A Temple of Poseidon Sunset Tour (and the literary graffiti you can find there)

A wise traveler knows an Athens trip isn’t complete without visiting the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion for some gorgeous sunset views. But the Temple of Poseidon can be tricky to reach from Athens, as it’s located a good way outside the city.

One of the easiest and best solutions is to take a Temple of Poseidon sunset tour, so you can witness the beautiful golden hour views without having to bother about getting there and back again on your own (there’s not an easy public transportation solution to the remote sight).

The Temple of Poseidon sunset I got to witness was one of the highlights of my Athens trip, not the least because I got to track down some very famous literary graffiti from a notorious English writer, Lord Byron. And tracking down literary travel sights is kind of my thing.

So in this post, we’ll cover how to get to the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, which Temple of Poseidon sunset tour I went on and what it involved, and also where you can find Lord Byron’s graffiti on it.

Greece is a fantastic destination for fans of literary travel, and not just because of all the amazing Athens bookstores. Greece is the birthplace of theatre and the source of a rich abundance of mythological tales that continue to inspire stories and writers today.

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Whenever possible, I recommend buying books at local bookshops or through Bookshop.org, because shopping there puts the profits right into the hands of indie bookstores all over the country.

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A Temple of Poseidon Sunset Tour from Athens

The Temple to Poseidon is a popular half-day trip from Athens, but many people may not realize it’s not located in Athens. Cape Sounion is actually found about 70 km south of Athens, at the very tip of the Attica peninsula that juts into the Aegean Sea. That makes it an incredible destination for beautiful sunset views near Athens.

If you’ve exhausted all the best sites and bookstores in Athens and other city sights and are looking for an easy trip out of the city, The Temple to Poseidon is a great option and worth the time it takes to get there.

For ease and simplicity, I opted for a Temple of Poseidon half-day tour from Athens.

Here’s what this half-day tour included:

• Athens hotel pick-up and drop-off
• Transportation in a small bus
• 2 stops on the way to Temple of Poseidon
• Approximately an hour to linger at the Temple of Poseidon to see the sunset before closing time

Here’s what the Temple of Poseidon sunset tour didn’t include:

• Entrance fee to Cape Sounion (€5-10 depending on the season)
• Guided tour of the Temple of Poseidon
• Food or drinks

The two stops we took on the way to Cape Sounion were:

• Lake Vouliagmeni: a viewpoint over a highly photographed spot in Greece, a volcanic lake that lies below sea level.
• Sounio Beach: about a one-hour stop to swim at the beach if desired and eat dinner at a few available restaurants

Then, we made it to the Temple of Poseidon and had a couple of hours to walk around the ruins and take in the sunset before the monument closed for the day.

Temple of Poseidon Sunset Tour: My Honest Review

To be brief, I’ll say I’m really glad I included a trip to the Temple of Poseidon during my Athens visit. However, there are some things about the tour I think other people should know so they can make the best decision for themselves.

What I liked:

• The hotel pick-up made things nice and easy so we didn’t have to worry about finding our way to a pick-up point
• The transportation was clean and comfortable
• The coastal drive was gorgeous
• Sunset at the Temple of Poseidon was stunning and relaxing, and I felt we had enough time there to really relax and enjoy it

What was just okay:

• The stops on the way to Cape Sounion were just okay in my opinion. Now, I think this was largely because of the weather. Although I visited in the beginning of June, it wasn’t quite summer weather; it was overcast and rainy, so swimming in the sea really didn’t seem to appeal to anyone in our group. The restaurant options there weren’t very impressive either, so the stop at the beach felt unnecesary to me and not like an added value. I probably would’ve felt differently if it had been swimming weather. The stop to overlook Vouliagmeni felt a little random and also not like an added value.
• The tour guide during the drive was average. She offered some interesting information about Greek mythology, but it wasn’t a standout experience.

Tips for taking the tour

Based on my experiences, here are my tips for taking the Temple of Poseidon sunset tour:

My verdict

In brief, I absolutely recommend taking a trip to see the Temple of Poseidon sunset at Cape Sounion while visiting Athens. Going with a tour company is the easiest way to get there and back.

As for choosing the specific Temple of Poseidon sunset tour, I wouldn’t either push the tour I took, nor would I discourage people from taking it. It was decent and reasonably priced, but I’d say to choose whichever tour company works best for your schedule, as it seems there’s no one standout tour for this. Really, the main appeal are those sunset views.

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Athens to Temple of Poseidon by Car

If you don’t want to take a tour company to get to the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, you’ll need to rent a car or take a taxi. Keep in mind, this will be approximately 1.5 hours each direction with no traffic or stops.

If you are brave enough to rent a car in Athens, you can drive the Athenian Riviera route along the Greek coast to reach Cape Sounion. Greek drivers can be notoriously aggressive, and if you stay at the Temple for Sunset, keep in mind you’ll be returning on the coastal route in the dark. These are all things you should consider if you’re going to rent a car to drive to the Temple of Poseidon.

