Last Updated on March 30, 2025 by Home in the World
What do you get when you throw together millennia-old ruins, rugged, verdant mountains, fabled monasteries, dreamy coastlines, colourful fishing villages, and techno-pumping party isles? Why, Greece, of course! It is a remarkably diverse country – possibly more diverse than people realise. While the stereotypical image may be of whitewashed domed houses overlooking azure seas, it is worth noting that much of the country is actually quite mountainous.
Very roughly speaking, Athens, its capital, could be considered as being at its halfway point – where the cooler, more rugged north meets the sun-drenched islands and turquoise waters of the south. And if you don’t have time to make specific trips to these regions, it can actually be a pretty decent base for some interesting day excursions that can at least give you a taste of what the country has to offer.
Read on to discover some of the varied and unique day trips from Athens you can enjoy – all within a few hours’ drive of the Greek capital.
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Aegina
Want to visit a Greek island without venturing too far from Athens? Then Aegina’s your best bet. Sure, it’s no Santorini, but it still offers the picturesque, relaxed ‘fishing village’ vibe typical of many of Greece’s isles. Located just a short (40-minute) ferry ride from Athens’ port of Piraeus (which is itself about a half-hour drive from central Athens), it is an easy half-day trip. It can also be done as part of a full-day trip along with 2 other islands: Poros and Hydra. We actually combined it with a second half-day excursion back on the mainland later that day (see the next point below).
Our driver organised return ferry tickets for us at Piraeus, and I don’t remember now which company we used, but services are quite regular, and tickets can definitely be purchased on the day. Some ferries are faster than others. They are far from luxurious, but you hardly need luxury on such a short ride. We left our driver at Piraeus and set off to Aegina on our own.
On arrival in Aegina, which is unsurprisingly a popular getaway destination for Athenians wanting to escape the hectic hustle and bustle of the capital, you find yourself on the colourful main drag of its main town, Aegina Town. The whole island is famed for its pistachios, and there is no dearth of shops selling these – either as whole nuts or in a variety of other food products.
The little port, where boats and yachts of varying sizes bob restfully in waters reflecting the rich blue of the sky above, is lined with restaurants and shops and is also where we managed to hail a cab to take us to the main purpose of our visit, the Temple of Aphaia on the other side of the island.
The young taxi driver had lived his whole life on the island, rarely even going to Athens. When we asked why, he responded with ‘Why would I go there, where it is crowded and polluted? Here it is quieter and a better way of life.’ He said he was kept busy during the summer months, and had no intention of ever leaving Aegina. Navigating the winding roads with the ease of a born-and-bred local, he would repeatedly wave out to other taxi drivers he evidently knew. There was a lot to be said for the genuine contentment and unrushed simplicity with which he went about his business.
After about a twenty-minute drive through semi-rural landscapes of olive and pistachio trees, we reached the Temple of Aphaia, the island’s chief tourist attraction. And despite this, I was struck by just how quiet it was. Apart from a German couple who were leaving the site as we were arriving, there was no one there apart from the person working in the small ticket booth, and another lady running the shop/café.
We asked the taxi driver if it was ok for him to wait there for us for half an hour while we went and explored (obviously paying him for his time), and he was happy to oblige, so we bought our tickets (a couple of euros, from memory) and entered the sanctuary, which is dedicated to the Greek goddess Aphaia. And it was a sanctuary in more ways than one. Stepping further away from the entrance, the tranquility became even more marked. I will never forget having this ancient Doric temple all to myself, with nothing but the buzzing of insects and gentle whooshing of the breeze in my ears.
The location alone is magnificent; perched up high (as you would expect), the complex overlooks the north-eastern section of the island, the beautiful Saronic Gulf, and the hazy urbanity of Athens further in the distance. You really get a sense of Greece’s stunning topography – a gorgeous panorama of rustic hamlets and undulating terrain set amid the ever-striking blue of its waters and skies.
Some more shots of the Temple of Aphaia:
The quiet, sleepy surrounds and tourist-free ancient ruins made it feel as if we had briefly slipped through a little hole in time, but we were soon back in the taxi heading back to the port for our return ferry to Piraeus, where our driver/guide was waiting to take us on our second half-day tour, which would see us head in an entirely different direction, but still also tie in with what we had just seen in Aegina (I will explain later).
We drove south-east, hugging the coastline, and passing through some of the prestigious beach suburbs of greater Athens, also known as the Athenian Riviera. Some of them reminded me of parts of Australia or California. We also made a quick stop at Lake Vouliagmeni, which marked the approximate half-way point of the one-hour journey.
