# Getaway to Delphi and Arachova, Two and a Half Hours from Athens: the Oracle at Dawn and the Olive Path

Two days north of Athens: Osios Loukas, the sanctuary of Apollo in the first light, the Charioteer, the ancient path through olive groves and Arachova.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/greece/central-greece/delphi/itineraries/one-night-oracle-and-olive-trees · Revisado: 2026-11-12

Dónde: Delphi

Delphi in a day from Athens is five hours on the road for a few of visiting. With one night, the trip changes: you arrive in the afternoon without rush, dine watching the Pleistos valley light up, and the next morning you climb to the sanctuary when it opens, in the cool and almost alone. Then the museum and the ancient path that goes down through olive groves towards the sea.

## How do you get there from Athens?

By car, about two and a half hours along the motorway towards Lamia and the Livadia and Arachova road. If you are coming off a flight, pick up the car at the airport. Without a car, the KTEL Fokidas bus leaves from the Liosion station and takes about three hours, with a stop in Arachova.

## Where to sleep?

AccommodationAreaWho it suits

FedriadesMain streetA room with a view of the gulf; without a car, next to the bus

Parnassos DelphiMain street, 300 m from the museumFamilies and bus travel

AmaliaEdge of the villageBy car, with a garden and summer pool

## And with one more day?

Continue north: Meteora, with its monasteries on the rocks, is about three and a half hours away. Athens, Delphi and Meteora in three days is the classic circuit of mainland Greece.

## El plan

### Saturday · 08:00 · Leave Athens
Motorway towards Lamia and exit at Livadia.

### Saturday · 10:30 · Osios Loukas Monastery
Eleventh-century mosaics on a gold background. €10; closes at 15:30.

### Saturday · 13:00 · Arachova
Lunch and a walk round the stone village of Parnassus.

### Saturday · 16:00 · Castalian Spring and tholos of Athena Pronaia
The tholos in the afternoon light, at the entrance to Delphi.

### Saturday · 17:30 · Arrival at Delphi
Check in at the Fedriades and stroll down the main street.

### Saturday · 20:00 · Dinner at Vakhos
Home-cooked stews and Parnassus wine, on the terrace over the valley.

### Sunday · 08:00 · Sanctuary of Apollo
At opening (8:30 in winter): the Sacred Way, the temple, the theatre and the stadium. €20 with the museum.

### Sunday · 10:30 · Delphi Museum
The Charioteer, the Sphinx of the Naxians and the omphalos.

### Sunday · 12:00 · Ancient path towards Chrisso
A descent of an hour and a half through olive groves; back by taxi to Delphi.

### Sunday · 14:30 · Lunch at Epikouros and return
A table with a view of the valley and the drive back: in Athens around 19:00.

## Dónde dormir if you're driving
- **Amalia Hotel Delphi**: A hotel with space on the edge of the village
The Amalia is on Apollonos Street, on the way out of Delphi towards Itea, on the slope of Parnassus. It is a large hotel, from the days of coach trips through classical Greece, renovated and with what the village centre does not have: spacious gardens, an open-air pool that opens in summer and free parking for cars and coaches. The room balconies and common areas look over the green valley that runs down to the sea and the town of Itea.
Inside
It has a ground-floor restaurant, with Mediterranean cooking for breakfast, lunch and dinner and a view of the pool and garden; a café-bar and a lounge with a fireplace for winter nights. There are meeting rooms and events are held in the garden.
Who it is for
For anyone arriving by car who wants to park without circling, for families in summer for the pool, and for those who go up to ski on Parnassus in winter and prefer to sleep somewhere quieter than Arachova. The sanctuary is 5 minutes by car or on foot along the main street.
- **Phaedriades Delphi Hotel**: Right on the main street
The Phaedriades is on Vasileon Pavlou kai Friderikis Street, Delphi's main street, with the bus stop, tavernas and shops a few steps away and the sanctuary a stroll. Almost all its rooms face south, to the Gulf of Corinth and the olive grove of the Pleistos valley. It is from the same family as the Parnassos Delphi Hotel and the Epikouros taverna, a few numbers down the same street.
The rooms
It has nine types: single, double and double with a panoramic view, triples, a quadruple with a hydromassage bath, connecting family rooms and a junior suite with a panoramic view and hydromassage. If you pay the difference, ask for the panoramic view: it is the reason to sleep in Delphi.
Getting there
If you come on the KTEL bus from Athens, you get off on the main street and arrive on foot. By car, park on the street, which is narrow and fills up in season. At reception they speak English, German and French.

