Best Day Trips from Athens

Athens rewards two or three days of walking, but the country around it is what most visitors remember. These are the day trips that work best from the city, with an honest note on what each day asks of you.

Cape Sounion and the Athens Riviera

The shortest and easiest of them. You drive south along the coast, and at the end of it the Temple of Poseidon stands on a cliff above the Aegean. Best in the late afternoon, timed so you are at the temple as the light drops. Add a swim or a seafront dinner on the way back.

Mycenae and Nafplio

Cross the Corinth Canal into the Peloponnese for the Bronze Age citadel of Mycenae, then finish in Nafplio, an elegant seaside town of Venetian fortresses and marble streets. A full but comfortable day, and the best single introduction to the Peloponnese.

Delphi

The longest drive of the group and worth every kilometre. The sanctuary is built into the side of Mount Parnassus above an olive valley running to the sea. Allow a full day, and stop in the stone village of Arachova on the way back.

Epidaurus

The ancient theatre has acoustics that are genuinely startling — a coin dropped in the orchestra can be heard from the top row. Usually combined with Mycenae or Nafplio rather than visited alone.

Evia

The island you reach by bridge. Green, mountainous and quiet, with beaches that see a fraction of the island traffic of the Cyclades. A good choice if you want a day by the sea without a ferry timetable.

Corinth and the canal

The narrow 19th-century cut through solid rock is a short stop rather than a day, but it fits neatly into any journey into the Peloponnese, and ancient Corinth is close by if you want more.

Choosing between them

If you have one day, take Sounion for the coast or Mycenae and Nafplio for history and a town to walk in. If you have two, add Delphi. Driving privately means you set the departure time, which on these routes matters more than anything else — see our private tours.