Give Athens a little time of its own, before or after your cruise. Here’s how we’d make the most of two days—and what we’d add with a third.

If you’re trying to build an Athens itinerary for 2 days before or after a Greek cruise, Bill and I spent several days doing exactly that—trying different ways to see Athens and figuring out what was worth our limited time.

We took a guided Acropolis tour, an evening walking tour, rode the Hop-On Hop-Off bus around central Athens and all the way out along the Athens Riviera, and wandered around on foot on our own.

As experienced world travelers, we’ve learned how much easier a short stay is if you know what to prioritize. If Athens is part of your Bucket List Greece cruise, I’ve done the research—and the walking!—so you can make the most of your 2-3 days without the analysis paralysis.

If one of these recommended tours makes it onto your itinerary, I’d be grateful if you came back to book through my link. The small commission I earn at no cost to you is what allows me to provide all these guides to you for free!

Athens Itinerary: Quick Overview

If you only have 2 days in Athens, this is how I’d spend them based on what we experienced:

• Day 1: Take an early guided tour of the Acropolis and Parthenon, then spend the rest of the day exploring central Athens. Plaka, Anafiotika and the Changing of the Guard can easily fit into the same day.
• Day 2: Use a Hop-On Hop-Off bus to get a broader look at Athens without spending your entire day walking from attraction to attraction. In the evening, take a walking tour to see different parts of the city and see the Acropolis all lit up at night.
• Have a Day 3? Make it a beach day along the “Athens Riviera”. Take the Hop-On Hop-Off bus out toward Vouliagmeni, then get off near the coast to enjoy the beaches and Aegean Sea—a completely different experience from central Athens.

This isn’t exactly the order we did everything. But it’s the Athens itinerary 2 days I’d recommend after experiencing it ourselves.

And if you only have time for one thing? Go to the Acropolis.

Why We Arrived in Athens 48 Hours Before Our Cruise

I have a pretty firm travel rule when there’s a finite event I absolutely cannot miss: build in a cushion.

That might be a wedding, funeral, safari departure or cruise. If the ship sails on Saturday, arriving in Athens on Saturday morning leaves absolutely no room for a canceled flight, missed connection or major delay.

We arrived 48 hours before our cruise and stayed near the port in Piraeus. We didn’t do much sightseeing there at all. After our long international flight, the 8-hour jet lag hit us pretty hard. We worked on staying awake until evening, took a few short naps, and just wandered in the neighborhood around our accommodation.

And that was perfectly okay. This process has helped us adapt to new time zones pretty quickly all over the world.

Kari’s Travel Tip: For any trip built around something you absolutely cannot miss, I recommend arriving 1–3 days early. You can always find something to do with an extra day. But you can’t make a cruise ship wait for you.

If this is your first trip to Greece, my Greece Travel Guide covers all the practical things I’d sort out before leaving home, including money, Schengen rules, phone service, transportation and electrical outlets.

What We Did With Our Time in Athens After the Cruise

Our real Athens sightseeing happened after our cruise, when we moved from Piraeus to accommodation in Athens.

We had several days to explore and deliberately tried different ways of seeing the city. Some experiences were worth paying for. Others were perfectly enjoyable from the top of a sightseeing bus.

And Athens itself surprised me a little.

I wouldn’t describe it as a particularly beautiful city. It felt gritty in places, with a lot of graffiti and dense modern development surrounding these incredible ancient sites.

Then you turn a corner and suddenly there’s the Acropolis towering above everything. At night, the illuminated Parthenon seems to float over the city.

That contrast became one of the things I found most interesting about Athens.

Tour the Acropolis With a Guide

If you do only one thing in Athens, make it the Acropolis and Parthenon.

There are dozens of companies offering Acropolis tours, and we chose the Acropolis and Parthenon Guided Walking Tour largely because it had fantastic reviews. We got lucky with guide Dorina because she was terrific – just the right amount of details shared.

Our tour started at 8:00 AM with 16 people. Rather than marching us straight uphill, Dorina led us slowly up the South Slope and stopped whenever she found shade to explain what we were seeing. That made a huge difference.

Are you wondering what is the difference between the Parthenon and the Acropolis? The Parthenon is the main ancient temple on top of the hill. The Acropolis is the entire area surrounding it – including the hill and all the other structures it includes. Someone said think of the Acropolis as the campus and the Parthenon as the main building.

The crowds increased noticeably as we climbed higher and our route merged with visitors entering from the main gate. Dorina also warned us to watch our belongings carefully in the crowded areas due to pickpockets.

By the time we reached the top, the sun was intense. But standing in front of the Parthenon was one of those moments where I was very glad we hadn’t decided seeing it from a bus was “good enough.”

Once we reached the top, we had time to explore, take photos and simply enjoy being there before continuing with Dorina to the Acropolis Museum. Having her with us in the museum added another layer to what we’d just seen outside—and after walking around the Acropolis in the heat, stepping into the air-conditioning felt pretty wonderful!

• Why go: If you only choose one major Athens attraction, this is the one I’d prioritize.
• Good to know: Check exactly what your tour includes before booking. Acropolis admission and the Acropolis Museum may be included or priced separately depending on the tour you choose. For our tour, they were add ons (and we added them).
• Why pick this tour: We chose it because of the excellent reviews and ended up with a fantastic guide who made the history understandable instead of overwhelming us with dates and facts.

Kari’s Travel Tip: Don’t assume you need to be an ancient-history buff to benefit from a guide. I will confess though, I did Google “The 12 Olympian Gods” after our tour!

Explore Athens on an Evening Walking Tour

Our first real introduction to central Athens happened after our cruise on an evening walking tour called Athens at Night Enchanting Walking Tour and Dinner Delights.

