Athens Sightseeing Private Tour With Visit Of Acropolis and National Archaeological Museum

[TOUR CODE #P4]

This is a 6 hour private tour!
Historical Information In Details About This Private Tour!

Visit the Acropolis of Athens – 5000 years old as well as the National Archaeological Museum – the largest museum in Greece and one of the most important museums in the world devoted to ancient Greek art, with more than 11,000 exhibits providing a panorama of Greek civilization from the beginnings of Prehistory to Late Antiquity.

Experience and admire the beauties of Athens on this guided sightseeing private tour, travellingin our luxury air-conditioned car / mini bus / bus while listening to our expert licensed guide explaining all important historical and monumental sites throughout history and introducing you to the spirit of more than 3000 years.

Travel at your own pace.
This tour includes a private guide and vehicle, just for you. Enjoy the world’s known destinations with itineraries taliored to feed your needs.

Acropolis of Athens

You will be meet by our personnel and start your private tour with a better view of the modern aspect of the city just before visiting “The Acropolis of Athens”. It was formally proclaimed as the pre-eminent monument on the European Cultural Heritage list of monuments on 26 March 2007. The Acropolis is a flat-topped rock that rises 150 m above sea level in the middle of the city of Athens, with a surface area of about 3 hectares.
It was also known as Cecropia, after the earliest legendary Athenian King Cecrops, who emerged from the ground half man half serpent. The entrance to the Acropolis was a monumental gateway called the Propylaea. To the south of the entrance is the tiny Temple of Athena Nike.
A bronze statue of Athena, carved by Phidias, originally stood in between the Propylea and the Parthenon in the open air.

At the highest point of the Acropolis of Athens is the Parthenon or Temple of Athena Parthenos (Athena the Virgin). To the north east of the Parthenon is the temple known as the Erechtheum. South of the platform that forms the top of the Acropolis there are also the remains of the most famous open air theatre called Theatre of Dionysus (17.000 spectators, the earliest, one of the biggest), where all famous dramas written by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides were first performed.

A few hundred meters away to the west the impressive Herod Atticus’ Odeum (music hall or opera house), built in the Roman period, reconstructed in the 20th century, holding 5.000 spectators and used every summer for the most important and longest cultural event (music, drama, dancing and singing from all over the world almost every night, info at your hotel reception) in the country the festival of Athens.

The Parthenon dedicated to goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their favorite goddess, patron goddess of the city. Its construction began in 447 BCE and was completed in 438 BCE, although its sculptured and painted decorations continued until 432 BCE when it was accomplished.

It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, admired from the moment it was finished until this very moment for the perfection of its construction and engineering for its architectural refinements and its sculptured masterpieces.
The Parthenon is regarded as an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece and of Athenian democracy and one of the world’s greatest cultural monuments. The Parthenon itself replaced an older temple of Athena, which historians call the Pre-Parthenon or Older Parthenon, which was destroyed during the Persian invasion of 480 BCE. Like most Greek temples, the Parthenon was used as a treasury.

In the 5th century A.D. the Parthenon was converted into a Christian church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. During the Turkish Rule, it was turned into a mosque in the early 1460s, and it had a minaret attached to it at its SW corner.
On 26 September 1687, the worst damage was brought about when during a Venetian bombadment the temple was blown up in the air stuffed with gunpowder by the Turks. In 1806, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin removed most of the surviving sculptures, with the Sultan’s permission.

These sculptures, now known as the Elgin’s Marbles or the Parthenon Marbles, were purchased in 1816 by the British Museum in London, where they have been displayed since then till this very day. The Greek government is committed to the return of the sculptures to Greece.

The Restauration Project of Acropolis of Athens began in 1975 and is now nearing completion. The aim of the restoration was to reverse the decay of centuries of attrition, pollution, destruction by acts of war, and misguided past restorations. The project included collection and identification of all stone fragments, even small ones, from the Acropolis and its slopes and the attempt was made to restore as much as possible using reassembled original material – with new marble from Mount Penteli used sparingly.

All restoration was made using titanium dowels and is designed to be completely reversible, in case future experts decide to change things. A combination of cutting-edge modern technology and extensive research and reinvention of ancient techniques were used.

A total of 2,675 tons of architectural members were restored, with 686 stones reassembled from fragments of the originals, 905 patched with new marble, and 186 parts made entirely of new marble. A total of 530 cubic meters of new Pentelic marble were used.

Athenian democracy developed in the Greek city-state of Athens, spreading across the Attica territory around 508 BC. Athens was the first known democracy. Other Greek cities set up democracies following the Athenian model, but none of them was as powerful, stable, or as well-organised as that of Athens.

It remains a unique and intriguing example of direct democracy where all people did both: they elected their representatives and they themselves and not their representatives voted finally in favour or against new legislation. The public opinion was remarkably influenced by the political satire performed by the comic poets at the theatres.
Nevertheless, the idea of democratic government is one of the most significant contributions of the ancient Greeks. The city-state of Athens had one of the largest democracies in terms of population.

