Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival at Athens airport
Stop At: Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos", Attiki Odos, Spata 190 04, Greece
Arrival at Athens airport - Transfer to your 4* hotel - Free afternoon - night at the hotel. Walk to enjoy the nightly Athens.
Duration: 1 day
No meals included on this day.
Accommodation included: Overnight at President Hotel Athens, or similar 4-star hotel in Athens.
Day 2: Panoramic, half-day tour to Athens.
Stop At: Panathenaic Stadium, Vassileos Konstantinou Avenue opposite the statue of Myron Discobolus, Athens 116 35 Greece
The Panathenaic Stadium or Kallimarmaro is a multi-purpose stadium in Athens, Greece. One of the main historic attractions of Athens, it is the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble.
Duration: 20 minutes
Pass By: Old Royal Palace, Athina 105 57, Greece
The Maximos Mansion is located at Herodes Atticus Street 19, next to the Presidential Mansion and the National Garden of Athens. The building was founded in 1912 by Alexandros Michalinos, a wealthy shipowner from the island of Chios. Before the construction of the mansion, the site was a garden for the Royal Palace. Between 1941 and 1944, during the Nazi occupation of Greece, the mansion was used as the residence of the German Admiral of the Aegean Sea. After the war, the building was briefly used as the residence of the U.S. ambassador in Athens. In 1952 Dimitrios Maximos sold the mansion to the Greek state at a favourable price. In 1982, the prime minister's office was moved into the mansion (prior to that, the prime minister's office was located inside the Parliament building).
Pass By: Temple of Olympian Zeus, Leoforos Vasilissis Olgas Leoforos Amalias, Athens 105 57 Greece
The Temple of Olympian Zeus is a former colossal temple at the centre of the Greek capital Athens. It was dedicated to "Olympian" Zeus, a name originating from his position as head of the Olympian gods. Construction began in the 6th century BC during the rule of the Athenian tyrants and was during the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD, some 638 years after the project had begun. During the Roman period the temple, which included 104 colossal columns, was renowned as the largest temple in Greece and housed one of the largest cult statues in the ancient world.
Pass By: Arch of Hadrian, Leoforos Amalias, Athens Greece
The Arch of Hadrian, most commonly known in Greek as Hadrian's Gate, is a monumental gateway resembling—in some respects—a Roman triumphal arch. It spanned an ancient road from the centre of Athens to the complex of structures on the city’s eastern side, including the Temple of Olympian Zeus.
Pass By: Hellenic Parliament, Parliament Mansion, Athens GR-10021 Greece
The Hellenic Parliament is a neoclassical three-floor structure designed by Friedrich von Gärtner and completed in 1843, originally served as a palace for the Greek monarchs, hence sometimes still referred to as the "Old Palace". The building has been used for many different purposes — functioning as a makeshift hospital, a museum, etc. — until November 1929, when the government decided that the building would permanently house Parliament. After more extensive renovations, the Senate convened in the "Old Palace" on 2 August 1934, followed by the Fifth National Assembly on 1 July 1935. Although the monarchy was restored that same year, the building has housed Parliament ever since.
Pass By: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Leoforos Vasilissis Amalias Syntagma Square, Athens 100 28 Greece
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a war memorial located in Syntagma Square in Athens, in front of the Old Royal Palace. It is a cenotaph dedicated to the Greek soldiers killed during the war. It was sculpted between 1930 and 1932 by sculptor Fokion Rok. The tomb is guarded by the Evzones of the Presidential Guard.
Pass By: The Academy of Athens, 28 Panepistimiou Avenue, Athens 106 79 Greece
The Academy of Athens is Greece's national academy and the highest research establishment in the country. It was established in 1926, with its founding principle traced back to the historical Academy of Plato and operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Education. The Academy's main building is one of the major landmarks of Athens.
Pass By: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 30 Panepistimiou Street, Athens 157 72 Greece
The National University of Athens has been in continuous operation since its establishment in 1837 and is the oldest higher education institution of the modern Greek state and the first contemporary university in both the Balkan Peninsula and the Eastern Mediterranean. Today it is one of the largest universities by enrollment in Europe, with over 69,000 registered students. The National University of Athens is integral to the modern Greek academic and intellectual tradition.
Pass By: National Library of Greece, 32 Panepistimiou Street, Athens 106 79 Greece
The National Library of Greece is the main public library of Greece, located in Athens. Founded by Ioannis Kapodistrias in 1832, its mission is to locate, collect, organize, describe and preserve the perpetual evidence of Greek culture and its uptake over time, as well as important representative evidence of human intellectual production. It ensures equal non-access to these items based on the freedom of knowledge, information, and research.
