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Acropolis Early Bird Tour: Enjoy Panoramic Views and Beat the Crowds
4.8
17 Ratings
Athens
Join our Early Bird Acropolis Tour and beat the heat and crowds! Explore iconic monuments, enjoy panoramic views, and learn fascinating myths and historical facts.
Duration:
1 hour, 45 minutes
Cancellation:
1 day
learn more
Highlights
- Propylaea - The Propylaea serves as the entrance gate to the Acropolis, impressively framed by a marble structure that adds to the grandeur of this sacred monument. With the guidance of your expert tour guide, you’ll gain insight into how the Propylaea may have appeared in ancient times, allowing you to visualize the splendor and significance of this iconic gateway.
What's Included
- Earsets for clear audio from your guide
- Complimentary Athens map
- Guidance from a professional local licensed guide
- Free Athens Guide magazine with local tips
- Skip-the-line ticket service for faster access
What's Not Included
- Entrance fees (can be booked as an option at an additional cost)
- Gratuities
- Hotel pick-up and drop-off service
- Food and beverages
Additional Information
Embark on our Early Bird Acropolis Tour to stay ahead of the heat and the masses. Starting our journey from the primary entrance, we’ll make a beeline for the Parthenon and get a closer look at the well-known Caryatids at the Erechteion. With our certified guide offering intriguing stories and historical details about these legendary landmarks, relish the breathtaking 360-degree views of Athens. Afterwards, we’ll proceed towards the southern entrance and along the way, stop by the Asklepeion, Odeon of Herodes Atticus, and Dionysus Theatre to soak in more captivating visuals and learn deeper about the Acropolis’s rich past. Do note that despite our morning timings, the place can get busy and hot. While we offer a skip-the-ticket-line service, some wait time might be required for security checks due to the unpredictable number of visitors daily. The usual waiting time ranges between 0 to 10 or 30 minutes, though in some rare cases, it could be longer.
- Strict Acropolis entry times mean we can’t wait for latecomers. No refunds will be given.
- All visitors undergo airport-style security; expect peak season waits of up to 30+ minutes.
- Cutoff times sync with Athens local time.
- Tours run rain or shine.
- If you selected the WITHOUT ticket option it’s up to you to purchase your admission tickets from the official site—a simple but important task to ensure your spot on the tour. This means you’ll need to carefully choose the right date, time slot, and ticket category (for example, adults, students, etc.).
- The tour starts enters the Acropolis right after the start of the tour. (Book your Acropolis ticket independently It’s crucial to ensure your tickets’ entry time corresponds with our tour’s specific schedule. Pre-Purchase Tickets: To ensure your participation, you must purchase your tickets prior to booking our tour. This step confirms the availability for your chosen tour date and time.
Location
XPCF+G9
ACROPOLIS MAIN ENTRANCE
Our staff, holding the orange Athens Walking Tours sign, will be waiting for you at the main Acropolis Entrance, across the canteen. Please be at the meeting 15 minutes prior to tour departure time.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.8
(17 Ratings)
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Pete_m
May 26, 2024
Beat the Crowds is the way to go! - “Beat the crowds” is the perfect approach! We were the first group through the entrance for the day, thanks to our guide! By the time we left, it started getting crowded, no problem for us because we were on our way out already! An easy pace, good breaks for pictures and exploring. George was a fantastic guide. He was very pleasant, funny, knowledgeable and easy to understand. He even gave recommendations for food and directions. The headsets were reliable and simple to use.
Review provided by Viator
Lesley_d
May 18, 2024
Get ther early, beat the crowds and the heat! - We booked the early tour to avoid the crowds and the heat. Sucess on both fronts. Niobe our guide was very informative and funny. Excellent tour. Thank you.
Review provided by Viator
Betty
Apr 2, 2024
Worth getting up early! - Yes it’s an early start (7:45am) but so worth it! We were the first group in at opening and went straight to the top, the Parthenon. It was beautiful to see the sun rise as we walked up the hill. The peace and quiet was great for taking photos and enjoying the view before the crowds got there. Yiannis was our guide and was great! He is also an archaeologist so he gave us interesting historical background and context to all we were seeing. This was a wonderful tour and am so glad we did this rather than just looking around on our own. Yiannis kept things interesting and entertaining! 10/10 recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Curious627970
Mar 4, 2024
Amazing morning tour with guide Yiannis! - My friends and I (group of 3) went to the morning tour of Acropolis (at 8 AM) with Yiannis. First of all, definitely recommend the early tour because it really is the best time to get pictures before the crowds filter in.
