5 h. tour (Private tour)
(Athens - Corinth Canal - Ancient Corinth Site and Museum - Athens)
Your driver will be meeting you at the lobby of your hotel in Athens and you will board your private vehicle and start your tour.
After a drive through the western suburbs of Athens, you will start having the view of the Saronic Gulf on the one side of the road. You will have the island of Salamis on the one side of the road, as well as the part of the sea, where one of the most famous naval battles in world's history was fought, in 480 BC, between the Athenians and the Persians. On the other side of the road will be mount Aegaleo, from where Xerxis was watching the naval battle, sitting on his golden throne.
Soon after that, you will start seeing the impressive mountains of the Peloponnese in the distance, as you will reach the man-made Corinth Canal, which separates the Greek mainland from the Peloponnese and where the Ionian sea connects with the Aegean sea.
You will enjoy a short stop by the Corinth Canal and you will have the chance to get off and walk closer to it in order to photograph it standing on the bridge over it. The view will be breathtaking from both sides, and you can enjoy a short coffee break at the cafeteries there.
From there it's a very short drive to the archaeological site of Corinth, where your licensed tour guide will be waiting for you to greet you and to take you on a detailed exploration of ancient Corinth's site and museum. The impressive Acrocorinth fort was built right on top of where the ancient city used to be. Most of the remaining ruins are from the Roman era, except for the still standing monolithic columns of the temple of Apollo. You will see the Roman Odeon, the Ancient Springs, the Agora, the Bema from where St. Paul preached, the archaeological museum with some extraordinary samples of the Corinthian pottery, as well as the amazing view to the sea and the valley, proving why that city was so important and world famous back then.
At the end of the guided tour you will board your vehicle and have a short visit for photographs at the impressive Acrocorinth fort, with its walls remaining in most parts in a very good condition. Once up there you will understand why in antiquity they used to say that it was one of the "eyes" of the Peloponnese and that whoever could conquer it, would easily be able to conquer the rest of Greece.
From Ancient Corinth it is a very short drive to the ruins of the ancient port of Kechries where St. Paul embarked his ship after preaching to the Corinthians to get to Ephesus. You will have the chance to make a short stop there, before returning back to Athens.
