Visiting Delphi, Greece: The Ancient Center of the World
Spending one night in Delphi was a highlight of my time in Greece. The Archeological Site is a great way to immerse yourself in the history and mythology of Ancient Greece. By spending the night in Delphi, I got to experience the Ancient Ruins of Delphi before most of the tour buses got there. Delphi feels like a special location on mainland Greece, with stunning sunsets, small-town vibes, and plenty to explore. This is one destination I would not miss when planning a trip to Greece, especially as you can fit it in as a day trip from Athens if you are short on time.
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Planning your trip to Delphi? Below are some places to stay, things to do, and more. If you’re traveling independently, check out Greece rental car rates!
Best Tours and Experiences in Delphi- Athens: Delphi Day Trip (Most popular tour to Delphi!)
- Delphi: Archaeological Site & Museum Entry Ticket
- Delphi Guided Walking Tour and Admission Ticket (Perfect for history lovers)
- Tandem Paragliding Flight in Delphi (Fly over the Ancient Ruins!)
- Pan Hotel (Great breakfast, very affordable)
- Fedriades Delphi Hotel (Beautiful rooms)
Is Delphi Worth Visiting?
I debated on if Delphi was worth visiting as a side trip from Athens and I am so happy that I added it to my itinerary. It ended up being one of my favourite things I did while in Athens and Crete. I highly recommend visiting Delphi to see why ancient Greeks believed it to be the centre of the world.
In addition to being scenic in its own right, the historical significance of Delphi felt impactful. Delphi was also where I had some of my favourite dining experiences, but more on that later.
When to Visit Delphi?
You can visit Delphi and the archeology site year-round. During the summer (June to September), make sure you visit early in the day as there is little shade. If you visit in the winter (December to February) you may experience snow as it is in the mountains. My pick for the best months to visit Delphi are April to the beginning of June and September to October.
How Many Days in Delphi?
While you can visit Delphi as a day trip from Athens, I recommend spending one night in Delphi. Spending a night in Delphi will give you time to experience this part of Greece and avoid large tourist groups. If you have time for a second night you could add on hiking this area of Delphi, such as a hike to Corycian Cave.
That said, if all your itinerary can fit is a day trip to Delphi from Athens, it’s still a must-do activity, I would just do a tour instead of self-drive.
Where to Stay in Delphi?
Delphi is a small town so anywhere you stay there will be a convenient location for walking around the town.
If everything is booked up, Arachova is a nice town nearby that has lots of restaurants and hotels and is a great alternative. Arachova also has some nice resort-style hotels.
When choosing a hotel in Delphi, try to get a room that has views of the Gulf of Corinth. It feels really special to be able to watch the sunset or sunrise from your room.
I stayed at Pan Hotel and loved how affordable it was and the great breakfast that came with it. My room was spacious and it was nice to have a small balcony to admire the scenery of the Gulf of Corinth.
Another good option in Delphi is Fedriades Delphi Hotel which also has balconies with views of the Gulf of Corinth.
In Arachova, I would stay at Xenonas Iresioni as it is located right in Arachova and has beautiful, traditionally decorated rooms. It also has an included breakfast.
Where to Eat in Delphi
I had one of my favourite food experiences in Greece while in Delphi. I highly recommend Taverna Vakhos. It gets busy so make a reservation. Because I had a reservation I was able to get one of the coveted window seats that looked out over the mountains and water.
The food and service at Taverna Vakhos was spectacular. They have plenty of traditional Greek food on the menu and I was happy to see they had plenty of vegetarian and vegan options in addition to meat and fish. The dolmades, giant beans, and artichoke in lemon sauce were all delicious and were followed up by complimentary baklava. As a huge baklava fan, this was very appreciated and made for a great dining experience. I’m still thinking about this dining experience.
Getting to Delphi from Athens
By Car For overnight trips to Delphi, I recommend a rental car. You can reach Delphi from Athens quite easily on the National Greek Road. The highway is in fantastic condition and has rest stops on the way with bathrooms. Closer to Delphi, the roads become two lanes and are quite scenic with mountain and farming scenery. Driving directly between Delphi and Athens is 2 to 2.5 hours but allow more time for stops.