With Athens in the middle of a heat wave, an evening tour sounded much more appealing than walking around under the afternoon sun. Even then, it was hot and sticky at times, although we occasionally caught a welcome breeze.

One of my favorite stops was the Changing of the Guard outside the Parliament Building. Their elaborate uniforms and incredibly precise movements made this much more interesting than I expected.

From there, we walked through Plaka and Anafiotika, visited a Greek Orthodox church and saw the Ancient Agora and Roman Agora. Throughout the evening, we kept catching glimpses of the Acropolis above us.

Our tour included dinner at a Greek taverna afterward. We covered several areas of central Athens in one evening, and seeing the Acropolis and Parthenon illuminated after dark was gorgeous.

• Why go: An evening tour lets you combine several central Athens sights while avoiding some of the worst daytime heat.
• Good to know: Expect plenty of walking, often on uneven streets. By the time we got back to our accommodation, both of us were tired and hot.
• Why pick this tour: It combines neighborhoods, ancient sites, the Changing of the Guard and dinner into one evening, making it a great way to cover a lot of ground when you have limited time in Athens.

See More of Athens on the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus

I have mixed feelings about Hop-On Hop-Off buses in general, but it worked exceptionally well for us in Athens.

We bought a 48-hour Big Bus ticket around midday on Monday and boarded the Red Route near the National Archaeological Museum about 10 minutes from where we were staying in the Victoria Square part of North Athens. We climbed up the stairs, found seats under the covered portion and rode the entire Athens loop in just under 2 hours.

And here’s the funny part: we only hopped off once!

We passed the Acropolis, Temple of Zeus, Parliament Building, Panathenaic Stadium, National Library, Monastiraki Square and plenty of other places.

I took photos from the bus, listened to the commentary and waited for something to make me think, “We need to get off and see that.”  Nothing quite made us pull the trigger and get off.

But I don’t consider that a waste of money. Quite the opposite.

The bus gave us an easy overview of Athens and let us see famous landmarks without turning every one of them into a two-hour sightseeing commitment. We could decide for ourselves what deserved more time.

The ticket also stretched surprisingly far. We used it Monday afternoon for the Athens loop, Tuesday for the Riviera route and still had enough time remaining Wednesday after our Acropolis tour to ride the bus back toward our accommodation.

Kari’s Travel Tip: Pay attention to when your 48-hour ticket actually starts. Because we activated ours around midday, we were able to use it across parts of three different days.

Ride the Bus Out to the Athens Riviera

If you have 3 days in Athens, I’d make the third one a beach day along the Athens Riviera. On Tuesday morning, we caught the Red Athens Bus Route, transferred to the Green Riviera Route and headed toward Vouliagmeni.

The ride itself wasn’t particularly scenic. Much of what we passed leaving Athens was surprisingly industrial.

But once we reached the coast, that changed. There were beaches, boats, blue Aegean water and plenty of people swimming. We hadn’t brought our swimsuits because we originally planned to visit Vouliagmeni Lake, but if I were doing this again, I’d pack a swimsuit and spend several hours at the beach.

I had pictured Vouliagmeni Lake as a natural lake where Bill and I might do some bird-watching. Instead, we found a commercial operation with hot springs, spa services and deck loungers. If you interested in spas and hot springs, check it out!

Instead, we spent about an hour walking along the coastline, taking photos of boats, watching people swim and looking for water birds before catching the Big Bus back toward Athens.

I wouldn’t use one of my first two Athens days for the Riviera, but with a third day, I’d happily trade another day of city sightseeing for a few hours swimming in the Aegean Sea.

Cruising on Celebrity Infinity? We spent eight nights aboard the ship after our arrival in Piraeus. My Celebrity Infinity Review covers the cabin, food, entertainment, ports and all the little things we learned onboard.

Where to Base Yourself Before and After Your Cruise

We made two very different location decisions because we had two very different priorities.

Before the cruise, we stayed in Piraeus near the port. Our priority wasn’t sightseeing—it was arriving safely, recovering from jet lag and being positioned to embark on our cruise. We wandered our neighborhood and visited some churches in the area. We also went down to the wharf to watch the ships go in and out of the port. And we ate delicious gyros!

If you want to sightsee from Piraeus, the Big Bus also operates a route connecting the cruise terminals with central Athens and stops near Plaka and the Acropolis.

After the cruise, we stayed in Athens near Victoria Square, north of the downtown area. That gave us a much better base for exploring the city. We could walk to the National Archaeological Museum bus stop, find restaurants and groceries nearby, and get taxis when we needed them. There was also a subway station nearby.

For me, the decision is less “Is Athens or Piraeus better?” and more “What are you trying to accomplish?”

If you’re arriving exhausted shortly before a cruise, staying near the port can make life simpler. If your priority is spending several days sightseeing, I’d rather be based in Athens.

Still packing for your cruise? My guide to What to Pack for a Greece Cruise Guide covers what worked for hot sightseeing days, casual time onboard and Celebrity’s dressier Chic Nights.

Is an Athens Itinerary for 2 Days Worth it Before or After a Cruise?

Standing on the Acropolis in front of the Parthenon, wandering through Plaka and seeing the Acropolis glowing above the city at night gave us experiences I wouldn’t have wanted to miss.

For us, 2–3 days was enough to experience the highlights without turning Athens into a sightseeing marathon. Someone fascinated by archaeology, museums and ancient Greek history could easily spend much longer there.

If your Greece cruise already brings you through Athens, take advantage of it. With a little planning, you can see an impressive amount of Athens in just a couple of days—and still have time to enjoy being there.

That’s the kind of Athens itinerary I’d happily do again.