Greece mainland itinerary: Travel back in time to ancient civilisations

We spent 2 weeks in Greece, exploring both the mainland and some of the popular Greek islands. This itinerary focusses on the first 7 days in Greece spent all on the mainland. If you are a cultural enthusiast or a history buff, the mainland has so much to offer. This 7 day Greece mainland itinerary helped us explore the epic historical sites in Athens, took us to one of the ancient civilisations in Peloponnese, and gave us a taste of the surreal landscape in Meteora.

Mainland Greece is famous for its rich history spanning more than 3000 years. While the Greek islands no doubt offer sun, sea and stellar views, I would urge you to indulge in some of the country’s fascinating culture on the mainland. It offers not only some of the most important ancient sites of Ancient Greek Civilisation, but also unspoilt fishing villages and towns full of tranquil charm.

My daughter is now (almost) a teen and was interested in many ancient sites besides the Acropolis, namely Delphi, Mycanae and the Epidaurus. We managed to squeeze all these in our 7-day Greece itinerary. 

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Overview of the Greece 7-day mainland itinerary

Athens (4 nights) – Meteora (2 nights) – back to Athens on 7^th day

We chose to explore Athens for the first 3 days. This city can be seen in 2 days as well, but that would be quite rushed in my opinion. There are exemplary day trips that you can take from Athens, the most popular one being for Delphi. Since the Delphi archeological site was en route to Meteora, we instead took a day trip to the Peloponnese region on the 4th day.

We rented a car via Discover Cars to drive to Delphi and further to Meteora. Many folks do Meteora as a day trip from Athens and I would not recommend that at all. That area needs a full day and a night to immerse in. If you are an adventure lover, you could easily spend 3 to 4 days in Meteora as against the 1.5 days in our Greece mainland itinerary.

You can easily trim this itinerary to 6 days by cutting the 4th day to Peloponnese region, if you are short on time or feel overwhelmed by all the sightseeing of ancient ruins. A suggestion for 5-day Greece itinerary for the mainland could be just 2 days in Athens and another 2 exploring Meteora. Greece mainland was the start and then we continued to the islands on our Greece trip.

Day 1: Start with Monastiraki and end at Lycabettus Hill

Our flight landed early in Athens and free of luggage, we took a metro to Monastiraki. There is no way we could have roamed around with our large suitcases carrying the packing list for Greece trip. Monastiraki is a lively area in old part of Athens with important archeological sites, a flea market, and plenty of tavernas. The flea market has numerous shops selling both kitschy items, and ceramics, jewellery and popular souvenir products to buy from Athens.

We had booked a combo ticket for Acropolis and 6 other sites in Athens earlier, it covers Acropolis, Roman Agora, Hadrian’s Library, the Ancient Agora, Aristotle’s school, Olympieion, and Kerameikos.

We explored the Hadrian’s Library and the Roman Agora to begin with. And then walked to Syntagma Square. Being a Sunday, there is a full ceremony and march by the guards in front of the Palace. But the crowds were insane to watch this. We could only manage a glimpse.

Afternoon was spent checking into our lovely apartment booked on Airbnb. It overlooked the slopes of the Acropolis and the location could not have been more perfect to explore the old town of Athens. We needed to rest and be ready for our first evening in Athens.

We took a taxi to climb Lycabettus Hill, which is the highest point in the center of Athens. Beautiful views of the city all around, and a splendid dinner at Orizontes restaurant completed Day 1 of our one week Greece itinerary.

Day 2: Food coma and the majestic Acropolis site

Day 2 started with a bang. I had booked a food tour with Culinary Backstreets to explore the food scene mainly in Plaka. Our guide, Natalie met us at Syntagma Square and we started off with koulouri, what many Greeks eat for breakfast on the go. There was a bakery and a cheese shop stop after this. And then we hit the best souvlaki shop in all of Athens. 

