Mycenae and Epidaurus Day Trip from Athens with entrance tickets

Must sees, but rushed

Our guide, Thomas, was extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the trip and his energy was contagious. First stop was a food/ WC stop at the Corinth canal. Sodas cost twice what they did at a grocery store in town but the WC was clean and the 20 minutes allotted was perfect. The theatre at epidouras is a must see, but so is the sanctuary of Asclepius. No way can you see both in 1 hour. Nafplio is a beautiful town but a 30 minute stop in the harbor is a waste of time. Mycenea was also spectacular and the attached museum was wonderful for both the artifacts and the relief from the outdoor heat. Lunch was optional, meaning you could prepay for a fixed menu or go on your own. I chose the latter but there were no other options where the bus parked. You had 1 hour at the same restaurant as everyone else. I had the lamb and it was dry and tasteless. The staff were about as happy to see us as I was to be there with no other choices. Best part of the meal were the 6 cherries we were given as complimentary dessert. The subsequent 30-45 minutes in the ceramic shop was, for me, more wasted time. My suggestion, if you have the time, is to go on your own (self drive or private tour) and consider staying in Nafplio, and then continuing on to Delphi, on your own.

Lions gate, royal tombs...

Lions gate, royal tombs and Epidaurus theater were the unforgettable hotspots. Lunch at Amilia hotel was too heavy. The guide was excellent with very strong knowledge and clear explanations. Maybe a few breaks in her descriptions would help digest information.

Mycanae was great. The...

Mycanae was great. The guide was informative and there was enough time to see the site. Epidaurus was disappointing. The amphitheatre was great but we did not see any of the other ruins. We wasted time at a pottery shop and a side trip to napflio instead.

Great tour, skip the lunch.

Our tour guide Joy was amazing. Her knowledge and passion for the history of the sites was great. My only issue with the tour was the lunch. It’s a below average lunch in the middle of nowhere at the Hotel Aliana. I highly recommend skipping the lunch and instead allocating your time at Nafplio, by far my favorite city in Greece. The have many beautiful restaurants on the water with amazing views. I think the tour should cancel the lunch option and instead allow guests to eat in the amazing city.

Good timing

The tour guide did a good job making sure we had enough time to explore the locations at our own leisure

Recommend this tour from Athens

This tour was awesome and super convenient because they pick you up from your hotel. It ws awesome to see the ancient sites of Mycenae and Epidaurus. Originally I’d considered staying in Napflio and spending more time at these two sites but honestly this was perfect for us. The tour bus does have a decent drive to the sites from Athens but they have a restroom stop and so it doesn’t feel too long. The tour guide was knowledgeable and lunch was decent. This is a good value for your money overall. Should note that only water is included as a beverage.

An efficient way to visit the most important archaeological sites near Athens

This is one full day on the road. This is not as popular a tour as the Delphi, but in some ways it is more rewarding. We had 10 in our group (in a small bus that is very cramped with little leg room). t starts with a quick visit to see the canal at Corinth, and then it was on to Mycenae. The guide (I forget her name, but she was fabulous) gave us an introduction to the site, and then free time to go as far as we wanted to around the ruins. It was then on to Epidavros where the same thing happened. We always some time to ourselves at all our stops. We opted for the lunch, which was very good. It is held at a hotel restaurant out of town. It is a very complete three course meal. If you don't opt for the lunch you are sent to Naphlio where you will have a choice of many options, but will be confronted with thousands of other tourists with the same idea--Naphlio is quite the tourist hub. After lunch we were given free time in Naphlio and then it was back to Athens. We returned around 7.

Awesome guide Demitria!

Our guide, Demetria, a professional archeologist, was fantastic. She explained clearly and thoroughly everything we saw at Mycenea and Epidavrous while also being entertaining. Best guide in a long time!

Favorite Tour

This tour was my favorite of the nine I experienced while I visited Greece. The bus is comfortable with room for legs, and a a/c for a hot day like it was, the guide presses the group to move together as she gives informative history synopsis of each site. The sites including beehive tombs are very impressive, my favorite site being the Epidauraus sites, Greek theater most impressive.

Not everything went to plan

Great destination, knowledgeable bilingual guide but tour had trouble keeping to schedule and making sure everyone was supervised and accounted for

Highly recommended!!

We really loved this tour." Ave" our guide, was very knowledgeable and passionate about the sites we saw as well as Greek history, in general. The tour was in English only and we felt that appropriate time was allotted for each site. We elected to fend for ourselves for lunch and were dropped of in Nafplion where had time to eat and even shop a little. The stop at Corinth was a nice bonus. We have taken many tours and were delighted with this one. (Given the quality of service, we were surprised that some travellers did not realize that tipping the guide, and often the driver, is customary.)

