Tour Details

Private Delphi - The Navel of the Earth

After meeting your professionally trained and licensed guide on the pier, you will begin your journey to Delphi. Along the way, you will see the plain of Beotia, an agricultural center surrounded by cotton plantations and you will also pass through the city of Theva, the birthplace of King Oedipus. You will continue towards Mt. Parnassos, making a brief rest stop outside the town of Levadia.

You will then drive on to Delphi, which dates to the ninth century B.C. and whose allure includes an amazing hillside setting and ruins that will intrigue even the most skeptical among you. Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the Greek world's most important oracle. The area was also a major site for the worship of the god Apollo after he slew the Python, a deity who protected the navel of the Earth (center of the world) in this location. As you tour the site with your professional guide, they will separate the fact from the fiction and bring to life the history and central characters of the site. You will see the Roman Agora, walk along the Sacred Way, and view the monument of the Argive Kings. the treasury of the Athenians, the Athenian Stoa, the Polygonal Wall, the monument of Platea, and the Temple of Apollo where the oracle resided. Above the Temple, you can visit the well preserved 3rd-century Theater. On the lower slope of the mountain is the Tholos, a building whose exact purpose is unknown but architecturally speaking is considered one of the masterpieces of the ancient world. You will also see the Palestra where the athletes trained in preparation for the Pythian Games.

After you visit the archeological site, you will visit the adjacent Delphi Archaeological museum which houses the ancient artifacts that were found at the site. As its centerpiece, are the antiquities found in the complex of Oracle which dates from the 18th century B.C. when the oracle was founded to its decline around 300 A.D. Exhibits include the frieze of the Treasury of the Sifnians, the Naxian Sphinx, the metopes of the Athenian treasury, the famous Charioteer, created to commemorate a victory during the 476 B.C. Pythian Games, and many other artifacts.

After you visit the museum, rejoin your transportation and begin the drive back to Athens. Along the way, a stop will be made for a traditional Greek lunch with wine. After lunch, you will start your drive back to the port of Piraeus.