Delphi to Macedonia

What's Included

INCLUDED

• Return flights from London Heathrow to Athens and from Thessaloniki to London Gatwick
• Four nights' bed and breakfast at the four-star City Hotel, Thessaloniki, based on shared occupancy of a twin/double room
• Two nights' bed and breakfast at the three-star Kastraki Hotel, Kastraki, based on shared occupancy of a twin/double room
• Two nights' half-board at the four-star Amalia Hotel, Delphi (October departures) or the Likoria Hotel, Arachova (November departure), based on shared occupancy of a twin/double room
• Five lectures
• Return transfers from the airport to hotel
• Full touring itinerary as detailed
• Tour manager, local guide and lecturer throughout

NOT INCLUDED

• Single room supplement
• Upgrade room supplement
• Holiday insurance
• Meals other than those stated
• Items of a personal nature such as drinks, laundry, telephone calls
• Porterage and gratuities

Accommodation

City Hotel, Thessaloniki
This eco-friendly four-star hotel is perfectly situated right in the heart of Thessaloniki, which provides ease of access to both the city’s commercial and historical centre. The hotel embraces the eco-friendly style of operating and has been awarded the ‘green key’ for its eco-design.

The comfortable rooms are classically furnished and feature wooden floors. Each is equipped with bathroom with shower or bath, hair-dryer, air conditioning/heating, tea and coffee making facilities, TV and mini-bar. Guests benefit from free Wi-Fi access in all hotel areas.

The rooms we have selected are ‘inner view’ rooms. ‘City view rooms with balcony are available at a small supplement.

City Hotel Website

Hotel Kastraki, Meteora
The three-star Hotel Kastraki is located at the foothills of Meteora rocks in the village of Kastraki, just 2 km from Kalambaka town. The hotel has 27 comfortable and elegant rooms tastefully decorated with earthy tones and dark-coloured wooden furnishings. Room facilities include air-conditioning, TV, Safe, air-conditioning/heating, fridge, bathroom with shower or bath, hairdryer and balcony.

The public areas include a spacious lounge, TV room and cafeteria. Free Wi-Fi is available in all areas. A small section of Taverna’s are located close by.

Hotel Kastraki Website

Amalia Hotel, Delphi (October departures)
The Amalia Delphi has a superb location at the foot of mount Parnassus offering fantastic panoramic views across a green valley, all the way to the sea. Hotel facilities include a pool, restaurant, café-bar and pool bar. The classic guest rooms are located on four levels and are mostly twin bedded. Facilities include bathroom with bath or shower, hair dryer, TV, fridge and safebox. Wi-Fi is available throughout the hotel.

Amalia Hotel Delphi Website

Likoria Hotel, Arachova (November departure)
At 990 metres above sea level, the comfortable four-star Likoria Hotel is situated in the heart of the picturesque mountain village of Arachova. Each spacious and tastefully decorated room has a private balcony with views over the valley of Delphi. Hotel facilities include a bar, sauna, steam room, heating/air-conditioning and wi-fi. Rooms all have a private bathroom with bath or shower, balcony, TV, mini-bar and kettle. There is a good choice of tavernas within easy reach on foot from Likoria and some great local shopping too!

Likoria Hotel Website

More Info

Your Lecturer

Jeremy Paterson
Jeremy taught Greek and Roman history for over forty years at Newcastle University. He has travelled widely in Greece and the Mediterranean. His enthusiasm for the ancient world was first inspired by reading Homer and then by his fascination with the archaeological discoveries at Mycenae and Knossos. He is much in demand as a speaker at home and in many of the classical countries of the Mediterranean, where he has accompanied many groups to sites and museums.

Lectures will be as follows:

Day 1: 'Macedonian Gold'. Short Introduction by Jeremy Paterson
Day 2: 'Philip and Alexander'
Day 3: 'City at the Crossroads: Greek, Roman, Ottoman, and Jews in Thessaloniki'
Day 4: 'Closer still to God'; Greek Orthodox Monasteries
Day 6: 'Delphi; Centre of the World'

FLIGHTS

Please note that all flight times are provisional and subject to airline schedules and changes.

HEALTH & INSURANCE – EHIC CARD
Please note that EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) only allows access to the same state-provided healthcare as a resident of the EU country they are temporarily visiting. It is NOT an alternative to travel insurance and will not provide the same level of cover as a travel insurance policy. The EHIC will not cover any private medical healthcare or the cost of things such as repatriation to the UK or lost or stolen property. It is also important to note that each country’s healthcare system is slightly different, so the EHIC might not cover everything that would be generally free on the NHS. On the EHIC application website, there is a section called Access to Healthcare Abroad which clarifies all the conditions and inclusions.

Places of Interest

Thessaloniki
The city of Thessaloniki was founded in 315 BC by king Cassander of Macedonia. It got its name from Thessaloniki, wife of Cassander and half-sister of Alexander the Great, who, in turn, was named like that after her father, king Philip II of Macedonia, to commemorate his victory over the Phocians with the help of Thessalian horsemen. Thessaloniki, in greek, actually means the "victory of the Thessalians".

Roman Times
Thessaloniki became an important and fortified urban centre because of its location. After the Romans conquered Greece, in the 2nd century BC, it became the capital of one of the four Roman districts of Macedonia. The Romans built a spacious harbor and set the foundations for the city's flourishing. In the 1st century AD a Jewish community thrived in Thessaloniki. Later on, the Apostle Paul would preach in the Jewish synagogue, establish a Christian church and write two letters to the Christian community of the city, known as the Epistles to the Thessalonians.

