A Greek
Cruise to the Land of Gods & Heroes
Join us as
we sail over the wine-dark sea to beautiful sun-drenched islands for a
unique tour designed to give you the best of ancient and modern Greece
at a relaxing pace. (The order of the itinerary may vary due to the sailing
date of the cruise.)
Day
1 - Board our flight to Athens.
Day 2 - Welcome
to the city of Perikles and Athena. This afternoon, we will take a short
walk from our first class hotel to visit the Akropolis with its magnificent
Parthenon and Erechtheion.
Day 3 through
6 - For the next 4 nights and five days we will enjoy a relaxing, luxurious
cruise to the most famous spots in the Aegean: Mykonos, the island of golden
sands and white windmills; Santorini, one of the most spectacular islands
in the world, and a center of the great ancient Cycladic civilization;
Crete, land of Minoans, the Palace of Knossos, and Zorba; Rhodes, an island
paradise; Kusadasi on the coast of Turkey, stopping off place to visit
Ephesos, a vast archaeological site; and finally, small, beautiful Patmos,
the island in the eastern Aegean where John wrote The Book of Revelation.
Day
7 - After disembarking from our cruise, our adventure continues with an
archaeological tour of the most notable sites on the mainland. We travel
to ancient Corinth, then to Epidauros, sanctuary of the god of medicine;
and then to Mycenae, home of Agamemnon, commander of the Greeks at Troy.
Day 8 - Off
to Olympia and the sanctuary of Zeus and the museum. From 776 B.C., civilized
nations from the whole ancient world gathered here to participate in the
Olympic Games.
Day
9 - Our destination this morning is Delphi Delphi on Mt. Parnassos, seat
of the Oracle of Apollo, god of prophesy. This is truly one of the most
majestic sites of antiquity, and the museum is world famous. This afternoon
we drive south from Delphi to Piraeus, where our hydrofoil will be waiting
to take us to the island of Hydra.
Day 10 &
11 - Hydra, with no automobiles or motorbikes, is one of the most beautiful
and peaceful of the Greek islands. Famous in the 18th and 19th century
for its wealthy ship captains, today Hydra is noted for its beauty, its
artists, and for the beautiful blue water below its precipitous cliffs.
A great place to enjoy the easy pace of island life.
Day
12 - Today we will return from Hydra to Athens where we will have the remainder
of the day free for last minute sightseeing.
Day 13 - Our
hosts will drive us to the airport and assist us with check-in for our
flight home from the land of Gods and heroes.
Meals:
Many meals are included in the itinerary, but not all. This is because
part of the fun and the cultural experience is to enjoy the excellent and
inexpensive food in authentic Greek restaurants. Our tour leader will suggest
to you the establishments we have discovered through the years.
Included
as part of the tour:
-
Roundtrip scheduled
air
-
Transfers
-
4 night,
5 day cruise, upper outside cabins
-
All meals
on the cruise
-
Breakfasts
and dinners on the archaeological tour
-
Port taxes
-
Admissions
to Akropolis and on archaeological tour
-
Expert guiding
Not included
with the tour:
-
Shore excursions
-
Gratuities
-
Items of
a personal nature
Date: July 6 - 18, 2002
Cash Discount Price: $3476
(Plan ahead
for another Greek cruise later in the year: Oct 5 - 17, 2002 $3476)