Pass By: Plateia Syntagmatos, Leoforos Vassilissis Amalias, Athens 105 63 Greece
Syntagma Square ("Constitution Square") is the central square of Athens. The square is named after the Constitution that Otto, the first King of Greece, was obliged to grant after a popular and military uprising on 3 September 1843Syntagma Square is the most important square of modern Athens from both a historical and social point of view, at the heart of commercial activity and Greek politics.
Stop At: Acropolis, Via Dionysiou Areopagitou Str., Athens 105 58 Greece
The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. The term acropolis is generic and there are many other acropoleis in Greece. During ancient times the Acropolis of Athens was known also more properly as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man, Cecrops, the supposed first Athenian king.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Propylaea, Acropolis, Athens 105 58 Greece
The Propylaea is the classical Greek Doric building complex that functioned as the monumental ceremonial gateway to the Acropolis of Athens. Built between 437 and 432 BCE as a part of the Periclean Building Program, it was the last in a series of gatehouses built on the citadel. Its architect was Mnesikles, his only known building. It is evident from traces left on the extant building that the plan for the Propylaea evolved considerably during its construction and that the project was ultimately abandoned in an unfinished state.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: Temple of Athena Nike, Acropolis, Dionysiou Areopagitou Acropolis, Athens 10558 Greece
The Temple of Athena Nike is a temple on the Acropolis of Athens, dedicated to the goddesses Athena and Nike. Built around 420 BC, the temple is the earliest fully Ionic temple on the Acropolis. It has a prominent position on a steep bastion at the southwest corner of the Acropolis to the right of the entrance, the Propylaea. Nike was the goddess of victory in Greek mythology, and Athena was worshipped in this form, representative of being victorious in war. The citizens worshipped the goddesses in hopes of a successful outcome in the long Peloponnesian War fought against the Spartans and allies.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: Erechtheion, Acropolis, Athens 10558 Greece
The Erechtheion or Temple of Athena Polias is an ancient Greek Ionic temple-telesterion on the north side of the Acropolis, which was primarily dedicated to the goddess Athena. The building, made to house the statue of Athena Polias, has in modern scholarship been called the Erechtheion (the sanctuary of Erechtheus or Poseidon) in the belief that Pausanias' description of the Erechtheion applies to this building.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: Parthenon, Acropolis Top of Dionyssiou Areopagitou, Athens 105 58 Greece
The Parthenon is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of Greek art, an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece, democracy, and Western civilization. It was built in thanksgiving for the Hellenic victory over Persian invaders during the Greco-Persian Wars and replaced an older Athena temple, which historians call the Pre-Parthenon or Older Parthenon, that was demolished in the Persian invasion of 480 BC.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Acropolis Museum, Dionysiou Areopagitou 15, Athens 117 42 Greece
The museum was built to house every artefact found on the rock and on the surrounding slopes, from the Greek Bronze Age to Roman and Byzantine Greece and will in particular also house the sculptures historically known as the "Elgin Marbles" (sculptures stolen from the Acropolis in the early nineteenth century by Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin and currently held in the British Museum) when these are returned to Athens. The Acropolis Museum also lies over the ruins of a part of Roman and early Byzantine Athens. The museum was founded in 2003 while the Organization of the Museum was established in 2008. It opened to the public on 20 June 2009. More than 4,250 objects are exhibited over an area of 14,000 square meters.
Duration: 1 hour
Meals included:
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Accommodation included: Overnight at President Hotel Athens, or similar 4-star hotel in Athens.
Day 3: Free Day
Stop At: Plaka, Athens 10556 Greece
Free Day - Enjoy your day by strolling along the Plaka area and the narrow streets, which are full of traditional restaurants where you can taste typical dishes of Greek cuisine, and the famous drink “ouzo” and enjoy the atmosphere of this vibrant neighbourhood.
Duration: 1 day
Meals included:
•
Accommodation included: Overnight at President Hotel Athens, or similar 4-star hotel in Athens.
Day 4: Athens - Epidaurus - Mycenae - Olympia.
Stop At: Corinth Canal, Isthmia, Loutraki 201 00 Greece
Depart from Athens, travel along the coast to the Corinth Canal (shortstop).
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: The Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, Epidavros 210 52 Greece
Continue to Epidaurus and visit the theatre, known for its excellent acoustics.
