• Athens - You will be picked up from your hotel, apartment, Airbnb, or Piraeus port.
• Mount Parnassus - Mount Parnassus is a mountain in central Greece that rises above Delphi, north of the Gulf of Corinth. It offers numerous benefits to the people of Greece. In times of peace, it provides scenic views of the countryside, featuring olive groves and rolling hills. The mountain is also home to historically, archaeologically, and culturally significant sites (such as Delphi). For recreation, Parnassus’ slopes are ideal for hiking in the warmer seasons and skiing in winter. Its melting snow supplies water to surrounding communities, reaching as far as Athens. The mountain is made of limestone and contains bauxite, an ore rich in aluminum. During wartime, Parnassus has served as a center of resistance, offering cover and refuge to partisans.
• Monastery of Hosios Loukas - Hosios Loukas is a historic walled monastery near the town of Distomo in Boeotia, Greece. It is one of the most important monuments of Middle Byzantine architecture and art and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the monasteries of Nea Moni and Daphnion. The monastery is located on the scenic slopes of Mount Helicon and was founded in the early 10th century AD by the hermit Venerable (Greek: Hosios) Luke of Steiris (Greek: Lukas), whose relics are still kept there. The main shrine is the tomb of St. Luke, originally in the vault but later moved to the juncture of the two churches. The monastery’s wealth came from the relics of St. Luke, which were said to exude myron, a perfumed oil believed to have healing properties.
• Arachova - Enjoy some free time for a coffee before we start our trip back to Athens.
• Delphi - Arrive at the archaeological site of Delphi after a 2.5-hour trip. Enjoy free time to explore:
  • Sanctuaries of Apollo and Athena Pronaia
  • Ancient stadium and theater

