From Athens: Small-Group Delphi, Museum & Arachova Day Trip

Chryssa was knowlegeable, engaging and fun, and the travel went smoothly. Delphi is beautiful and the whole region around Mount Parnassus is part of the magic.

As the title says, this is basically a group bus tour out to Delphi, NOT a guided tour. If you are entitled to discounted tickets (65+, disabled, kids under 18 or 25 EU) and/or are good with the free HHS audio guide, THIS IS PERFECT FOR YOU. Pro tip: You can get tickets online at the Hellenic Historical Society official website for just about all sites in ALL of Greece. My biggest complaint is the lack of time given to see the site and the museum -- it's just not enough. See the site first and hit the museum on the way out. The hike to the stadium is awesome, but could take most of your time. Definitely will not have enough time if you listen to the whole free audio guide (get the HHS app) -- definitely walk and listen or you will run out of time. Personally, the side trip to Arachova was a waste of time that could have been better spent at Delphi. The town is cute, but mid-week in summer, it was pretty much closed down and the narrow road through the town made it so the bus had to park 10-15 walk to and from the shops and restaurants you're there to see. And again, a very limited time doesn't give much for exploring beyond the walk in, slamming your food and getting back in time. Maybe on a weekend it's more worth the stop (places open), but mid-week was a waste of valuable time. The guide/host was entertaining and informative on the bus leading to the site. The driver was good - no issues. The scenery is amazing -- 100% opposite of Athens. Worth the trip out, but if you have a group of 4+ you might consider renting a car and giving yourself a lot more time for the same cost; less than 4 people, THIS is your best value. If you want more than the audio guide (quite informative, actually), consider a tour with a guide (going to be 2-3x the cost though).

Shocking. After receiving ticket confirmation before heading off on my holiday, I was sent an email saying I must confirm my tickets within 5 hours or they would be placed back on sale to the public. As I was flying qnd making my way into Athens, I did not see this email until after the time had passed and when i sent an email requesting confirmation that my tickets were still valid, the organiser did not respond. I then requested a refund since we did not get to go on the trip and this was denied!

To set expectations, this is a bus ride to Delphi. For the price you get the ride (it is not small group as indicated) to Delphi (no tour) and a stop in a small town on the way back. The town was very charming but if you go make sure you plan to eat. I had other meal plans and there is very little to do in the town and there are no restrooms. If I had it to do over I would have preferred a tour of the site. Most other groups there had a tour guides. This company gives you a link to a website that supposedly provided information but most in the group couldn't get it working. The "guide" that was on the bus basically dropped us at the back of the very long line for tickets and left. Tickets to the site are not covered, the line was over 30 minutes long and apparently we could have used a QR code to get the ticket online but no one bothered to tell us that. I am glad I got to see Delphi. Nothing horrible, just would not book through this company again. One othe thing to note, the route maps took me from my hotel to the meeting place was pretty rough. The bus basically picks you up on a busy corner. If you are getting back later in the evening I would hesitate to walk in the area.

Van was very congested without any air conditioning. Driver was excellent.

Our guide was wonderful! I cannot remember his name, but he was very knowledgeable about both Delphi and the history of the area as a whole. He gave really good restaurant recommendations and even offered to stop a couple of times for pictures in some pretty areas.

We had a good tour. Traffic was bad getting out of town but I realize the tour can't fix that. It did mean that we didn't get quite as much time as we thought. Arachova was a lovely cap to it, though, and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Overall a great experience! The Delphi and Arachova were beautiful and our tour guide Chrysa was spectacular. She was very knowledgeable and gave us a good run down about the history of Delphi on the way there. She also gave great recommendations for Arachova and even for Athens. My only complaint is it says that transportation is a bus with wifi, but it actually ended being a van which made a few of us a little car sick given the distance and the winding mountain roads to get there.

FYI- read the fine print. This will not include tickets to Delphi. I watched a couple not go in because they obviously thought it was (like we did) and were really upset. So if you are budgeting for this- be ready to pay the 20€ per person. Lunch is not included either -we did expect that. So basically you are paying for a bus ride there.

Alex was a fantastic guide! Wi-Fi for the bus was down, and he offered to set up a hot-spot so I could keep in touch with my travel partner who was not on the trip. Two hours was enough for me to comfortably see the ruins, but only just - I didn't go into the museum at all. If you want to make sure you see both, you'll have to move quickly or skip something (the stadium is a long climb beyond everything else, so could be a good option there).