HISTORIC CENTRAL ATHENS BIKE TOUR
3 hours, 90% traffic free, 25 points of interest

ACROPOLIS & ACROPOLIS MUSEUM
3 hours with private professional licensed guide

view from AreopagosThe Historic Central Athens bike tour Is 90% traffic free and stops at 25 points of interest in the old city.   Many sites on the tour are simply inaccessible to motor vehicles.  It is impossible to cover this much terrain by foot in three hours.

The bike guide leads riders through narrow Plaka streets, weaves in and out of the Acropolis pedestrian walkway, cycles up the car-free commercial thoroughfare of Ermou and pedals around the National Gardens.   The tour’s unheralded sites, like the Anafi neighborhood, are just as interesting as the famous sites, like the changing of the guard at Parliament or the 1896 Olympic Stadium.

The Historic Central Athens bike tour is child-friendly for children eight years and older who can either ride their own bike or ride a tag-along connected to their parent’s bike.

This bike tour is also attractive to cruise ship travelers looking for an active experience off the ship.

At the end of the bike tour, there is lunch in the Plaka at an outdoor taverna with traditional fare.   There are many choices on the menu, including for vegetarians and vegans.

After lunch the tour resumes with a private tour of the Acropolis and Acropolis Museum led by a professional licensed guide.   Touring these sites without a guide is like watching a movie with the sound turned off.   The guides we work with will impress you with their depth of knowledge.

If you have already seen the Acropolis, a delightful substitute is walking up to Lycabettus, the highest point in Athens.   There’s a cafe and chapel at the top.   The walk route consists of long steps the type made for donkeys or you can opt to take the cable car up or down.   Atop Lycabettus offers the absolute most spectacular views in all Athens.

Details

Dates choose your date
Duration 8 hours for bike tour, lunch, Acropolis/Museum tour or Lycabettus
Arrival City Athens or Piraeus
Transfers yes, for cruise ship travelers – see terms in Cost & Inclusions tab
Tour Start Point Acropolis pedestrian walkway
Tour End Point Acropolis pedestrian walkway
 Minimum Age
 8
 Minimum Pax
2 participants
Maximum Pax
10 per group
Total Mileage  11 km, 6.80 miles
Highest Elevation
 55 meters, 180 feet
Rating Easy — see Rating System

Itinerary

Historic Central Athens Bike Tour

The Historic Central Athens Bike tour starts at the Acropolis pedestrian walkway at the point where the walkway begins at Amalia Street and Syngrou Avenue.  This point is a two minute walk from the Acropolis metro station.  The tour can also start at Thissio Metro station on the other end of the pedestrian walkway if that happens to be a more convenient location.

The three hour bike tour usually lasts from  9:00 am to 12:00 noon, but it can also start earlier at 8:30 am or even 8:00 am.   It is best to start the tour early to avoid the pedestrian crowds and take advantage of cooler mornings.  The bike tour can start later and it can occur in the afternoon as well.  The tour is 90% traffic free with very light traffic in the Plaka.

The tour covers 25 points of interest in historic central Athens, some of which are well known, such as, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Syntagma Square where the changing of the guard takes place.  Other sites are less frequently visited by tourists, such as, the Pnyx where democracy was born or Socrates’ Prison.  The tour has points of interest that are not even mentioned in guidebooks, but they too offer a fascinating peek into the many layers of Greek history that abound in central Athens.   The tour does not enter government controlled archaeology sites, such as, the Acropolis, the Roman and Greek Agoras or the Temple of Zeus.

L U N C H     After the bike tour you will be ready for lunch in a taverna serving traditional Greek fare with vegetarian and vegan options, too.   You choose from the menu what you wish to eat or drink.

Acropolis & Acropolis Museum 
After lunch you meet the professional licensed guide at the Acropolis Museum where you are given “jump ahead of the line” tickets.   The guides spends a little over an hour showing you the museum’s  highlights, such as the Karyatids the statues that serve as columns whose marble braided hair is most striking.  You will also see parts of the pediments of the Parthenon as they look as if they were still atop the edifice.

Then the guide escorts you across the Acropolis pedestrian walkway to ascend up to the world famous Acropolis itself.  Did you know that if the columns of the Parthenon extend for 2-3 kilometers upward that it forms a pyramid!  These are the types of fascinating facts your guide has in store for you.   After the tour ends at the Acropolis you are welcome to linger up there until closing time.

Lycabettus  
If you ahve already seen the Acropolis, an alternative is to climb up to the highest point of Athens atop Lycabettus hill.  Or you can take the cable car up or down or both.   Atop Lycabettus the stupendous 360 degree views are the most impressive you’ll see anywhere in Athens.  There is a chapel up there and a cafe where your tour includes coffee or a beverage.

Whether you opt for Acropolis or Lycabettus, the tour ends by no later than 5:00 pm, or earlier if you have a cruise ship to catch.

Cost

2 – 4 riders 290 euros per person
5 – 8 riders 240 euros per person
9 or more riders contact us for cost

Inclusions

  • Historic Central Athens bike tour inclusions: bike guide, hybrid bike, helmet, water, handlebar bag
  • Lunch at traditional Greek taverna in Plaka
  • Professional licensed guide for three hour tour of Acropolis and Acropolis Museum
  • Entry fees to Acropolis & Acropolis Museum.

Lycabettus option

  • Vehicle transfer to foot path to Lycabettus
  • if not walking to Lycabettus, cable car fee to site
  • beverage at Lycabettus cafe

Map shows highlights of Historic Central Athens Bike Tour — click on Google map to open in new window

AthensDayTour

Most everyone taking an Athens Day Tour does so as an add-on to their multi-day bike tour, before or after the tour.   The cost of the selected day tour will be added to the final cost of the multi-day bike tour.  

If you are only a day tripper – perhaps you are a cruise traveler – you will need to contact us to arrange the date and time you wish to schedule a day tour and we’ll let you know how to make payment.

See details in the Booking Agreement which you must agree as a condition to participation in a CycleGreece tour. Participants are also required to sign a Waiver & Release of Liability.

Historic Central Athens Photo Gallery

Bike Tour Highlights

Peek inside the prison cell where the philosopher Socrates was held

Get your photograph taken standing next to the Presidential Guards

Visit the Pnyx, the birthplace of democracy

Bike up the street where the British poet Lord Byron lived

Light a candle, make a wish, in an archaic Byzantine church

Athens on 2 wheels

Ideal for Families & Cruise Travelers

A child-friendly tour for kids eight years and older who like to bike and see awesome Greek sights

A great shore excursion for cruise ship travelers with optional transfers to and from the ship

Request Distance/Elevation Profiles For Historic Central Athens

Other Athens Day Tours

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