Rich experience

Mycenae was beyond what i had seen in the books. The guide’s description and link with the Greek myths added so much more. Epidavros was also amazing and I learnt so much from the guide on its origins and how it was used. Really good guide with specialist knowledge

Mycenae and more

Picked up from the hotel which was appreciated. Tour guide Averkios was excellent. Relayed information about the country,history and more! We had stops for restrooms and snacks between sites. A wonderful day!

Nice trip

Very professional guide with strong academic information. I had learnt a lot about Greek history. For those who are interested in Greek art, philosophy and history, Ruth is definitely the perfect guide for your trip

Recommend the Tour

Highly recommend this tour. Both sites were great and the tour guide was fantastic both with photos and descriptions to help us imagine what was there, and demonstrations of acoustics. The only downside and why I'm giving this only four stars was the lunch. It was too much food so it made it hard to pay attention to the guide after lunch and Nafpilo as I hadn't fully digested by that time, and it was not particularly Greek or really interesting to eat. Tasty but not interesting for tourists looking for a bit more Greek culture and are interested in the food. Would have preferred Souvlaki, more coffee, or both.

Amazing trip back to history

The trip was amazing. We learned a lot and took so many photos. The scheduled time was about right. The bus was comfortable. The guide Vasiliki (she said called her Viki) was very very professional and knowledgeable. She was very passion about the history and language, which made the trip very enjoyable. It was enough time for all the places except Nafplio (we just used all the time for lunch). Even there were protests in the city we made back on time (thanks to the driver.)

Highly recommend tour to Mycenae

This trip is highly recommended. My family visited the birth places of Ancient mythology. Ms. Viki, a guide, gave very kind and detailed explanations about complex and difficult mythology.

Mycenae/Epidaurus tour

Simply amazing features and relics of a time long gone. The tour provided and information about the surrounding areas was fantastic, I recommend this for anyone visiting Greece.

Thank G-d for Ancient Mycenean civilization and their knowledge, power, hard work. A stroll back in history!!!

Casandra was an excellent guide and so full of interesting and important information. Mycena and Mycenaean civilization. A stroll back in history, amazing people, culture and what a way of life. To think that so many artifacts and so much gold was found in the area, it’s just mind blowing to learn how civilized and full of knowledge they were. Cassandra recommended a visit to the Archeological Museum in Athens, which we did, and without her telling us about it, we would have missed. There, we appreciated it even more. The visit to the Tomb and later the Theater were just the icing on the cake. I would strongly recommend this tour and Casandra and our driver. It was a long drive to get there, yet so rewarding.

Wish I could do more!

Rose was an amazing tour guide! Really imparted her passion for an ancient and modern Greece. Knowledgeable and accommodating for everyone. we loved it so much that we went on a different tour the next day.

Great Trip!

Really enjoyed all of the locations. Stop off at Corinth canal and Nafplio were an added bonus! We went in the last week of October and the weather was perfect (not too warm for walking about in). Also, the crowds were much less than they would have been in the summer. Our tour guide was great as well. Very knowledgable and passionate. All in all it was a fantastic trip.

Nice tour with "Stathi"

With my wife we did one day tour to Mycenae and Epidaurus, we liked the historical sites we visited. We liked the professionalism of the guide "Stathi", his pedagogical explanations let us fit in the history of ancient Greeks. He speaks English and French, in addition to history he explains many linguistics coming from ancient Greece.

Was exactly as...

Was exactly as advertised, nothing more or less. The guide was very knowledgeable about both the sites and the historical context, and ended up doing the tour in both English and French (I speak both and can attest it was the same information). The itinerary felt quite rushed, though. Were I doing it again, I would probably book a multi-day trip.

Peas?

The tour guide was knowledgeable and articulate. Of course that was the most important thing, but everything else was downhill. The couch was tiny, cramped, and uncomfortable. Taking out one row of seats would help a lot. Th WiFi was working only about 10% of the time, and half of that was not great. I chose to include the lunch provided, which was a mistake. I'm a vegetarian and thought in the land of the Greek salad, perhaps I'd receive that, which would be fine. But no. There were multiple courses - the first was a somewhat chewy rectangle with cheese I think which was tasteless, microscopic tong of greens for a salad, and then the vegetarian main course substituting for the meat. That was a giant (GIANT) bowl of peas, yes peas with perhaps two slivers of a carrot and one tiny potato sliver. There was enough peas to feed everyone at the table. Peas, nothing else!? The final course was the only acceptable one, chocolate cake and ice cream, but I wasn't very hungry by then.

If you're nervous about booking, don't be!