The lake is a mineral spa that is said to have many healing properties for skin diseases, musculoskeletal complaints and several other ailments. We viewed it from a lookout from above, but down by the lake there appeared to be decks, lounges and a café – a great place to relax and soothe the mind and body, I would imagine. But we had a sunset to catch further down the coast, so, after a few minutes of photo-taking, it was back into the car for us.
Cape Sounion
We drove on, and suddenly, across a small bay, I finally caught my first glimpse of what would be our final destination of the day – and our vantage point for a stunning Aegean sunset. We were approaching Cape Sounion (also written as Sounio) at the far south-eastern tip of the Attica Peninsula, home to the majestic Temple of Poseidon, built out of white marble in 444 BC.
Our driver parked at the base and we scrambled up the hill on our own, keen to admire the ancient temple from all angles in what was left of the daylight, before shifting our attention to the horizon, into which the setting sun was already starting to sink, casting its warm filter over the surrounding landscape. The Temple of Poseidon is the third point of the ‘Sacred Triangle of Temples’, along with the Parthenon in Athens and… the Temple of Aphaia on Aegina. Didn’t I say there was a connecting link between the two day excursions?! And if you plot these three temples on a map, they do indeed form an isosceles triangle.
If you want to take in one of Greece’s fabled sunsets but aren’t able to make it out to islands like Santorini, Cape Sounion is a great option – and can even be combined with Aegina earlier in the day, like we did. While there were a number of people at the cape, with a larger tour group arriving just at sunset, it still felt peaceful, with enough space for everyone, without people climbing over each other with their selfie sticks.
There was definitely something magical about watching the way the rolling hills, secluded bays, and ancient marble temple changed hues – from vivid and glaring, the warm and golden, and finally to muted silhouettes – as the blazing sun gradually dipped out of sight.
Meteora
The bizarre and striking rock formations, topped with red-roofed monasteries, near Kalabaka in central Greece, are a regular fixture on bucket lists far and wide, and are unsurprisingly listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. You may even have spotted them in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only. Monks have been settling on these ‘columns of the sky’ since the 11th century – and if they wanted undisturbed tranquility, they could hardly have chosen a better location. ‘Meteoro‘, after all, means ‘suspended in the air’. While tourists these days of course flock to the site, it is incredible to imagine just how isolated and quiet these seemingly unreachable sandstone peaks would have been centuries prior.
As one of the longer day trips from Athens, the site is a good 4-hour drive each way from the city, heading partly along the winding coastline of the North Euboean Gulf, before continuing on inland, through a number of small, semi-rural towns. The town of Kalabaka itself has a number of hotels where you can stay the night, but we preferred to just do the whole trip as an extended day excursion from Athens.
Some of the monasteries are more accessible than others. The Great Meteoron Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of Jesus is the largest, highest and oldest of them all. Getting up there requires both time and stamina, as it is a long series of stone steps leading up and down – and I saw many people of all ages struggling and gasping quite a bit.
I tried to go part of the way, but as I had a knee and hip injury at the time, I did not want to push things, so preferred to just stand atop the observation area (where there are incidentally also a number of cute little stalls) and admire it from afar. We instead visited the more accessible Holy Monastery of Saint Barbara Roussanou, which was established in the 16th century and is run by nuns.
There is still a bit of climbing up and down steps, and ducking your head in places, but overall quite easily reached. No photos are allowed inside, and women entering the building are required to wrap one of the provided apron-style skirts around their waists. One of the nuns was serenely painting motifs of the monasteries in fine ink on flat pebbles; she did it so quickly and it was quite captivating to watch. I ended up buying one, and she asked my name and wrote it in Greek, along with the date, on the back. I now have it on my desk in my home office so I can admire it every day.
Below is the little pebble the nun at the Holy Monastery of Saint Barbara Roussanou painted before my eyes:
While Meteora is a very long day excursion from Athens (it was 8 hours of driving round-trip – but then again, you are travelling nearly halfway up the country), we preferred to do it that way, as we ideally like to base ourselves in one location where possible, rather than constantly have to pack and unpack, and check in and out of hotels. So it can definitely be done – we had a good 3-4 hours or so up there to explore the monasteries. But if you want to spend more time, or see the site at sunrise or sunset, then your best bet is to stay at one of the small hotels or guesthouses at the nearby town of Kalabaka.
