Athens in Depth

• Unpack your bags for a long stay in a centrally-located hotel in January, and encounter Athens’ extraordinary heritage without the high-season crowds

• Survey an unparalleled wealth of ancient history, from the Acropolis and the triumphant Acropolis Museum, one of the world’s most impressive archaeological museums

• Admire the refinement of Byzantine art and architecture, including well-preserved churches and staggering collections of icons, jewellery and decorative art

• Understand the transformations of the Ottoman city at the Museum of Islamic Art

• Appreciate a tradition of philanthropy in private galleries, including the Goulandris Museum of Contemporary Art

• Get to know the modern city, from the panoramic views of Lycabettus Hill to chic Kolonaki’s cafes and boutiques

WEDNESDAY 14 JANUARY – ARRIVAL (D)

We meet in the lobby of our hotel at 5.30pm, with an opportunity to meet one another and tour leader Dr Kristen Mann over a drink in the hotel’s rooftop bar overlooking the Acropolis. We then continue to a nearby restaurant for dinner together. First of ten nights in Athens.

THURSDAY 15 JANUARY – THE ACROPOLIS & NEW ACROPOLIS MUSEUM (B, L)

In ancient Greek, the word ‘acropolis’ refers to a citadel-like settlement on a hill over a city – but when most of us use this word, we’re thinking of the site in Athens that is still one of the best preserved (and best known) monumental complexes of ancient Greece. Today we meet our national guide and, together with Dr Mann, make our way to the Acropolis. Recognised by UNESCO for its outstanding and global significance, this rocky outcrop and its plateau is indelibly associated with the history of the ancient city and the Greek empire. Over time, it was particularly dedicated to the cult of Athena, and from the fifth century, under Pericles, the Parthenon, Erechtheion, Propylaia and Temple of Athena Nike took on the forms that would prove so influential for millennia of architects, as we learn on our guided tour. After lunch together, we have a guided introduction to the New Acropolis Museum, inaugurated fifteen years ago and offering a state-of-the-art home for the many antiquities that have been excavated here. The room of the frieze, ready for the return of the Elgin Marbles, is particularly striking. After time to explore the collection independently, we return to the hotel for an evening talk by Kristen.

FRIDAY 16 JANUARY – THE AGORA & LYCABETTUS HILL (B)

As at the Acropolis, the Agora of Athens is the best preserved example of the complex of public buildings that lay at the heart of an ancient Greek city. Exploring the function of these buildings together, from covered shops to the mint and a library constructed by philhellene emperor Hadrian in 132 CE, we learn more about the structure of ancient Greek society. There is time to survey the artefacts in the Agora museum, inside the Stoa of Attalos, before lunch at the National Archaeological Museum café. This afternoon we admire some of the most important artefacts of the ancient Greek world to ever have been excavated, on the first of two visits to the National Archaeological Museum. Our guided introduction to the collections includes the Mask of Agamemnon, a gold funeral mask that evokes the culture of Bronze Age Mycenae, while the Artemision Bronze – a monumental statue of Zeus or Poseidon – and Hellenistic marble sculptures of Aphrodite demonstrate how Greek ideals of beauty would inform Western art for millennia. Afterwards we continue to Lycabettus Hill, Athens’ highest point, which offers an extraordinary panorama and orients us to the important zones of the ancient city and the principal neighbourhoods of the modern metropolis. Returning to the hotel, the evening is at leisure.

SATURDAY 17 JANUARY – TREASURES OF GREEK ARCHAEOLOGY (B)

This morning we transfer to the Kerameikos, an ancient potters’ quarter that, over time, grew to accommodate a large cemetery that was in continuous use from the Early Bronze Age until the Early Christian period under the Romans. The area was divided into two sections by the Themistoclean walls, built to protect the city from the Spartans following the Persian retreat in 478 BCE. The inner walls became a residential neighbourhood and the outer walls contained the cemetery. Fascinating finds have been uncovered here as a result of work on the modern city’s metro system. After free time for lunch, we continue our exploration of ancient Athens with a second visit to the National Archaeological Museum. There is ample time to explore the museum at your own pace, including its neolithic, Cycladic and Mycenaean collections. We meet this evening for a talk, before an evening at leisure.

