Alternative Athens

An Athens tour company that designs and runs its own trips

Alternative Athens runs guided tours in Athens, day trips from the city, multi-day trips and self-drive road trips around Greece. The About page is unusually direct about the model: "We design and operate all of our tours and activities ourselves. We're not resellers of tours, like most other tour companies are," and "Our guides work exclusively for Alternative Athens." The company "started in 2013 with just one aim: To show travelers the genuine side of Greece, away from easy tourist stereotypes." Its footer carries a Greek tourism license number (GNTO License, MHTE 0206E60000680301).

In Athens the menu covers city tours, Acropolis and mythology tours, food tours, kids and family activities, local experiences and nightlife. Beyond the city it lists day trips to Delphi, Mycenae and Nafplio, and Hydra, and longer trips across mainland Greece, the Peloponnese, the Cyclades, Crete and northern Greece.

The company says it was "the first in Athens to create a Mythology tour, a Street Art tour, a Greek Designers Shopping tour, an LGBTQ tour and a Meals with Locals activity," and that it has "earned TripAdvisor's Certificate of Excellence every year we've been in business."

Day trips, multi-day trips and self-drive

The homepage features The Ultimate Delphi Day Trip, the Extraordinary Mycenae & Nafplio day trip and A Dazzling Day Trip to Hydra, plus a set of longer itineraries: Wonders of Mainland Greece: Delphi & Meteora, Highlights of the Peloponnese, The Grand road trip of Classical Greece, Fire, Sea and Stone: The Very Best of the Cycladic Islands, Myths, Mountains and Minotaurs: The Ultimate Cretan Road Trip, Lesser Traveled Roads: The Real Northern Greece, and Roads of Power in the Peloponnese. It also offers "Private itineraries, fully customized."

The self-drive trips are explained in detail. Based on a specific itinerary, the page says, the company will "book your car and accommodation in carefully selected guest-houses." Travelers collect the car "from the airport or Athens city-center," and get the company's app with the route on a GPS map, standard and optional stops, restaurants, activities, local tips and audio storytelling, which the page says works "online and offline too." The page adds that "our best guide, Danae, shares her audio stories at various stops," that each morning the app lists activities that can be booked, and that self-drive trips "have a much lower cost than traditional tours that come with a private guide and driver." All multi-day and self-drive trips are described as carbon neutral.

Team building and corporate events

A separate section sells corporate activities in Athens, "From a 2-hour mythological team building game to a full-day, turn-key customized corporate event." The named activities include Hunting Street Food in Athens: Mission Delectable! (2 to 2.5 hours), The Golden Olympian Challenge, pitched as a chance to "Live the Spirit of the Games" in a team contest (3 hours), a mythology storytelling walk "in a live show on the streets of Athens" (2 hours), Aristophanes Games & Acropolis Museum (3 hours), Mysteries of the Ancient Lyre, a "melodic journey through music, philosophy and mythology," a role-playing game called Who Will Save Athens? (3 hours), a Team-Building Comics Workshop (2 hours) and the Greek Designers Shopping Walk (3.5 hours).

How the tours work

The About page sets out how the company operates on the ground. "We travel in groups of no more than 12 people," it says, and "our activities are mostly walking tours, and when we do need to rely on motorized transport, we promote the use of public transportation wherever possible." It also says it focuses on areas "less visited by tourists," eats "in small locally-owned establishments," and is a Travelife Partner. Guides are picked on "how well they know their city, and how friendly and open they are to the world."

The guest reviews the company shows add color: a family whose children aged 8, 6 and 4 did a "Playing Goddess Athena" activity, a cooking class that involved children of 3, 5 and 8, an Olympic-themed session where guests tried the javelin, discus and long jump and ran a lap of the Olympic Stadium, and cruise passengers who praised guides who "spoke excellent English." These are the company's selections.

The people behind it

The team page explains the company's roots in the economic crisis, with founder Tina's profile opening: "In 2010, the Greek crisis hit and the country went into freefall. From there begun a great and long adventure." It says the founders did not study tourism, "but we all like travel and we all understand travellers, so here we are," and it profiles staff and guides with short personal stories, from a guide who grew up in the refugee neighborhood of Nea Smyrni to one who discovered graffiti at the end of middle school. The About page adds that the company crafts its tours "based on what we really like and want to share about our country, not based on market research or marketing hype," and that the international press has described it as "an innovative company helping to change the face of Athens." Reviews on the homepage mention an Athens Neighborhood tour through "the social and political heart of contemporary Athens" and a comics workshop held in a cellar library lined with comics.

Booking and terms

Tours are booked through "Learn more and book" links on each tour page, and corporate events and private itineraries start with a request. The homepage promises "Flexible Cancellation" alongside "Small Groups" and "Sustainable travel," and the footer links to Terms & Conditions, but the homepage, About and category pages do not state the cancellation window, prices or payment terms for any tour or trip.

What the site leaves open, and who it suits

No tour listing shows a price, and the self-drive section does not say what size or type of car is booked, what insurance covers, or how long each road trip lasts. The site itself can be read in English and French, but it does not say which languages tours run in beyond the reviews' mentions of English, and it does not describe wheelchair access.

The strengths are clear. This is a local operator that runs everything itself, caps groups at 12, offers themed walks such as mythology, street art and designer shopping, and has a well-built self-drive product for travelers who want independence with local advice. It suits curious first-time visitors to Athens, families looking for mythology activities for children, independent travelers planning a road trip around Greece, and companies planning an event in the city. Travelers who want to compare prices before making contact will need to open each tour page.