Depart Home for Athens, Greece
Arrive in Athens, Greece
Airport Transfer
Check-In, Refresh and Relax
Orientation Walking Tour - The group will become oriented with their neighborhood, the public transportation systems, nearby pharmacies, markets, ATMs, etc. Additionally, an in-depth safety briefing will be provided for what to do incase of an emergency.
Welcome Dinner - The group will be taken for an authentic dinner with a wide variety of menu options to cater all diets.
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Athens Historical & Cultural Walking Tour - Syntagma Square, Change of the Guards, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Hadrian’s Arch, Plaka, Monastiraki, and more.
Agora - The tour will conclude with a visit of the Agora, political heart of democratic Athens with its wealth of remains from Classical, Hellenistic and Roman times.
Optional - Lecture on the Democracy in Greece or Philosophy
Structured Free Time and Cultural Immersion
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Visit the Acropolis Hill and the New Acropolis Museum - Passing through the great gateway of the Propylaea, we will see the fabled temples of Periclean Athens – Athena Nike nestling on the rock’s shoulder, the Erechtheion with its patient caryatids and the incomparable Parthenon. We will then proceed to the Acropolis Museum, where you can see some of the finest ancient treasures a mere stone’s throw from where they were found.
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Day Trip to Delphi
Sanctuary of Apollo - Located amidst breathtaking scenery in central Greece, the Sanctuary of Apollo at Ancient Delphi was the most important sacred site in the Greek world
Lunch Break
Museum and Sanctuary of Athena - A short walk down the hill we find the Sanctuary of Athena "Pronaia" (also spelled Pronaea, meaning 'the one before' the temple of Apollo), was the first one met by the visitor who came to Delphi on foot from the eastern road, hence its name.
Transfer to Arachova (traditional Greek Village)
Free Time to Explore the Village
Return to Athens
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Athens Literature Tour - Most people know about Homer, Aristophanes, Euripides... all the greats of the classical era. How many, however, know that Athens (and Greece) had a particularly vibrant literary scene during the last century, including two Nobel prize winners? The literary history of 20th century Athens is inextricably linked with the cultural history of Europe. We will learn about some of these figures and also about the literary café culture, places that attracted major writers from many countries, including Henry Miller, Lawrence Durrell and Evelyn Waugh. And not just writers: artists, actors and theatre directors, as well as other influential figures.
Structured Free Time and Cultural Immersion
Optional - Traditional Dance Class or Cooking Class
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Flight to Heraklion, Crete
Check-In, Refresh and Relax
Orientation Walking Tour - The group will become oriented with their neighborhood, the public transportation systems, nearby pharmacies, markets, ATMs, etc. Additionally, an in-depth safety briefing will be provided for what to do incase of an emergency
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Knossos - Discover Crete’s most famous archaeological site, this great Minoan Palace is the oldest, largest, and most elaborate of these sites. We’ll hear of its long history, its place in myth and learn of its discovery by Sir Arthur Evans and the controversial but iconic reconstructions he made on the site, which leave such an indelible impression.
Archaeological Museum - Visit the Museum that house one of the world’s most important exhibits of prehistoric art and artefacts, a magnificent showcase of Minoan culture and the Greek and Roman ages in Crete. The tour will be completed with a walk around the town of Heraklion and seeing some its distinctive landmarks: the Koules Fortress.
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Free Day in Heraklion
Optional:
Visit to the Cretaquarium - One of the largest aquarium in Europe
Visit a Local Farm - See and learn more about some of the island typical products
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Full Day Excursion to Chania
Chania - Chania is the second largest city of Crete and can be divided in two parts: the old town and the modern city which is the larger one. The old town is situated next to the old harbor and is the matrix around which the whole urban area was developed. It used to be surrounded by the old Venetian fortifications that started to be built in 1538; of them the eastern and western parts have survived. Its charm and historical importance are undeniable. Explore the maze like alleys, browse through its many shops, visit the municipal market for honey and herbs, and take pictures with the lighthouse in the backdrop!
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Nikos Kazantzakis Tour - Not many places in Greece can boast off being the homeland of the most translated Greek author worldwide (in more than 50 countries): Nikos Kazantzakis. A Greek writer, journalist, politician, poet and philosopher, a giant of modern Greek literature, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in nine different years and 14 different categories, but never won. Cohorts of the Greek Church along with some politicians and academics of the status quo did whatever it takes to prevent Kazantzakis winning the Nobel, although the Swedish academy seemed to support him. Some of his works have been adapted for the theater, television, the cinema and the radio, the most famous one being Zorba the Greek.
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Flight to Athens, Greece
Transfer to Sounion along the Scenic Coastline (approx. 2 hours)
Temple of Poseidon - Majestic Cape Sounion, a strategic point rising above the Aegean sea about 70 kilometers away from Athens in the southern region of Attica, was known by Ancient Greeks as the “Sacred Cape.”
Lunch Break
Lake Vouliagmeni - Get ready for an unlikely activity in January: take a swim in the lake. The water temperature is between 22 to 29 degrees Celsius throughout the year. The water is constantly being renewed both by the thermal springs and the sea and this results in its brackish composition.
Return to Athens
Farewell Dinner and Program Closing
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Airport Transfer
Depart Athens, Greece for Home