What‘s Included

What To Expect

Reviews

• Extremely Poor Communication

  Judy M,

  Aug 25, 2025

  - Viator

  1.00

  [8/25, 8:01 AM] Phil White: Our tour guide (DAMIEN) did a good job, but the tour operator did not deliver what was promised on the Viator website. This tour was supposed to "include" round trip train tickets/transfers from Athens to the "meeting point" in KATERINI, Greece and according to the Viator website the tour operator was to supply our tickets to us at the time or point that our tour was "paid in full". We fully paid for this tour on June 24, 2025. Our tour was scheduled for August 17, 2025. That is TWO (2) FULL MONTHS before the tour date that we made full and final payment! On August 15, 2025 we had not received our train tickets, or any other communication from the tour operator concerning train tickets, OR THE LACK THEREOF! I contacted the tour operator via the Viator web-site, and explained to them, that we had NOT received our train tickets for our tour, which was at that point 2 or 3 days away. They replied to me with ONLY a link to the meeting point! I replied back, and after some time had passed by, they emailed "2 different sets of "tickets" to us. One set of tickets were in "English", and the other set of tickets were in "Greek". My travel partner and I ONLY speak and read English. When we had someone from our Hotel in Athens "translate" the tickets in Greek for us, they informed us that the 1st set of tickets were for one-way train tickets to KATERINI , and that the 2nd set of tickets were BUS TICKETS from THESSALONIKI, Greece. The person that "translated" the BUS TICKETS written in Greek for us, explained that the town of THESSALONIKI was an hour FURTHER NORTH of KATERINI, and that much FURTHER AWAY from Athens too! NO where in the tour description on the VIATOR website does it mention BUS tickets, or that BUS tickets can, or will be "SUBSTITUTED" for TRAIN Tickets! By this time, it was less than 24 hours from the start time of our tour, so we could NOT cancel and expect a full refund! Hence, I called the tour operator, and I explained to the women that answered the phone that the tour description did NOT say anything about a return trip via a BUS! She told me it was "only an hour longer" via the bus (which was also NOT true or correct!), and that it was no big deal. However, it was a big deal to us, because this was a surprise to me, and should have been coordinated with us PRIOR to any changes to the tour description! Our tickets had been bought ONLY after I inquired about them on August 15th, which was ONLY 2 days before our tour, and a FULL TWO (2) MONTHS AFTER we had made FULL & FINAL PAYMENT for our tour. When I called the tour operator she also told me the train tickets were "SOLD OUT" for our return trip, so "THEY DECIDED" to buy us BUS tickets instead of TRAIN Tickets as per the VIATOR description. We had also learned that this was a Holiday weekend in Greece, which happens EVERY YEAR at this time, which the local tour operator should have known about! The tour operator should have advised us when they found out there were no more train tickets to give us the opportunity to cancel our tour or to take the bus. We are highly unsatisfied with their lack of communication, and lack of consideration of time! This point is because we ended up getting back to Athens 2-1/2 hours later than originally scheduled per the VIATOR WEBSITE, which took a HUGE BITE out of our early morning travel and tour plans for the next morning. We would like to print out that this company did send us a message via the VIATOR WEBSITE stating that we could cancel the tour, HOWEVER, that message was sent at 10:30 PM the night before the tour and of course we were already in bed, and did not see the message until 6:00 AM the morning of our tour! I would not use this company again. [8/25, 8:04 AM] Judy McConnell: Our tour guide (DAMIEN) did a good job, but the tour operator did not deliver what was promised on the Viator website. This tour was supposed to "include" round trip train tickets/transfers from Athens to the "meeting point" in KATERINI, Greece and according to the Viator website the tour operator was to supply our tickets to us at the time or point that our tour was "paid in full". We fully paid for this tour on June 24, 2025. Our tour was scheduled for August 17, 2025. That is TWO (2) FULL MONTHS before the tour date that we made full and final payment! On August 15, 2025 we had not received our train tickets, or any other communication from the tour operator concerning train tickets, OR THE LACK THEREOF! I contacted the tour operator via the Viator web-site, and explained to them, that we had NOT received our train tickets for our tour, which was at that point 2 or 3 days away. They replied to me with ONLY a link to the meeting point! I replied back, and after some time had passed by, they emailed "2 different sets of "tickets" to us. One set of tickets were in "English", and the other set of tickets were in "Greek". My travel partner and I ONLY speak and read English. When we had someone from our Hotel in Athens "translate" the tickets in Greek for us, they informed us that the 1st set of tickets were for one-way train tickets to KATERINI , and that the 2nd set of tickets were BUS TICKETS from THESSALONIKI, Greece. The person that "translated" the BUS TICKETS written in Greek for us, explained that the town of THESSALONIKI was an hour FURTHER NORTH of KATERINI, and that much FURTHER AWAY from Athens too! NO where in the tour description on the VIATOR website does it mention BUS tickets, or that BUS tickets can, or will be "SUBSTITUTED" for TRAIN Tickets! By this time, it was less than 24 hours from the start time of our tour, so we could NOT cancel and expect a full refund! Hence, I called the tour operator, and I explained to the women that answered the phone that the tour description did NOT say anything about a return trip via a BUS! She told me it was "only an hour longer" via the bus (which was also NOT true or correct!), and that it was no big deal. However, it was a big deal to us, because this was a surprise to me, and should have been coordinated with us PRIOR to any changes to the tour description! Our tickets had been bought ONLY after I inquired about them on August 15th, which was ONLY 2 days before our tour, and a FULL TWO (2) MONTHS AFTER we had made FULL & FINAL PAYMENT for our tour. When I called the tour operator she also told me the train tickets were "SOLD OUT" for our return trip, so "THEY DECIDED" to buy us BUS tickets instead of TRAIN Tickets as per the VIATOR description. We had also learned that this was a Holiday weekend in Greece, which happens EVERY YEAR at this time, which the local tour operator should have known about! The tour operator should have advised us when they found out there were no more train tickets to give us the opportunity to cancel our tour or to take the bus. We are highly unsatisfied with their lack of communication, and lack of consideration of time! This point is because we ended up getting back to Athens 2-1/2 hours later than originally scheduled per the VIATOR WEBSITE, which took a HUGE BITE out of our early morning travel and tour plans for the next morning. We would like to print out that this company did send us a message via the VIATOR WEBSITE stating that we could cancel the tour, HOWEVER, that message was sent at 10:30 PM the night before the tour and of course we were already in bed, and did not see the message until the morning of our tour! I would not use this company again.

