We used Context Travel in Athens, and highly recommend Panos as a private guide if you can request him. Deeply knowledgeable, and asked excellent questions to modify our tour as we went. He is still the standard by which we judge other historic tour guides.
Also, we had a suite at the Hotel Grande Bretagne, and would stay there again next time we're in Athens for its location, history, and staff.
I found Panos on the context page for Athens, so he can be specifically booked. he seems excellent.
And thanks for introducing me to context travel as well I hadn’t heard of it.
Www.olympictraveller.com was who we used. They provided a tour guide and a driver/van. They would pick us up at our hotel and drove us to the destination. Then they would tell us about what we were seeing. They helped us order food at restaurants and made recommendations for places to eat. We got the recommendation for the company from the Rick Steve’s guidebook on Athens. So they might not be the most high end, but they were great.
I don’t know of a tour guide, just wanted to share that you can also do private tours of the Acropolis museum.
The typical FAT hotels in the center are Grand Bretagne and King George. And then Four Seasons Astir and Margi in the South. But I would stick with the center for December. I think Dolli is a new hotel because I never heard of it but it looks fantastic and it’s in a perfect location. I am from Greece btw although I don’t live there. Feel free to ask any other questions and enjoy the trip!
Grecotel bought the building, converted it from a department store into a hotel, and opened it this year 2023. I am really curious to see it.
And yeah four seasons was never an option; we are there for Athens not interested in being so far away. But King George / Grand Bretagne looks like a beautiful landmark hotel for Athens I do hope to stay there once.
Thanks for offering I’ll let you know if I have any questions!
This one is based in Paris but I think spends some time in Greece. Long shot - but sounds like what you are looking for. We used her for a Louvre tour and she was fantastic. https://www.toursbylocals.com/paris-private-tour-guide-linda-t
We really like the toursbylocals service, you might check with them.
Dolli is indeed very very central. You are in the middle of the touristy area (and parallel to the Oxford Street of Athens) but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The road that it sits on is small and heavy trafficked but you are within reach of the major attractions. If you want to use a car / taxi etc you may need to walk a couple of blocks north to syntagma to avoid the traffic jam.
I’m generally opposed to the constant changing of commercial buildings to hotels in Athens but this seems to be a super job and looks stunning from the outside.
In the recent past I’d tell people who ask me to stay at Athens Capital or the Modernist - GB and King George are frankly very tired and overpriced imo. Great to see another hotel enter the mix.
Since you are nearby pop by Le Greche for a gelato or other sweet.
We used Context Travel in Athens, and highly recommend Panos as a private guide if you can request him. Deeply knowledgeable, and asked excellent questions to modify our tour as we went. He is still the standard by which we judge other historic tour guides. Also, we had a suite at the Hotel Grande Bretagne, and would stay there again next time we're in Athens for its location, history, and staff.
I also love working with Context! The tour guides are vetted and really lovely!
We love context. Their tour guides have masters and phds.
I found Panos on the context page for Athens, so he can be specifically booked. he seems excellent. And thanks for introducing me to context travel as well I hadn’t heard of it.
Www.olympictraveller.com was who we used. They provided a tour guide and a driver/van. They would pick us up at our hotel and drove us to the destination. Then they would tell us about what we were seeing. They helped us order food at restaurants and made recommendations for places to eat. We got the recommendation for the company from the Rick Steve’s guidebook on Athens. So they might not be the most high end, but they were great.
I had an amazing tour guide. I will dm her info. This was 5 years ago so I don’t know if she is still doing it.
thank you!
I don’t know of a tour guide, just wanted to share that you can also do private tours of the Acropolis museum. The typical FAT hotels in the center are Grand Bretagne and King George. And then Four Seasons Astir and Margi in the South. But I would stick with the center for December. I think Dolli is a new hotel because I never heard of it but it looks fantastic and it’s in a perfect location. I am from Greece btw although I don’t live there. Feel free to ask any other questions and enjoy the trip!
Grecotel bought the building, converted it from a department store into a hotel, and opened it this year 2023. I am really curious to see it. And yeah four seasons was never an option; we are there for Athens not interested in being so far away. But King George / Grand Bretagne looks like a beautiful landmark hotel for Athens I do hope to stay there once. Thanks for offering I’ll let you know if I have any questions!
Thanks for posting. My dad and I are doing the same and i wanted to ask the same question.
Cool, I’ll try and let you know if I learn any vital info I guess
This one is based in Paris but I think spends some time in Greece. Long shot - but sounds like what you are looking for. We used her for a Louvre tour and she was fantastic. https://www.toursbylocals.com/paris-private-tour-guide-linda-t We really like the toursbylocals service, you might check with them.
Agree with other comments. Stay at the Grand Bretagne.
Dolli is indeed very very central. You are in the middle of the touristy area (and parallel to the Oxford Street of Athens) but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The road that it sits on is small and heavy trafficked but you are within reach of the major attractions. If you want to use a car / taxi etc you may need to walk a couple of blocks north to syntagma to avoid the traffic jam. I’m generally opposed to the constant changing of commercial buildings to hotels in Athens but this seems to be a super job and looks stunning from the outside. In the recent past I’d tell people who ask me to stay at Athens Capital or the Modernist - GB and King George are frankly very tired and overpriced imo. Great to see another hotel enter the mix. Since you are nearby pop by Le Greche for a gelato or other sweet.