Athens: First Entry Parthenon & New Acropolis Museum Guided Tour

Great guide enhanced our visit

Our guide Alex was knowledgeable and gave us a great insight into both the Acropolis and the museum. Our visit was so much more enjoyable because of his guidance.

An Early Start on the Acropolis

We met our guide Aristotle nice and early at the designated meeting point. As fortune would have it, my wife and I were the only bookings so our small group tour turned into a private tour, BONUS. It became apparent the we had hit the jackpot having Aristotle as our guide. His knowledge and passion for Greek history became apparent at the beginning of the tour. We learnt so much in our time with Aristotle about ancient Greek history and culture. My only criticism is that there appears to be more and more tour groups arriving early to avoid the crowds. Despite being early in the season, the crowds soon began to fill the main site. The early start does however give you the chance to enjoy the Parthenon and other sites on the summit of the Acropolis before the larger tour groups turn up. Descending from the summit and heading for the New Acropolis Museum, Aristotle explained the importance of various sites around the base of the Acropolis. Having visited the Acropolis previously at a later time when the crowds were huge, the early start is by far the better option and worth the extra expense. Plenty of walking so make sure you wear sensible shoes. A well organised tour with a wonderful guide. Efcharistó Aristotéli gia mia ypérochi méra

Excellent tour of the Acropolis and museum

Our guide Alex was fantastic. He gave us a lot of information in an interesting way. He even had many illustrations showing what the buildings would have looked like. He also had an interactive app that showed recreations of the sites we were looking at. We were lucky because there were only four people on our tour. Getting to the Acropolis early before most of the crowds was great.

Very Thorough

We met nearby the entrance 15 minutes before opening time. Our tour guide had our tickets in hand, gave us information about the tour, and guided us to the entrance line. We didn't "skip the line", but we had to wait only a few minutes to get in once the parthenon opened for the day. In the Parthenon, our tour guide was smart, thorough, and loud. We went at just the right pace to take things in but avoid the ever enlarging mass of tourists coming up the hill. The museum guided tour was fascinating and fun (and cool -- they had air conditioning). After it ended, we wandered around the museum on our own. I'd recommend this experience.

Not Skip the Line

Did the Pristine Parthenon: No-Crowds Acropolis Tour & Skip-the-Line Acropolis Museum Tour. Beware.- tour did not go right to the top and was slow to get to the entrance. Tour guide was not very good and very hard to hear. Would not recommend. Tour of Museum was very disjointed. Would be better to go there on your own.

Not worth it.

It’s not worth it. Barbara rushed us through the entire tour. We could barely get her to stop to take pictures. We had to ask for some free time to explore the Parthenon. She was unorganized, We could barely understand her even though they give you a headset, it wasn’t working half the time for the entire group. I would have learned more without having this guided tour.

Buyer Beware

From the description on the Walks site: "Your Acropolis Tour starts early when you meet your local guide and small group of no more than 10 people near the Acropolis and head inside just as the gates open" The tour was supposed to begin at 7:45 but our guide did not arrive at the meeting point until 8:00. There were definitely more than 10 people in our group--I think there were close to 20. We did not head inside as soon as the gates opened--it was past 8:30 when we finally began our ascent. I think you would be better off buying an audio tour (ClioMuse tours are fantastic) and heading up on your own. Sorry, I cannot recommend this tour. Side note: There is no way to post a review on the Walks site. I had to contact customer service and submit an email and I doubt the negative review will be published on their site.

Great experience

It is the best way to see the Parthenon and the museum! It was exciting to be the first one to enter the acropolis and our guide Maria made it come alive. The visit to the museum was the perfect continuation to the visit where one gets to have a full and comprehensive understanding of the history, art and geniuses that made it the epitome of classical age.

Perfect Acropolis Tour

From the time we booked through the end of the tour we could not have been more happy. I asked a few questions of customer service during the booking process. They were awesome to work with. Our guide was fantastic. Starting at the top gave us direct access and some amazing photos. As the tour progressed we had already covered the area without shade as it got hotter outside we were descending to the shadier spots. Starting early for the win. By the time it was too hot we were ready to enter the museum with air conditioning and our tour guide even bought us some waters at the cafe. Great storytelling, great insights and even our teenager enjoyed the tour. Overall amazing experience!

Poor Customer Service

The guide didn’t show up. I emailed, I phoned. I followed up with several emails requesting a refund. I phoned. I left several detailed messages. No response. I read some reviews reflecting similar experiences. The company response to the negative reviews is that they are short staff because of COVID. Viator, Toursbylocals and GetYourGuide seemed to have figured out how to navigate COVID; Take Walks hasn’t. I understand that COVID has been very disruptive to the tourism industry. But in the past two months I have taken tours by other companies that had to be cancelled due to low participation or times and dates changed and all the tour companies figured out a way to contact me and make any and all adjustments, including refunds. Take Walks is the only tour operator that has completely dropped the ball. I strongly advise against booking with this company; they don’t seem to have been able to make the necessary adjustments to current situation.

Great Pristine Acropolis with Babis

This morning Babis led us on an excellent tour of the Acropolis. He had tons of positive energy, and he wove together the stories and facts in an entertaining way. We would definitely go on another tour with him. FWIW we’ve also had really good experiences with Walks of Italy in Rome.

Excelente

Muy buen tour y la guía extraordinaria, conocedora, práctica, versátil, valió mucho la pena. El horario de la tarde es muy bueno.