GREECE AND ISTANBUL-16 days

DAY 1: ATHENS ARRIVAL – WALKING TOUR
Arrival Athens. Our first stop on the walking tour is the Philoppapοs monument, from which you can see all of Athens

DAY 2 :THE AGORA - ACROPOLIS
Despite its ambitious appearance, our itinerary today takes no longer than a couple of hours. All the sites are within easy walking distance of one another. The Agora was the administrative and economic heart of democratic Athens. The Acropolis boasts the world famous Parthenon dedicated to the goddess, Athena

DAY 3 : ELEUSIS – MARATHON - SOUNION  
Visit the sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis which is located 22km west of Athens on a ridge above the bay of Eleusis. We then continue to visit the battlefield of Marathon, where the Athenians pushed back a much larger Persian force in 490 B.C.   After lunch in a seaside café we travel to beautiful Cape Sounion and its dazzling temple to the sea god Poseidon

DAY 4 : NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM - HERAKLION
In the morning we visit the National Museum. In the evening we transfer by bus to Piraeus, the port of Athens, where we catch our overnight ferry to Crete. The ferry has full accommodations, including double rooms and showers

DAY 5 : HERAKLION MUSEUM
Crete, the island of King Minos, whose name was borrowed to describe the Bronze Age period on the island (3000-1350 B.C.). We visit the temporary exhibition of the Heraklion Museum, one of the world’s repositories of Minoan artefacts

DAY 6 : KNOSSOS – PHAISTOS – GORTYS – DEPART CRETE
We begin our morning with a visit to the palace of King Minos at Knossos. Continue to Phaistos, the second biggest city of the Minoan Crete where the Phaistos Disc was found in 1908. We then continue to Gortys, one of the oldest and strongest cities in Crete during the prehistoric and historic period.  We then return to Heraklion for our overnight ferry to Piraeus

DAY 7 : PIRAEUS – THEBES – THERMOPYLAE - VOLOS
We're back on the mainland now. We take a bus to the ancient Bronze Age city of Thebes. Unfortunately there isn't much left of the citadel itself, but Thebes does have a splendid museum with finds from all over the region. Next it's northward to Thermopylae, where the Spartans and their allies held off the vastly superior Persian invasion for three critical days until they were overwhelmed. We overnight in Volos

DAY 8 : VERGINA - KALAMBAKA
Volos was an important area for Neolithic Thessaly. The items in its museum are the most ancient we will see on the tour. Now we take a drive up to Vergina in Macedonia. Here is what is thought by many scholars to be the Tomb of Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great. The museum is almost miraculously built all around the tombs, and their artefacts are displayed almost where they were discovered. We now drive south again to Kalambaka

DAY 9 : METEORA - DELPHI
Meteora is a must-see on any trip to Greece. Here are some of the most ancient, active monasteries in all of Greece, perched miraculously atop the mountains along the Pineios river. A two-hour drive puts us in Delphi

DAY 10: DELPHI - OLYMPIA
Delphi was truly a Pan-Hellenic site for the Greeks; they all gathered here to celebrate Apollo and to get practical advice from Pythia, its priestess. Aside from its historical importance, Delphi is a wondrously beautiful place.  We drive to Olympia for the night

DAY 11: OLYMPIA - NAFPLION
The site of Olympia needs no introduction. We take a tour of the site where the Olympic games we held and visit the magnificent museum.  This afternoon we drive across the spine of the Peloponnese to Nafplion, which many guide books call "the most beautiful city in all of Greece" 

DAY 12 : NAFPLION - MYCENAE
We pay a visit to Mycenae, the legendary home of Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek forces at Troy

DAY 13 : NAFPLION – EPIDAURUS - ISTANBUL
Our morning tour is of the most impressive theatre remaining from antiquity at the Sanctuary of Asclepius. Then we pay a visit to Mycenae, the legendary home of Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek forces at Troy. We leave from Athens for Istanbul. Our flight of 45 minutes from Athens to Istanbul leaves us time for an evening stroll through the heart of Istanbul, near the Blue Mosque and the astonishing Hagia Sophia

DAY 14 : ISTANBUL
This is our walking tour of Sultan Ahment, the central district of old historical Istanbul. We visit the Blue Mosque, Agia Sophia and Topkapi Palace

DAY 15 : ISTANBUL
Istanbul is famous for its amazing Grand and Spice Bazaars. We'll help get you acclimated and point you in the right direction, but this is a day of self-guided shopping, and our last day in Turkey

DAY 16 : ISTANBUL
We check out of the hotel and transfer to the airport for our departure flight