Byzantine times
After Constantinople was made the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Thessaloniki would progressively turn into the second largest city of the whole Empire. The population started to increase and trade was the main occupation of its residents. Unfortunately, a severe earthquake in 620 AD damaged the Roman market and many buildings. However, the city managed to recover in the decades to come. In the seventh century, the Slavs tried to occupy Thessaloniki but they failed. To prevent such an attack again, the Byzantines tried another strategy: the Byzantine Emperor Michael III sent the brothers Cyril and Methodium, who were born in Thessaloniki and later were declared saints of the Greek Orthodox Church, to teach the Slavs the Christian religion. In 904 AD, the Saracen pirates of Crete attacked the city and took 22,000 people as slaves. In 1204, after the Crusaders had conquered Constantinople, they also conquered Thessaloniki. However, the Byzantines managed to gain it back in 1246. It is actually remarkable how Thessaloniki, through all this difficult period, managed to maintain a large population and a flourishing commerce. The wonderful churches of that period, their frescoes and the scripts of some scholars illustrate an intellectual and artistic development.

Ottoman occupation
The Byzantine Emperors of the early 15th century were unable to protect the city from the Ottoman Empire and sold it to the Venetians. However, the Ottomans managed to siege Thessaloniki in 1430. They reformed the Castle and built many mosques and baths, some of which survive today. Although the city suffered five centuries of Turkish occupation, its development didn't stop and people would take advantages of the Ottoman reforms. The population continued to increase and consisted predminantly of Greeks Muslims and Jews.

Liberation
Thessaloniki was set free from the Turks on October 27th 1912, during the First Balkan War. King George I of Greece settled in Thessaloniki to emphasize the greek possession of the city but was murdered near the White Tower in March 1913. In 1916, in the middle of World War I, Eleftherios Venizelos, the Greek prime minister, launched the Movement of National Defense, formed a new government and made Thessaloniki the capital of the Greek state, to show both his disagreement with the pro-German king of Greece and also Greece's support to the Allied forces.

Recent times
In 1941, the German forces got into the city and occupied the city 1944. Their bombs destroyed a large part of the city and most of the Jewish population were slaughtered. When the war ended, the city was rebuilt and became a modern European city. The industry and trade developed in the decades that followed. On June, 20th, 1978, an earthquake destroyed many buildings, but, again, Thessaloniki managed to recover. In 1988, the Early Christian and Byzantine sites of Thessaloniki were declared World Heritage Monuments by UNESCO and in 1997, it became the European City of Culture. Today, Thessaloniki is a modern city with flourishing economy and a strong connection to its glorious past, through the many ancient sites around the city.

The royal burial cluster of Philip II - The eternal residence of King Philip II
The funeral of Philip II in 336 BC was performed, as imposed by tradition, in Aigai. It was the most lavish funeral ceremony of the historic times held in Greece. In a monumental death chamber, laid on an elaborate gold and ivory deathbed wearing his precious golden oak wreath, the king was surrendered, like a new Hercules, to the funeral pyre. Alexander is now the king of Macedon. A “high priest” and a mystis (the initiated one), a hunter and a “symposiast”, an army leader and a legislator, Philip, the hero, descends to his eternal residence, which is reached by a ramp and has the form of an underground barrel-vaulted building with two chambers and a monumental façade. The concept of the “Macedonian tomb”, similar to the platonic concept of the leaders’ burial in an ideal state, interweaves a palace and a temple. The portraits of the two kings, father and son, are depicted in the hunting scene of the tomb’s façade, as well as on the gold and ivory deathbed in the chamber. In the tomb’s antechamber, Philip’s Thracian wife, Meda, is buried with him.

Ancient Dion
Originally a harbour before it was silted up, Dion was the sacred city of Macedon, built at the foot of Mount Olympos, the home of the gods, with sanctuaries dedicated to Zeus, Demeter, Artemis, Asklepios and the Egyptian goddess Isis. At the end of the 5th century BC King Arkelaos I, founder of Pella, built the sanctuary to Zeus (from whom Dion gets its name), and also a stadium and theatre, where the Olympic Games of Dion were held in honour of Olympian Zeus and the plays of Euripides performed. It was to Dion that the Macedonian kings came to make sacrifice before going into battle and where they celebrated their victories; Philip II came after his victory at Olynthos and Alexander made sacrifice before setting off on his conquests. The magnificent bronze sculpture by Lyssipos, commissioned by Alexander as a memorial to his 25 Companions who died at the Battle of Granikos, was erected here but later taken to Rome. In around 43 BC Roman colonists arrived here and after the Battle of Actium (31 BC) Augustus organised a mass transportation of Italians. In the 2nd century AD there was a burst of building activity the results of which we see today. In the Byzantine period two Christian basilicas were built on the ruins of the ancient city. In its heyday 15,000 people lived here.

Meteora
In a region of almost inaccessible sandstone peaks, monks settled on these 'columns of the sky' from the 11th century onwards. Twenty-four of these monasteries were built, despite incredible difficulties, at the time of the great revival of the eremetic ideal in the 15th century. Their 16th-century frescoes mark a key stage in the development of post-Byzantine painting.

Delphi
The pan-Hellenic sanctuary of Delphi, where the oracle of Apollo spoke, was the site of the omphalos, the 'navel of the world'. Blending harmoniously with the superb landscape and charged with sacred meaning, Delphi in the 6th century B.C. was indeed the religious centre and symbol of unity of the ancient Greek world.

Book with Confidence

• Low Deposit

  Travel Editions requires a minimum deposit of 20% or the full booking value, whichever is less, with the final balance not due until 56 days before departure.

• Cancellation Policy

  We don't charge a cancellation fee, here is a summary of travel editions charges.

  Up to 56 days before tour starts: Forfeit 100% of deposit.

  At 55 days before tour starts: Forfeit 45% of booking price.

  At 28 days before tour starts: Forfeit 60% of booking price.

  At 14 days before tour starts: Forfeit 100% of booking price.