Athens Spotlight: Segway Tour

View of Athens from the Pynx

Segway smooch under the Arch of Hadrian

We were recently tasked with making the most of our seven-hour stop in Athens. Though the Plaka (old town) is small, it was 90° (as it frequently is in the summer), and we were having a hard time deciding between which sights to see after the Acropolis. We wanted to see the ancient ruins: hike up Mars Hill, appreciate the Kerameikos ruins, see the remains of the Temple of Zeus, stand under the Arch of Hadrian, soak up the birthplace of democracy at the Pynx, and even peek into the remains of the first mall in Agora; but also the newer sights: shop in the Monastiraki flea market, have a snack in the main square, check out the Zappeoin (1896 is new in Athenian time).

Believe it or not, we found a way to do all of this with time leftover for some frozen Greek yogurt. How? A segway tour!

Zipping through the
Monastiraki flea market

After some research, we opted for the Athens Segway Tours company. We took the 10:00 am tour and were lucky enough to be the only ones who could make it out of bed early enough. Our own local tour guide (who spoke perfect English) was helpful and flexible. We laid out our priorities and she made sure to hit them. I had never been on a segway before but absolutely loved it. We zipped through the pedestrian areas with no problem, and saw everything we wanted to see plus some sights that were not even on our radar.

The Parthenon on two feet, no wheels (still awesome)

Segways are not (yet) allowed in the Acropolis, so we enjoyed that sans-wheels, but the two hour segway tour was perfect for perusing the large number of important ruins Athens contains in their old town. It was efficient, breezy, and most of all hilarious, and I cannot recommend it highly enough!