Piraeus (Athens), Greece Port Reviews

Loved Athens. Hired a private taxi for the day. This was well worth the money. He knew the best times to go to the most popular sights, to avoid lines. He also took us to a local place to have authentic gyros. Best day of our vacation.

Stayed two days prior and had a great time visiting Athens.

Athens is great. If you go, make sure you either stay a day or two before or after the cruise.

Easy to visit Athens on your own. We took the X80 bus there and return. Price was €4.10 for a day ticket. Remember to validate this once on the bus. We bought a combination ticket and visited Olympia and the Acropolis. Both are worth visiting but be aware of the queue getting into Acropolis. Also entry tends to be 2 hours after you bought a ticket. They will make you wait. The Acropolis is very physically challenging and as I have asthma and arthritis I struggled big time. Just be aware of your own limitations. We also did a small private tour with a taxi for €50. Saw several Athens sites including a monastery on another hill. Our driver was brilliant and very knowledgeable.

We did the Parthenon excursion. That was awesome. Really enjoyed it. We only had 1 hour to explore that area and that was due to the tours pace. The tour guide made several bathroom stops and made us all wait. We only had 30 mins in the plaka and that was because we ended up just leaving the group. we waited 45mins past the original meeting/departing time for 2 late joiners. That was frustrating for the entire group

It was dumpy with a ton of graffiti

We flew into Athens 2 days before so we could explore the city before our cruise and were glad we did. It was spectacular. We bought tickets to use the Hop On Hop Off Bus to stop at all the major sights of the city.

crazy port arrival (6am) and early depart (4pm) were a major disappointment that lead to general dis-satisfaction from passengers I met

This wasn't really a cruise port of call-- it was our starting point, and we stayed a few days here before getting on the ship. Beautiful and intersting!

Scheduled an RCCL tour and were very fortunate to have a great local guide who was vey informative about Athens and its history. Lots of walking. Visited the Acropolis / Parthenon historic site, Acropolis Museum, and the Plaka shopping district. City is very congested.