My partner and I were concerned booking before we arrived in Greece, but our concerns were unfounded. The tour company was easy to contact, on time and delivered a fantastic excursion. Felt so safe and secure both on the bus and at all the sights, was wonderful to see the Greek heartlands. 100% would book with them again!

Great Day visiting historical sites

The guide on this tour was exceptional! Not only did she do the entire day in both English and French, her knowledge and enthusiasm was outstanding, She made the tour interesting and informatiive.

Not worth the long bus ride

The temple of Erpidaurus was amazing-the Mycenae was underwhelming, because all of the artifacts found at the site are in Athens in a museum. The stop in the charming town was way too short and the lunch was inedible. The guide, however, was excellent.

Our tour guide took us through myth and history

Our tour guide, Yota, was enthusiastic and informative. Her knowledge of myth and history enhanced each archaeological site, making the tour incredibly rich,

Whirlwind educational adventure!

I very much enjoyed my Chat Tours day trip to Mycenae and Epidaurus! My tour guide, Stathei, was informative, funny, and accessible. I especially enjoyed the information he provided about broader topics of interest while we were on the road such as the fishing industry’s role in the Greek economy from antiquity through the present. For me personally, the unstructured/free time spent at each archaeological site felt too short (just 0.5-1 hour) to see everything I would’ve liked, but I understand that the schedule necessitated this given how much ground we covered in a single day trip. In the future, given my desire to take my time with sites and museums, I’d probably select tours that focus on a single site or multi-day excursions. I was very impressed with the lunch upgrade I purchased as well! Excellent menu and service. Another trip highlight: driving through the gorgeous rolling countryside of Corinth whilst learning about its history and unique role in Greek agriculture.

We enjoyed a well...

We enjoyed a well organized trip led by Zeta, the godess of guides. Agamemnon's tomb was especially impressive as well as walking the along the path at the Mycenea acropolis. Nafpoli was a tranquil seaside stop for views and lunch.

A really enjoyable Trip

I really enjoyed this trip. The guide was excellent and informative. I would highly recommend it particularly if you are a history buff.

Worth doing, decent price

It was a great day out, well led by our multilingual guide and I think ok value for money. Would certainly recommend.

Great way to see the sites.

Amazing, staff are friendly and informed. Great price for what it is and a great way to get out and see the sites. Only thing I would like is a little more time to see the sites. Mycenae especially felt rushed (1 hour) but i'm a history nerd and normally spend an age at these things so personal preference. Without the trip I wouldn't have seen it otherwise and it's definitely worth seeing.

Great trip, but we booked an English tour and half of it was in French!

Overall the trip was good, I couldn’t wait to see Mycenae in particular; being a lover of the story of the Illiad. We booked an English speaking tour however when we arrived the guide announced there were some French people on the trip so the day would be a bilingual tour. This became very difficult to follow very quickly as the tour guide was going between French and English. The tour guide definitely knew his stuff and was very friendly and knowledgeable, however it was clear his French was more fluent than English and he even said he preferred French, so it felt like the French people got more engagement and information than we did - very frustrating when we booked an English trip! The other issue was I felt that we didn’t have enough time at each location, especially as the tour guide took up so much time having to do the tour in two languages. In the end, we went off on our own so we could see the sights and get the pictures we wanted. I would recommend the trip, but get in touch with the provider to verify it’s English only.

Excellent

Very knowledgeable and friendly guide. Comfortable shuttle bus. Although we did not take the lunch option, the restaurant was very nice and clean. They let us eat inside the air-conditioned restaurant even though we brought our own food.

Great Experience, Though a Bit Uncomfortable

This was a fantastic tour overall. Our tour guide did a fantastic job of explaining the historical significance of the sites we visited and was very interesting to listen to. We had an incident with a blown tire but the situation was handled extremely well. My only complaint is the lack of space on the vehicle we drove in. I am just over 6 feet tall and there was less leg room than on an airplane, which made for a very uncomfortable trip. Overall, I definitely recommend this tour, you will not regret it.

Great Trip

Excellent guide, included trip to Corinth Canal, would recommend to anyone to wants to learn a bit more about the history of Greece. Great alternative to get out of Athens

Excellent!

We had a wonderful time at Epidaurus, Mycenae, and Nafplio. It was great to see the actual archaeological sites than just seeing pictures in school history books. We learned a lot from our tour guide. She is very knowledgeable on the history of the sites we’ve visited. Great experience…Highly recommended!

