Pre-Cruise Packages

• 1 nt Before, Athens Discovery
• 2 nt Before, Athens Discovery
• 3 nt Before, Athens Discovery

Post-Cruise Packages

• 1 nt After, Athens Uncovered
• 2 nt After, Athens Uncovered
• 3 nt After, Athens Uncovered

Itinerary

Day 1, Athens arrival, The Acropolis & New Acropolis Museum

Upon disembarkation you will be met at the port by our local expert and commence your Athens discover. We must leave early and drive from the port of Piraeus directly to Acropolis Hill in an attamept to avoid the large crowds.

The acropolis still dominates the Athens skyline and was an important site as early as the Bronze Age, when it housed a Mycenaean citadel. For thousands of years the Acropolis has been the symbol of Athens, the sacred rock, the link that connects the magnificent ancient civilization with the modern. On the hill of the Acropolis you will see the masterpieces of: Parthenon, Propylea, Temple of Athena Nike, Erechtheion & The Cariatides, Ariopagus (Mars Hill), Herodion Theater and the Theater of Dionysus.

Continue with a pleasant, short walk passing by Herodion and Dionysos Theater, in order to visit the new Acropolis Museum. Enjoy your time inside the New Acropolis Museum which offers main attractions such as: votives, artifacts of everyday life, statues from the Archaic Period, Caryatids and of course the Parthenon hall with the metopes, the pediments and the frieze which will all impress you. It is designed in a way that allows visitors to see all the exhibits in natural light and incorporates a number of on-site excavations including a large urban settlement dated from the Archaic to Early Christian Athens.

On our way to your hotel, we will see the Panathenaic Stadium where the first Olympic Games of modern times were held in 1896 (short stop). Continue and pass by the Prime Minister's residence (ex Royal Palace) guarded by the Euzones in their colorful uniform, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Hadrian's Arch, the Parliament and the memorial to the Unknown Soldier, the Academy, the University, the National Library, the Constitution Square (Syntagma).

(Duration of tour is approximately 5hrs)

Overnight in Athens.

Day 2, Athens departure

Following a leisurely morning, your car will arrive to transport you to the airport for your flight onwards.

Meals: B

Uncovered Option 2

Itinerary

Day 1, Athens arrival, Ancient Agora of Athens & National Archaeological Museum

Upon disembarkation you will be met at the port by our local expert and commence your Athens discover. We make our way through the busy streets to the Ancient Agora of Athens. Along the way, we will see the Panathenaic Stadium where the first Olympic Games of modern times were held in 1896 (short stop). Continue and pass by the Prime Minister's residence (ex Royal Palace) guarded by the Euzones in their colorful uniform, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Hadrian's Arch, the Parliament and the memorial to the Unknown Soldier, the Academy, the University, the National Library, the Constitution Square (Syntagma).

The Agora was the heart of ancient Athens, the focus of political, commercial, administrative and social activity, the religious and cultural centre, and the seat of justice. Excavation of the area, which started in the early twentieth century, revealed a large number of temples, stoas, altars and even a concert hall. Today two large buildings are intact: the Hephaisteion - the best preserved temple in Greece - and the Stoa of Attalos, a large shopping center that was rebuilt in the 1950s. It is now home to a museum. The rest of the Agora looks like a large park with ruins of ancient buildings visible all around. The museum in the Stoa of Attalos displays a varied range of objects that were found during excavation of the Ancient Agora. Inside the stoa are objects that give a great insight in the daily life in Athens.

Todays final stop will be the National Archaeological Museum. Often overlooked in favor of the New Acropolis Museum, it is the largest museum in Greece and one of the world's greatest museums. Although its original purpose was to secure all the finds from the nineteenth century excavations in and around Athens, it gradually became the central National Archaeological Museum and was enriched with finds from all over Greece. Its abundant collections, with more than 20,000 exhibits, provide a panorama of Greek civilization from the beginnings of Prehistory to Late Antiquity.

(Duration of tour is approximately 5hrs)

Overnight in Athens.

Day 2, Athens departure

Following a leisurely morning, your car will arrive to transport you to the airport for your flight onwards.

Meals: B