Second, we had a great tour guide, Yiannis, highly recommend. He clearly loves what he does, he is super knowledgeable and engaging. On the day of our tour we lucked out in that our group had 5 people (including us).
Third, I would recommend this tour because of the context Yiannis was able to provide. He had a binder with him which held laminated copies of what each of the sites likely looked like in their heydays. This added to the experience of Acropolis and imagining what the site used to look like.
TLDR- this tour added value to the experience of visiting the acropolis. Do the morning tour. And, yiannis is the best.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mingwait22
Dec 14, 2023
Very good tour! - Antonis is very knowledgeable, kind, and friendly. He also speaks very good English. So glad we went on the tour to learn about what is what. Tour was flexible to our schedule too.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Macq1974
Nov 14, 2023
Excellent value for money. - The booking experience was easy. You have to download the app. However this is worthwhile even for one experience. The staff arrived well ahead of schedule and were well organised. The tour started on time, and we were effectively the first ones in the Acropolis. Our guide, Margarita, was really amazing. Her English was very good, good diction, and she was extremely knowledgeable of Greek and Athenian history and culture. She was able to explain topics clearly and answered all of the group's questions. She also brought supplemental material, such as drawings and prints to show how the monuments looked through time. We had a few minutes of free time to take pictures before the crowds arrived. Margarita helped those of us who went solo with pictures (and she did that very well, too). The tour ended right on time. The audio equipment was of good quality and in good condition.
I have been in many tours (Egyptian pyramids, Inca and Aztec temples, Great Wall of China, Colosseum, between many others) and this is the guided tour I have enjoyed the most.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Deeqld
Nov 2, 2023
Wonderful jaunt of the acropolis. A must-do in the birthplace of democracy. - A brilliant way to explore the Acropolis with minimum crowds. Our guide Olesya was very informative and easy going and a pleasure. Perhaps a little too easy going because some members of the group were late (aren't there always?) and so we were held up and followed several other groups in thus minimising the chance of the best experience and photos.
If people are late, they are late and the tour should start on time.
We first visited during 1979 and, although concerned this time about the loss of integrity of the site, were impressed with the updates performed since. Contrary to my expectation, restoration work where the recent renovations were visibly different from the original added to the whole.
Our 1979 guide was a history professor and was able to relay her imaginings of the peoples' comings and goings to the Parthenon and to the Temple of Athena "back in the day". This was a marvellous experience and still resonates in my mind today.
Perhaps these imaginings could be included in today's tours?
We followed this with our own tour of the modern museum and would recommend this, possibly with the organised tour which can be included with the pleasing acropolis jaunt.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Katelyng
Oct 4, 2023
This is the Acropolis/Parthenon Tour you should book! - I’m so glad that I booked this tour. Everything was well organized, no wait to see the acropolis and Parthenon. The tour provided headsets to easily hear what our guide was telling us about the landmarks. Our guide, Annie was fantastic! She remembered all of the people in our tour, where they were visiting from and was so friendly and knowledgeable. She used many examples to help us consider the grandeur of what we were seeing in relation to things in our modern world. She was humorous and answered all the questions. I would recommend this tour to everyone!
Review provided by Viator
Nicoletraveler
Sep 29, 2023
Early Access is the Best Way to See the Acropolis! - We went on the Early Access Acropolis tour with Margarita, a high school teacher of ancient and modern Greek. Because the tour starts at 7:45, you are one of the first people to enter the Acropolis. We took pictures in front of the Parthenon with no other people in the background. We had 20 minutes to wander the awe inspiring monuments before hoards of people arrived. After we had time to wander, Margarita started explaining the structures and their significance. She always made sure her stops were in the shade, sometimes with a place to sit. By the time our tour was over, the crowds were incredibly large and it was hot!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mark_n
Sep 28, 2023
Excellent Tour! - Excellent tour! Our guide was very knowledgeable and provided extensive detail. The early start time beat the crowds and made for an enjoyable experience.
Review provided by Viator
