Athens Shore Excursion: Athens and Piraeus Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour

Don’t use if you’re a cruise passenger!

Do not take this bus if you arrive by cruise ship. Take an Uber , it’s faster and cheaper. You do not have enough time to tour Athens as a cruise passenger in one day. Trust me. It took us an hour by this bus to get from cruise terminal and only 20 minutes back by Uber. It was a huge waste of money.

Some good, some terrible!

The bus fundamentally worked as it should but there were things that were not well thought out. The decals plastered on the windows impede your ability to see out of the windows on a sightseeing tour! Also, we were returning to the cruise terminal. We were at Terminal C and the first stop was Terminal A. The driver did not announce the Terminals and we got off at the first. We waited over half a hour for another bus which did not come so we began walking. The walk to our Terminal had us walking on a pedestrian walkway on the highway!! Did I mention it was 42 degrees Celsius, which is 107.6 degrees Fahrenheit?. A scorcher of a day!!! When I got back to the ship I learned that other buses did announce the Terminals and the ships docked at those terminals. That would have been so helpful

Great option

A great way to get around Athens and see the many historic sites and beautiful architecture. We did 2 lines which worked out great to get downtown from the port after our cruise.

Hop on hop off bus tour of Athens and Piraeus.

It was wonderful to hop on the bus and go around to Athens and and Piraues, both beautiful cities with such rich history. The audio guide was very detailed. Thank you! Only other feedback is that the stops weren't very clear in the tour description. Luckily we asked the hotel for some direction and were happy that the bus left from in front of it.

Duped Bus Never Showed Up

This was a miserable experience. Bus never showed up and I have not been reimbursed for the trip. We were at the cruise ship terminal and the bus never showed

Great way to see the city

We used the hop on hop off for two days. It was a great way to see the city and had a good location to our hotel.

Just okay.

It was okay. Hard to follow the audio because had to figure out what talking about as went. If you are just using it as transportation, it would be fine. Walking lets you see more

Great option if short on time

Great option to all see all of Athens sights, with 4 different routes and drivers and staff very helpful at all Major stops

Avoid - Dishonest or severely undertrained employees

After lengthy discussion with employee at one location that ticket was good for Athens a Piraeus lines ended up finding out that it was not so had to pay to get where I was going. Can’t tell you if it was just the employee or this is how they operate. I have previous had great experiences with hop on and hop-offs. I think I have written one other review in my life but can’t stand dishonesty.

Another great experience with hop-on hop-off buses.

We purchased the three-day hop-on hop-off pass including Piraeus and Athens. We loved that we could split the days up and use the pass for two days prior to our cruise and one day after our cruise. The buses run frequently in Athens. For Piraeus, the buses run frequently when cruise ships are in port. On other days, the buses run in the afternoon. it wasn't an issue for us, but others may find it inconvenient. We had no complaints with the buses. The drivers were great, and the buses were clean. We have used hop-on hop-off buses in many locations around the world and highly recommend them to explore cities.

Nothing to complain

We were very suspicious because of the many critical reviews. We booked the tickets in advance, took a tour on Sunday and all was good. The representative at the bus stop recommended us which stop to switch best, also the driver gave some tipps and the bus was equipped with everything you would expect from a hop on tour. So nothing to complain from our side.

Best thing to do for a stay in Athens! Highly recommend

What a great way to see a lot of Athens in a short time we loved how easy it was to hop on and off and enjoy the sightseeing. All the staff are really friendly and welcoming. Thanks

Hop on Hop off

All three lines were good. We preferred the main acropolis route. Do it first thing upon arrival and you will get a good understanding of what there is to see.

Convenient and checked the boxes

Typical Hop Off Hop Off experience. Convenient for cruisers and a good alternative to overpriced similar activities booked through cruiseline. Great way to see the tourist highlights of Athens in limited time.

Convenient and fun!

This was so convenient! We traveled by cruise and it made it so easy to see Athens and get around the city in the limited time we had.

