Day 1: Depart US for Athens
Your overnight flight transports you across the Atlantic to Greece.
Day 2: Athens
Welcome to Athens! You will be met by our staff and privately transferred to your hotel. Afternoon at leisure.
Day 3: Athens
Enjoy your morning city sightseeing tour. See the highlights of Athens - the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Hadrian's Arch, the Theater of Dionysus, the Acropolis and its Museum. Discover Athens on your own this afternoon by strolling through restored Plaka. Sit at a cafe watching the world go by!
Day 4: Athens / 4 Day Classical Tour / Olympia
Enjoy breakfast before departing on your four day classical tour of Greece. You will be picked up from your hotel (you will be advised in Athens of the time of departure). Depart for the Corinth Canal (short stop). Drive to Epidaurus, famous for its ancient theater. The theater is one of the best preserved monuments of antiquity in the world and considered to have close to perfect acoustics. Proceed to Nauplia (short stop) and through the plain of Argos on to Mycenae to visit the remains of the ancient city, including the Lionesses Gate, the tomb of Agamemnon and the Palace. Everything here reminds one of Homer’s Illiad including the Grave Circle, in which the famous golden mask of Agamemnon was found. In the afternoon, depart for Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic games. Drive through the cities of Tripolis and Megalopolis (short stop). Dinner and overnight stay in Olympia at the Amalia Hotel.
Day 5: Olympia / Delphi
After breakfast this morning, relive the wonder and thrill of the original Olympic Games, held from 776 BC to 383 AD. During the Games, all wars and conflict came to an end. Explore the ruins of the great monuments which include the Temple of Hera, in front of which burns the Olympic Flame used in modern day Olympic Games. Here also are the remains of the Temple of Zeus which once housed the golden and ivory statue of Zeus (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World). See the remains of the unique and original Stadium and bouleuterion where once competitors swore an oath to conform to the rules. Walk a short distance and visit the world famous Archaeological Museum of Olympia and admire the marble statues of the Temple of Zeus, the unique statue of Hermes by the sculptor Praxiteles, as well as other famous works of art. Drive via Patras to Rion, cross the channel to Antirion on the “state of the art” new suspended bridge considered to be the longest and most modern in Europe. Pass by the city of Nafpactos and continue along the coastal road to Delphi, known in ancient times as the navel of the world. In the afternoon, visit the picturesque mountain village of Arachova. Dinner and overnight stay in Delphi at the Amalia Hotel.
MeteoraDay 6: Delphi / Kalambaka
After breakfast, begin your tour of Delphi. In ancient times, it was considered the belly button of the world. Nothing much happened in the ancient world, hardly a decision was reached, without first consulting the oracle at the Temple of Apollo. Delphi was the place to visit before going into battle or even getting into a family argument, especially if you were King! Of course, no one took the advice of the oracle without giving a gift. Thus, during the four centuries of its glory, before the Romans looted the temples, Delphi became a huge complex of temples full of treasures and works of art. Experience the site Kings, Emperors and average men so eagerly visited as you view the most famous Oracle in the world. Proceed through the sacred way to the Athenian Treasury and visit the Temple of Apollo and the Castalia Spring. Visit the Museum, in which one can see among other archaeological treasures, the unique bronze Charioteer. Continue in the afternoon from Delphi through Central Greece and the cities of Lamia (short stop), Trikala, to Kalambaka, a small town built at the foot of the majestic gray rocks and crowned by the Meteora monasteries. Overnight stay in Kalambaka at the Amalia Hotel.
Day 7: Kalambaka / Athens
Depart in the morning for nearby Meteora to visit the Byzantine monasteries. The fantastic and unusual Meteora monasteries have clung to the tops of the tall grey rocks of granite for over 600 years. Christians hid there to avoid persecution. Return to Athens through the towns of Thermopylae known for the last stand of the 300 Spartans and the heroic monument of Leonidas, and Kamena Vourla boasting one of Greece’s most popular spas. Overnight in Athens.
Day 8: Athens / Home
Private transfer to Athens airport.
