Greece: Ancient Ruins & Iconic Islands

Location: Athens

Accommodation: Hotel

Accommodation Name: Jason Inn Hotel Athens (or similar)

Meals: No Meals

Arrive at any time.

ACTIVITY: The adventure begins tonight. Feel free to explore before your welcome meeting, but make sure you’re back in time to meet the group. Check for the meeting time on the welcome note at the hotel. After introductions, your CEO will review the details of your tour. Please note that normal check-in times apply at our start hotels, but you can usually store your luggage for the day if you arrive early.

Location: Athens

Accommodation: Hotel

Accommodation Name: Jason Inn Hotel Athens (or similar)

Meals: Breakfast

Considered the cradle of Western civilization, Athens is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Explore the iconic Acropolis with an archaeologist guide and wander among the columns of the Parthenon, dedicated to the goddess Athena. Continue to the ancient Agora—where Athenians gathered to discuss the affairs of the day—and listen to our guide bring these timeless ruins to life. Afterwards, be enriched and refreshed with drinks and a tour of local non-profit cafe, Shedia Home.

ACTIVITY: Embark on a guided tour of the Acropolis — one of the world's most important and impressive ancient sites. A local archaeologist serves as your guide to discover the architectural wonders of ancient Athens. Stop at the Parthenon, a Greek temple built for the Goddess Athena in 447 BC. After, continue to the former marketplace of old Athens, the Roman Agora, which was built in the first century BC.

ACTIVITY: Take time to relax at Shedia Home, a non-profit cafe providing purpose and employment to over 150 individuals experiencing homelessness in Athens. You'll enjoy a drink while one of Shedia's guides recounts the recent history of Greece's financial crisis which has made initiatives like Shedia even more important for those who have found themselves without work and shelter. Your stop here supports their programs - including the cafe, art program, and magazine - all dedicated to supporting the community.

FREE TIME: EVENING Enjoy a free evening in Athens.

Location: Athens, Delphi

Accommodation: Hotel

Accommodation Name: Amalia Hotel Delphi (or similar)

Meals: Breakfast

Take free time to explore Athens on your own, or choose to visit the National Garden. Afterward, journey to Delphi, home to the Temple of Apollo—seat of the fabled oracle of Delphi and considered the center of the world by the ancients.

FREE TIME: MORNING Head out and explore this ancient city.

TRANSPORT: Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.

ACTIVITY: Enjoy a brief orientation walk with your CEO, then enjoy a free evening in the ancient city of Delphi.

Location: Delphi, Olympia

Accommodation: Hotel

Accommodation Name: Arty Grand Hotel (or similar)

Meals: Breakfast

Explore mystical Delphi on a guided tour, then continue discovering the ruins on your own and visit the Archaeological Museum of Delphi to admire the many artifacts discovered at the site. Travel along the breathtaking Gulf of Corinth, crossing into the Peloponnese via the Rio-Antirrio bridge, an impressively long multi-span cable-stay bridge. Wind your way to Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, and channel your inner champion as you discover this remarkable site, where ancient Greek athletes would gather every four years to compete in a series of sporting events honoring Zeus.

ACTIVITY: Visit the ancient city of Delphi, at the base of Mount Parnassos. The UNESCO World Heritage Site includes ancient buildings like treasuries, a stadium, a gymnasium, an altar, hippodrome and the Temple of Apollo.

ACTIVITY: Spend some time at the Delphi Archaeological Museum, one of the most visited collections of ancient Greek sculpture and art. See the marble Sphinx of Naxos, the 6th-century ‘twins of Argos’ and the famous bronze Charioteer, a life-size statue which celebrates victory in the Pythian Games of approx. 475 BC.

TRANSPORT: Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.

Location: Olympia, Nafplion

Accommodation: Hotel

Accommodation Name: Amalia Hotel Nafplio (or similar)

Meals: Breakfast

Browse the Olympia Museum this morning, then travel to Náfplio, a charming port town and the first capital of modern Greece. In Náfplio, lose yourself in the winding lanes of the old town, and take in glimpses of the sapphire-hued Aegean Sea from the hilltops.

ACTIVITY: Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, lies in a lush valley filled with symbolic ruins and captivating landscapes. Wander through the ancient olive groves to see remains of the Temple of Hera (today the starting point of the Olympic torch relay), the Temple of Zeus (a model for the development of Doric architecture) and the great Stadium of Olympia. Visit the nearby Archaeological Museum, whose collection spans over 3,500 years of Greek history. Here, find sculptures depicting Hermes and the Infant Dionysus, Zeus and Ganymede, and Nike of Paionios.

TRANSPORT: Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.

Location: Nafplion, Archaeological site of Mycenae, Nafplion

Accommodation: Hotel

Accommodation Name: Amalia Hotel Nafplio (or similar)

Meals: Breakfast

Embark on an excursion to the Bronze Age city of Mycenae, where the legendary king Agamemnon ruled. Take a guided tour of the ruins, enclosed within Cyclopean walls, and enter the citadel through the famed Lion Gate—one of Europe’s oldest monumental sculptures. Return to Náfplio and enjoy an afternoon at leisure. Opt to climb up to the Akronafplia fortress, or hit the beach.

