GREEK ISLAND ODYSSEY

Make your way to our city centre hotel from Athens International Airport (ATH) and enjoy some free time to explore the surrounding neighbourhood. We’ll gather as a group for the first time at around 6pm this evening, when you’ll meet our Local Insider – your expert guide for the trip – in the hotel lobby. Ice firmly broken, we’ll head over to a nearby rooftop restaurant for cocktails and an assortment of small plates.

After breakfast at the hotel you’ll spend this morning being led around the city by a local expert on a private guided tour of Athens. We will, of course, visit the iconic Acropolis and its most famous structure, the Parthenon, as well as the Ancient Agora of Athens. However, you’ll also wander down magical little alleyways, discover the old neighbourhood of Anafiotika and browse locally produced goods in a food market and Monastiraki flea market. There’s a lot to see in this city and it’s a pretty long tour, so after finishing mid-afternoon we’ll leave the rest of the day open for you to explore at your own pace.

Today it’s time to actually set sail on our island-hopping adventure, so we’ll be grabbing an early breakfast before shooting off to the port. From here a ferry will take us to the magical island of Naxos. Despite being the largest isle in the Cyclades, and one of the most beautiful in all of Greece, this little Mediterranean gem remains largely in the shadow of other traditional tourist favourites. This gives it a slightly more laid-back vibe, representative of the Greek way of life, but with just as much natural splendour as anywhere else in Greece. On arrival mid-afternoon we’ll check into our hotel in the city of Naxos, leaving you to spend the rest of the day getting a feel for its charming cobbled streets and gorgeous surrounding beaches.

This morning we embark on an enlightening tour across the island, leaving the guidebooks behind and following instead our expert Local Insider, who’ll whisk you across the mountains and from village to village on an off the beaten path journey through the authentic heart of Naxos. This is your chance to discover the beautiful little moments, places and people that make up daily life on the island. You’ll meet locals, taste their delicious culinary treats, learn about their cultural quirks and witness the splendid natural beauty that surrounds them. When we wrap the tour up mid-afternoon you’ll have had a priceless insight into this magical island, which leaves you with plenty to reflect on for the remainder of the day, so we recommend hitting the beach!

This morning we’ll hop onto a catamaran to take a guided cruise to nearby Paros. This gorgeous little island is famed for its fabulous beaches and, in Greek antiquity, for producing high-quality white marble, which was even used to sculpt Venus de Milo herself. You’ll explore the turquoise shimmer of the Blue Lagoon (weather permitting), go snorkelling in crystal clear waters and swimming off some of the island’s finest, and most under-explored, beaches. The tour includes a delicious lunch onboard the catamaran, and we’ll return to Naxos early in the evening.

Today we hop back on the ferry to the final destination of our trip, and perhaps the most sumptuously gorgeous island in all of Greece, Santorini. Upon arrival mid-afternoon our Local Insider will take you on an orientation walk of Fira, the island’s capital. Marvel at the majesty of those iconic whitewashed buildings before spending the rest of the day at your own leisure.

After breakfast this morning you’ll have more time to yourself – we recommend a scenic coastal walk or perhaps some chill time on the beach. Later on you’ll regroup with our Local Insider to head out on a tour of some of Santorini’s most spectacular viewpoints. We’ll walk to the first organic blackcurrant vineyard in Santorini, spotting local herbs such as caper and thyme and, season depending, picking some to taste. The visit ends with an infused olive oil tasting and a gift bottle paired with herbs from the farm. The evening then culminates with a stunning evening picnic looking out across the island and the Aegean Sea – the perfect way to enjoy Santorini’s world-famous sunset, one of the great sights on Earth.

It’s an early breakfast again this morning as we hop back on the ferry to return to the mainland. We should check-in to our hotel in Athens at around 3pm, so you’ll have some time to tick off any remaining bucket-list sights in the capital, or perhaps buy a souvenir or two in the market, before regrouping for a farewell dinner at an authentic local Athenian restaurant.

After one final breakfast at our hotel, it’s time to part ways and mark the end of your Greek island-hopping experience with Culture Trip. You’ll have a suitcase full of memories to take home with you, but if you don’t want to head straight back to the airport, why not continue your Mediterranean adventures someplace else?