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10 Day Exploring Athens, Thessaloniki and the Islands | ARZA World
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10-Day Exploring Athens, Thessaloniki and the Islands

Land + Air
$3,860
Land only
Greece Tours

Explore Athens, a place of ancient culture and modern Jewish history. See Athen's ancient structures -- where people worshipped and admired the Greek gods of yore. Understand the history of the Jews of Greece, a community that was established with the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and expulsion of Jews from the ancient land of Israel. Meet Greek Jews who are recording their long and peaceful history in the country; a community almost completely destroyed during World War Two.

Program Highlights Need to Know Register Now
 

Tour Highlights

  • Visit the new Acropolis Museum
  • Visit Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum
  • Meet with Jewish community members
  • Visit the Benakai Museum
  • Walk through the old Jewish section of Thessaloniki
  • Drive thtough the Saronic Gulf to Cape Sounion
  • Evening event with Greek music
  • 4-day islands cruise including: Mykonos, Kusadasi, Patmos, Rhodes, Herkalion and Santorini


 

Trip Includes


  • 8 nights accommodation in selcted hotels
  • 4 nights in Hilton Athens
  • 4 nights onboard Louis MV Aquamarine
  • Breakfast daily 6 lunches and 8 dinners
  • Sightseeing per itinerary in a modern air-conditioned motor coach with panoramic windows
  • Services of a friendly and professional English-speaking Expedition Educator throughout the trip
  • Entrance fees per itinerary
  • Airport transfers on arrival and departure
  • City taxes and VAT
  • All hotel portage and tipping included

Day One
Wednesday - DEPARTURE

 

  • Depart the U.S. on your way to Greece.

Overnight: Flight


Day Two
Thursday - Arrival in Greece

 

  • Arrive in Athens.
  • Welcome by Da'at representative, assistance with arrival formalities and transfer to your hotel (included in package price).
  • Take a city tour of Athens and gain an appreciation of this ancient city, one of the world's oldest. See thePanathenic Stadium, known as the Kallimarmaro, Temple of Olympian Zeus, the neoclassical Greek Parliament, Syntagma or Constitution Square, Hadrian's Arch and the ancient Agora.
  • Visit the Acropolis and the New Acropolis Museum -- the most extensive ruins are from the Golden Age of Athens but there are also remains thought to date from the Late Bronze age.
  • See the Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum, with works inspired by ancient jewelry design to modern commissions and private collections of jewelry and decorative arts from all over the world.
  • Da'at Encounter: Welcome dinner and dialogue with the Jewish Community of Athens, discussing the past, Present and Future.

Overnight: Athens


Day Three
Friday - Athens and the Jewish Culture

  • Breakfast at your hotel.
  • Da'at Encounter: VIP visit to the Jewish Museum of Greece. Originally founded in 1977, it has developed an impressive collection and helped in the recording, research and preservation of the history of the Jews of Greece.
  • Guided visit through the Jewish community compound, including the Etz Haim Synagogue, home to the Romaniote community of Jews who are first recorded as living in Greece shortly after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 ACE; and the Sephardic community's Beth Shalom, the site for the new Holocaust Memorial in Athens.
  • Da'at Encounter: Meet and dialogue with community leaders over cocktails in the courtyard of the Jewish community compound.
  • Benaki Museum: Private VIP visit and chance to view this extensive collection of Greek art from pre-history until today.
  • Shabbat dinner with members of the Athens Jewish community.
  • Optional walking tour through the Plaka, the oldest neighborhood in Athens with its numerous pedestrian areas, quaint shops and coffeehouses.    

Overnight: Athens
 


Day Four
Saturday - Thessaloniki and Jewish History

  • Breakfast at your hotel.
  • Transfer to the airport.
  • Departure from Athens and arrival in Thessaloniki.
  • Guided visit through the Jewish sites of Thessaloniki, including Villa Allatini, Villa Mordoch, the Hippocrates Hospital, Museum of the Jewish Presence in Thessaloniki and the Yad Le'Zicharon Synagogue, still in daily use today by the local community, which numbers about 1,300 people. During the Ottoman period, Jews accounted for almost half of the local population but numbers dwindled after a catastrophic city fire in 1917. The remaining 50,000 Jews who were successful and well-integrated into local society were almost all murdered during the Holocaust.
  • Continue your tour of Thessaloniki including the Great Wall and the White Tower, remains from the city's Byzantine period.
  • Da'at Encounter: Meet and dialogue with members of the local Jewish community at the Thessaloniki Jewish Community Center -- The Jews of Thessaloniki: The Glory of Yesterday and the Challenges of Today.
  • Transfer for the airport.
  • Departure flight to Athens.
  • Arrive in Athens.