SUNDAY 18 JANUARY – TEMPLES & A STADIUM (B)

While most visitors to Athens are familiar with the great archaeological complexes of the Acropolis and the Agora, the city offers a wealth of sites that enhance our understanding of how life in the ancient city functioned. This morning we head to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, a giant temple dedicated to the greatest god in the Greek pantheon. Construction began in the sixth century BCE, but it was Emperor Hadrian who gave it the second-century aspect that we can still admire today. There are ruins here of other temples, and the site was of great interest to nineteenth-century visitors looking for a Romantic view on their Grand Tours. After time for lunch in the area, we continue to the Panathenaic Stadium. The first structure used for the Panathenaic Games was constructed here ca 330 BCE, but by 144 CE up to 50,000 spectators could be accommodated in the impressive marble-clad stadium. Thanks to a nineteenth-century restoration, this is still the location for the handover of the Olympic Flame to the host nation. In the later afternoon, we transfer to the Paul and Alexandra Canellopoulos Museum. Founded in 1923, it passed to the Greek state in 1972 and its more than 6,000 artefacts showcase six millennia of history in Athens and wider Greece. We return to the hotel for an evening at leisure.

MONDAY 19 JANUARY – BYZANTINE ATHENS (B, L)

With the arrival of Rome and, in time, Christianity and Christian emperors, the city of Athens underwent significant changes. Today we gain a sense of these at a number of central sites. We commence with a tour of the Byzantine and Christian Museum, one of the world’s best collections of art and architecture in the influential Byzantine style. From the transformation of pagan deities into Christian saints and the development of Greek icon painting, the works of sculpture, painting and architecture demonstrate the evolution of a new visual language. Housed in the Ziller Mansion, the comprehensive collection of post-Byzantine religious art at the Loverdos Museum includes icons of the Cretan and Ionian school, as well as works by twentieth-century artists inspired by post-Byzantine painting. Finally, we continue to the Benaki Museum for lunch in the café, before exploring the extraordinary collection that covers the pre-history of Greece down to modern times. It is hard to summarise the highlights of its over 100,000 artefacts, from delicate diadems produced for the patrician women of ancient Greece to early examples of icon painting by El Greco. Antonis Benakis, a great collector and philanthropist, established the museum in memory of his father Emmanuel, one of the most important and wealthy Greek cotton brokers of Alexandria, Egypt. We meet this evening for a talk, before an evening at leisure.

TUESDAY 20 JANUARY – HISTORIC ATHENS (B)

After 500 years of Ottoman rule, the nineteenth century – and a culture of political ferment throughout Europe – brought a renewed Independence movement. Even foreigners such as Lord Byron lent their voices to the cause, and after seven years of war, assisted by allies in Britain, France and Russia, modern Greece was recognised as a state in 1830. Athens, which had been gradually weakened by centuries of Ottoman rule, was rebuilt by the first modern Greek monarch and the city’s many neo-classical buildings attest to the vibrancy of this period of political and cultural reorganisation. On our guided tour of the National Historical Museum, we appreciate how the map of the city was redrawn in this period – but also how some of the seeds were sown for a difficult period of over-building, in one of the twentieth century’s most populous cities. After lunch, we wander through the central district of Monastiraki and admire the tenth-century church of Pantanassa, the proud surviving heart of the so-called Great Monastery that still gives its name to this neighbourhood. Back at our hotel, there is a talk in the early evening.

WEDNESDAY 21 JANUARY – POSEIDON & THE OTTOMANS (B, L)

Greek history and mythology is inextricably linked with the sea and today we travel 70 kilometres outside of central Athens to Cape Sounion, on the southernmost tip of the Attica Peninsula. Here the Temple of Poseidon, Olympian god of the sea, was erected during the Golden Age of Pericles. Cited by Herodotus and in Homer’s Odyssey, the colonnaded rectangular temple was constructed from locally quarried white marble and features 34 Doric columns. Fifteen of these remain standing. After a delicious seaside lunch, we return to Athens to visit the Benizelos Mansion. Often referred to as the oldest house in Athens, it demonstrates how the Ottoman élite lived, in a key surviving example of a konaki or family enclave. There are both a wine and olive press in the backyard, an indication of the family’s self-sufficiency. The nearby Bath House of the Winds is another key Ottoman site: a bath house constructed in the fifteenth century, not long after the conquest, it was in use until 1956. The later afternoon is at leisure to continue exploring this neighbourhood close to our hotel, including its high-street shopping. The evening is at leisure.

THURSDAY 22 JANUARY – CYCLADIC ART (B)

Along with the Minoans and Mycenaeans, the Cycladic peoples comprise the three main Aegean cultures. This morning we examine their highly stylised human art forms at a private collection in a fine neo-classical villa: the Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art. From the 1960s, Nicholas and Dolly Goulandris built up their collection of artefacts from the Cyclades. The enigmatic works of ancient sculpture are particularly fascinating, as they demonstrate a clear influence on modern abstract artists from Picasso to Brâncusi and Modigliani. In fact, this museum is well known for its temporary art exhibitions that marry the ancient and contemporary in engaging ways. On a walking tour this afternoon we venture into Athens’ hub of counterculture and radicalism, the bohemian enclave of Exarcheia, where a community of students, artists and intellectuals and long-time residents come together against the city’s establishment in an environment of publishing houses, bookbinders, coffee houses and street art. Returning to the hotel, the evening is at leisure.

