Niki Vlachou, the Olympia Guide

Travelers from all over the world use our services

Having graduated in 1997 from Greece’s school for tour guides, I started offering guiding services for many areas all over Greece, in Greek, English and French. A few years afterwards, in 2002, I was lucky enough to start working and collaborating with Rick Steves. Eventually that led into meeting him in person and accompanying him to some of his travels throughout Greece, helping him update his travel guide books. Talking and collaborating with the "guru of traveling" could be nothing else but an inspiration and great lesson for me, but at the same time a big responsibility to carry out, since a lot of people contact me after his recommendation.

One of the highlights of my career was when BBC chose me to be the official Olympia expert in the live broadcasting of the ceremony of the lighting of the Olympic torch for the 2012 Olympics in London.

It is my privilege and pleasure to be able to guide visitors and show them my country that I love and respect. The Greek heritage and culture is very fascinating, and that is what I'm always trying to disseminate to my guests during the few hours that we share. Niki
Mercedes Vito

What we offer

We offer local private and small group guided tours of the archaeological site and museum of Ancient Olympia.

Once in Olympia, the highlights to visit are the Archeological Museum (also called the New Museum) and the Ancient Olympic Games site.

In the Ancient Olympic Games site, among several other remains of important buildings, you will see the gymnasium and the palaestra, the round Philipeion, the workshop of Phidias where the gold and ivory statue of Zeus was built, the temples of Zeus and Hera, the altar where the Olympic torch is being lit in the modern days and last but not least the ancient Olympic stadium. The seating capacity was about 45000 people and this is where the ancient Greek athletes competed to win the precious olive wreath that was one of the greatest honors in ancient times. You will have the chance to actually run through the original track in the footsteps of the ancient Olympic victors.

In the archeological museum are housed all finds that were excavated from the archeological site. Bronze and clay offerings (tripods and figurines), armor, vases, the tools and cup from Phidias's workshop, the gorgeous Hermes by Praxiteles, the Nike by Paeonios and the very impressive and very well preserved classical statues from the pediments of the temple of Zeus, etc.

For the guided visit with a licensed tour guide of the site and the archeological museum you will need approximately 2,5 hours and then you can spend more time on your own to take pictures.

Alternatively, you could visit the archeological museum on your own after you enjoy the guided tour of the archeological site with your guide, for which you will need approximately 1,5 hour.

Why choose us?

There are many reasons to choose Olympia Guide for your guided tour of Ancient Olympia.

Select what you visit

Fully customize your tour according to your needs and visit only the places that interest you.

Value for money

We offer real value for money services for cost effective private tours.

Child Friendly

History and facts will be presented in a simple way to be comprehensive to younger ages. Examples will be used to compare past and present.

Quality of services

TripAdvisor, Rick Steves guidebook and many more highly recommend our services.

Our Tours

We offer a variety of guided tours to satisfy your needs

Other local attractions

Apart from the archaeological site and museum in Olympia, there are so many places worth visiting and things to do. Here are some of the highlights.

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A small list of our achievements so far

Do you need our services?

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