Delphi: The Day Trip Worth the Whole Day

The Sacred Way

The path climbs in switchbacks from the entrance through what was once a forest of dedications — treasuries built by individual cities to hold their offerings, statues, tripods, the spoils of wars fought against each other. The Athenian Treasury has been re-erected and stands about a third of the way up. Every city in the Greek world wanted its monument seen on this slope, and they competed for the positions.

The Temple of Apollo

The temple stands on the terrace where the oracle spoke, and it was the reason Delphi mattered. The Pythia sat in the adyton and answered questions on behalf of the god, and the answers were famously capable of being read two ways. Pilgrims came from every Greek state for centuries, until the emperor Theodosius closed the pagan sanctuaries in AD 393.

Today six columns are re-erected on the terrace. The omphalos, the stone marking what the Greeks called the navel of the earth, is a copy on site, with an original in the museum. There is very little shade on this terrace, so carry water in summer.

The stones are uneven underfoot and the Sacred Way climbs steadily, so allow more time than the visible distance suggests.

The theatre and the stadium

Above the temple is a theatre holding five thousand, looking straight down the valley to the Gulf of Corinth. Above that, a further steep climb, is the stadium where the Pythian Games were run, and the stone starting sill is still in place. The Games were held in honour of Apollo, which is why the competition was built into the sanctuary itself rather than in a separate city.

The stadium is the best thing at Delphi and the part most people skip, because the climb from the theatre is short but punishing in heat and there is no water up there. Go early or late in the day, sit on the surviving rows and you will usually have the place nearly to yourself.

The museum, and the Charioteer

The museum sits beside the site entrance and is included in the ticket, so there is no reason to miss it. Its centrepiece is the bronze Charioteer of Delphi, a life-size figure of about 470 BC with inlaid eyes, one of very few large Greek bronzes to survive, because most were melted down for their metal over the centuries. Also here are the Sphinx of the Naxians, the twin kouroi Kleobis and Biton, and the sculpture from the treasuries.

The French School began the Great Excavation at Delphi in 1892, moving the village of Kastri off the ruins first, and most of what it found stayed in this building. Allow an hour. Photography is permitted and the galleries are air-conditioned, which matters in August.

Athena Pronaia and the tholos

Fifteen minutes down the road from the main site stands the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia, and it is included in the same ticket. Its round tholos, with three columns re-erected, is the photograph on every Delphi poster, which tells you how photogenic it is against the mountains behind. Pilgrims arriving from the sea passed this sanctuary first, which is what Pronaia means, before they climbed to Apollo above.

Some day trips skip it, so if yours gives you free time, walk down rather than waiting at the gate. The ground is flat compared with the main site, an easy stroll on a tarmacked section of road. In high summer there is almost no shade around the tholos, so late afternoon light works best for both comfort and pictures.

Getting there

Allow about three hours each way by road from Athens, north-west across the plain and then climbing onto Parnassus. There is no train to Delphi. The public KTEL coach takes about the same time but runs to a timetable that gives you either too little on site or a night in the village, which suits walkers and not day trippers.

That is why for most people the organised trip is the sensible choice, and that is not something we say often. Book ahead in season, because coaches fill in summer. A coach tour also removes the parking problem at the site, where spaces are limited on busy days.

If you hire a car instead, the last stretch is mountain road with hairpin bends.

When to be on the site

Coaches from Athens converge between about eleven and one, so timing decides the character of your visit. If your trip arrives at ten you get the Sacred Way in relative quiet. If it arrives at noon you will walk it in a queue, single file along the path the pilgrims used.

In summer heat is the second consideration, because the slope is unshaded and the climb from the theatre to the stadium is steep, with no water available up there. Carry a bottle and a hat. Spring and autumn give you cooler stone and clearer views down the valley.

In winter the site closes early, so a winter trip must arrive promptly. Whatever the season, do the museum last, when the midday crowds fill the upper terraces.

Arachova

Arachova is the mountain village ten minutes above Delphi, and it is the stop most trips build in on the way back. It is a ski resort in winter and a stone village with weaving and cheese shops the rest of the year, built along a single steep street. That street is exactly what it sounds like, so wear shoes with a grip and expect steps.

Forty minutes there is pleasant, a chance to buy formaela cheese or a woven runner and sit with a coffee before the road home. It is not, however, a reason to book one trip over another. If a tour advertises Arachova heavily, read the fine print on how long you actually get there.

Winter

From 1 November to 31 March the site closes at 15:30, so a winter day trip is shorter on site and the same length on the road. Work backwards from that closing time when you compare tours. Parnassus can also close the pass in snow, which cancels trips outright or shortens them further, so check the forecast the night before and again in the morning.

It is still worth doing. The sanctuary in low winter light with nobody on it is the best way to see Delphi, and the coach crowds that jam the Sacred Way from spring onward simply are not there. The museum is indoors and heated, which makes it the natural stop at the cold end of the day.

Bring layers, because the mountain is several degrees colder than Athens.

If you have one day: Delphi

Ten to eleven hours against Meteora's fourteen, with four hours at the destination rather than three. Delphi is also the more important site by a distance, because for centuries it was the religious centre of the Greek world, the place where states sent envoys to consult the oracle and treasuries were built to hold their offerings. The museum is included in the ticket, so the Charioteer and the Sphinx of the Naxians cost you nothing extra.

Meteora gives you monasteries and views, and it is genuinely spectacular, but a fourteen-hour day with roughly ten hours of driving leaves even the hardiest traveller flat. For one day out of Athens, with the better ratio of site to road, this is the one.

If you want the photograph: Meteora

Monasteries on sandstone pillars are unlike anything else in Europe, and no ruin competes with them visually. Monastic building up there began in the 14th century with Saint Athanasios and the Monastery of the Transfiguration, and the monks went up by rope ladders and in nets on hooks, which puts the positions in perspective. Of about thirty monasteries, six are still active, and the rock pillars have been on the UNESCO list since 1988.

The catch is the day itself. It is fourteen hours door to door, and by coach it is about ten hours of driving, which means long stretches of motorway with short stops at the monasteries. The Meteora page makes the case for doing it by train instead, which cuts the road time considerably.

If you have two days out of the city

Do both, on separate days, with something gentle in between. The Argolid is a third long coach day, and three long days in a row is too many for most people, so plan a short city day between them, a museum morning or the National Garden. Delphi first, Meteora second works well, because Meteora is the heavier drive and you want the leg rested. The day trips hub sorts everything by hours, so you can compare journey times before you commit.

Book each trip for a different day rather than a combined two-day tour, since the combined versions compress the site time you are paying for. Check the coach departure times the evening before, because both trips start early and a missed pickup is a lost day.