FRIDAY 23 JANUARY – MODERNITY & INDEPENDENT (B, D)

As our visits have shown us, modern Athens is a city whose cultural wealth has been amplified by the philanthropy of its industrial giants. This morning we appreciate the patrimony of modern and contemporary art that has been gifted to Athens at the Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation. Inaugurated in 2019, it boasts works by Picasso, Chagall, Matisse, Renoir, El Greco and Cézanne. These are displayed in a dialogue with artworks by modern Greek artists, also collected by the wealthy shipowner and his wife. Afterwards, the afternoon is at leisure for final visits to museums and galleries of your choosing, or to indulge in some last-minute shopping. We meet this evening for a talk in the hotel before our last dinner together in Athens. Final night in Athens.

SATURDAY 24 JANUARY – CORINTH & MYCENAE (B, L)

Today the mainland of Attica is divided from the Peloponnese by the 6km-long Corinth Canal, an impressive industrial conduit that recalls the prominence of ancient Corinth as a commercial centre. We pack our bags and leave Athens behind, crossing the canal to Corinth, where our guided tour of the archaeological site reveals an excellent example of a later Roman city layout. At sites such as the Temple of Apollo, we also begin to understand the impact of Christianity on the ancient world with the arrival here of the apostle Paul. After lunch we continue to Mycenae, kingdom of Homer’s legendary Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks in the Trojan war. An influential centre dating from the Late Bronze Age, Mycenae lent its name to an entire civilisation. The fortified citadel, surrounded by cyclopean walls, is strategically perched above the fertile plains of Argolis, allowing the ancient city to flourish as it controlled the commercial routes between the Aegean and the mainland. We enter the site at the Lion Gate and the excavated Grave Circle A, the location of the royal burials that yielded the host of funerary treasures housed in Athens’ National Museum. Afterwards, we continue to Nafplio, a charming port city that passed to Venice during the Fourth Crusades and still retains a sense of its medieval splendour. After checking in to our hotel we take an orientation walk through the cobbled streets of the town, capital of the newly born Greek state between 1823–1834. The remainder of the afternoon and evening is at leisure. Overnight Nafplio.

SUNDAY 25 JANUARY – TIRYNS & EPIDAURUS (B, L)

The apogee of Mycenean architectural achievement, the acropolis at Tiryns, was so impressive that ancient Greeks believed it was surely built by a Cyclops rather than human hands. Many Greek legends originate here, and it is from Tiryns that the Twelve Labours of Hercules were carried out. We enter the heavily fortified hilltop citadel through 10-metre-thick walls, which protect the Megaron or palace. It was highly decorated with frescoes and leads into the reception hall where Minoan columns once supported the roof. We continue to the Asclepion of Epidaurus, the classical healing sanctuary with a perfect acoustic in its well-preserved Theatre. The Peloponnese has long been a centre for wine making and we enjoy a farewell lunch at a family run winery. Returning to Nafplio, there is the option to visit the small archaeological museum, before the evening is at leisure. Overnight Nafplio.

MONDAY 26 JANUARY – DEPARTURE (B)

After check-out this morning there is a group transfer to Athens International Airport, in order to board flights departing after 2pm. Contact us at the time of booking your flights, to ensure they align with our arrival at the airport.

Elia Ermou Hotel 4* Athens, 10 nights

https://www.eliaermouhotel.com/

This centrally-located new hotel offers an excellent position for our touring, allowing us to do away with coaches on a number of days. Not far from the centre of Athens at Syntagma Square, the hotel has a panoramic terrace with views onto the Acropolis, and its rooms are well-sized for the historic centre of a European city.

The décor is the height of modernity, lending an at-times quirky feel to bathroom design and layout, but the quality, comfort and convenience are hard to beat.

Hotel Grande Bretagne 4* Nafplio, 2 nights

https://www.grandebretagne.com.gr

A boutique hotel conveniently located close to the waterfront and within walking distance to all of the attractions of Nafplio.

NB: hotels of a similar standard may be substituted.

• 12 nights’ accommodation at 4* hotels in Athens and Nafplio

• All breakfasts and 7 lunches or dinners

• All ground transport, guided tours and entrance fees to sites as mentioned in the itinerary, and tipping

• Expertise of and commentary by an Australian tour leader throughout, including a comprehensive series of talks in the hotel

• Expertise and assistance of a Greek-speaking national guide for the duration of the tour

A $1,000pp deposit is required at the time of booking to confirm your place on this tour.

We’ll invoice you for the balance due on 31 October 2025.

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