading

[ehc]

I booked with PK travel three times, first two times were only for airport to port transfers, last month booked with them for a day tour, PK is a very reliable and great company, will use them again in the future

[loufred]

I can't recommend PK Travel enough! Potoula always got back to me within 24 hours, and was incredibly accommodating when people were added, then subtracted, then added again to the tours on our recent Mediterranean cruise. Plus, the full day tour of Athens was great value for the price, and everyone raved about tour.

[Cat48]

I read about PK Travel/Greek Taxi Tours on Cruise Critic & Tripadvisor and began communicating with Potoula in April, 2013 for our October, 2013 cruise. We were a group of 8 and they answered all of our questions, helping us to plan for our full day in Athens and gave us very specific instructions on meeting our tour guide when we got off the ship, for our tour in Athens.

Demitris was there when we came out of the port terminal at 7:30am with a sign with our name on it and a great big smile on his face. We began our day’s journey in a very nice Mercedes mini bus for 10. The eight of us were so comfortable, it was the best vehicle we had on all of our private tours!

We got to The Acropolis and were dropped off really close to the main gate. We had plenty of time to tour this amazing site and take plenty of pictures. As we were ready to leave to meet Demitris, where we had been dropped off, it was unbelievable how many people were coming in to tour. We had to really navigate our way out with all the people coming in. So glad we took their advice and got to The Acropolis early and were able to enjoy it!

We continued with our tour as Demitris continued to tell us about all the amazing sites we were seeing and then gradually, we arrived at the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier, just as the changing of the guards began. We were all able to get off and we got such great pictures.

We were then driven to the Plaka neighborhood and there we toured the Agora ruins, did a little shopping and had a wonderful lunch in a little restaurant that Demitris recommended.

On our way back to the cruise port, Demitris stopped at this wonderful Athens bakery, “ Konstadinidis”. The baking area was all open and you could see the bakers actually creating all the wonderful Greek pastries. We had the best Baklava ever!

So glad that we booked a private tour and that we chose PK Travel. It was an amazing day! Thank you, Demitris for all your great suggestions and for your expertise in timing our tour so that we saw the most of Athens in our, One Day Tour, that was a very special day! We were back to our ship, Carnival Sunshine, with time to spare……….

[talentscout16]

deb kadaner

 

8:40 AM

 

 

[/url]

 

To: PK Travel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From:deb kadaner (debkadaner@hotmail.com)Sent:Fri 1/31/14 8:40 AMTo: PK Travel (pktravel_greece@hotmail.com)

 

 

 

 

 

.ExternalClass .ecxhmmessage P {padding:0px;}.ExternalClass body.ecxhmmessage {font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri;}Our driver, Demtrius picked us up at the cruise terminal and whisked us off to the Acropolis describing what we were passing along the way. We were the 1st ones at the ticket booth and some of the 1st to ascend the Acropolis that morning. One of our group stayed back and had a nice time waiting for us in the most comfortable minivan. When we descended we ran into ship tours and were so thankful our driver got us there on time. Next we climbed Philopappos Hill and then went over to the Athens Center Market (our driver found a space for us to rush in, look around, buy something and head on to our next site). We had a lovely day and saw the changing of the guard/Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Old Palace, a great view of Athens from Mount Lycabettus, the synagogues which we were unable to get into, Temple of Zeus, Panathenaic Stadium where we experienced the fully marble bathrooms, the GReek Agora

where we had lunch in a phenomenal restaurant, and climbed to theTemple of Hephaistos. I got to walk around the Plaka while my friends rested. Our final stop was a bakery and what a treat that was. A great day was had by all and we are returning in March to do this again. Thanks Potoula too.