Ancient Olympia (birth place of Olympic Games) & Corinth Canal, Private Day Tour

Aprox. one hour after leaving Athens we will reach our first stop, the Corinth Canal.

The Corinth Canal is one of the oldest man-made canals in the world and a very important navigational route in Greece, connecting the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf.

The canal’s position, thereby also separates the peninsula of Peloponnese – conveniently converting it into an island – with the Greek mainland. And, while the Greece canal is quite narrow, it is a fact that the canal is a vital lifeline for ships wanting to enter the Aegean Sea.

Spanning a distance of 6.3 kilometres, the Corinth Canal has a depth of 26 feet and its width alters between a minimum of 69 feet and a maximum of 82 feet at the bottom and at the surface respectively. Surrounded by walls standing at a height of 170 feet, the canal helps a ship to save a journey of 185 nautical miles.

Half an hour later we will be at Tripoli.

Tripoli is the largest city in the central part of the Peloponnese. It is the capital of the regional unit of Arcadia. We may have a short stop here for a coffe / snack or just rest for a few minutes.

Aprox. one and a half hours later we will be in Olympia. The archaeological site of Olympia includes the sanctuary of Zeus and the many buildings erected around it, such as athletic premises used for the preparation and celebration of the Olympic Games, administrative buildings and other lay buildings and monuments. The Altis, the sacred enclosure and core of the sanctuary, with its temples, cult buildings and treasuries, occupies the centre of the site. It is surrounded by a peribolos, or enclosure wall, which in the late fourth century BC had three gates on its west side and two on the south, and is bordered on the east by the Echo Stoa, which separates the sacred precinct from the stadium. The enclosure wall was extended in Roman times and two monumental entrances were created on its west side.

The Archaeological Museum of Olympia, one of the most important museums in Greece, presents the long history of the most celebrated sanctuary of antiquity, the sanctuary of Zeus, father of both gods and men, where the Olympic games were born. The museum's permanent exhibition contains finds from the excavations in the sacred precinct of the Altis dating from prehistoric times to the Early Christian period. Among the many precious exhibits the sculpture collection, for which the museum is most famous, the bronze collection, the richest collection of its type in the world, and the large terracottas collection, are especially noteworthy.

After concluding your tour to the sites and the museum, you will spend some time at the picturesque small town next, crossing the bridge of river Kladeos. You will find many small cafes and restaurants here to relax and possibly have lunch.

After finishing with your lunch and everything in the small town of Olympia, we will start the return trip back to Athens. We will be back after aprox. three hours.