We walked around the neighbourhood of Plaka, with Natalie imparting information about the day-to-day life of Greeks, what it is to live in Athens with real estate prices going up, and equally curious about our life in India. She then took us to 2 different lunch places (yes, we had 2 lunches after all the breakfast items we had consumed!) and ended the tour with an olive oil tasting and a sweets shop. We walked back to our apartment to rest and ruminate over this wonderful cultural trip.

Day 2 evening was booked for Acropolis. Be aware, Acropolis of Athens is the most impressive historical site in all of Greece, so there are bound to be crowds whenever you go. We had visited Athens in mid May and it was already quite warm. We chose to visit the Acropols site in early evening.

The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel on a rocky outcrop and the site contains more than 20 important archaeological ruins. Words are not enough to describe the grandeur of the Parthenon, the Temple of Athena, and the Odeon of Herodes. We were here almost until closure.

Day 3: Other archaeological sites and the Acropolis Museum

Day 3 was spent exploring the other 4 ancient sites as part of the combo ticket, starting the grand Ancient Agora. This was close to our apartment and we covered it in the morning sans any crowds. We then used our 3-day metro pass to go to another neighbourhood of Athens: Kolonaki.

Aristotle’s Lyceum is located by the Kolonaki area. There isn’t much to see here frankly, and you have to be really interested in Aristotle like my daughter to read the boards and gather all the information about his school and teaching methods!

We then proceeded to see the Temple of Zeus or Olympieion. I had seen this massive structure from the Acropolis site the evening before, and was curious to see it up close. Only 15 of the original 104 columns exist in a large open archaeological park in the heart of the city. 

Afternoon was spent visiting the Acropolis Museum. This is close to the Acropolis site and can be combined with visiting the citadel. Do note that the museum requires a separate ticket and is not included in the combo ticket we had purchased. While Acropolis shows you the sheer scale and grandeur of the structures built in ancient Greece, all the statues, pottery, everything excavated from the site is now located at the museum. The 3-storey museum takes a couple of hours to browse through, even if you don’t read every board.

The site of Kerameikos Ancient Cemetry was the last to be covered that evening. Fatigue had set in, and it was difficult to process everything we saw.

Day 4: Day Tour to Epidaurus, Nafplio and Mycanae

Our last day in Athens was for a day tour to important historical sites in the Peloponnese region of Greece. It is quite incredible how many amazing ancient ruins are there all over Greek mainland, and outside Athens.

The bus tour first took us to the Cornith Canal which separates the Peloponnese from the Greek mainland. We visited Epidaurus or Epidavros site first. The amphitheatre here is the best preserved one in all of Greece. If you climb up to the top, you can still hear the person below (talking in normal tone) clearly. The ancient Greeks definitely knew a lot about sound waves! The theatre still hosts the Festival of Epidaurus every summer. There are many other buildings to be visited here.

The coastal town of Nafplio was our spot for lunch and to take some rest. We used our free time to explore the old town. Naflpio used to be the capital of Greece before Athens and its architecture has Venetian, Byzantine, Ottoman and, Modern Greek influences. It becomes more lively in the evenings with all the cafes and tavernas getting filled up with people.

The last site to be visited was Mycenae, considered to be the greatest and richest kingdom of the later Bronze Age around 1350 B.C. While visiting Knossos Palace, one of the best ancient ruins in Crete, we got to know that the Minoan civilisation (that built the Knossos Palace) served as a major influence on the later Mycenaean civilization.

We walked around the archaeological park, but it was quite hot weather for Greece in late May. We passed through the great Lionesses Gate, explored the King’s Agamemnon Tomb as well as the Tomb of Clytemnestra. Fantastic day tour!

Day 5: Drive to Delphi and end at Meteora

Delphi is the most popular day trip from Athens. All of us have heard about the Oracle of Delphi. And if you are not including Meteora in your Greece mainland itinerary, I recommend you use the 3^rd or 4^th day in Athens to do this as a day trip.

