The Acropolis is the easy part. Then come the islands.
Which caldera cruise actually stops to swim. What the boat out to Balos costs. Whether Delphi beats Meteora when you only have one spare day. Reviews of every tour you can book in Greece.
The Acropolis, a deck on the Aegean, Balos, Meteora.
The four bookings a first Greek itinerary hangs off. What each one costs, and what the people who took it say.
01The first morningAcropolis & up to 5 Archaeological Sites Combo PassFive ancient sites on one timed pass. Take the earliest slot, before the cruise groups reach the gate.
02The day on deckBrand-New Catamaran Cruise with Meal, Drinks & TransportA catamaran out of Mykonos with lunch and drinks on board. The splurge the rest of the week gets planned around.
03The Crete boat dayFrom Kissamos Port: Boat Cruise to Balos Lagoon & GramvousaThe lagoon at Balos, sailing from Kissamos port. The photo that talks everyone else into coming next year.
04The inland dayMorning Half Day Sightseeing and Monasteries TourMonasteries on rock pillars, half a day out of Kalabaka. The one argument for leaving the coast.
Athens first, then whichever islands your ferry reaches.
The rock and the food streets under it, a caldera that empties into the sea, two Cretan coasts, a walled town in the Dodecanese, the windmills, the Venetian lanes. Six starting points, and the best day out in each.
In Greece the good day usually starts at a jetty.
Caldera catamarans that stop long enough to swim, the Kissamos boat out to Balos and Gramvousa, sea caves off Zakynthos where the water turns electric under the arch. More of this country is reached by hull than by road.
Athens: the rock before ten, everything else after.
Everything in Athens →
Climb while the marble is still cool, then drop into the Plaka lanes, the covered market and a rooftop with the Parthenon lit over dinner. These three carry more travellers than anything else in the city.
Combo pass, or just the rock
One pass covers the Acropolis plus the Agora, Hadrian’s Library and the rest. Worth it if you are staying three days, overkill if you are off on the morning ferry.
The Acropolis Museum, done properly
The Parthenon frieze is laid out on the top floor at the height it was carved for, with the real thing framed through the glass behind it. Go after the climb, not before.
Varvakios market, then the mezedopoleia
Through the meat halls and the spice lanes, then a run of small plates around Psyri where the wine is poured from the barrel and nobody hurries you out.
Greece’s most popular days out.
Every Greek tour we have reviewed →The tours more travellers take than anything else in the country, and what earns each of them the slot.
1
Acropolis & up to 5 Archaeological Sites Combo Pass
Review of Athens’ Acropolis combo pass, with five ancient sites, audio guides, flexible entry, practical tips, and value advice.
From · $48
Read our review →2
Acropolis Ticket with Optional Audio or Live Guide
3
Acropolis, Parthenon & Acropolis Museum Guided Tour
from $40
4
Cape Sounion & Poseidon Temple Sunset Half-Day Trip
from $23
5
From Kissamos Port: Boat Cruise to Balos Lagoon & Gramvousa
from $47
6
Acropolis and Parthenon Guided Walking Tour
from $38
7
From the Port of Kos: Full Day Boat Cruise to 3 Islands
from $35
8
All Day Cruise -3 Islands to Agistri,Moni, Aegina with lunch and drinks included
from $180
Santorini is a sunset with a queue. Book around it.
Oia at seven is shoulder to shoulder. The caldera from the water is not. Neither are the Assyrtiko vines on the flat southern side, or a photographer on an empty church terrace at first light.
Every Santorini day out →
Crete is a country doing an impression of an island.
Two coasts, a gorge that takes a full day on foot, a pink-sand spit at the far west and Europe’s oldest palace an hour inland from the ferry. Base yourself in Chania or Heraklion; the rest is driving, or somebody else’s minibus.
- 1From Kissamos Port: Boat Cruise to Balos Lagoon & Gramvousafrom $47
- 2Day Trip to Agios Nikolaos and Spinalonga Islandfrom $44
- 3Full-Day Samaria Gorge Trek Excursion & Guidefrom $41
Caldera catamaran, sunset ketch, or the Balos ferry. Pick your deck.
The water is the point of a Greek summer. Three kinds of sailing day, what it costs to board each one, and which island it fits.
What a day in Greece actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by what it costs. A good number of the best Greek days come in under the price of dinner.
Old-town walks, site entries, olive-oil tastings and the short hops out of the ferry ports.