Duration: 30 minutes

• Tholos of Athena Pronaia - The tholos at the sanctuary of Athena Pronoia (Ἀθηνᾶ Πρόνοια, “Athena of forethought”) is a circular building constructed between 380 and 360 BC. It featured 20 Doric columns with an exterior diameter of 14.76 meters and 10 Corinthian columns inside. Located about half a mile (800 meters) from the main ruins at Delphi, three of the Doric columns have been restored, making it a popular spot for tourist photos. The nearby gymnasium, also half a mile from the main sanctuary, was a series of buildings used by the youth of Delphi. It had two levels: a stoa on the upper level and a palaestra, pool, and baths on the lower level. These pools and baths were said to have magical powers, allowing communication with Apollo.
• Delphi Archaeological Museum - The Delphi Archaeological Museum is one of Greece’s principal and most visited museums, operated by the Greek Ministry of Culture. Founded in 1903, it has been rearranged several times and houses discoveries from the Panhellenic sanctuary of Delphi, dating from the Late Helladic (Mycenean) period to the early Byzantine era. The museum is organized into fourteen rooms on two levels, mainly displaying statues, including the famous Charioteer of Delphi, architectural elements like the frieze of the Siphnian Treasury, and ex-votos dedicated to the sanctuary of Pythian Apollo, such as the Sphinx of Naxos. The exhibition space is over 2270m2, with additional storage and conservation rooms. Delphi’s modern museum, located 500m east of town, complements the ancient site. Whether you visit the museum or the site first, the treasures here will bring ancient Delphi to life.
• Temple of Apollo - The Temple of Apollo, dedicated to the god of music, harmony, light, healing, and oracles, held the most important position in the Delphic Panhellenic Sanctuary. The partially restored colonnade visible today dates to the 4th century BC and is the third temple built on the same site. The famous oracle, the Pythia, operated inside the temple, chosen for its location above a sacred chasm emitting vapors. According to some ancient writers, the Pythia would enter a state of delirium after inhaling these vapors, uttering inarticulate cries that priests would then interpret as oracles.
• Delphi - The Greeks told many stories about the origins of Delphi. The site was originally sacred to Gaia (also known as Ge), the ‘Mother Goddess,’ whose cult centered on the Korykeon Cave, high on Mt Parnassos. After Apollo slew a snake or she-dragon (known as Pytho) here, he took the local name of Apollo Pythios. For a thousand years, pilgrims came to his sanctuary for guidance. Delphi’s peak fame was between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, after the Amphictyonic League, a federation of 12 tribal states, took control following the First Sacred War (595–586 BCE). As an autonomous state, Delphi prospered from benefactors like the kings of Lydia and Egypt and the Roman emperor Hadrian. Nominally neutral, it was a center of political power.
• The Ancient Theater of Delphi - Tour the ancient theater, built further up the hill from the Temple of Apollo, offering spectators a view of the entire sanctuary and the valley below. Originally constructed in the 4th century BC, the koilon (cavea) leans against the mountain’s natural slope, with its eastern part overriding a creek that led water from the Cassotis fountain beneath the Temple of Apollo. The orchestra was initially a full circle, 7 meters (23 feet) in diameter. The rectangular scene building had two arched openings, with foundations still preserved today. The theater could accommodate about 4,500 spectators and its façade was decorated with relief scenes from Hercules’ life. Further repairs and transformations occurred in the 2nd century AD, mentioned by Pausanias as being under Herod Atticus’ auspices. In antiquity, the theater hosted vocal and musical contests as part of the Pythian Games.
• Treasury of the Athenians - The Treasury of the Athenians was built to commemorate their victory at the Battle of Marathon. From the entrance of the upper site, continuing up the slope on the Sacred Way almost to the Temple of Apollo, there are many votive statues and numerous “treasuries” built by Greek city-states to commemorate victories and thank the oracle for her guidance. These buildings held offerings to Apollo, often a “tithe” or tenth of battle spoils. The most impressive is the now-restored Athenian Treasury, built to commemorate their victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. The Siphnian Treasury was dedicated by the city of Siphnos, whose citizens gave a tithe of their silver mine yields until the mines were flooded by the sea. One of the largest treasuries was that of Argos.
• The Ancient Theater of Delphi - The ancient theater at Delphi, built further up the hill from the Temple of Apollo, offered spectators a view of the entire sanctuary and the valley below. Constructed in the 4th century BC, the koilon (cavea) leans against the mountain’s natural slope, with its eastern part overriding a creek that led water from the Cassotis fountain beneath the Temple of Apollo. The orchestra was initially a full circle, 7 meters (23 feet) in diameter. The rectangular scene building had two arched openings, with foundations still preserved today. The theater could accommodate about 4,500 spectators and its façade was decorated with relief scenes from Hercules’ life. Further repairs and transformations occurred in the 2nd century AD, mentioned by Pausanias as being under Herod Atticus’ auspices. In antiquity, the theater hosted vocal and musical contests as part of the Pythian Games.
• Treasury of the Athenians - The Stoa of the Athenians is an open-sided, covered porch located along the base of the polygonal wall retaining the terrace on which the Temple of Apollo sits. The stoa opened to the Sacred Way. The nearby presence of the Treasury of the Athenians suggests that this area of Delphi was used for Athenian business or politics, as stoas are generally found in marketplaces. Although Delphi’s architecture is generally Doric, the Athenians preferred the Ionic order, which is more floral and ornate, though not as much as the Corinthian. The remaining porch structure contains seven fluted columns, unusually carved from single pieces of stone. An inscription on the stylobate indicates that it was built by the Athenians after their naval victory over the Persians in 478 BC to house their war trophies.
• Delphi - Delphi’s Hippodrome was once the site of chariot races during the Pythian Games, where prominent political leaders like Cleisthenes, the tyrant of Sikyon, and Hieron, the tyrant of Syracuse, competed. The hippodrome was mentioned by Pindar and sought by archaeologists for over two centuries. In 2012, Professor of Classical Archaeology Panos Valavanis announced that he had found the site of the hippodrome at “Gonia,” at the west end of the olive grove at Delphi, nearly 1.5 km northeast of Itea, running parallel and adjacent to the Kefali mountain range, between the Aghioi Anargyroi and Gla hills.
• Delphi - The Serpentine Column, or Tripod of the Plataeans, is commemorated by a replica erected in 2015. The original bronze column celebrated the Greeks’ victory over the Persian Empire at the Battle of Plataea (479 BCE). Removed by Constantine the Great in AD 324, it now resides at the Hippodrome of Constantinople, in modern Istanbul.
• Delphi - Stop At: Delphi, Delphi, Phocis Region, Central Greece. Enjoy free time for lunch at a traditional Greek tavern with your friends or go shopping in Arahova Village.
• Delphi - The Polygonal Wall is a retaining wall built to support the terrace housing the second Temple of Apollo, constructed in 548 BC. Its name comes from the polygonal masonry used in its construction. From 200 BC onward, the stones were inscribed with manumission contracts of slaves consecrated to Apollo, with about a thousand manumissions recorded on the wall. The sacred Castalian Spring of Delphi lies in the ravine of the Phaedriades. The remains of two monumental fountains that received water from the spring date to the Archaic and Roman periods, with the latter cut into the rock.
• Delphi - Enjoy free time for lunch at a traditional Greek tavern with your friends and family or go shopping.

• Complimentary bottled water
• Convenient hotel/port pickup and drop-off
• Professional drivers knowledgeable in history
• Free WiFi on board
• Comfortable air-conditioned vehicles
• Exclusive private transportation
• Luxury car service with fluent English-speaking driver
• All taxes, fees, and handling charges included

• Lunch, other beverages and meals.
• Entry or admission fees for Archaelogical sites
• Licensed tour guide (upon request and depending on availability)
• Tips and gratuities
• Entry /Admission-Archaelogical site Delphi
• Entry /Admission - Archaelogical Museum of Delphi
• Airport Pick-Up & Drop-Off (additional cost depending on vehicle type)

After a two hour road trip you will enjoy one of the most beautiful ancient Greek cities and the most important oracle of antiquity, located on the slopes of mountain Parnassos.

Explore the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Delphi, home of the 4th-century-BC Temple of Apollo on this private, full day excursion from Athens. Travel in private, air-conditioned vehicles and get around all the sites your group is interested in visiting within the extensive mountainside archaeological complex before returning comfortably to Athens.
The pan-Hellenic sanctuary of Delphi, where the oracle of Apollo features, was the site of the omphalos, the ‘navel of the world’. Blending harmoniously with the superb landscape and charged with sacred meaning, Delphi in the 6th century B.C. was indeed the religious centre and symbol of unity of the Ancient Greek World

The Last Oracle

The site was sacked by Lucius Cornelius Sulla in 86 BC during the Mithridatic Wars

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.