Athens & Cape Sounion

We will visit:

• Acropolis Hill
• Propylea
• Temple of Athena Nike
• Parthenon
• Erechtheion
• Dionysus Theater
• Herodes Atticos theater
• Temple of Zeus
• The old Olympic Stadium,
• Changing of the Guards – Parliamen
• The Lycabettus Hill
• Coastal drive along the Saronic Gulf, Vouliagmeni Lake
• Dinner at a traditional seafood restaurant on the beach
• Cape Sounion temple of Poseidon

Our excursion begins by visiting the “sacred rock” of the Acropolis Hill, passing by its entrance called Propylea, the temple of Athena-Apteros Nike (Athena Wingless Victory), Parthenon, the temple devoted to Athena Parthenos, Erechtheion of Athena Polias with its world famous female statues of Caryatides, the ruins of Herodes Atticos Odeon the first world theatre still in use nowadays, Dionysus Theatre which hosted the world famous comedies and tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes (ancient poets) and Areopagus (Mars Hill)used as a court of appeal in antiquity and by St. Paul to deliver his famous speech.

We move on with and the Temple of Zeus, a colossal ruined temple in the center of the Greek capital Athens dedicated to Zeus, king of the Olympian gods, the Old Olympic Stadium called Panathenaic (of all Athenians) or Kallimarmaro (best marble) Stadium, built in 1863 and hosted the first Athenian Olympic Games in 1896. We get to see the Former Royal Palace, the Presidential Palace (Maximou Mansion) which hosts the offices of the President of Democracy and the Prime Minister, the House of Parliament with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front, as well as the Changing of the Guards.

We drive by the buildings of the Architectural Trilogy of University Street; the Academy, the University of Athens, and the National Library, to reach up to Lycabettus Hill which offers a spectacular 360o panoramic view of Athens city.

Afterwards we make a beautiful coastal drive along the Saronic Gulf during which we get to see the most popular southern suburbs of Athens like Old Faleron, Glyfada, Voula, Varkiza, Vouliagmeni, Lagonissi, and Old Fokea.

We make a stop at Vouliagmeni Lake (“Sunken Lake”) a rare geophysical formation of brackish water lake fed by underground currents seeping through the mass of Mount Hymettus, functioning as a spa with an underwater cave never fully explored.

Moving in with our excursion we can have lunch or dinner at nice traditional Greek fish tavern on the coast side with beautiful sea view.

We will continue until we reach Cape Sounion and visit The Temple of Poseidon where ancient Greeks made sacrifices to the God of the sea Poseidon. It was originally made of 34 Doric style columns but the temple was destroyed in 480 B.C. by Persians and today only 12 are standing. The view from the edge of the cliff is extraordinary at the southest edge of Attica where the Saronic Gulf meets the Aegean Sea!

If the weather is clear you can see the islands coming out of the dazzling waters during the day, or the sun diving in the dark blue waters at night, making this one of the most spectacular spots to capture by camera!

Finally, we drive back the same route in night view this time…

Duration : approx.9 hrs