Delphi & Thermopylae Full Day Private Tour from Athens

Our tour guide Peter made this a smooth, delightful, and informative day. He gave us all the time we needed to experience the museums and sites. He also knew the best places to stop for rest breaks along the long drive. He kept the car at a comfortable temperature and chatted when we felt like chatting and played music when we didn't. He was a smooth, careful driver. We felt like VIPs when we stopped for lunch and they had the best table reserved for us. The restaurant had excellent views with tasty local food in generous portions for a reasonable price.

My friend and I wanted to visit Thermopylae and Delphi without renting a car or being tied to a traditional group tour, so this option seemed perfect. It was. Peter, our driver and guide, picked us up at our hotel and led us on a fantastic day trip. Along the way, he shared helpful background about each place and cheerfully answered our questions. At Thermopylae, he showed us the key sites and explained how they fit into the story of the battle between the Spartans and the Persian army. At Delphi, we enjoyed the museum and had plenty of time to explore the hillside, including the temples and other ruins. What we appreciated most was that Peter never rushed us and was always an excellent source of information. He also took us to a beautiful restaurant for a late lunch overlooking the valley. It was a perfect day.

My friend and I wanted to visit Thermopylae and Delphi without renting a car or being tied to a traditional group tour, so this option seemed perfect. It was. Peter, our driver and guide, picked us up at our hotel and led us on a fantastic day trip. Along the way, he shared helpful background about each place and cheerfully answered our questions. At Thermopylae, he showed us the key sites and explained how they fit into the story of the battle between the Spartans and the Persian army. At Delphi, we enjoyed the museum and had plenty of time to explore the hillside, including the temples and other ruins. What we appreciated most was that Peter never rushed us and was always an excellent source of information. He also took us to a beautiful restaurant for a late lunch overlooking the valley. It was a perfect day.

We’ve done a couple of tours with a couple different tour companies while we’ve been in Greece. Yannis was by far the best! His knowledge on the history of Greece, Thermopylae, and Delphi was unparalleled! We learned so much and highly recommend him.

Wow, what a day of learning. This was a great tour. In fact, all 6 of us thought this might have eked out the prestigious "best day of the vacation" spot. We were a group of 6 adults. Yannis K. picked us up from our hotel in Athens right on time. He showed up in a big, clean, comfortable Mercedes van and brought us a box of biscuits (cookies) to nibble on if we got hungry during the drive. He supplied multiple bottles of water for each of us throughout the day. The day was long. Thermopylae was probably almost a 2 hour drive and then Delphi was another 45 minutes or so beyond that. As we drove, Yannis took the time to point out landmarks along the way. He is a terrific story teller and brought maps and drawings to help tell the story of the battle at Thermopylae. He found all the right perches for us to take photos and he took some photos for us so we could all be in the picture. We arranged for a licensed guide to take us through the Delphi museum and archeological site, which was spectacular. When you go, take the extra half hour to climb up to the stadium. It's really not that far and totally worth it. After the site visit, Yannis arranged for us to have a wonderful meal at a restaurant in the town of Delphi. He picked a great place, and again, all 6 of us thought this was a highlight of our vacation. He didn't join us for the meal, although we invited him. Instead he busied himself nearby and was ready to go when we were. It started to rain on the way back to Athens while we were still in the mountains. Yannis was a careful driver. He wasn't messing around with his phone, driving too fast, or driving aggressively. It was a great day.

When I asked people what a must-do is in Athens, this trip came up consistently right after the Acropolis and Parthenon. So much of the culture and what it meant to worship the Greek Gods revolves around Delphi. We learned so much history and the importance the role of the gods in Greek life and faith from our driver and guide Yannis. He is a wealth of knowledge and shares it all in the more interesting and educational approach. He spent the entire day ensuring we were getting the most out of our time invested. The drive across the mountains was just stunning. Standing on the spot where the 300 fought and changed the course of history was overwhelming. And seeing all the artifacts and the archaeological site where they were found in Delphi was so worthwhile. We also opted for the lunch to be included and the restaurant and food didn’t disappoint. It’s a family run place called "To Patriko Mas" | Greek Mediterranean Restaurant in Delphi. The menu is varied and both dishes we tried as well as the Greek salad and homemade bread were delicious. And the chocolate mousse was the best we’ve ever had. I highly recommend this tour and our driver and guide Yannis!!

We had a wonderful day! Our guide Yannis was incredible. Very knowledgeable, entertaining & friendly. He expertly delivered us to our stops while giving us all the info we needed plus anything else we asked. He found us the perfect spot for lunch-amazing views & amazing food! We understand the battle between the Spartans & Persians so much better having seen the terrain while our guide verbally walked us thru the events. And Delphi! Beautiful and fascinating! Lovely museum. Thrilled we chose to spend our day on these two stops.

Our tour guide Peter was amazing. The drives were long but we learned so much on the rides. Delphi was a surreal location. Such incredible history here!!! And dinner/lunch was amazing. We were well taken care of for the day!

An absolutely fantastic tour. The trip itself went through some amazing coastal and mountain scenery which was unexpected and made the journey fly by. Thermopylae was interesting and Delphi was terrific. We also stopped at the mountain ski resort town of Arachova which was delightful. Maki’s our driver was very knowledgeable and looked after us extremely well. Would definitely recommend this trip.

George was a wonderful tour guide. We enjoyed the day and the educational information. He was friendly and knew all the best spots to stop and we had one of our best meals on our trip. We are using his service for the rest of our trip as well because we enjoyed it so much.