TRANSPORT: Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.

ACTIVITY: Visit the famous Mycenae, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and archaeological site with spectacular ruins and a treasury. Once a major settlement of Greek civilization, Mycenae was occupied during the Neolithic period around 4000 BC, and is linked to the mythology in Homer’s epics the Iliad and the Odyssey.

TRANSPORT: Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.

FREE TIME: AFTERNOON Explore the seaside town of Náfplio with some free time this evening.

Location: Nafplion, Athens, Epidavros, Naxos

Accommodation: Hotel

Accommodation Name: Naxos Palace Hotel (or similar)

Meals: Breakfast

Drive back to Athens, stopping en route at the ancient site of Epidaurus and the ruins of Corinth, where the Christian apostle Paul is said to have visited in the first century A.D. From Athens, board a ferry to the Cyclades islands. Relax on board, enjoying sparkling views of the sea, and disembark at Náxos, the largest island in the archipelago.

TRANSPORT: Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.

ACTIVITY: Visit Epidavros, highly regarded as one of the most renowned of Greek ancient sites. The site houses a huge, well-preserved theatre famous for its incredible acoustics, as well as the remains of an important medical sanctuary.

ACTIVITY: Stop by the Ancient Corinth Ruins, a major centre of Greek antiquity. With its location on the coast, the city of Corinth gained immense wealth from trading goods and services, which led to the construction of Acrocorinth (the acropolis on the hill) and a wall that surrounded the ancient city.

TRANSPORT: Get to the next spot on your route aboard a convenient and efficient ferry boat.

Location: Naxos

Accommodation: Hotel

Accommodation Name: Naxos Palace Hotel (or similar)

Meals: Breakfast

The Cyclades are known around the word for their dazzling white villages and golden beaches. On Naxos, while away your time exploring the storybook old town; opt to walk to the emblematic Temple of Apollo, overlooking the sea; or stretch out on a sandy beach.

ACTIVITY: Enjoy a brief orientation walk with your CEO.

FREE TIME: FULL DAY Enjoy a free day to explore this stunning gem in the Cyclades.

Location: Naxos, Santorini

Accommodation: Hotel

Accommodation Name: Santorini Palace (or similar)

Meals: Breakfast

Catch a ferry to postcard-perfect Santorini. Get to know this much-photographed isle at your own pace, discovering candy-colored doorways and sugar-cube buildings; and take in a spectacular sunset from the village of Oía. Savor the taste of local produce—marked by the island’s volcanic soil—or unwind at the beach.

TRANSPORT: Get to the next spot on your route aboard a convenient and efficient ferry boat.

FREE TIME: AFTERNOON Upon checking into our hotel, enjoy some free time.

Location: Santorini, Naxos, Santorini

Accommodation: Hotel

Accommodation Name: Santorini Palace (or similar)

Meals: Breakfast

This morning, sail Santorini’s breathtaking sunken caldera, and learn about the volcanic origins of the surrounding crescent-shaped ring of islands. Later, enjoy free time to explore Santorini.

ACTIVITY: Board a sailing catamaran for an excursion around the bays of Santorini, taking in the beauty of the coast in all its splendor. On this half-day cruise, you'll have lots of time to relax on deck, dip into deep blue waters, enjoy lunch and local wine on board, and take stunning photos of Santorini's "caldera" - the cauldron-shaped formation that resulted from an ancient volcanic eruption, which created this mystical group of islands.

FREE TIME: AFTERNOON There's lots to see and do. Get out and explore!

Location: Santorini, Athens

Accommodation: Hotel

Accommodation Name: Jason Inn Hotel Athens (or similar)

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Fly back to Athens for an adventure in Greek cookery. Go shopping with a local expert at a market and pick out fresh ingredients; then head to a teaching kitchen and learn how to craft mezze, a platter of appetizers commonly served in southeast Europe and the Middle East. Wash down these tasty snacks with a glass of ouzo, an anise-flavored liqueur, and cheer our journey with your best “opa!”

Additional Information: Due to strict weight restrictions, plan on packing light for your flight. Because of current weight limits and the inability to add on more weight, checked baggage should be no heavier than 15kg, and hand luggage should weigh no more than 6kg.

ACTIVITY: Go on a market-to-meal journey beginning at the Varvakios Agora, the Athens Central Market, to shop for fresh produce with a local chef. Then, learn how to make authentic Greek mezze (sharing dishes) such as dolmades (rice-stuffed vine leaves), imam baildi (stuffed eggplants), and spanakopita (spinach pies). You'll also create a carrot tzatziki — a twist on the classic yogurt dip — to accompany the dishes and finish off the class with the sweet treat of portokalopita (orange phyllo cake). Sit down with your fellow "chefs" to indulge in your delicious creations for dinner and toast with a shot of ouzo.

TRANSPORT: Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... yup, it is a plane, actually.

Location: Athens

Meals: Breakfast

Depart at any time.

ACTIVITY: Not ready to leave? Your CEO can help with any onward travel arrangements you require.