The full-day standards: caldera catamarans, the Balos boat, Delphi and Meteora by coach.
Private guides, chartered sailing days and the once-a-trip splurges that earn it.
Three things that only happen in Greece.
Ruins and beach clubs exist all round the Mediterranean. Monasteries on rock pillars, a sea cave that glows, and thirty feet of silk over a whitewashed terrace do not.
The Meteora Monasteries
Six monasteries stand on sandstone pillars above the Thessalian plain, reached by steps cut into the rock. Monks went up in the fourteenth century for the quiet and the safety, and hauled everything else up in nets. Each house closes on a different day of the week, so the order you see them in is not really yours to choose.
- 1Meteora Sunset with Monastery & Hermit Caves Tour in Small Group★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 706 reviews
- 2Meteora Small Group Hiking tour with Transfer and Monastery Visit★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 484 reviews
- 3Morning Half Day Sightseeing and Monasteries Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 478 reviews
The Blue Caves
At the northern tip of Zakynthos the limestone is undercut into arches, and the sea throws light back up into them until the water reads as neon. Small boats go inside when the swell allows. Morning is the hour: by mid-afternoon the sun has come off the angle and the colour drains out of it.
- 1Shipwreck Beach with Blue Caves Land & Sea Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 3,774 reviews
- 2Zakinthos: Shipwreck Beach and Blue Caves Land and Sea Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 3,359 reviews
- 3From Corfu Island: Antipaxos & Paxos Blue Caves Boat Cruise★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 2,963 reviews
The Flying Dress
Somebody in Oia worked out that thirty feet of silk over a whitewashed terrace photographs like nothing else, and a whole industry followed. Shoots run at sunrise for the empty lanes and the soft light, the dresses come in every colour, and the wind does most of the work.
- 1Santorini 2h Private Flying Dress Photoshoot with Transportation★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 357 reviews
- 2Exclusive Santorini Flying Dress Photoshoot with Pickup★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 336 reviews
- 3Flying Dress Photoshoot in Santorini by Flying Dress Photo ©★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 137 reviews
Four Greek bookings that will not wait.
Most of this country can be arranged from a taverna table the night before. These four run on entry slots, boat timetables and calendars that take no interest in when your flight lands.
- 01Acropolis & up to 5 Archaeological Sites Combo PassEntry runs on timed slots with a cap on each one. The early morning slots, the only cool ones, go first.
- 02Shared Mykonos Sail Cruise to Delos and Rhenia IslandsNobody stays overnight on Delos. Boats run to a fixed timetable and the last one back is not negotiable.
- 03Full-Day Samaria Gorge Trek Excursion & GuideThe gorge opens roughly May to October and shuts whenever the rain makes it dangerous. Out of season there is no walking it.
- 04Full-Day Bus Trip to MeteoraEach monastery keeps its own closed day. Turn up on the wrong one and you are looking at it from the road.
When the meltemi blows and the marble is too hot to stand on.
July and August do two things. The afternoon sun makes any open ruin unbearable by noon, and the meltemi cancels boats out of the Cyclades at short notice. Both have the same answer: go early, then go under a roof. Cellars, kitchens, cool galleries and a shaded table.
Tavern crawls, cooking lessons, cellars dug into pumice.
Half of Greece happens at the table. Book the market walk before the heat, the class that ends as lunch, the tasting that finally explains Assyrtiko.
By place — mainland and islands
By kind of day — boat, ruin, kitchen or road
Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Crete: the run almost everybody does first.
Cape SounionThe newest Greek tour reviews.
The rest of the new ones →
Private Delphi and Hosios Loukas Monastery – Great Lunch and Drinks Included
Read our review →
Half Day Trip To Cape Sounio/Poseidon Temple Semi Private
Read our review →
Day tour to Ancient Olympia,Ancient Sparta Mycenae Including Meal
Read our review →
Athens Half-Day Private Tour Acropolis, Parthenon City Highlights
Read our review →
Biblical Ancient Corinth Canal Epidaurus Nafplio Private Tour
Read our review →
Ancient Corinth Half Day Private Tour from Athens
Read our review →
Corinth Half-Day Trip from Athens with Entrance Tickets
Read our review →
Corinth Canal Cruise, Ancient Corinth & Acrocorinth Private tour
Read our review →
4-Day Greece Highlights Tour: Epidaurus, Mycenae, Olympia, Delphi and Meteora
Read our review →
Athens Greek Cooking Class Pita Gyros from Scratch with a Local
Read our review →