In Greece, I use DiscoverCars for car rental as I have been very happy with their service and full coverage car insurance (which I had to make use of in Crete!!).
By Tour I recommend going by tour bus if you don’t have time for an overnight in Delphi. It will generally be cheaper and much less hassle than dealing with a rental car. This tour to Delphi is the most popular one from Athens and includes your pickup and a guide.
By Public Transit There are no train stations in Delphi so your only option to Delphi from Athens is by bus. From Athens, the buses leave from Liossion Station and take 3 hours to get to Delphi. Buses travel between Athens and Delphi four times a day and you can find schedules and tickets here.
One Night in Delphi, Greece Itinerary
The best way to do this itinerary is by rental car. I’m happy I spent the night in Delphi rather than doing a day trip because it gave me more time to enjoy this beautiful part of mainland Greece.
Driving to Delphi
I picked my rental car up from the Athens Airport and hit the road. The highway here is really easy to navigate and drive. I was also happy that there were plenty of rest spots along the way with free-to-use toilets. I used the E75 tollway and while there are tolls, I found them to be worth it for time saved and convenience. Around Malakasa just outside of Athens, is a good place to stop for food as there aren’t many convenient places for food after Malakasa.
Hosios Loukas Monastery is well worth the short detour and time on your drive to Delphi.
Road Trip Stop: Hosios Loukas Monastery
Hosios Loukas Monastery is someplace I hadn’t heard of before researching my trip to Delphi. I stumbled on it while checking out the driving route between Athens and Delphi and looking for interesting places on the map to stop at.
This UNESCO World Heritage Site is a Byzantine-style walled monastery found on the slopes of Mount Helikon. Getting to it just requires a short detour off of your drive to Delphi but it is so worth it. The detour takes you up into the mountains and reveals beautiful scenery.
The monastery is a religious site so when you visit, you must cover your shoulders and knees. If you are wearing shorts or a dress above the knees, I recommend you have a scarf or light towel that you can use to cover your legs. When I visited, entry was quite affordable at only 4 euros each.
A walk around Hosios Loukas will take an hour or less to look at all of the buildings and wander around the exterior. The main church here is the only one known on the mainland of Greece to be from the 10th century.
Arriving to Delphi
After stopping at Hosios Loukas, you will drive up into the mountains and through the beautiful town of Arachova. There is a great turnoff spot on the left side of the road just before Arachova that gives views of the town and Mount Parnassus.
Delphi is a small town with narrow, one-way roads so find some parking near your hotel and check in. You do need a bit of patience with the large tour buses and car traffic here. I was worried about the parking situation but as long as you arrive by about 5 pm before people return from day trips there is plenty of free street parking.
Visiting the Archeological Site of Delphi
The main thing to see in Delphi is the Archeological Site. Staying overnight in Delphi gives you the advantage of waking up and getting to the site as soon as it opens. You won’t be the only one there but it will be much better than when the day trips from Athens arrive. When I visited, I arrived to the site at 8:15 am and managed to snag the last parking spot on the roadside.
Between the Archeological Site and the Museum, I spent about 3.5 hours.
During the summer (April-October) arrive at 8 am, and in the winter (November-March) arrive at 8:30 am to beat the crowds. You can find opening times and last entry times here. You can purchase your entry ticket in advance or at the entrance to the archeological site.
Tip: There is a water fountain to the right of the archeological site ticketbooth perfect for refilling water bottles, I personally took 1L of water with me. There are no bathrooms in the archeological site so make sure to use the museum ones first.
The Archeological Site of Delphi is set on a hill so be prepared to walk uphill without much shade coverage. From the main gate, you start to walk what is known as the Sacred Way. There are many interpretive signs here to help understand the significance Delphi had to the ancient world.