Avoid catching buses in Athens.

Getting stuck in Athens traffic. Not having bus drivers or any Viator assistants who spoke English, and therefore give adequate advice. Not having suitable and clear directions on their bus stop signage maps as well as their roadside signage.

Review of Athens hop on hop off bus tour

Excellent way to visit Athens! Bus was clean and highly recommend it! We were able to see all the sites easily!

Athens

Stopped at the Temple of Zeus and walked over to The Acropolis then walked around the area and the Hard Rock Cafe and the Flea Market. Took the bus back to the pier.

Convenient city tour

Convenient hop on & off bus to main atrractions in Athens! Good audio explanation along the way! Would recommend to those who want to explore the city!

Great views from top

Great way to see the city without a big price tag. Picked up the bus at our port terminal rode it to all the sites. They were very helpful. Got ya back to ship on time.

Disappointing

Fairly boring & repetitive - lots if traffic jams - better / faster to walk around - busses back to port only once an hour so make sure you allow enough time to get back to your ship!

This was the best of both...

This was the best of both worlds: the information of a guide through the headset, and the freedom to explore at our own pace. It was particularly good that the company has a representative at each stop - makes it so much easier to plan and replan your trip in real time. A very time-efficient way to explore Athens without too much pre-planning.

Perfect way to get around

It was the perfect way to get around Athens. I would definitely recommend it to anyone. Hit all the sights.

Easy way to learn more about Athens

Getting to know the city and some of its history better and how to navigate through the various districts and streets

Excellent and reliable.

Every time we travel abroad specially in Europe, we find it very convenient to take the HOHO bus to any tourist spot in any country. I recommend to take one of these buses anywhere in the world. The convenience of not worrying about the transportation from your place to any tourist destinations at your pace and time is worth the time and money.

See lots of city sights in the distance, get off whenever desired, low price but too crowded, hot, runs late

Love driving around to see all the sights and being able to get off the bus where you want for a low price, but you do have to sit on the top level to see most Athens sights in the distance. But the bus is way too crowded and it was hot. At the A1 stop on a Saturday in Sept, we had to wait an hour after checking in to get on a bus - 3 completely full buses came late, not on schedule, and left with no or very few people getting off so few new people could get on. It took more than 2 hours to go around the city to see 14 of 15 stops. They advertised 1 hour 20 min to 1 hour 50 minutes.

Great way to get around poor frequency

Easy to buy and use online tickets. September bus frequency was not ideal. Green line pick up at the port, but then ended in the city center. It was confusing as to what bus to get on to go to the main attractions. We actually ended up walking and never got on the bus again. Very disappointed.

Don't do it!!

Driver was super rude as soon as we got on, did not give up Map, headphones, or the promised complimentary drink, then went two stops and stopped in a terrible spot for ever! When passengers asked why we were not moving, driver said he was taking a 15 min break We've done these tours in many countries but this was the worse!!. I Paid for 2 people for 3 days, didn't even complete one loop.. want my money back.

Bus day from cruise port

Great hop on hop off bus! Picked us up at the port right when we got off the ship which was very convenient. Loved that it had so many stops and was easy to use

The bus drivers weren’t...

The bus drivers weren’t particularly friendly and the bus route was confusing as there were 3 different routes. It felt like a bit of a shambles which was made worse as we were on a shore tour with limited time.

Convenient and easy way to see Athens

Great way to view Athens. Convenient to jump Off and on the bus when required. We bought a 24hr pass and used it to go to all the sights we wanted and the bud went right past our hotel which made it easy!

Great experience

The hop on hop off was a nice experience, we were in a Cruise and didn't have to much time to see Athens and this was the best decision, I recommend this to everyone

very convenient - hits all the major stops!

