Delphi

Delphi is the classical site that moves people most, and it is largely because of where it stands. The ancients did not choose this mountainside by accident: the cliffs of Parnassus rise behind the temples, the Pleistos valley drops away in a sea of olive trees and the light changes by the hour. Even travellers who think they are done with ruins fall quiet here.

The sanctuary rewards a slow climb. The Sacred Way passes the Athenian Treasury and the great retaining wall covered in inscriptions, reaches the columns of the Temple of Apollo, where the Oracle spoke, and continues up to the theatre and finally the stadium, high above everything. With a good guide, the stones give up their stories: the riddling prophecies, the political games, the athletes of the Pythian Games.

Save unhurried time for the museum. The bronze Charioteer alone justifies the journey, his glass eyes still calm after twenty-five centuries, and around him stand the Sphinx of Naxos, the twins of Argos and gold and ivory offerings that survived the sanctuary's fall. Below the main site, the round temple of Athena Pronaia makes the classic Delphi photograph.

With our local team, Delphi becomes a highlight rather than a rushed stop: a private guide and driver from Athens, timing that beats the tour groups, lunch in stone built Arachova and, if you wish, an overnight so you can see the sanctuary in the quiet of early morning. Many travellers pair it with Meteora on a two or three day mainland journey we arrange end to end.