Depart Home for Athens, Greece
Arrive in Athens, Greece
Airport Transfer
Check-In 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
Campus and Program Orientation (on campus)
“Athens: The Cradle of Democracy”- The group will visit the Acropolis Hill and the New Acropolis Museum.
Acropolis Hill - Visit the birthplace of drama ,the sanctuary of Dionysus along the south slopes of the Acropolis .How were held the drama competitions in ancient Athens? As we are walking to the the entrance gate Propylaea we will see the temple of Nike. Propylaea will deliver us to the top where we will walk around the Parthenon and Erechtheion
National Archaeological Museum – Discussion on the Cycladic, Minoan and Mycenean civilizations and their relationship with religion.
Breakfast & Day Briefing
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
Afternoon at the Beach
Return to Athens
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
Day Trip to Meteora (approx. 4 hours)
Meteora Region and Monasteries - Take a full-day detour to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Meteora. Ride a train through the Grecian countryside. View all six sky-high monastic retreats and visit three of them.
Return to Athens
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Monastery of Kaisariani - Typical example of a Middle Byzantine church built around 1100 on a site dedicated to Aphrodite in the ancient times.
Lunch Break
Greek Orthodox Church - Discussion on the role of religion in modern Greece.
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Airport Transfer
Internal Flight - Athens to Rhodes (approx. 1 hour)
Arrival in Rhodes - Check-In, Relax & Refresh
Historical & Cultural Walking of Medieval City of Rhodes - The Order of St John of Jerusalem occupied Rhodes from 1309 to 1523 and set about transforming the city into a stronghold. It subsequently came under Turkish and Italian rule. With the Palace of the Grand Masters, the Great Hospital and the Street of the Knights, the Upper Town is one of the most beautiful urban ensembles of the Gothic period. In the Lower Town, Gothic architecture coexists with mosques, public baths and other buildings dating from the Ottoman period.
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Day Trip to Lindos
Lindos Archeological Site - The ancient town of Lindos was founded by the Dorians in the 10th century B.C. In the 8th century, it already was a major trading center, due to its geographical position between Greece and the Middle East. The archaeological remains found inside and around the Acropolis of Lindos reveal the wealth of this ancient town. Part of its worth-visiting monuments is a Doric 4th-century temple devoted to Athena Lindia, where people used to worship their patron goddess with offerings and sacrifices. It was built on the remains of another temple.
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Internal Flight - Rhodes to Athens (approx. 1 hour)
Airport Transfer - Check-In, Relax & Refresh
Athens Central Market - Food Tasting
Cooking Class - The team discovers local products from producers all over the country and serves them to you in a very special way
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Ancient & Roman Agora - The group will visit the ancient and Roman agoras to discuss the interaction of religious spaces that were created in different centuries from the classical period to the Ottoman occupation
Lunch Break
Kerameikos Cemetery - Kerameikos, the cemetery of ancient Athens: Kerameikos is one of the most important but least visited archaeological sites in Athens. This was actually the cemetery of ancient Athens and was continuously in use from the 9th century BC until the Roman times. The area took its name from "keramos", which means pottery in Greek, from the numerous pottery workshops that existed in the area before it was turned into a cemetery.
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Visit Eleusis - Discuss the origins and importance of Eleusinian mysteries.
Lunch Break
Structured Free Time & Cultural Immersion
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Free Day in Athens
Farewell Dinner & Program Closing
Breakfast & Day Briefing
Airport Transfer
Depart Athens, Greece for Home