Main Sights of the Archeological Site of Delphi
Mount Parnassus is home to many monuments, temples, and treasuries. One of the first things you will see on entry to the Archeological Site is the Omphalos of Delphi. The Omphalos is a marble stone that was significant to ancient Greeks as the mythology goes that Zeus put it in Delphi to mark the centre of the World. The stone you see here is a copy, the original is housed inside the museum.
Multiple treasuries that were built below the Temple of Apollo so visitors could see the different offerings from the group that donated the treasury as they ascended the Sacred Way.
The Temple of Apollo is one of the most impressive sights at Delphi. While it is just a shadow of its former glory, from the ruins you can imagine what the temple would have looked like. From this location looking off of Mount Parnassus, you can see why ancient Greeks would have found this area to feel special. The natural environment here really feels quite harmonious with the ruins of the area.
The ancient theatre of Delphi is the next major site here. It dates from the 4th BC and offers spectacular views of the Temple of Apollo and the valley below. If you are short on time or out of energy, you can stop here and return back the way you came. Otherwise you can continue on to the stadium.
The Delphi Stadium is beyond the Sacred Way and is nestled into the mountainside. It can fit 6500 people and was used for athletic and music events. I was glad to continue up to the stadium because it was impressive to imagine that at one time this would be filled with spectators. It also offered up some much-needed shade.
After you are done at the Archeological Site of Delphi, walk down the hill and head towards the Delphi Archaeological Museum.
Delphi Archaeological Museum
I loved the Delphi Archaeological Musuem and highly recommend a visit even if it’s only brief. The museum is located right next to the Archeological Site so it felt nice that the artifacts were very close to their original context and it added to the experience of visiting Delphi.
My favourite parts of the museum were not only the famous Sphinx of Naxos and the identical Kouros statues but also photos of what excavation looked like at Delphi. There are also reproductions of what Delphi likely looked like in its prime. The museum does a great job of displaying the main finds of Delphi.
Temple of Athena Pronaia
Many people skip visiting the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia, and the Tholos but I do recommend it. It is quite a walk from the main Archeological Site so if parking seems possible, drive closer to the entrance of Tholos. You don’t need very long at this site as it isn’t very large.
The sanctuary of Athena has some doric-style columns that are still standing and you can see the circular Tholos of Delphi.
Visit Arachova
After your time in Delphi, head towards Athens with a stop in Arachova. Arachova is a great place to grab lunch or a snack and take a quick walk around the town taking in the views. From Arachova it’s about a 2-hour drive back to Athens to return the car. I visited Cape Sounion to see the Temple of Poseidon before returning the car to the Athens Airport and taking the metro into Athens. I have all the details on this in my full Athens itinerary.
Spending a Night in Delphi
A visit to Delphi ended up being one of the highlights of my trip to Greece. It’s well worth a visit even if you aren’t an ancient history or archeology buff. It’s one of my must-visit locations in Greece. On a visit combined with Athens, it’s a great way to see a more rural side of Greece to contrast with the urbanness of the capital city.
Great and informative web-page….
Thanks for your comment! Glad you enjoyed this post on Delphi
How long are the different bits of the uphill walks? I’m not good at uphill, but it’s really important to me to do this.
Hi Sue, Unfortunately, when visiting the Archeological Site of Delphi, the entire thing is on a hill with stairs up. There are flat parts and the stairs are gentle but there is no getting around it being on a hill. It took me about 40 minutes to walk from the bottom to the theatre at a very relaxed pace, you can reach the Temple of Apollo in about 25 minutes. The part that really seemed to tire people out was walking from the theatre to the stadium, which is skippable if you’re not up for it. If it’s important to you, I would still go. Even if you can only walk up a bit of it, the lower parts are interesting to see and it’s worth experiencing the atmosphere of Delphi to get a feel for what Ancient Greeks would have felt when walking the path here.
Go as early as you can in the morning to get cooler weather and just give yourself a lot of time to take rests on the way up. If it’s a knee issue or hip issue, you may want to consider collapsible hiking poles if you don’t have them already as there are no handrails on the stairs. In Europe I often see people walking with hiking poles, even on flatter spots.
Hope you have a fantastic time in Greece!