The theatre has long had a reputation for its exceptional acoustics, which reportedly allowed almost perfect intelligibility of unamplified spoken words from the proscenium or skēnē to all 14,000 spectators, regardless of their seating, a tale often recounted by tour guides. In-situ measurements, however, somewhat moderate these claims: although most sounds can indeed be noticed throughout, intelligibility is not guaranteed, particularly for voice, which requires good projection, which might not have been a problem for Greek actors, who were reputed experts in this aspect. The acoustic properties are caused both by the physical shape, but also the construction material: the rows of limestone seats filter out low-frequency sounds, such as the murmur of the crowd, and also amplify the high-frequency sounds of the stage.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Nafplion, Greece
Depart for Nafplion (shortstop)
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Mycenaean Tholos Tomb, Poros 280 86 Greece
Continue to Mycenae, and visit the Citadel and the tomb of Agamemnon.
Mycenae 'Rich in Gold', the kingdom of mythical Agamemnon, first sung by Homer in his epics, is the most important and richest palatial centre of the Late Bronze Age in Greece. Its name was given to one of the greatest civilizations of Greek prehistory, the Mycenaean civilization, while the myths related to its history have inspired poets and writers over many centuries, from the Homeric epics and the great tragedies of the Classical period to contemporary literary and artistic creation.
The Treasury of Atreus or Tomb of Agamemnon is a large tholos or beehive tomb constructed between 1400 and 1200 BCE in Mycenae, Greece. It is the largest and most elaborate tholos tomb known to have been constructed in the Aegean Bronze Age, and one of the last to have been built in the Argolid.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Archaeological Site of Olympia, Archea Olympia, Olympia 27065 Greece
Finally depart for Olympia, across the Peloponnese. Arrive for dinner and overnight.
Duration: 1 hour
Meals included:
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Accommodation included: A 4-star hotel in Olympia
Day 5: Olympia - Delphi
Stop At: Archaeological Museum of Olympia, Archaia Olympia, Olympia 27 065 Greece
Olympia is an ancient site on Greece's Peloponnese peninsula that hosted the original Olympic Games, founded in the 8th century B.C. Its extensive ruins include athletic training areas, a stadium and temples dedicated to the gods Hera and Zeus.
The Archaeological Museum of Olympia, one of the most important museums in Greece, presents the long history of the most celebrated sanctuary of antiquity, the sanctuary of Zeus, father of both gods and men, where the Olympic games were born. The museum's permanent exhibition contains finds from the excavations in the sacred precinct of the Altis dating from prehistoric times to the Early Christian period. Among the many precious exhibits the sculpture collection, for which the museum is most famous, the bronze collection, the richest collection of its type in the world, and the large terracottas collection, are especially noteworthy.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Delphi Greece
Departure for Delphi, crossing the plains of Ilia and Achaia and reaching the large bridge of Rio, which connects the Peloponnese with mainland Greece (Antirio) through Lepanto and other picturesque towns. Arrive for dinner and overnight.
Duration: 4 hours
Meals included:
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Accommodation included: A 4-star hotel in Delphi.
Day 6: Delphi - Meteora
Stop At: Delphi Greece
Delphi in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The ancient Greeks considered the centre of the world to be in Delphi, marked by the stone monument known as the omphalos (navel).
Delphi Archaeological museum is one of the principal museums of Greece and one of the most visited. It is operated by the Greek Ministry of Culture (Ephorate of Antiquities of Phocis). Founded in 1903, it has been rearranged several times and houses the discoveries made at the Panhellenic sanctuary of Delphi, which dates from the Late Helladic (Mycenean) period to the early Byzantine era.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Meteora, Kastraki, Kalambaka 422 00 Greece
Departure for Kalambaka, situated at the foot of Meteora, an amazing and unique scenery in the world. Arrive for dinner and overnight.
Duration: 3 hours
Meals included:
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Accommodation included: A 4-star hotel in Kalampaka.
Day 7: Meteora – Athens
Stop At: Meteora, Kastraki, Kalambaka 422 00 Greece
Visit Meteora and the monasteries, which are unique monuments of Byzantine art. Return to Athens passing from Trikala and Thermopylae with a small stop at the monument of King Leonidas. Check-in capital in the late afternoon. Arrive for dinner and overnight.
Duration: 1 day
Meals included:
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Accommodation included: A 4-star hotel in Athens.
Day 8: Athens. Depart.
Stop At: Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos", Attiki Odos, Spata 190 04, Greece
Transfer to Athens airport for the departure - Assistance to boarding.
Duration: 1 hour
Meals included:
•
No accommodation included on this day.