Athens questions

[dickinson]

We are staying in Athens pre cruise.  We arrive August 30 and will sail September 2.  We have the 31st (Thursday) and September 1 (Friday) to see the sites.  Our hotel is The Athens Gate Hotel so is very close to the Acropolis.  My questions are:

 

1. Should we do the Acropolis on the 31st or the 1st?  I'm thinking to maybe go on the 1st in case we have airline issues and get in a day late.  We would book a walking tour in advance so we would have a guide. Our walking tour would also include the Acropolis Museum which I understand is about two blocks from our hotel.  Again, the guide would show us what is important to see in the museum.

 

2.  What else is important to see?  Are they within walking distance of our hotel?  What about Hop on Hop off bus?  Is there a stop near our hotel?  If so, is it hard to get on because it is so near to the Acropolis and crowds of people would try to get on?

 

3.  The hotel sent me something where I could tell them I wanted a taxi transfer from the airport (at a cost).  Is it better to go through them, ie less likely to be taken advantage of by the driver?

 

I'm sure I'll have other questions but that is it for now.  Thanks!

[enymarsh]

We were just there a couple of weeks ago.  We were walking distance to the Acropolis from our hotel and we found an awesome driver to take us to the ship pier:  NIKOS, +30 6907764126 (whatsapp)  He only charged us 20 euros and came early when we changed the time.  We had walked to the acropolis, spent a couple of hours there, then upon exit, realized we had spent too much time to go anywhere else and just wanted to get to the ship... we had set up a pickup time for 90 minutes later but he was there in 15 min. after we called... Nice man!!!

[enymarsh]

Just now, enymarsh said:

We were just there a couple of weeks ago.  We were walking distance to the Acropolis from our hotel and we found an awesome driver to take us to the ship pier:  NIKOS, +30 6907764126 (whatsapp)  He only charged us 20 euros and came early when we changed the time.  We had walked to the acropolis, spent a couple of hours there, then upon exit, realized we had spent too much time to go anywhere else and just wanted to get to the ship... we had set up a pickup time for 90 minutes later but he was there in 15 min. after we called... Nice man!!!

to add to my post... we found NIKOS because we had taken a day trip on a sailboat that went to three islands and it included transport from Athens to the boat... they had sub-contracted with him to pick us and a few others up.  He had shared his business card with us before leaving us at our hotel that evening.  I'd highly recommend that boat trip too btw, found it on another site.

[marazul]

22 hours ago, dickinson said:

We are staying in Athens pre cruise.  We arrive August 30 and will sail September 2.  We have the 31st (Thursday) and September 1 (Friday) to see the sites.  Our hotel is The Athens Gate Hotel so is very close to the Acropolis.  My questions are:

 

1. Should we do the Acropolis on the 31st or the 1st?  I'm thinking to maybe go on the 1st in case we have airline issues and get in a day late.  We would book a walking tour in advance so we would have a guide. Our walking tour would also include the Acropolis Museum which I understand is about two blocks from our hotel.  Again, the guide would show us what is important to see in the museum.

 

2.  What else is important to see?  Are they within walking distance of our hotel?  What about Hop on Hop off bus?  Is there a stop near our hotel?  If so, is it hard to get on because it is so near to the Acropolis and crowds of people would try to get on?

 

3.  The hotel sent me something where I could tell them I wanted a taxi transfer from the airport (at a cost).  Is it better to go through them, ie less likely to be taken advantage of by the driver?

 

I'm sure I'll have other questions but that is it for now.  Thanks!

Go to the Acropolis on Friday.  You will be over jetlag and ready to get up early to go there.

[luv2danc]

1 hour ago, enymarsh said:

to add to my post... we found NIKOS because we had taken a day trip on a sailboat that went to three islands and it included transport from Athens to the boat... they had sub-contracted with him to pick us and a few others up.  He had shared his business card with us before leaving us at our hotel that evening.  I'd highly recommend that boat trip too btw, found it on another site.

May I email you or you me, for information on what sailboat tour you used?

Thank you!

[enymarsh]

1 minute ago, luv2danc said:

May I email you or you me, for information on what sailboat tour you used?

Thank you!

Absolutely! If you're okay with posting your email, I'll email you the information 

[marazul]

12 minutes ago, luv2danc said:

May I email you or you me, for information on what sailboat tour you used?

Thank you!

Absolutely! If you're okay with posting your email, I'll email you the information 

-----

It is ok to post that info about the sailboat here.  It is a tour enymarsh has taken and can recommend it. Others might like it also.

Edited May 22, 2023 by marazul

[enymarsh]

Awesome!! 

 

It was called "All Day Cruise - 3 Islands to Agistri, Monica, Aegina with lunch and drinks"  I found it on TripAdvisor and it was wonderful! They picked us up fom our hotel and delivered us back... it went from 8am to 6pm, with pastries and espresso and juice in the morning and a great buffet lunch with drinks all day!  

