Athens - Hop-On Hop-Off Bus - any recommendation?

[VitaminSea53]

We are in Athens for one day (Celebrity Cruise) and think the HO-HO bus will show us the sights. I see there are 3 HO-HO bus companies.  Does anyone have experiences with any of them?

[rocketman03]

We normally like HO-HOs, but in Athens we ended up going private with PK Travel and had an excellent time in Athens and the surrounding area. https://www.pktravelgreece.com/

[KBrote]

I have read over and over not to do the Hop on Hop off bus in Athens. We have used them in other cities, like Barcelona, where they are very useful. Athens is extremely walkable with most sites within an easy walk of each other. Plus traffic is bad and many of the sites are not accessible by cars or busses. Better to look for walking tours or self walking tours in a Rick Steve's book. Or just google Athens tours. Try Trip Advisor Travel Forums for Athens and click Things to Do. They show many tours of the main sites. I would definitely skip the bus in this city. We will be there for 4 days pre cruise in October and have walking tours lined up along with many museum visits. The museums will likely take up about 3 hours each do the bus wouldn't help with that anyway! Happy planning?

[Lois R]

46 minutes ago, KBrote said:

I have read over and over not to do the Hop on Hop off bus in Athens. We have used them in other cities, like Barcelona, where they are very useful. Athens is extremely walkable with most sites within an easy walk of each other. Plus traffic is bad and many of the sites are not accessible by cars or busses. Better to look for walking tours or self walking tours in a Rick Steve's book. Or just google Athens tours. Try Trip Advisor Travel Forums for Athens and click Things to Do. They show many tours of the main sites. I would definitely skip the bus in this city. We will be there for 4 days pre cruise in October and have walking tours lined up along with many museum visits. The museums will likely take up about 3 hours each do the bus wouldn't help with that anyway! Happy planning?

Hi, to say not to do the HO/HO bus is kind of a broad statement, in my opinion. I will be in Athens next month but will only have a 1/2 day pre cruise and I plan on taking the bus tour. I travel solo and it will be easier for me to pick up the bus tour rather than trying to find a private tour guide for that same time frame. There is a bus stop right near my hotel.  

I have gone on them in other cities, Vancouver for example and found it a nice, inexpensive way to kill a few hours. 

Now, maybe for multiple days? You can find a good private tour guide that will charge you a good price for all those days. 

But I would not tell folks not to do the Bus Tour. I know Rick Steves stuff and don't always agree with him. 

[KBrote]

Sorry if my previous post came off the wrong way. I have used the Hop On Hop Off busses in many cities as well. They can be extremely useful and I would highly recommend them in many cities. But I have heard from many, many fellow travelers that they are not helpful in Athens. Only because all the main sites that are of most interest to tourists are all within walking distance to each other. And some are located on pedestrian only streets where the busses cannot go. So I am only echoing what others have recommended. Get to the city center and take a self guided walking tour or book one of the many half day walking tours with Athens Walks or Athens Walking Tours. There is also a free city tour given by www.athens-free-tour.com that is supposed to be very good.  

[WI Badger Fan]

My wife and I were in Athens in 2018 and used the Hop-on/Hop-off bus and did find it useful.  It saved us a lot of steps and we did frequently get off the bus to see points of interest.  As I recall, they also included a pretty reasonable map that helped us get to where we wanted to go.

[KBrote]

Great. I am happy to hear you found it useful. I guess if you want to save steps it could be a good option. I like walking miles each day...allows me to enjoy the food on my vacation a bit more! 

 

[rpetrillo]

How far is the cruise port to any of the major sites? I see that the HO-HO bus has a line that stops at the pier 

[Cru-Zin]

About 8 miles.

[drew69]

Honestly, we always avoid HOHO buses.  You end up stuck in traffic, barely able to glimpse anything, and spend the day with only other tourists with no flavor of the city.  A full day Athens transport pass for metro/tram/buses is only about 5EUR.  the metro can get you into Athens from the port and the major sites are not only within a few blocks of each other, but also not easily visible from the streets the HOHO buses need to use so you will see little of the true highlights of Athens on them.

Better to use public transport and walk and really experience the city

[cwistyred]

Used the HOHO in Athens in April. Found it remarkably convenient as we bought the tickets and caught the bus right outside of the ship.  Went to many areas of the city and then caught the bus back to the ship. I think the system in Athens was very well run.YMMV

[auburngirl]

On 7/29/2023 at 11:23 PM, cwistyred said:

Used the HOHO in Athens in April. Found it remarkably convenient as we bought the tickets and caught the bus right outside of the ship.  Went to many areas of the city and then caught the bus back to the ship. I think the system in Athens was very well run.YMMV

Did you buy your ticket there or online before you went on the cruise?  What sites did you enjoy the most and which ones to avoid?  We are going in November.  Thanks!

[irishgal432]

On 3/11/2023 at 10:30 AM, rocketman03 said:

We normally like HO-HOs, but in Athens we ended up going private with PK Travel and had an excellent time in Athens and the surrounding area. https://www.pktravelgreece.com/

Thank you for this recommendation!  We are trying it out in September.  did you do the full day or the half day?

[rocketman03]

@irishgal432  We did the full-day Athens & Corinth tour with a driver and guide. We left the port area and went straight to the canal, then Corinth, then the Acropolis, time for lunch (on our own but with suggestions) and then a drive around the city including watching the changing of the guard before returning to our ship.

[irishgal432]

21 hours ago, rocketman03 said:

@irishgal432  We did the full-day Athens & Corinth tour with a driver and guide. We left the port area and went straight to the canal, then Corinth, then the Acropolis, time for lunch (on our own but with suggestions) and then a drive around the city including watching the changing of the guard before returning to our ship.

Thank you!  We will do the full day!