• Although the train ride...

  Donna S,

  Aug 18, 2025

  - Viator

  5.00

  Although the train ride is long, definitely worth the adventure. Easy to get to Athens train station to & from our hotel. Our local guide Damian was excellent!

• Damian, the tour guide,...

  Sean M,

  Jul 16, 2025

  - Viator

  5.00

  Damian, the tour guide, was fantastic. Great anecdotes throughout the trip whether about recent history, ancient history, or mythology. Kept the group of 7 total people engaged throughout. Platamonas castle offers great views of the mountains and the sea and was great as a quick stop. The short hike through the valley to the falls was beautiful, and the archaeological site at Dion was unlike any other we saw while traveling through Greece. If time allows, recommend you stop at the museum in Dion to view the famous Alexander mosaic. Overall fantastic trip, definitely bring something to entertain yourself on the train ride.

• Mt Olympus Day Trip

  Kimberly K,

  Jul 16, 2025

  - Viator

  5.00

  We really enjoyed the train rides, history and stories in the tour and of course the sites and lunch. It was the first tour where guide suggested we all eat together which was great idea!

• Great experience!!!

  Holly C,

  Jul 5, 2025

  - Viator

  5.00

  Our guide was amazing and reached out ahead of the date to make sure we were comfortable getting on the right train. He met us on arrival and explained everything along the way. We had another family with us (6 of us total) that had just flown in from out of the country. They had jet lag and were very hungry. He went out of his way to adjust our schedule so they could eat earlier and we were able to fit in the museum across the street from the restaurant. It was a beautiful area with lots to see!!! Thank you Damian for a wonderful day!!!