Participating in “organised tours” is not really my favourite way of travelling. But sometimes there is an arrangement where the hassle of getting to your destination might become too much compared to signing up and paying a couple of Euros to a company with a ready-to-go-tour. Making an excursion to Delphi from Athens is exactly such a tour. Getting to Delphi by car is of course a non-issue but with only public transport as option it becomes quite a complicated task. So it was not long before I found myself in one of those comfortable air-conditioned bus with a guide constantly mumbling a lot of gibberish in broken English to an audience of half-asleep tourist due to the early morning departure time.

After first making its way through a quite boring Greek landscape we reached the first mountains after a couple of hours driving. And suddenly the trip took on a more exciting perspective - in which turn is the bus going to drive off the road and tumble down in the valley…? Now, not now, now….considering how they drive in Greece I’m amazed that there are no more cars and other motor vehicles lying in heaps on the side of the roads?

Having reached Delphi, one immediately notice how beautifully located is sits on the mountainside and it is said that when Zeus released two eagles from opposite ends of the world, their paths crossed in the sky above Delphi, establishing Delphi as the centre of the world. And on what was a very hot summer day (over +40), I stumbled out of an air-conditioned tour bus and almost collapsed in the sudden heat. After pouring a bottle of water over myself I proceeded up the Sacred Way, leading up to the temple and a beautiful view over the valley beneath and the mountains across. It’s a magnificent site that makes you think of solitude and contemplation and the fact that this also was the site for the famous Oracle is quite fitting.

Delfi is well worth a visit when you’re in Athens. And after touring the temple site you can easily walk the 250 meters north and you will reach the small town of Delphi, bursting with souvenir shops and good restaurants to end your day in a beautiful part of Greece.