 

 

[Torfamm]

On 5/22/2023 at 1:20 PM, enymarsh said:

we had taken a day trip on a sailboat that went to three islands and it included transport from Athens to the boat... they had sub-contracted with him to pick us and a few others up.  He had shared his business card with us before leaving us at our hotel that evening.  I'd highly recommend that boat trip too btw, found it on another site.

We took that boat trip yesterday. Spending a day enjoying the sun and sea breeze and having a swim in the Aegean was a great break from museums and archeological sites and the lunch was very nice.  I’d recommend it too!

 

https://www.alldaycruise.net/tour/unique-sailing-experience-to-agistri-moni-aegina/

[desertgrl74]

On 5/21/2023 at 12:49 PM, dickinson said:

We are staying in Athens pre cruise.  We arrive August 30 and will sail September 2.  We have the 31st (Thursday) and September 1 (Friday) to see the sites.  Our hotel is The Athens Gate Hotel so is very close to the Acropolis.  My questions are:

 

1. Should we do the Acropolis on the 31st or the 1st?  I'm thinking to maybe go on the 1st in case we have airline issues and get in a day late.  We would book a walking tour in advance so we would have a guide. Our walking tour would also include the Acropolis Museum which I understand is about two blocks from our hotel.  Again, the guide would show us what is important to see in the museum.

 

2.  What else is important to see?  Are they within walking distance of our hotel?  What about Hop on Hop off bus?  Is there a stop near our hotel?  If so, is it hard to get on because it is so near to the Acropolis and crowds of people would try to get on?

 

3.  The hotel sent me something where I could tell them I wanted a taxi transfer from the airport (at a cost).  Is it better to go through them, ie less likely to be taken advantage of by the driver?

 

I'm sure I'll have other questions but that is it for now.  Thanks!

My husband and I are on your AZ cruise and also at the same hotel pre-cruise.  I am unable to email you directly from this site, but I do have a question for you.  If you would, please email me at gwhelan209@gmail.com  Question about the Kusadasi stop.thanks

[dickinson]

1 hour ago, desertgrl74 said:

My husband and I are on your AZ cruise and also at the same hotel pre-cruise.  I am unable to email you directly from this site, but I do have a question for you.  If you would, please email me at gwhelan209@gmail.com  Question about the Kusadasi stop.thanks

 

Sorry, I am not on an AZ cruise (Azamira maybe?).  My cruise does not stop in Kusadasi.  

[desertgrl74]

1 hour ago, dickinson said:

 

Sorry, I am not on an AZ cruise (Azamira maybe?).  My cruise does not stop in Kusadasi.  

Sorry - my mistake  The pre-stay and embarkation and destination are exactly the same.  

Bon Voyage!

[dickinson]

27 minutes ago, desertgrl74 said:

Sorry - my mistake  The pre-stay and embarkation and destination are exactly the same.  

Bon Voyage!

Bon Voyage to you too!

[genealogyfan]

On 5/22/2023 at 3:08 PM, enymarsh said:

Awesome!! 

 

It was called "All Day Cruise - 3 Islands to Agistri, Monica, Aegina with lunch and drinks"  I found it on TripAdvisor and it was wonderful! They picked us up fom our hotel and delivered us back... it went from 8am to 6pm, with pastries and espresso and juice in the morning and a great buffet lunch with drinks all day!  

 

 

I was looking into taking this exact cruise, glad to hear you liked it. About how many people were on the boat? I liked the option of being picked up and dropped off at the hotels too.

[enymarsh]

17 minutes ago, genealogyfan said:

I was looking into taking this exact cruise, glad to hear you liked it. About how many people were on the boat? I liked the option of being picked up and dropped off at the hotels too.

So, the weather wasn't the best: cool, breezy, cloudy at times, but it was end of April so we expected as much.  But due to the date/weather, I think there around 25-30 people... but I think in season numbers would be more like 40+

There are shady spots as well as sunbathing areas, plus there's  a below-deck area with male and female bathrooms and a couple of bedrooms we used for changing.  Due to the cool temps, the sunny areas were crowded since it was too cold to stay in the windy shaded areas... this would be the opposite on a hot, sunny day!

[genealogyfan]

3 hours ago, enymarsh said:

So, the weather wasn't the best: cool, breezy, cloudy at times, but it was end of April so we expected as much.  But due to the date/weather, I think there around 25-30 people... but I think in season numbers would be more like 40+

There are shady spots as well as sunbathing areas, plus there's  a below-deck area with male and female bathrooms and a couple of bedrooms we used for changing.  Due to the cool temps, the sunny areas were crowded since it was too cold to stay in the windy shaded areas... this would be the opposite on a hot, sunny day!

Thanks for the info. I'll be in Athens at the end of Sept (not on a cruise). 

[Vineyard View]

Enymarsh did you get off on the islands or were you on the boat the entire time (except for that swim and how was the water late April).