Piraeus Athens City Tour, Acropolis, lunch and Cape Sounio

Take a short drive to Athens, the cradle of the European civilization. For twenty-five centuries, the panorama of this city is dominated by the rock of the Acropolis. Walk uphill to visit the Acropolis and see the principal buildings: the Propylaia, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheion and the magnificent Parthenon. During your visit, you will also have some free time. Continue on with a panoramic tour of the city, where you will view the Olympieion (the Temple of Olympian Zeus) from the 6^th Century BC, one of the largest Corynthian style temples in Greek, history and Hadrian’s Arch (2^nd Century AD). This divided the Greek city from Hadrian’s new Roman city. Arriving at Syntagma Square, see the Royal Palace, built for Otto I of Bavaria and the present day Parliament. In front of the Palace stands the Monument of the Unknown Soldier where two soldiers (Evzoni) stand guard continuously .Drive further along and pass the neoclassical buildings of the University, Academy and Library before arriving at the Stadium laid out under Lycurgus in the 4^th Century BC and rebuilt in 1896 on its original plan for the modern Olympic Games.

Drive via Syngrou Avenue, following the road you will enter Poseidon avenue and pass along the aristocratic district of Glyfada. During the drive pictures can be taken from the bus of the enchanting coastline. Before we reach Sounion (12 km approx.) a delicious lunch will be offered, in a seaside restaurant in Palaia Fokaia. After lunch we continue the drive again to reach Sounion. On the edge of the Attic coastline with its jagged inlets, stands Cape Sounion, at the tip of which the most famous monument in Greece after the Parthenon: the Temple of Poseidon. Besides the remains of the walls fortified in 409 BC for the Peloponnesian War and of the small Propylaia leading into the sanctuary, there still stand the 16 tall, graceful columns of the temple. Built in 444-440 BC by the same architect responsible for The Temple of Hephaistos of the Athenian Agora and the temple of Nemesis at Ramnous, it had 6 columns on the ends and 13 on the sides, each with 16 grooves instead of the usual 20 to provide better resistance to erosion by the sea elements, and a frieze sculptured on the architrave showing exploits of Thesus, the Gigantomachy, and Centaurs and Lapiths in battle. On the facing hill, the remains of the Sanctuary of Athena Sounio. After your visit free time will be offered for refreshment at the cafeteria of the site or for taking some pictures of the magnificent view to the Aegean sea having as back round the temple of Poseidon, symbol of southern Attica.  You will then take the seaside road back to the port of Piraeus.