We picked up our rental car (booked via Discover Cars) from center of Athens and drove towards the highway. It took us sometime to leave Athens behind as the traffic was heavy. The Delphi site also has a museum. You can book tickets online or buy them from the site directly. There is no way to avoid tour buses and crowds when we reached around noon. 

We spent an hour at the archeological site and about half of that at the museum. The setting of the ruins amidst mountain terrain is gorgeous. Then it was time for lunch, before heading to Meteora. We had a lovely lunch at a local taverna in Delphi town.

The route between Delphi to Meteora takes through winding roads and some stunning scenery with yellow wildflowers blooming everywhere. If you were to drive to Meteora directly from Athens, you would take the highway. It was evening by the time we reached our hotel. There was time to check-in and walk around the town of Kalambaka to find our dinner spot.

Day 6: Magical Meteora

190 monoliths. 6 active monasteries. Heaven for adventure enthusiasts. Visiting Meteora will be the highlight of your Greece mainland itinerary, trust me.

Meteora landscape is unlike anything you may have encountered. There are 2 small towns in the area and you can base yourself in either. Kalambaka is slightly larger and that’s where we were. Kastraki is a smaller town nearby.

You can drive upto any of the monasteries and visit them in the morning or afternoon. Note that tour bus traffic hits popular monasteries like Great Meteoron and Varlaam by 1030 / 11 am, so try and visit before that, or in the later afternoon.

We chose to do an easy hike tour done by Visit Meterora. This is the oldest tour company in the area and does several hiking tours, rock climbing, ferrata, and other adventure activities. The morning hike we chose to go up to Great Meteoron was an easy one, suited for even young kids. The visit to the largest active monastery in meteora was a quick one. You need cash to get entrance tickets. And if women are not appropriately dressed, they give you shawls to cover yourself.

Did I mention that Meteora is fantastic for biking? And that you will see pro-bikers zipping through villages of Kastraki and Kalambaka. I booked an E-bike tour in the evening to see all the 6 monasteries (from outside) and view the gorgeous sunset. Great experience. But since the bike has to be managed through inclines and declines on the roads with other traffic, it was not suited for my daughter (who cycles in very controlled environment). So my husband and she booked an ATV and zipped around the mountain areas.

Day 7: Drive back to Athens

Like I mentioned earlier, if you are into rock climbing or mountain biking, you should plan a trip to Meteora for 3 to 4 days to experience it all. It was time for us to wrap up our adventure in this special spot on Greece mainland and head back to Athens.

We had to return the rental car and take a taxi to Piraeus port to get on our ferry for the next adventure!

When to visit Greece mainland

You should completely avoid the Greek mainland in the peak summer months of July and August. The heat is just too much to enjoy anything. We visited Greece in mid-May, and Athens, Delphi and Peloponnese regions were warm. Meteora was just perfect. May and September / October are shoulder months, where it is easy to combine a trip for the mainland and the Greek islands. Greece mainland is a good choice if you are figuring where to go in Europe in autumn.

You can figure which are the best Greek islands for a family holiday, there are so many to consider. There are many things to do in Crete, if you want to go to one large island for family fun. There is also the world famous Cycladic group of islands, Santorini and Mykonos being the most popular.

But the good part of any Greece mainland itinerary is that you can do in the off-season as well (from November to March when the tourism to islands is in shut down mode).

Planning a trip to Greece? Check out –

Itinerary Suggestions: Greece in 2 weeks, Greece 10-day Itinerary with kids

Greece Cities: 3 days in Athens, One Day in Athens

More on Greece mainland: The Complete Guide to Visiting Meteora, Day Trips from Athens

Greek Islands: Crete Itinerary, Beautiful Greek islands for a family holiday, Santorini Itinerary, Crete vs Santorini, One day in Mykonos, Santorini vs Mykonos

And finally, Best Souvenirs from Greece, Famous Greek Landmarks and a complete packing list for Greece

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