From Athens: Small-Group Mycenae, Epidaurus & Nafplio Trip
Description
Explore the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the ancient Mycenae. Admire the most famous ancient theater of Epidaurus. Give a modern aspect to your day with a short stop at the coastal city of Nafplio. Take photos from the Isthmus of Corinth connecting the Corinthian with the Saronic Gulf Explore the Kingdom of Agamemnon, the great Cyclopean Walls and the ancient site of Mycenae Watch closely the gold Mask of Agamemnon, leader of the Trojan War Step on the ancient theatre of Epidaurus known for its perfectly balanced acoustic Visit the coastal city of Nafplio
Tour Options
Itinerary
Start your day the smart way and enjoy a more comfortable, well-paced small-group experience, beginning at our central meeting point at Platia Karaiskaki. Let the Cyclopean walls take your breath, as until nowadays no explanation can be found regarding their construction. Mycenae is considered the greatest and richest kingdom of the later Bronze Age around 1350 B.C. Even the legendary author Homer was inspired by Mycenae to compose his epic poem of Iliad. Walk around the archaeological park, pass through the great Lionesses Gate, explore the Ancient Treasure of Atreus also known as King’s Agamemnon Tomb as well as the Tomb of Clytemnestra. Admire the Palace and the Gold Mask of Agamemnon.
After Mycenae enjoy a greek traditional lunch in the beautiful seaside city of Nafplio. Naflpio used to be the capital of Greece before Athens and its architecture has venetian, byzantine, ottoman and modern greek influences. Admire the main attractions like the Castle of Bourtzi, the Acronauplia and the Castle of Palamidi built on the top of the hill as well as the various picturesque squares in the city center.
Then, visit the ancient theater of Epidaurus. Nowadays is most known as the theater with the greatest acoustic of all times and still hosts the Festival of Epidaurus every summer. Though, in the antiquity, Epidaurus was a sanatorium, connected intensively with the Asclepeion healing temples. Asclepeion was the 5* hotel of the ancient times and is considered as the origin of the medical science.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Wear comfortable shoes to walk around the archaeological site of Mycenae
- You should be at the departure point 10΄ before the time indicated in the schedule
- Our trip attendant-archaeologist shall have a sign of Ammon Express so that he/she will be recognisable easily once you validate your ticket before the exit of the metro station
- Free admission is granted to: Citizens of the European Union up to 25 years old (with valid ID or passport) Non-EU citizens up to 18 years old
- Reduced admission is granted to: EU citizens aged 65 and over, only for visits between October 1st and May 31st
- Important Note: During the months of June, July, August, September, and October, only the full ticket price applies – no reduced tickets are available for seniors 65+.
Reviews(216)
Great day, lovely seeing some of the countryside/ coast. Loved Nafplio, such a quaint old town. Lots of history here and our guide was fantastic.
Amazing trip. You see and learn so much history in one day. We had only 6 in our group but I hear sometimes there are more people. The tour guide was friendly and knowledgeable. My two kids loved it.
The sites were wonderful. It is a very long day! Our guide was terrific! Plan to takes lots of water.
Excellent communication, small group. Our guide was excellent: talked about history, metrology, and answered our questions. The tour was easygoing, with great timing to beat the crowd at the locations visited. Excellent choice if you want a small-group, personal experience without the hustle.
Our driver/ guide was very knowledgeable & informative. It was a long day with lots of things to see & learn about. A very interesting day.
great immersion to Greece history and culture. tour guide is superb. itinerary is just right for the time allocation
We had an absolutely amazing time. We had Alex as our driver who was great, fun to talk to, very knowledgeable but also respectful when we got tired. What really made the day great was we ended up having it as a private trip. Really recommend this trip, all the places you go to are great. Nafplio was absolutely stunning.
This was a great trip. Alex was a great guide and our bus driver was excellent to. It was a nice, new bus that was comfortable. It was nice to take a break in Nafplio and eat and not have to walk as the Mycenae and Epidarius stops have lots of walking...uphill! But worth it! After walking all over Athens the day before, it was nice to ride for the day and have moments of walking. They even stopped at Corinth canal which I was super happy about.