Nice but very rushed trip

On the trip we visited some very pretty places around the Peloponnese island. The bus was comfortable and the guide was knowledgeable, although her french was way better than her english. But we had little to no time at the sites, couldn't really enjoy them or visit their museums, we were always in a hurry just to go to some pottery shop for half an hour at the end of the trip. This trip could have been so good if it were organized in a better way. 3/5

Think twice when booking with Viator

We opted not to go on this tour because of the company operating the tour, CHAT. We took the Delphi tour the previous day under CHAT. It was awful. The site was great but we had very little time there. I have tried to explain to Viator how awful this tour was. I gave them many details. They explained that any refund we are due would be up to CHAT. Unfortunately, I had no idea who CHAT was. I booked these tours because of my experience with Viator. There is still time for Viator to make this right. I would love for Viator to reach out. Note that many bad reviews came in for the Delphi tour in June. Now that I know that Viator takes no responsibility for ruining part of someone’s vacation, I will no longer book through Viator, a TripAdvisor company. Buyer beware.

Good stuff.

Locations and guide were fantastic and the group as a whole was very friendly. Lunch was fantastic and professional. I did not feel rushed or forced to move along by the group I just did my own thing and enjoyed the trip.

Visit ancient sites on Greek mainland on beautiful and legendary Peloponnesus.

It was a wonderful day, with visits to important sites in Ancient Greece, as well as a stop for lunch in the Venetian port of Nafplio… where the orange juice is fabulous! Our guide spoke French and English, often mixing them together. He provided interesting details that you don’t read in guidebooks.

Amazing sight.

Thoroughly impressive place. The stadium/theatre was in good condition. It was easy to park and walk too. The marble on the chairs was visible and some of the shaping . Lovely to visit. I think they also do live shows. Toilets nearby.

Lovely day trip

Very informative trip. Mycenae and Epidaurus are really amazing spots to see. We stopped in the town along the coast for lunch and it was also gorgeous. Would recommend this trip. The tour guide was great too

Excellent historical content value tour. Very interesting tomb and archeological areas of ancient Greece et to see

Driver excellent but guide at times was difficult to understand and had a bit of an imperious attitude. Unfortunately felt some comments about women not appropriate in his spiel. Also Chided customers if had to repeat information. Really pushed the lunch option if you hadn't pre booked this option.However acknowledge he knew his stuff as very experienced guide.

Corinth Canal, Ancient...

Corinth Canal, Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, Nafplio Promenade and Beehive Tomb of Agamemnon. Lunch restaurant was also very good

Too much £££ for a rushed and frustrating time

Honestly there's another tour on here done by Ammon Extress Athens to the same place that's almost half the price- I'd recommend going with them as you're just paying a premium to not have to go slightly outside the city centre for collection- just get a cab, you'll probably still save a lot. The only reason I booked this one was for the hotel collection but when I booked it said they couldn't collect from our hotel and to go to another hotel for collection but it was still central so I was fine woth it. I checked my emails the day of departure and they'd changed the time so we rushed to the meeting point- turns out they actually did turn up at pur hotel at the new time but a separate email was sent about that. Personally I hate changes of arrangements- just tell me when and where to be and don't mess around. Bug if you do book with them stay intop of your emails even though you're on holiday! The transport was comfortable but it was a small minibus and I was expecting something with a WC which would have been nice to know up front. The first stop is the Corinth Canal which I think is just a glorified toilet stop and needs to be alot shorter given how rushed the rest of the tour is. At Mycenae it's very steep and the guide rushed around not waiting for everyone to catch up and often walked and talked and we often couldn't hear her. You're given a very quick tour of the museum and 10 mins of free time. You're then taken a short hop down the road to have a very quick look at a tomb. I'd recommend skipping their lunch because your taken to Nafplio where you get an hour to get lunch and this was the highlight of the day as its a gorgeous town. This is all the time you get there. FYI the other tour gives you more time. The time and tour of Epidaurus was sufficient. They said they'd drop us back at our hotel but again this didn't happen- we were dropped off a street away with no explanation.

Money well spent.

We had a wonderful guide full of information during the tour. The coach was so very nice and comfortable and our driver was the best. Lunch at the Hotel Amalia was delicious and filling. I have seen things now they’ve wanted to see since a child. It was the best tour of our entire three week vacation.

Gives you an introductory understanding of the civilisation - less good for enthusiastic classicists.

The tour is good if you just want a brief introduction to the places visited. It is a little short at Mycenae, and then a little long at Epidaurus for the relative size of the sites. However, Mycenae is worth a visit and by lingering at the back of the line it is sometimes possible to pause a little to read more information. If you are an enthusiastic classicist you will feel rushed, but the tour does solve transport issues for a place that is otherwise difficult to visit for a day trip

Well organised and informative

Very well organised and informative tour with a pleasant and helpful guide. The lunch was very good also. Just one slight moan-people on that tour were all presumably interested in seeing Mycenae yet we drove right past Tiiryns (also a prominent Bronze Age citadel) and it wasn’t even mentioned. Maybe it could be included as a destination somehow? Having said that, I enjoyed this tour very much!