Ancient Olympia: the birth place of the Olympic Games. However, it is more than just a historical slight, the town of Olympia offers plenty of shops, bars and restaurants to recover after exploring the archaeological site.
When you see Olympia on your cruise itinerary it’s worth pointing out that you’ll dock in Katakolon and will need to take a transfer from the port to the historic town. In order to make the most of our time in Olympia we booked Roundtrip Transfer to Ancient Olympia which included coach transfers and entry to the site to the birthplace of the Olympic Games.
Depending who you book with you may have a short walk from your ship to the main street of Katakolon to meet your guide. Our tour was booked through Get Your Guide and was supplied by Greca Land Travel Agency. A nice touch was being given a free bottle of water after checking in. Once everyone is there for your tour it’s a short walk to the parking area to board your coach.
After a transfer time of around 40 minutes, you arrive in Olympia. Olympia is busy; be sure to remember which coach you’re on! We took a photo of the reg plate as they may not have a number at the front of the coach. Once we’d got our bearings we began the walk down to the site.
We scanned the tickets on our phones and we were in! With such a historic site it’s hard to know where to begin but in the summer heat we decided to take our time rather than follow a set route.
Whilst walking around the site it’s incredible to imagine that the layout still influences the design of modern day Olympic parks. From the Palestra which was the centre for wrestling, the many temples, to the stadium, there is so much to take in. Feeling fit? Then join other visitors in taking a run along the track or climb the banks to take it all in and imagine the roaring crowds of times gone by. At each site there information boards to explain what used to stand there.
Once we’d finished exploring we headed to the on-site cafe to grab a drink under the shade. There is also a museum on the same site however due to the time we had left we decided to skip the archaeological museum and headed up to the town to peruse the shops and purchase souvenirs. The coach was waiting for us to get us back to port in plenty time ahead of the ships departure.
Ready to book this trip? Book here via Get Your Guide. Booking ahead of your trip enables you to use the app and enables you to go paperless and have your tickets on your phone. Any links you click in this blog are affiliate links and we will receive a small commission.
For The Love Of Cruise 
3 thoughts on “Port Experience: Ancient Olympia”
Comments are closed.