## Dónde dormir without a car
- **Phaedriades Delphi Hotel**: Right on the main street
The Phaedriades is on Vasileon Pavlou kai Friderikis Street, Delphi's main street, with the bus stop, tavernas and shops a few steps away and the sanctuary a stroll. Almost all its rooms face south, to the Gulf of Corinth and the olive grove of the Pleistos valley. It is from the same family as the Parnassos Delphi Hotel and the Epikouros taverna, a few numbers down the same street.
The rooms
It has nine types: single, double and double with a panoramic view, triples, a quadruple with a hydromassage bath, connecting family rooms and a junior suite with a panoramic view and hydromassage. If you pay the difference, ask for the panoramic view: it is the reason to sleep in Delphi.
Getting there
If you come on the KTEL bus from Athens, you get off on the main street and arrive on foot. By car, park on the street, which is narrow and fills up in season. At reception they speak English, German and French.
- **Parnassos Delphi Hotel**: The most practical if you arrive by bus
The Parnassos is in the centre of Delphi, on the main street, and is open all year. According to the hotel, the museum and the ruins are 300 metres away, as are the bus station and the taxi rank: you arrive from Athens on the KTEL, drop your suitcase and walk to the sanctuary.
The rooms
It has 27 rooms and 3 suites of nine types, from the economy single to triples and family rooms, connecting rooms with hydromassage and a rooftop suite, also with hydromassage. There is free wifi throughout the hotel. It is from the same family as the Phaedriades, a few numbers up.
Who it is for
For those travelling without a car, for a night between two buses, and for families who need triples or connecting rooms at a good price in the centre.

## Dónde dormir if you're flying
- **Amalia Hotel Delphi**: A hotel with space on the edge of the village
The Amalia is on Apollonos Street, on the way out of Delphi towards Itea, on the slope of Parnassus. It is a large hotel, from the days of coach trips through classical Greece, renovated and with what the village centre does not have: spacious gardens, an open-air pool that opens in summer and free parking for cars and coaches. The room balconies and common areas look over the green valley that runs down to the sea and the town of Itea.
Inside
It has a ground-floor restaurant, with Mediterranean cooking for breakfast, lunch and dinner and a view of the pool and garden; a café-bar and a lounge with a fireplace for winter nights. There are meeting rooms and events are held in the garden.
Who it is for
For anyone arriving by car who wants to park without circling, for families in summer for the pool, and for those who go up to ski on Parnassus in winter and prefer to sleep somewhere quieter than Arachova. The sanctuary is 5 minutes by car or on foot along the main street.
- **Phaedriades Delphi Hotel**: Right on the main street
The Phaedriades is on Vasileon Pavlou kai Friderikis Street, Delphi's main street, with the bus stop, tavernas and shops a few steps away and the sanctuary a stroll. Almost all its rooms face south, to the Gulf of Corinth and the olive grove of the Pleistos valley. It is from the same family as the Parnassos Delphi Hotel and the Epikouros taverna, a few numbers down the same street.
The rooms
It has nine types: single, double and double with a panoramic view, triples, a quadruple with a hydromassage bath, connecting family rooms and a junior suite with a panoramic view and hydromassage. If you pay the difference, ask for the panoramic view: it is the reason to sleep in Delphi.
Getting there
If you come on the KTEL bus from Athens, you get off on the main street and arrive on foot. By car, park on the street, which is narrow and fills up in season. At reception they speak English, German and French.
- **Parnassos Delphi Hotel**: The most practical if you arrive by bus
The Parnassos is in the centre of Delphi, on the main street, and is open all year. According to the hotel, the museum and the ruins are 300 metres away, as are the bus station and the taxi rank: you arrive from Athens on the KTEL, drop your suitcase and walk to the sanctuary.
The rooms
It has 27 rooms and 3 suites of nine types, from the economy single to triples and family rooms, connecting rooms with hydromassage and a rooftop suite, also with hydromassage. There is free wifi throughout the hotel. It is from the same family as the Phaedriades, a few numbers up.
Who it is for
For those travelling without a car, for a night between two buses, and for families who need triples or connecting rooms at a good price in the centre.