Alex was a hilarious and informative guide bringing history and local character to ancient ruins in Mycenae and Epidaurus. It was a big day—we met at 8:00 and returned around 17:00, but the schedule felt reasonable with ample time for lunch in Napflio and breaks along the way. Climbing the hill at Mycenae was incredible. It’s hard not to feel the weight of history taking in those panoramic views and examining the cyclopsian walls. Only negatives were the somewhat chaotic pickup process and fellow highway drivers, though the Mercedes minibus was pleasant enough. Good luck to Alex in his studies—we wish him the best!
From Athens: Small-Group Mycenae, Epidaurus & Nafplio Trip Athens This is the only tour we booked with an unknown company on our 5 weeks of travel in 3 countries and a cruise. There were 8 of us and I wanted those with me to at least have a chance to see some of the Athens Peninsula (not just Athens and the cruise ports). This is an area i had never been and heard so much about so after much research and several emails back and forth (they had great communication), and discussing the options with the rest of the family we booked the Small Group tour. I had been told we would have a van too ourselves. I asked if the guide would use a microphone in the van (several have hearing aids) and was told we were so close to guide it wouldn’t be necessary. We opted for the not included lunch, to do it on our own. This was to be a ‘non-rushed- at our own pace tour since we didn’t have to wait for others or be in a crowd, avoid bathroom crowds, all the inconveniences of a big tour. Imagine our surprise when we were at the meeting spot with a LOT of other people. Lots of confusion over which group was which. We were then loaded onto a BUS without any explanation of the change! (and wound up in the back where we couldn’t hear). (it seemed several others on the bus also booked a small group tour). I immediately sent an email to the company from the bus and ask what was going on, why were we on a bus??? The reply was that my confusion and inconvenience was understandable. …….“Due to a last-minute operational issue, combined with increased demand ahead of the public holiday, we were required to adjust our planning and merge the groups. As a result, the tour was operated with a larger vehicle than originally scheduled. That said, we would like to clarify that the group itself remained relatively small, with approximately 30 participants, meaning that the bus was only about half full. While this still falls within our broader small-group approach, we fully understand that it may not have matched your expectations at the time of booking. As a gesture of goodwill, we would like to offer you a complimentary tour with our company, which you may join on any available date after May 2nd, depending on your preference and availability. We would be happy to assist you in selecting an experience that better reflects the small-group setting you were expecting. Thank you again for your understanding, and we truly hope to have the opportunity to welcome you again and provide you with a much better experience.”…… WHAT? Compensation with a free tour? That didn’t fly with us. We booked a small tour in good faith to have our family together. In actuality the bus was pretty full. We left for a cruise the next day and the other 6 flew to USA the day the Cruse returned. The tour itself was really nice, the guide was wonderful. We would have shortened some of our stops at some places, and asked for a tad longer at others. In Nafplio we looked all over for ‘street food’ where the guide told us to go and wasted a lot of time as there was nothing except at the far side of the town where we entered. A few of us walked up to the castle but barely had time to get to the top, then return, and jump on the bus. Too little time to see the area. At one location the ladies room had a Huge line. My hubby had to stop the men from using theirs and guarded the door so the line of women could go in and use it….thus no time to see the museum at all. No time at the canal to read the signs…last off the bus and had to rush back after that bathroom line. There was no way to find our group which was very confusing when were in heavy crowds. No lanyard or marker, even finding our guide was hard at times. At the ruins the audio didn’t work. (took a very long time to load) No map. It wasn’t in sync with pathway markers so I never knew where to look for what the info was talking about. We got separated, turned around, had to rush back. Maybe downloading a tour from home if there is one would be better. All in all, I wouldn’t count on having a small group and if the price is comparable, at least the larger group may be more organized or allow more time. The tour was great to go on, but the rush and limited time on sights was very discouraging. Scenery was beautiful.
