By Landolfo Mancini 
The historical ruin of Ancient Corinth is one of the best and easiest day trips that you can take from Athens.
We actually enjoyed this more than the Acropolis, which is extremely crowded with tourists. Corinth is a lesser-known place to see awesome ruins and artifacts, and it was one of the capitals of classical Greece.
For Christians, Corinth is especially interesting because they can follow in the footsteps of the apostle Paul, who spent 18 months there as a missionary and wrote the letters of the First and Second Corinthians.
Where Is Corinth?
Corinth is located at the entrance to the Peloponnese Peninsula, about 80 kilometers west of Athens.
However, the ruins of Ancient Corinth are located outside the modern city of Corinth, so they are located about 8 kilometers further to the southwest.
How To Get To Old Corinth
On tour
The fastest and easiest way to get to Corinth is a tour.
GetYourGuide offers half-day guided bus tours from Athens to Corinth or full-day excursions with a visit to the picturesque town of Nafplio.
We have used GetYourGuide for many tours and activities around the world, and they are great. Highly recommended!
By car
If you rent a car in Athens (or anywhere else), you can go to Corinth yourself. This is the most flexible way to visit the Corinth region.
The highway is in good condition and it takes about 1 hour by car to reach the city of Corinth or the ruins if you start from Athens.
There are many companies that offer car rental in Greece, but we recommend DiscoverCars! We used them for our trip to Santorini.
By train
There is a train line directly from Athens to Corinth, with departures every 2 hours at Larissa station (map here).
When we took the train to Corinth, it was easy to buy our tickets at the Athens train station. The journey is comfortable and takes about 1 hour.
As soon as you arrive at the Corinth railway station (map here), you need to take a taxi to get to the ruins.
By bus
The KTEL company runs an hourly bus from Athens to Corinth, departing from the Kifisou railway station (map here) and arriving at the Isthmus bus station near the canal (map here). The journey takes about 1 hour.
Here you can see the bus schedules and buy tickets on the KTEL website. The bus also goes to the city of Corinth, but it is no closer to the ruins than the Isthmus station, so it’s usually faster and better to get off at the Isthmus station.
Another advantage is that you can easily reach the Corinth Canal on foot if you want, as it is only 100 meters from the station of the isthmus.
As with the train, you will have to hire a taxi to take you from the bus station to Old Corinth. It is 15 minutes by car.
What To See In Ancient Corinth
Temple Of Apollo
The first thing to see in Corinth is the Temple of Apollo with its iconic Greek columns. It was built around 560 BC and although only a handful of its columns are standing, it is still impressive.
This place is especially beautiful when framed by the Acrocorinth Mountain in the background, and it feels a bit like being on the Acropolis of Athens, except without crowds.
The Acropolis of Athens does not like it, but it can be extremely crowded, and half of the Parthenon was covered with scaffolding during our visit. There were so many people that we could hardly walk.
On the other hand, we have never seen too many people in Corinth and were able to enjoy the ruins in peace.
Fountain of Pirene
This ancient well served as a source of fresh water for the city of Corinth and dates back to 500 BC.
Even if it is not comparable with its former size, you can still imagine how beautiful it must have been when the marble chambers were filled with spring water.
Seat of the judgment
This is an interesting place in biblical history.
In the Bible, the apostle Paul was brought before the court in Corinth and accused of teaching against the Jewish Law.
Gallio, the Roman proconsul of Achaia, finally dismissed him as lying outside his JURISDICTION (Acts 18:12-16).
This seat of the court (bema) is exactly the place where this happened, and there is a sign explaining more information about it.
Archaeological Museum Of Ancient Corinth
Once you have explored the ruins of Ancient Corinth, there is also a nice little museum right at the archaeological site.
The museum has all kinds of stunning statues, mosaics, pottery and other artifacts from the area, and although it is not a very large museum, it is definitely worth a visit!