The "private" aspect of the tour is that a driver takes you from your hotel to the site and back, and pays entry into the site. There you join one of the frequent small group tours between the visitor center and the baptism sites and Jordan River.

Our shuttle bus stopped along the road to look at the Tell a-Kharrar/Elijah's hill site from a distance and thru the bus windows for a couple minutes. No one was let off the bus, let alone go actually visit the site.

Then we continued on to the baptism site area, where we had the better part of the hour to walk through that area with a very informative guide.

I would have given this just 3 stars given the poor handling of the Elijah's Hill area, but I think most people come here for the baptism/Jordan River sites and will be satisfied with how that portion was handled.

For this tour, a driver takes you from your hotel out to the three sites and pays admission. You're generally on your own to tour the actual sites (guides can be hired, but you really don't need them).

My driver was prompt, spoke English well, and I enjoyed the conversation with him along the way. He did tour the sites with me, though technically he wasn't a guide. I had plenty of time at each site - I actually got 5 hours for the price of 4.

I suspect that the differing reviews depend on the luck of the draw with the driver. In any event, the sites themselves are worth spending the morning visiting, and it's a chance to see a different side of Jordan.

And where else are you going to get a picture showing the distances to the Saudi Arabia and Iraq borders?

This was a very good way to cap off my trip to Greece. It's a pretty drive along the coast to get to the site, and the site itself is quite pretty. Our guide was good, spoke English well, and gave us plenty of time at the site after descriptions for taking photos and exploring the site. A sunny day would have been better, but that's not the tour's fault.

This was a great tour. We got a solid visit at Delphi. I did not stick with the guide, but explored the site on my own, though, or I would have only seen half of it. The museum is not included for folks going to Meteora, so in that sense the visit was rushed, but that was expected. We also stopped at Thermopolis, famous for the Spartan 300 battle vs the Persians.

Our hotel near Meteora was nice and the food good, but it was well outside of town, a bit disappointing as I had planned to explore Kalambaka when we got there. Instead I took a walk thru the nearby village of Theopetra, not at all touristy, a sample of a real Greek village.

Morning we toured two of the monasteries of Meteora. Nicely paced, plenty of time, stops for views, etc. Fantastic, spectacular site, even with overcast skies.

Lunch in town then back to Athens.

Check the map - it is a long drive, so you will spend plenty of time on the bus between Athens and Meteora, but there's some spectacular scenery in places, and it was a chance to see parts of Greece I otherwise would have missed.

All in all a very good tour.

The itinerary is subject to change depending on various conditions. Keep that in mind.

For the day of my tour, Hydra and Aegina were great stops, and we had plenty of time to see them. Hydra was especially beautiful, and was a highlight of my visit to Greece. On the other hand we only had about 15 minutes off the boat at Poros. Sunny weather, but strong winds produced waves that slowed down the boat so Poros was where we made up the time. Poros was disappointing in that regard, but the three stops were worth while, and we did get several close-up pretty views of Poros from the boat.

There is a lot of time on the boat, but that is to be expected if you check the map. Treat this as a pretty boat ride and a sampling of three Greek island villages, and you'll feel that you got your money's worth.

The onboard boat services, though, were unfortunate. The bathroom got dirty early and stayed that way. Groups of 2-3 would fully occupy tables for 4, so seating was a bit tight. Lunch was served late (4PM) to my group, lunch service was rude (and a large obnoxious group from some convention didn't help - acted like they owned the boat), and lunch beverages cost extra. The snack counter had limited choices and was high-priced (e.g., equiv $4.50 for a can of cola).

I suggest bringing your own food/beverages, or picking something up on the island stops instead, especially if you have any sort of dietary issues - or just want to eat lunch when you're hungry. That way you can focus on the great sites rather than the meal.