Testimonials

  This is the way to see Athens! - We had a phenomenal experience with Essential Athens. I couldn’t recommend hiring a private driver and tour guide anymore!
Our guide, George, was handsome, engaging, and most importantly, incredibly... read more well-versed in Greek history. He took us to all of the key sites in Athens, and prepared us to not only best understand the historical context, but also how to navigate the particular site.
We are chartering a sailboat and needed to provision up. Meaning we had to buy a bunch of wine. While we were visiting the Acropolis, George researched the best wine shop in Athens and took us there. He accompanied us into the store to make sure that we could communicate. He then directed us to a neighborhood, traditional Greek restaurant. We had phenomenal and inexpensive food, and wouldn’t have found nor entered this restaurant without his suggestion.
While hiring a private guide and driver seems like a expensive proposition, it is a luxury absolutely worth paying for. I can’t recommend Essential Athens anymore.

  This site is on flat location with only a few stairs (not many around the site) I would recommend having a Private Guide to explain the significance of site of... read more the first Olympics and it's participants. Many old marble and stone remains of early buildings and sporting fields and the main arena.

  Driving a car in Greece is very difficult for Americans, because there is A LOT LESS ROAD per car over there than we have over here. Watching Greeks drive may... read more appear scary, but their way optimizes the use of the tiny roads, and works there just fine. Hiring a driver is the better idea, because doing so enables you to spend your time watching the sights, instead of looking at the road and for signs as to where to turn. The online ratings are a good way to find reasonably priced drivers who are dependable, diligent, conscientious, and timely. So, if you know exactly where you are going and when, then any driver with good ratings will likely suffice: You will get picked up where you say, when you say, you will be taken where you want, you will be happy, and you will feel compelled to rate them highly, reinforcing the good professional behavior you encountered. The reason I am write this review is because I got A LOT MORE service than I asked for. Let me explain. I grew up in Greece in the 1960s and 1970s, and attended Greek school. I daresay I learned Greek history quite well. With my school we toured many historical places then, and further, my parents took me even more places. I thought I knew it all! 40 years later, having made my own family in the US, I took this trip with my daughter, to show her as much of mainland Greece as I could within 2 weeks. I created an itinerary across 11 different cities, and presented it to several highly rated drivers. The quotes I got were competitive and thankfully uniform: included all car expenses, gas, tolls, and the drivers' stay wherever we went. At the insistence of my Greek relatives I also got a quote from Private Greece Tours - that was golden! Before giving me a quote, the principal Mr. Nikos Loukas, studied my requested itinerary, understood its nature, and risked upsetting me by recommending some adjustments. The adjustments were excellent, for they included places and things that I did not know about. One such example was to include the AWESOME Archaeological Museum of Thebes (aka Thiva) which I had no idea existed, because it was established in 2016, way after my time. I would have been very upset if I'd missed it. After the adjusted itinerary was agreed upon, the quote included a nice surprise: While we knew that we would pay for the driver's night stays, PGT has agreements with several upscale hotels around Greece, whereby we pay a very reasonable room rate and that includes the driver's stay at some other room in the same hotel! Left to our own devices we would have paid a lot more at such hotels, plus extra to accommodate the driver. Per our expectations, we were always picked up on time by the English-speaking driver. The car was very comfortable, air conditioned. We were taken everywhere safely and on time. Delivering above our expectations was our driver, Mr. Dominic Iliopoulos. Diligent: Before driving us to any one of the 15+ sites, he had called ahead to confirm the availability. One was closed (Diros caves) so he immediately counteroffered that we visit a local museum presenting traditional clothes. Time well spent! Knowledgeable: Being a professional tour guide, Dominic knew the sites and their history very well, with much more information than in the Greek School textbooks! Timely: Upon driving us to each site, he would tell us the related history, show us relevant printed exhibits, show us a map, pointing where we should go in, and what to look for. Countering the hot weather he also gave us sun umbrellas and bottles of cold water each time. And with personal care: Dominic carried our suitcases to and from every hotel we stayed at, played the music we wanted in the car, and recommended restaurants for each palate in every city. And when we had a medical emergency, he called the home office to find the appropriate medical specialist in the town we were at the time and took us there. I don't know what else we could have asked for! With many thanks to PGT, this was the best trip I have ever had. …

  We had a wonderful and extremely educated driver! His plan was precise and fully detailed to experience alot in a short time.

  Our private Athens- Corinth tour with Spyros was a perfect experience— no pressure, no tight schedule (except for the changing guards), flexible, intimate, BUT informative Our driver/tour guide was very... read more professional, and he was able to explain the GREECE in a way that was easy to understand by foreigners like me & my wife. Overall, I highly recommend this LEGIT & awesome tour company!!!

  As a professional traveler, I know what great tours and tour guides are...and today was perhaps the best Private Tour Day I have ever experienced. First, Nikos is so awesome... read more to work with! Second, our driver Spyros was professional, funny, and over the top accommodating! Third, we paid the extra fee to have an English speaking guide with us all day...worth it! Sophia was perhaps the best guide I have had...knowledgeable, caring, very considerate, and it was obvious how much preparation she has put into herself professionally. We learned so much! I particularly liked her ability to find out what interested us and then she ensured to speak on and take us to many of those areas. I love working with small tour companies because of the personal touch...Nikos and his company delivered! Would book with them again tomorrow!