Do you have some extra time on your trip to Athens and are looking to take a half-day trip outside of the city? Are you interested in Greek history and mythology? Then you might want to consider visiting the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion!

In my recent visit to Athens, I had an extra day after having visited all the sites I wanted to see. I considered going to Delphi, but it was a pretty long bus journey to do on my last day. But I still wanted to get outside of the city. So I decided to visit the Temple of Poseidon. I read that it had excellent views of the Aegean sea and is a nice break from the city. It turned out to be a wonderful half-day trip during my Athens trip. In this post, I’ll explain how to visit this temple using the regional KTEL bus from Athens. 

1. The Temple of Poseidon
2. How to take the KTEL bus to the Temple of Poseidon
   1. Bus duration & ticket price
   2. Where to catch the bus
   3. Bus schedule
3. Visiting the Temple of Poseidon
   1. Ticket price, hours & practical information
   2. At the temple
4. Plan your trip in advance
   1. An ideal trip to the Temple of Poseidon
5. Conclusion

The Temple of Poseidon

The Temple of Poseidon is located about 40 miles southwest of Athens on the coast. It takes around 2 hours each way on the public bus to reach from Athens. The Temple of Poseidon that can be seen today was built in the 5^th century BCE on top of a previous older one. It’s perched high above the Aegean Sea on the edge of a cliff at the southern tip of Attica. The area is called Sounion and was an important religious site featured prominently in Greek mythology. Sounion is the supposed spot where King Aegeus threw himself into the sea after mistakenly thinking his son, Theseus, was killed by the Minotaur. In addition, the location was a strategic viewpoint for controlling ships entering the gulf. A visit to Sounion is the perfect addition to an Athens itinerary!

How to take the KTEL bus to the Temple of Poseidon

Bus duration & ticket price

While it’s always an option to hire a private driver to get to the temple, taking the public bus is the best option if you’re on a budget. The company that runs the regional buses is called KTEL. The bus ride from Athens takes about 2 hours each way, depending on traffic. The bus is not crowded and the seats are comfortable. The cost is €12.50 for a roundtrip ticket. You can purchase tickets on board. You will receive a printed receipt paper with the ticket. Don’t lose this receipt! I was asked for it twice on the return bus.

Where to catch the bus

The bus originates at a KTEL bus terminal very close to the National Archaeological Museum. The bus terminal itself is located on the southwest corner of the Pedion Areos (Πεδίον του Άρεως) Park.  On Google maps it’s simply listed as “Bus terminal” but is in the same spot as a parking lot with the following address: Pl. Egiptou 1Α, Athina 104 34, Greece. 

The bus makes a couple of stops along the way in central Athens where you could also catch the bus. The KTEL website states that the bus stops at Klafthmonos Square, Syntagma, and Metro Station Syngrou – FIX. However, the timetable does not say what time the bus stops at each of these places, or where exactly the bus stop is located. For this reason I decided to play it safe and get on at the origination point at Pedion Areos. 

There are a number of buses in the terminal and they aren’t well labeled. You need to take the bus that goes to “Sounio”. When I was there, it was the first covered bus stop in the row of buses and the only one with other people. You’ll know you’re in the right spot if the bus stop has a piece of paper taped up with a schedule for Athens-Sounion and Sounion-Athens. It should look like the photos below. 

Bus schedule

It seems like the bus has a summer and a winter schedule. My guess is that it coincides with the dates of summer and winter seasons that the city uses for admission to museums and other sites. If this is the case, then the summer schedule runs from April 1 – October 31, and the winter schedule runs from November 1 – March 31. 

The schedule that was posted when I visited in April 2024 had three departures per day from Athens, and three departures per day from Sounion. Buses depart from Athens at 10:30, 14:30, and 16:30. Buses depart from Sounion at 13:45, 17:30, and 20:00. During the winter I believe that there are only two departures per day at the same time, cutting off the last departures from each location. 

You can find the current schedule posted on the KTEL website here. The schedule posted on the website matched the one posted at the bus stop. However, the timetable only shows the times that the bus leaves the departure points, not the times for any of the stops it makes along the way. 

Visiting the Temple of Poseidon

Ticket price, hours & practical information

When you take the bus, sit on the right-hand side to get the best views of the Aegean coastline. The bus will drop you off in the parking lot of the temple. It is a five minute walk from here to the ticket booth. There is a free restroom attached to the restaurant and museum shop.

The entrance fee to the temple is €10 for full price or €5 for a reduced price ticket. The site hours are 09:30am to sunset daily. 

At the temple

It’s a short walk from the ticket booth to the temple, and it can be VERY windy! There are a couple of informational plaques within the site to learn more about its history. The temple itself doesn’t take too long to visit if you do a slow lap around. You can admire the temple and ocean views, as well as take some wonderful photos. 

After seeing the temple, you can walk down the hill (the opposite direction of the ticket booth) and there are some benches to sit on and take a break. There are also some small ruins from the fort that used to exist here. If you exit the temple (back near the ticket booth) and go past the restaurant, there is a nice viewpoint from which you can see the temple and the other side of the coast. 

If you have some time on your hands before the next bus, you can walk down to Paralia Sounio beach. There are a couple more restaurants and a sandy beach you can enjoy. 

I visited during the day, but I’ve heard that it’s an amazing place to watch the sunset. That being said, I think a lot of private tour buses take half day tours here at sunset time, so it might be busier if you come in the evening. 

Plan your trip in advance

If you look closely at the bus schedule, and account for the two hour drive to the temple, you might notice that you have two time frame options for your trip. You can either visit the temple really quickly (about an hour) and take the next bus back to Athens. Or you can take your time but you will be stuck in Sounion for 4-5 hours. Depending on the weather, the amount of time you have, and your interests you will want to consider this closely.

I visited on a particularly windy, and slightly chillier, day in April. I took the first bus at 10:30 and ended up taking the bus leaving Sounion at 13:45. This didn’t leave me enough time to explore the temples and surrounding cliffs on the coastline as much as I would have liked to. However, I also didn’t want to be stuck there for five hours waiting for the 17:30 bus because there isn’t a lot to do unless you go down to the beach.

An ideal trip to the Temple of Poseidon

If I were to go again (in the summer season), this is what I would suggest doing as a half day trip:

• Make sure to visit on a day with good weather. Pack some snacks and drinks to have a picnic at the temple or beach. I would also pack a book, journal, or potentially your swimming suit if you want to take a swim.
• Take the 14:30 bus from Athens which will get you to Sounion at around 16:30. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to spend the morning at the National Archaeological Museum which is very close to the bus stop. 
• Take your time visiting the Temple of Poseidon and then walk around the cliffs to get more views of the Aegean Sea and the temple itself. When I visited there weren’t many people  at the temple which made it optimal for taking photos and enjoying the ruins. 
• From here I would walk down to Paralia Sounio beach, which is located a 10-15 minute walk from the temple. Spend the evening on the beach reading, swimming, or whatever you like. Enjoy the picnic that you brought. The coastline is beautiful and the water is insanely blue so there’s no lack of things to look at. Depending on the time of year, you might be able to catch the sunset before taking the last bus back to Athens at 20:00.

Conclusion

And there you have it! I spent five days in Athens and it worked out that a this was a great half-day trip. I would suggest visiting the Temple of Poseidon to anyone who has extra time in Athens. In my opinion, taking the public regional bus was easy to navigate, cost-effective, and efficient. There was no need to spend money on a private driver or organized half-day tour when this option exists.