Day trip from Athens Ancient Corinth
The excavated Greek and Roman city with its museum, 10 minutes by car from modern Corinth and about an hour from Athens by suburban train.
Is Ancient Corinth worth a day trip from Athens?
Half a day. Avoid Sundays by bus.
Half a day is enough. The site and its museum take about 2 hours and cost € 15. Getting there alone is cheap but fiddly: a suburban train or KTEL bus to modern Corinth in about an hour, then a local bus that runs 6 times on weekdays, 3 times on Saturday and never on Sunday, or a taxi for € 7-15. The 6-hour tour from € 76 includes hotel pickup, a stop at the canal and admission. From November to March the site is closed on Tuesdays and shuts at 15:30. Acrocorinth, the fortress above, closes at 15:30 all year.
The decision sheet
- Travel time
- 1 h 05+ 10 min taxi from Corinth station · one way · KTEL Korinthias, Ancient Corinth local bus
- Transport
- Suburban train + taxi
- Self-guided cost
- € 28.60–48.60Suburban train return (€ 13.60) + site and museum ticket (€ 15); the higher figure adds a € 10 taxi each way from Corinth station · The Blog of Dimi (train and bus fares)
- Tour price
- From € 76Civitatis catalogue
- Time needed
- 2–3 hDaytripo editorial
- Closed days
- Tuesday, Nov-Mar only
- Best time
- Apr-Oct, open daily from 08:00Daytripo editorial
- Verdict
- Worth half a dayDaytripo editorial
What to see and do in Ancient Corinth
- 01
Temple of Apollo
Seven Doric columns of about 540 BC, each cut from a single block of limestone 7 metres tall. It is the oldest thing on the site and the first you see.
- 02
Roman forum and Bema
The main square of the Roman city, with shop rows on both sides. The raised platform in the middle is where the apostle Paul was brought before the governor Gallio in AD 51.
- 03
Peirene fountain
A spring house with six arched chambers at the edge of the forum, still fed by running water. You look in from the railing. Five minutes.
- 04
Museum
Inside the site and on the same ticket. Allow 40 minutes for Roman mosaics, two archaic kouros statues recovered from smugglers in 2010, and finds from the healing sanctuary.
- 05
Acrocorinth
The fortress on the 575-metre rock above the village, with three lines of walls. It is 4 km uphill by taxi and needs 1.5 hours. It closes at 15:30 all year.
Good forAncient sitesCastles and palaces
How to spend the day
Take a suburban train from Athens central station before 09:00. They run roughly hourly and take about 1 h 05. A taxi from Corinth station reaches the site in 10 minutes. Be at the gate by 10:15, see the forum, then the museum, and finish around 12:30. Lunch in the village. Local buses back to Corinth leave at 14:30 (also 17:30 on weekdays). You are in Athens by about 17:00.
Ancient Corinth in summer and in winter
Summer
June to AugustThe site opens at 08:00 daily and has little shade outside the museum, so be at the gate by 10:15 at the latest and leave the museum for last. Acrocorinth is hotter still and a long climb from its car park: do it only if you start early. Carry water, the village shops are outside the fence.
Winter
December to FebruaryFrom November to March the site is closed on Tuesdays and shuts at 15:30. Two hours is enough, so a train before 09:00 still gives a relaxed visit. Expect 12-15 °C, rain on some days and almost no other visitors. Sunday is impossible by local bus in any season.
How crowded it gets
Quiet- Busiest
- Apr-Oct, 10:00-12:00, when coaches and cruise groups from the canal arrive
- Quietest
- After 13:00 on any day, and all winter
Groups stay about an hour and gather at the Bema, where guides read from Acts. Walk the Lechaion road and the fountain while they are there and return to the forum when they leave.
How do you get to Ancient Corinth from Athens?
Suburban train + taxi
- Travel time
- 1 h 05 + 10 min taxi
- Frequency
- Roughly hourly
- Cost
- € 8.50 each way, € 13.60 return
- Departs from
- Athens central station (Larissa Station)
Ride the suburban line towards Kiato and get off at Korinthos. The station is outside town, so take a taxi from the rank for € 7-10 and agree a pickup time for the way back. Buy the return ticket in Athens, it is cheaper than two singles.
KTEL bus + local bus
- Travel time
- 57 min to 1 h 20 + 20 min local bus
- Frequency
- About hourly, 07:00-21:10
- Cost
- € 9.30 each way, € 16 return
- Departs from
- KTEL Kifissos terminal
The Athens bus ends at the KTEL office in Corinth, Dimokratias 4, where the local bus to Ancient Corinth starts: 08:30, 11:00 and 14:00 Monday to Saturday, plus 07:00, 17:00 and 21:00 on weekdays. No service on Sunday. Returns at 09:00, 11:30, 14:30.
Organized tour
- Travel time
- 6 hours door to door
- Frequency
- Daily
- Cost
- From € 76
- Departs from
- Hotel pickup in Athens
Morning coach with an English-speaking guide, a photo stop at the Corinth Canal and admission included. You are back in Athens by mid-afternoon. It costs about € 27-47 more than going alone and removes the taxi and timetable problem.
Practical: clothes, food and money
What to wear
Closed shoes for gravel and broken paving. A hat and sunscreen from May to September, because the forum is open ground. For Acrocorinth add proper walking shoes: the path inside the gates is steep, polished stone.
What to eat
Tavernas and cafes sit on the village square, 2 minutes from the site gate, and serve grilled meat, salads and oven dishes. The region's products are Corinthian currants, the small dried grapes named after the city, and red wine from Nemea, 30 minutes inland.
What you will spend
Going alone costs € 28.60 to € 48.60: the € 13.60 train return, the € 15 ticket for site and museum, and up to € 10 each way by taxi from Corinth station. The tour from € 76 includes admission. Acrocorinth has its own small entry fee.
How to get the most out of the day
- Take the phone number of the taxi driver who drops you. There is no rank in the village and cars rarely pass.
- The Corinth Canal is 10 minutes by taxi from the station. Ask the driver to stop at the old bridge on the way.
- For Acrocorinth, agree a waiting time and a round-trip fare with the taxi before you go up. Nothing else runs there.
- Keep your train ticket. The return half of the € 13.60 fare is checked on board.
How long do you need in Ancient Corinth?
Plan 2–3 h on site, plus 1 h 05 of travel each way from Athens.
When is Ancient Corinth closed?
Tuesday, Nov-Mar only. Best time: Apr-Oct, open daily from 08:00.