Delphi
Somewhat closer to the capital (but still a solid 2-hour drive) is one of the country’s most famous historic sites – it is in fact the second most visited archaeological site in Greece after the Acropolis of Athens. Clinging to the slopes of Mount Parnassus, the sanctuary, established in the 8th century BC and steeped in mythology, was considered by the ancient Greeks to be the centre or ‘navel’ of the world.
Delphi is most synonymous with its fabled oracle – a Pythia or priestess who would answer questions about the future and offer guidance to those who consulted her – including the god Apollo himself, to whom the sanctuary was sacred. The archaeological site today includes the ruins of the Temple of Apollo, the Serpent Column, the Treasury of Athenians, the Ancient Theatre, and the Ancient Stadium. Just before reaching the main entrance, our driver stopped by the roadside, so we could walk down and see the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia, which is located a little further away from the main site, at the bottom of a winding dirt path that leads off the access road.
Given Delphi’s status as a premier historic site, I was pleasantly surprised by how quiet it was overall, especially down at the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia. There were more people up at the main site, but I was still struck by the overwhelming sense of tranquility, and it was not uncommon for me to find myself entirely alone, with only the sounds of nature around me, looking out over the spectacular ruins and verdant valley beyond.
It is worth knowing that the site involves a bit of scrambling over rocks and up small slopes, depending on how far up you want to go. It is also reasonably exposed, and can get quite hot or cold, depending on when you visit. I had come prepared with warmer clothes, as the site is at a slight elevation and the forecast predicted showers and cooler weather. It ended up being boiling hot, and I soon shed all my layers! Be sure to also spend a bit of time in the Delphi Museum before or after your site visit. It is well laid out, and houses a number of interesting artefacts excavated in the local area.
As one of the more comfortable day trips from Athens, if you’re going to do any excursion to archaeological sites and ruins further afield during your stay, make it Delphi. Soaking up magical history in such a spectacular setting is a unique experience indeed.
Some more shots of the Delphi archaeological site and a couple of the museum exhibits:
Nafplio
Rounding off our day trips from Athens, we headed to the pretty town of Nafplio (sometimes also written as Nafplion), the first capital of Modern Greece, located on a bay of the northern Argolic Gulf in the eastern Peloponnese. The 1.5-hour drive there also passed through the Corinth Canal, which separates the Peloponnese Peninsula from the Greek mainland, connecting the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf. We stopped there briefly to take a look, and it was an impressive sight. The water was so blue, and it cut like a ribbon through the sheer rock faces either side.
The journey continued south across the Peloponnese Peninsula, and an hour or so later, we found ourselves driving down one of the commercial streets on the outskirts of Nafplio. Our first view of the town itself, however, came from the 18th-century Fortress of Palamidi, which stands prominently atop a 216-m-high (710 ft) hill overlooking the settlement below. Not only does it provide stunning panoramic views, but the Venetian citadel itself also makes for a striking sight when viewed from the town, almost floating above it as it hugs the crest on which it perches like an eagle’s nest.
The rest of the afternoon was spent at our leisure in Nafplio, strolling along the seafront and meandering through the narrow laneways. Vivid bougainvillea cascaded from window boxes, and faded wooden shutters on paint-peeled building façades left you wondering about the people who had probably lived their entire lives behind them here in this rustic town, and what stories they could probably tell.
There were the expected souvenir shops and cafés, of course. Restaurants and hotels too. We stopped for a refreshment at what turned out to be an Italian gelato place, but Roberto (the Italian owner who had lived in Greece for some time) and Julia (who I think was Greek) were the loveliest, friendliest people – and their gelato was delicious too. So if you’re ever in Nafplio, be sure to check out the Gelateria da Roberto at Staikopoulou 18!
Some more Napflio scenes:
Final thoughts on day trips from Athens
That marked the end of our Greek odyssey (terrible pun intended). Obviously we only scratched the surface of what this diverse country has to offer, as these were simply day trips out of Athens – and we weren’t even able to exhaust those. The archaeological site of Olympia, the ancient city of Corinth, and the enchanting, car-free island of Hydra are all other options you may want to explore as day excursions.
Leave alone the many other cities, regions and islands that are worth multi-day stays in their own right. But I hope this post has at least provided a bit of inspiration and information on some of the many things you can do using Athens as a base. And don’t forget to check out my Athens post for sights to see in Greece’s vibrant capital itself.
** This post, like everything else on this website, has been written entirely by me. No ChatGPT or any other AI tool has been used. It takes longer to create, but I value 100% human-generated content and I hope you do too! **
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