My family of 6 used the Hop-on-Hop-Off bus to visit Athens during our 1day cruise port. There's three bus lines, and its' easy to locate the bus stops and areas to transfer. Buses run right to the Acropolis and Olympic Stadium, plus lots of other museums and historic sites. Seem to run every 15 minutes (I believe theres 9 buses on each route so you needn't wait very long for the next one). A great way to see the city if you only have a day to visit.

Tourists for a day in our city!

We were tourists for a day in our city! We had friends visiting from Australia and we joined the on the Athens tour as they came just for a few hours with a cruise ship!

best way to see Athens

Kostas was our wonderful driver that had all the history and all the stories and gave us a comprehensive tour of Athens and surrounding areas and included everything on our list plus more. it was such a pleasure to spend our day touring around this historic place in the comfort of his air conditioned luxury car where he knew all the quickest routes to all the places on our list and all the latest information and reputable recommendations. if we could rate higher than 5, we would give him a solid 10!!! thank you Kostas, for making our short time in Athens so special and so safe and so educational and complete…All of your suggestions were Great!!

Get around Athens easily

Hop on hop off made getting around the city so easy. The Parthenon was AMAZING!!! Don't wear cheap flip flops on the slick marble.

Great way to see the sights

Great way to see the city & decide where you want to have a look around. It was also a good way to get your bearings

Lost and confused

The bus ride was bumpy and we were confused about the places to go. No directions were available. Wish we knew which way to go.

Not able to go

We were not able to go because our flight arrived late to the terminal and the bus had already left.

Mostly positive experience, except extra screening for people of color

Most of the experience was positive. Drivers were helpful and buses arrived promptly. However, screening on Saturday (more crowds) seemed "extra" for people of color to board the bus. Brown people tickets were scrutinized, which dates, amounts paid, etc. were thoroughly examined--"others" were just waved through with a glance. I attempted to flash my tickets like others, when I was prompted to STOP MA'AM while my ticket was inspected, make sure I had paid making it clear that I needed extra scrutiny.

best way to see a lot and decide where you want to spend more time!...loved it!

Great way to see many sites and have the option of seeing / exploring them more when you first see them or going back later. The whole "hop on - hop off" hop back on...etc is brilliant, fun and easy.

Couldn’t hear the recording. Very unpleasant experience.

It was impossible to understand the English audio recording. It was a very heavy British accent. The volume didn’t work. We had no idea where we were or what we are seeing and the bus had to stop recording very red lights we kept making circles. It was not a good experience.

Athens

This is the best way to get an overview of a city and hit the highlights. The guides at the stops are super friendly and give excellent recommendations.

Great Way to See City - Near Port Stop

Great way to see the city and decide where you want to visit. Conveniently located close to port. Headset narrative was helpful.

Good way to see the city

Overall good, beach line was more worth than the city tour but good way of transportation, city was really crowded but we traveled in July

Great way to see Athens

We thought this was brilliant. A great way to see Athens. Searing heat when we were there so you need the canvass top. I was amazed at how many were wide open top. Empty of course. The bus also gives you an app for you can track the buses and search the stops. Great all round

Good way to see Athens

This is an excellent way to see Athens. You can either sit in the lower level with AC, or on top for better views.

It was good, but need the time to capitalize

This is a good tour, but seemed like we spent a lot of time either sitting, or circling back on the same places, and they made us switch buses twice, which was very annoying. Some buses are not covered up top, so if the sun is beating down, bring an umbrella and sunscreen. Set aside 2 whole days if doing all 3 routes. The main route (to hop off) takes an entire day (starting early) with the national gardens, change of the guards, and so much else to see. Athens requires at least 3 nights for all the sites, and it's still not enough time. Go around the main tour one full time to get an overview before hopping off to explore.

Great way to get around Athens

Great way to travel around Athens from the cruise port. Staff very friendly and helpful especially with connecting buses. Buses were cool and clean. Lots of fun!

Straight to the point

We dis have much time available in Athens and the Red Bus was the best option. We had a view of the most important spots and we hop out just in the ones more interesting for us.