National Archaeological Museum

Furthermore, we will continue to visit the National Archaeological Museum – not wasting your time on the queue – to admire the exhibits illustrating 5000 years of history. The collection and protection of antiquities was one of the first and foremost concerns of the newly founded Greek state, which set up its first museum on Aegina in 1829. However, when the capital of the Modern Greece was transferred from Nauplion to Athens, where the concentration of ancient temples and public buildings had led to the creation of notable collections, the need to establish a Central Museum for Antiquities became imperative.

The National Archaeological Museum was founded by presidential decree on August 9, 1893. Its purpose was ‘the study and teaching of the science of archaeology, the propagation of archaeological knowledge and the cultivation of a love for the Fine Arts’.
With the declaration of the Second World War in 1939, the museum’s antiquities were stored for safety in the museum itself, the vaults in the Bank of Greece and in natural grottos. At the end of the war, the museum’s director Christos Karouzos undertook the re-exposition of the exhibits and the architect P. Karantinos remodeled the exhibition spaces.

During that time the temporary display was limited to ten rooms of the east wing. Christos and Semni Karouzou completed the re-exposition in 1964, having created an exemplary display of the development of ancient Greek art from prehistory to the Roman period. The unique Greek collection of Egyptian antiquities was exhibited for the first time thirty years later, in 1994.

The vast exhibition space – numerous galleries on each floor accounting for a total of 8,000 square metres – house five large permanent collections:
The Prehistoric Collection, which includes works of the great civilizations that developed in the Aegean from the sixth millennium BC to 1050 BC (Neolithic, Cycladic, Mycenaean), and finds from the prehistoric settlement at Thira. The Sculptures Collection, which shows the development of ancient Greek sculpture from the seventh to the fifth centuries BC with unique masterpieces.

The Vase and Minor Objects Collection, which contains representative works of ancient Greek pottery from the eleventh century BC to the Roman period and includes the Stathatos Collection, a corpus of minor objects of all periods. The Metallurgy Collection, with many fundamental statues, figurines and minor objects. And, finally, the only Egyptian and Near Eastern Antiquities Collection in Greece, with works dating from the pre-dynastic period (5000 BC) to the Roman conquest.

During this private tour we will have a full view of Athens with its historical sites and monuments such as: The Panathenian Stadium, The National Picture Gallery, The glass Runner, The Megaron Concert Hall, The National Archaeological Museum, The National Theatre, The Omonia Square, The Open Market, The National Historical Museum (Old Parliament), The Syntagma Square, The Plaka Area, The Downtown shopping center, The Flea market, The St. Nikodimos Russian Orthodox, The St. Paul’s Anglican, The National Park (ex Royal Gardens), The House of Parliament (ex Royal Palace), The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Evzones), The Iliou Melathron Numismatic Museum (H. Schliemann’s Home), The St. Denis Roman Catholic Cathedral, The Neoclassical Building of Central Bank of Greece, The Academy of Arts & Letters, The University of Athens, The National Library, The Presidential Residents (ex Royal Palace), The Change of the Honor Guards, The Zappio Congress, The Temple of Olympic Zeus, The Hadrian’s Gate, The Dionysus Theatre, The Asclepieum Medical Center, The Herod Atticus Odeon, The Areopagous (St. Paul Acts XVII on Mars Hill).

Afterwards we will drive back to your original pick up point.

Back to the tour!

Prices per Group	Prices in Euro
Group up to 2 persons:	530.00
Group up to 16 persons:	660.00
Group up to 49 persons:	710.00
The above group prices do not include: Entrance fee to Acropolis 12.00 and National Archaeological Museum 7.00 per person
For the final cost please calculate the group price + (participants X 19.00) = TOTAL COST
The above group prices include: Professional English – speaking licensed guide, Transportation by air-conditioned – non smoking coach, Local taxes

Do you prefer to include Lunch in this tour?
In order to organize Lunch (3 course menu-without drinks) in a typical Greek restaurant you have to add 1½ hours more on the duration of this tour and 20.00 Euros per person on any of the above prices.

Before you book! See also

How to book
Click here to pay and book this private tour
Or e-mail us at adm@hopin.com
Or call us at +30 210 4285500

Highlights
Acropolis archaeological site, National Archaeological Museum, Panathenian Stadium, The Herod Atticus Odeon, The Academy of Arts & Letters, The University of Athens, The National Library, The Hadrian’s Gate, Change of the Guards, Presidential House, Parliament (ex Royal Palace)

Schedule Details
This tour is private and is available from Athens or Piraeus port or Athens Airport
Recommended Departure Time: 9:00am
Duration: 6 hours (approx.)
Return details: to original departure point (at your hotel or Piraeus port or Athens Airport)

Additional Information
All prices in this website are in Euro
Other languages are available upon request with additional price
Licensed guide = approved from the Greek government

Personal – No groups
Enjoy your own guide and vehicle, set your own pace.

Flexible – No preset times
Start when you want. Change what you want.

What to bring
Comfortable footwear, Sunblock, Hat, Camera

F.A.Q. Got some questions?
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions