Balkan Experience - Greece & Albania - Day Trip to Delphi - 1 Sep 2026

It promised to be another bright and sunny day, albeit hot. The saving grace being that the day tour would be substantially spent in an AC bus as the one-way distance to Delphi from Athens is 200 km. Even though I had booked the tour through GetYourGuide, the tour was operated by Key Tours.

We were 44 on board when we set off at 8.15 am. The guide was Marianna Tsigaridou, a middle-aged woman, with an excellent command of the English language and with mountains of information and knowledge. Right through the route to Delphi, she kept up a steady flow of commentary.

She told us of how Thebes of Greece is different from the one in Egypt and how powerful the state was in the 4th century to even defeat Sparta in battle in 371 BC. The city was completely destroyed by Alexander the great in 335 BC. She pointed out vast stretches of cotton fields native to the region as well as the flowering oleander plants.

Marianna told us about the 2 rivers and 2 lakes that slaked the thirst of Athens. The waters were chlorinated and piped for the use of Athens. She made special mention of the Nine Muses and Three Graces. Mount Helicon was where the Nine Muses of ancient Greece, the goddess daughters of Zeus, who personified the arts, literature, and sciences were resident.

It is here that the Three Graces, also daughters of Zeus, known as the Charites in ancient Greece, minor goddesses who personified harmony, beauty and symmetry too resided. From this possibly the derivation of the words graceful and philharmonic.

An interesting story she narrated was about the abduction of Europa, a beautiful Phoenician princess. Zeus became infatuated with Europa and wanted possess her. He transformed into a tame, majestic white bull and mixed in with her father's cattle. When Europa climbed onto the bull's back, Zeus bolted into the sea and swam all the way to Crete, effectively "spiriting her away" to become the first queen of the island.

She told us about the Greek colonies of Africa, Turkey, etc, the name of which end with 'kale' 'polis' such as Canakkale, Pamukkale, Indianapolis, Minneapolis. Odessa was founded by Oracle of Delphi and so were Sevastipol, Marseille, Nice, Antiba all in France, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville in Spain.

Gibraltar is connected to the god Zeus through his son Heracles (Hercules), who created the Pillars of Hercules at the Strait of Gibraltar. The long and short of it is the vast influence that Greece possessed in the ancient times and that it was at the centre of lands from east to west and north to south.

We made a short stop for coffee and restrooms at Levadia before finally getting to Delphi, which is an ancient sacred precinct and the home of the legendary Oracle of Apollo situated on the southern slopes of Mount Parnassus. The Oracle existed from 700 BC to 393 AD, after which the spread of Christianity, rapacious vandals, natural disasters and ignorance amongst surviving locals swallowed up the myths and legends of Delphi.

The excavations in 19th and 20th centuries unearthed Delphi layer by layer, painstakingly. Facts emerged thanks to inscriptions. The last recorded prophecy of the Oracle at Delphi, delivered in 362 CE to an emissary of the pagan Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate, stated: "Tell the emperor that the Daidalic hall has fallen. No longer does Phoebus have his chamber, nor mantic laurel, nor prophetic spring, and the speaking water has been silenced."

The ancient Greeks considered Delphi to be the "navel of the earth" (centre of the world), marked by the sacred Omphalos stone. It is believed that Zeus determined the site of Delphi when he sought to find the centre of his "Grandmother Earth" (Gaia). He sent two eagles flying from the eastern and western extremities, and the path of the eagles crossed over Delphi where the omphalos, or navel of Gaia was found.

The major features at the archaeological site include the Temple of Apollo, the ancient theatre, the stadium and the nearby sanctuary of Athena Pronoia (which is closed for archaeological reasons). The present-day road divides and delineates the two ancient sanctuaries, namely the Sanctuary of Athena Pronoia and the Sanctuary of Apollo.

The sanctuary of Athena Pronoia comprises the Tholos, the temples of Athena and two treasuries, whereas next to it is situated the impressive gymnasium. All that's left of the Temple of Athena are three massive columns.

Immediately after the official entrance to the archaeological site of the Temple of Apollo is the Sacred Way of Delphi, the historic, 200-meter ascending path that leads visitors to the Temple of Apollo. It winds up the mountain slope in a series of gentle, serpentine curves. The path was once lined with statues and war memorials showcasing Greek history and rivalries.

On the way are the Polygonal Wall, the Athenian Treasury, and the Rock of the Sibyl. Wealthy Greek city-states built elaborate small buildings (treasuries) along the sacred path to store rich offerings and display their power. Nearly 100 such treasury houses used to be housed there.

Delphi is best known for its oracle, the Pythia, or Sibyl, the priestess prophesying from one of the two rooms of the building with a thin wall in between. The Pythia was known as a spokesperson for Apollo.

She was a woman of blameless life chosen from the peasants of the area. Alone in an enclosed inner sanctum, the priestess washed in the Castalian spring and drank from a sacred stream before the session. Then she sat on a tripod seat over an opening in the earth (the "chasm").

According to legend, when Apollo slew Python, its body fell into this fissure, and fumes arose from its decomposing body. Intoxicated by the vapours, the sibyl would fall into a trance, allowing Apollo to possess her spirit. In addition, the priestess used to chew the laurel leaf to inspire her prophecies. In this state she prophesied.

What she prophesied had to be studied carefully and acted upon wisely. A sibyllic answer has to be used with discretion and after much thought. It meant listening to your conscience with enthusiasm, the Greek roots being en (within) theos (God).

People in the ancient, visited Delphi for three reasons. Firstly, politics, which gave the Oracle it's primary purpose. The Temple of Apollo reinforced religion and belief in theos. Secondly, art, exemplified by the theatre of Delphi. The theatre was about 'we' and not 'I', exemplified by socialism and development of civilised behaviour. Thirdly, sports exemplified by the stadium and the training facilities in Athena Pronoia.

Athleticism promoted fair play and involved no killing of the vanquished. It was about strength, about being better and faster. Every four years, Delphi hosted major athletic and musical competitions that were second in importance only to the Olympic Games.

From the archaeological site we walked to the Delphi Archaeological Museum. Founded in 1903, it houses the discoveries made at the sanctuary of Delphi. The exhibition floor space is more than 2270 m2. The museum has fourteen rooms on two levels and mainly displays statues, including the famous Charioteer of Delphi, architectural elements, like the frieze of the Siphnian Treasury and ex votos dedicated to the sanctuary of Pythian Apollo, like the Sphinx of Naxos.

The rooms contain archaic male statues known also as Cleobis and Biton, fragmented statue of a bull, torsos of the sculpture of Artemis, Apollo and their mother, Leto made of gold and ivory. Interesting to note are that the space missions of NASA were named after Apollo and his sister, Artemis. The statue of Apollo also has another notable feature. It has, on its forehead, what resembles the third eye of Shiva.

The lunch stop was at the quaint and important village of Arachova. Situated at an altitude of approximately 970 metres, Arachova is one of the most famous and popular mountain resorts in Greece. The village is like an amphitheatre on the ridge of Mount Parnassus. It has a traditional feel with narrow alleys teeming with cafes as well as a cosmopolitan aura with gourmet restaurants and bars.

From the balcony of Arachova, one can soak in the enchanting views of the peaks of Parnassus. The village becomes extremely busy during winter with the Mt Parnassus ski centre a major attraction. It was told that children are taught skiing from a young age, free of cost.

The village also has a bronze bust of the Dr. Georgios Papanicolaou (1883–1962), the famous Greek physician and pioneer in cytopathology. He invented the Pap test, for early detection of cervical cancer.

All in all, a day well spent. The fantastic commentary of Marianne was the highlight. The nuggets gleaned from the vast amount of information she placed before the group were indeed precious. That brought to an end the four days’ stay in the home of one of the greatest civilisations of human history.