You can check for car rental rates here:

If you want to make it into a longer trip, there are several beaches you can visit along the route, including Asteras Beach and Voula Beach.

Related: One of my favorite ways to learn about the culture and history of a country when visiting is to read books set there. Check out my top recommendations, including novels set in Greece, the best mythology retellings, and non-fiction.

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Where to find Lord Byron’s Graffiti at the Temple of Poseidon

One of the places Lord Byron visited during his tour of the monuments of Greece was the famous Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion. He included it in his poem, “The Isles of Greece.”

“Place me at Sunium’s marbled steep,
Where nothing, save the waves and I,
May hear our mutual murmurs sweep..”

“The Isles of Greece” by Lord Byron

Lord Byron famously left his mark at Cape Sounion, adding to the graffiti on the Temple to Poseidon by carving his name “Byron” into one of the pillars. (Note that this cannot be proven but is a well-beloved story for tour guides to tell and a fun local legend to check out for those interested in literary travel. Although Byron did visit Cape Sounion, it’s always possible someone else is responsible for the graffiti).

To find Lord Byron’s graffiti at the Temple of Poseidon with the naked eye is next to impossible. The base of the temple and the pillars are so covered in names of people wanting to leave their mark, that it’s hard to make out any individual carvings. (This practice is strictly prohibited, by the way, so leave the chisel at home. )

Also, the Temple of Poseidon is roped off so that visitors can’t get too close, so unless your eyesight is off-the-charts incredible, you just won’t be able to see Lord Byron’s signature on the Temple of Poseidon without a zoom camera or binoculars.

Luckily, if you’re like just about everyone, you have a smartphone with a built-in camera zoom.

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Related: If you’re a fan of classic literature and Greek mythology, make sure to add the Odysseus Cave in Croatia to your literary travel bucket list. It’s one of my favorite literary locations I’ve ever explored!

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How and where to find Lord Byron’s graffiti on the Temple of Poseidon

The Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion is in the shape of a rectangle. To find Lord Byron’s graffiti, go to the shorter end of the rectangle that’s furthest from the sea. Look for the second column from the right corner. It is a square-shaped column, not cylindrical like most of the others.

Using your binoculars or camera, zoom in on the second block from the bottom, and you’ll find the name Byron, clear as day. That’s exactly where to find Lord Byron’s graffiti on the Temple of Poseidon.

What do you think? Is the graffiti cool because he’s famous, or did he defile an ancient monument?

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Lord Byron in Greece

Lord George Gordon Byron, aka Lord Byron, was an English-born aristocrat known for his Romantic poems as well as his scandalous romantic and sexual life. You can’t say Lord Byron didn’t get around, and I don’t just mean sexually: he was a horseback rider, gambler, boxer, and adventurous traveler as well.

If you’ve checked out my fascinating facts about Mary Shelley, you’ll also know that Lord Byron was a close friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley and helped inspire Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein.

Notorious playboy and risk chaser Lord Byron gallivanted around Greece between 1809 and 1811. During his time there, Lord Byron visited all the historic monuments of ancient Greece, quite an ambitious undertaking.

His travels made Lord Byron fall in love with Greece (and fall in love IN Greece), and he wrote some of his most successful poems from that inspiration, including “Daughter of Athens” and “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage.”

Lord Byron also became very invested in the Greek independence movement (Greece at the time was under the control of the Ottoman Empire). Although he was not Greek, in 1823 he volunteered to fight with the Greeks for independence. He invested large amounts of his personal fortune to help repair Greek ships and helped the Greeks get loans from other British sources. He also took an active role in the fighting and led his own squad of fighters for the Greek independence movement. Lord Byron, died in Greece in 1824 during the war after contracting malaria. He was 36.

Because of his dedication to the independence movement, Lord Byron was beloved in Greece and considered one of their own people. Greek National Poet Dionysios Solomos even composed an ode to Lord Byron after his death.

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Related: If you’re a bookish traveler in Greece, make sure you check out, Atlantis Books in Santorini and, Homer’s Tomb in Ios.

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Finding Accommodations in Athens

It’s relatively easy to find a hotel in Athens that’s centrally located to everything you want to do and see. One thing people may not realize is that most hotels even have Acropolis views! There are laws in Athens ruling building height, so just about every Athens hotel will have some views of the Parthenon atop the Acropolis.

If you’re looking for privately owned vacation rentals, I recommend checking VRBO. I’ve personally had much better experiences with their owners and rentals than I have with their primary competitor.

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That’s just about everything you need to know to visit Cape Sounion’s Temple of Poseidon from Athens and where to find Lord Byron’s infamous graffiti.

Who are some of your favorite Greek authors? Leave some recommendations in the comments!

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