Classical Greece

(12 Days - Departs Daily on a Private Basis)
Athens, Delphi, Kalambaka, Meteora, Thessaloniki, Rhodes & Lindos, Crete

This luxurious private tour visits the most antiquities-rich cities and islands in Greece. With your own private driver and guide, enjoy comprehensive touring of the top sights in Athens, explore the center of the ancient world in Delphi and the medieval monasteries of Meteora, experience the cultural crossroads of Thessaloniki, discover the intriguing history of Rhodes, and visit the palaces and museums of Crete.

Begin in Athens for three nights. During flexible touring with your private guide, visit the city’s top sights, such as the ancient Agora, the Acropolis and the spectacular new Acropolis Museum. Also explore local open-air markets and the charming, taverna-lined Plaka neighborhood. Opt to continue your city touring and visit museums (such as the Benaki Museum and Goulandris Foundation) that showcase the best of Greek archaeology, history, folk art, Cycladic art, coins and jewelry) or take an optional excursion along the beautiful coast to the Temple of Poseidon.

Next, enjoy a full-day private guided excursion to Delphi, once the holiest place in Greece, to tour the hillside ruins overlooking the Gulf of Corinth, with an optional visit to the Jewish Museum and synagogue in Trikala, en route to an overnight in Meteora.

Continue on a full-day private tour of Meteora’s UNESCO World Heritage Site Byzantine monasteries perched atop craggy pinnacles and the village of Kalambaka. Visit the ancient cites of Dion, Vergina and Pella en route to your luxury resort in Thessaloniki for two nights.

Enjoy private touring in culture-rich Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city with its Greek, Roman, Jewish and Turkish influences. Sights include the Jewish Museum and synagogue, the Modiano Market, the Museum of Byzantine Culture, Ana Polis and the Old Turkish Quarter, the 8th-century Agia Sofia, the Roman forum, and Agios Dimitrios (Greece’s largest church).

Next, visit Rhodes for two nights. Take a private tour of the fascinating and sophisticated Old Town, and enjoy a private excursion to Lindos, a whitewashed city with a fortified hilltop castle built by Crusaders and encircled by a mix of 15th-century cut-limestone and Cycladic-style houses.

Finally, visit Crete, the largest of the Greek Islands and ancient home of the Minoan civilization, which dates back more than 3,500 years. See the magnificent Bronze Age treasures on display in the Archaeological Museum in Heraklion and tour the splendid Palace of Knossos, built by King Minos during the height the Minoan civilization. Enjoy private excursions that include Kritsa, a traditional mountain village known for its crafts and Byzantine art, and Lassithi, to see the cave where the Greek god Zeus was born.