Sounion, Corinth and Delphi by Rental Car, Before or After a Piraeus Cruise

We re-checked each day-trip point on Oct 4, 2026: Esri’s geocoder placed Mycenae and Delphi on the same spots we’d routed to, and the Corinth Canal and Nafplio within about a kilometre; the Sounion temple point comes from Wikipedia’s coordinates.

Every time here is one way, on an empty road — double it, then add Athens traffic at both ends.

Delphi is nearly three hours each way by our routing — a long day, not a half-day. A ticket reseller’s page puts it at about 2.5 hours.

Sounion and the canal each fit an afternoon. Mycenae with Nafplio takes the whole day.

A travel site lists the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion at €20 (about US$20), open 9:30 to sunset with last entry 20 minutes before close. It also shows a €10 (about US$11) winter price, but Greece ended winter half-price tickets on April 1, 2025, per Greek Travel Pages, so plan on €20 in any month; the Ministry’s own page wouldn’t load for us.

For two adults that’s €40 (about US$45) at the gate, by that site’s figure — a secondary source, not the Ministry’s.

Last entry is 20 minutes before close, by the same site — so sunset visitors should check the closing time the week they go.

We didn’t price a toll on this run. If your satnav sends you up Attiki Odos, add a pass — the calculator on the ATH page shows how.

It’s the easiest of these on embarkation eve, as long as the car goes back the night before, not the morning you sail.

We read no visitor fee for the Corinth Canal itself; it’s a stop on the motorway, past the Elefsina and Isthmos tolls.

Acrocorinth, on the Ministry’s page: €2 (about US$2), or €1 (about US$1) reduced, free on Sept 27 and on Sundays November to March; no hours printed. That page looks older than the April 2025 reform, whose cheapest band is €5 (about US$6), per Greek Travel Pages, so expect to pay more.

Cheap, if the page is current. Bring good shoes for the climb.

We didn’t read the ancient city’s own ticket page, so we print no price for Ancient Corinth itself.

Add the canal to a Mycenae day rather than making a trip of it — it sits on the way.

The Ministry’s own Mycenae page still prints €12 (about US$13), with €6 (about US$7) reduced and in winter. A Greek tour operator’s summary of the April 1, 2025 reform puts Mycenae at €20, and the reform ended winter half-price, per Greek Travel Pages. The Ministry page lists Oct 1 to 15 at 8 AM to 6:30 PM, Oct 16 to 31 to 6 PM, and winter 8:30 to 3:30.

So our calculator starts at €20 (about US$20), the post-reform price; the Ministry page’s €12 looks out of date.

We didn’t research Nafplio’s sights, so we print no ticket price or hours for them — you get the drive, and nothing we can’t source.

Mycenae and Nafplio continue on Moreas tolls we couldn’t read, so the toll line in our calculator is the Olympia Odos part only.

Start early if you want both towns in one day — that’s about four hours of driving before you add Corinth.

Delphi’s official price and hours wouldn’t load; a reseller sells a site-and-museum ticket from £22, which we don’t treat as the gate price.

Our routing says 2 hr 56 min each way with no traffic, about 230 miles round trip.

We read no toll price for the Delphi road, so budget for one — and don’t trust a total that leaves it out.

A private guided Delphi day was listed from $163 on Sept 21, 2026, in dollars as shown. Nearly six hours of your own driving is the trade-off — our Piraeus excursions guide compares the tours.

Our defaults, two people and one day from Avis on Syggrou Avenue, come to €89.20 before fuel: €40 for the car, €9.20 (about US$10) in tolls and two Mycenae tickets.

Set that against a guided day’s per-person price and the car looks cheap — it also comes with about three and a half hours at the wheel, free-flow.

Olympia Odos, the motorway toward Corinth, prints car tolls from Jan 1, 2026 of €2.50 (about US$3) at Elefsina and €2.10 (about US$2) at Isthmos on the main line, with ramp tolls of €0.60 to €1.70.

Corinth and back passes Elefsina and Isthmos twice: €9.20 for a car, the operator’s 2026 prices.

The airport road’s Attiki Odos toll is a press figure, not the operator’s — the ATH page explains.

Greek limits for cars: 50 km/h in built-up areas, 90 outside them, 110 to 130 on expressways and 130 on motorways (about 31, 56, 68–81 and 81 mph), per the EU’s Your Europe page.

Drink-drive limit 0.5 g/l for most drivers and 0.2 for new and professional drivers. Plan the tavern lunch around the driver, not the other way round.

A phone only in a hands-free base using speakers. Pack a phone mount.

Cars must carry a warning triangle, a first-aid kit and a fire extinguisher; seat belts and child restraints are mandatory, though the page gives no child-seat age or height.

Check the trunk for all three at pick-up.

You also need the permit. The decision page quotes the embassy.

Pick up the day you head out, from the airport or Syggrou Avenue, and return it before boarding.

If you’re touring after the cruise, see the disembark-day desks first.