Overnight: Athens     


Day Five
Sunday - View From Poseidon's Perch

  • Breakfast at your hotel.
  • Enjoy a scenic drive from Athens along the coastal road and views of the Saronic Gulf.  Pass through some of Athens's upscale, suburbs of Glyfada, Vouliagmeni and Varkiza. Continue on to Cape Sounion, home to the 5th century BCE, Temple of Poseidon. Dedicated to the Greek god of the sea, Poseidon, it is perched high above the Aegean Sea with panoramic views that extend for miles.
  • Return to Athens.
  • Farewell dinner and program.
  • Enjoy an evening of Greek music and dance at Plaka.

Overnight: Athens


Day Six
Monday - Cruise Day One

  • Breakfast at the hotel.
  • Check out of your hotel.
  • Transfer to Piraeus - embark on your cruise.
  • Lunch onboard.
  • Arrive at Mykonos just in time for the evening's festivities. Famous for its nightlife, Mykonos will charm you with its famous windmills, whitewashed buildings and quaint streets.
  • Free time at leisure.
  • Dinner onboard.
  • Depart Mykonos.

Overnight: Cruise


Day Seven
Tuesday - Cruise Day Two

  • Breakfast onboard.
  • Arrive in Kusadasi, a resort town on Turkey's Aegean coastline.
  • Free time at leisure, exploring the town, inhabited as early as 3000 BCE.
  • Optional half-day tours (not included in package price):
    • Ephesus and the house of Virgin Mary (Not suitable for passengers with walking difficulties). Visit this site, reputed to be Mary's home when she was brought to Ephesus with St. John after the resurrection.
    • Ancient Ephesus, home to magnificent Roman ruins - the most extensive in the Western Mediterranean - as well as other important antiquities from Ephesus's long history.
  • Lunch onboard.
  • Depart to Patmos.
  • Arrive in Patmos, where there are remains found on the island that date back to the Bronze Age, and which is also home to the Monastery of St. John the Divine and is said to be the place where St. John received his revelation.
  • Dinner onboard.
  • Depart Patmos.

Overnight: Cruise


Day Eight
Wednesday - Cruise Day Three

  • Breakfast onboard.
  • Early morning arrival in Rhodes, the largest and most populous of the Dodecanese Islands.
  • Free time at leisure to explore the Roman ruins as well as the Jewish Quarter of Rhodes, once home to a thriving community that was almost completely destroyed during the Holocaust.
  • Optional half-day tours (not included in package price):
    • Rhodes and Lindos combined: Both cities are places where ancient peoples lived, fought and built their monuments, many of which survive in part to this day. 
    • Old City and Filerimos: The Old City is where the Jewish community once lived, at one time nearly one-third of the population of Rhodes was Jewish. The synagogue, Kahal Shalom, established in 1557, is the oldest one in Greece and is still standing in the Old City. In Filerimos, see the remains of a Byzantine church and an early Christian basilica as well as other fascinating ruins that lay on this hilltop about 35 miles from the city of Rhodes.
  • Lunch onboard.
  • Depart to Heraklion (Crete).
  • Dinner onboard.

Overnight: Cruise


Day Nine
Thursday- Cruise Day Four

  • Breakfast onboard.
  • Arrival in Heraklion, Crete, in the early morning.
  • Morning at leisure in Crete's largest city, first established by the Saracens in 824 ACE and close to the famous ruins of Knossos from Minoan times.  
  • Return to the ship for lunch onboard.
  • Arrive in Santorini - a group of volcanic islands that formed as a result of the Minoan eruption about 3,600 years ago.
  • Leisure time to explore the island and admire the colorful, sandy beaches, marked by the lava flows that ran underneath, forever changing the look of the sand. Ruins remain from the Minoan as well as later Hellenic periods.
  • Dinner onboard.
  • Depart to Piraeus.

Overnight: Cruise


Day Ten
Friday- Depart Greece

  • Breakfast onboard.
  • Arrive in Piraeus.
  • Transfer to Athens airport (included in package price).
  • Departure flight back home.

 

Need to Know

  • Tour prices are per person in U.S. dollars. All hotel accommodations, motor coach transportation, special dinners, sightseeing, admissions, luggage handling and the services of local guides, drivers, and the Expedition Educator are included.
  • Hotel Accommodations: The tour price includes all hotel accommodations, in hotel rooms with private baths. Our standard is to provide the best available hotels while considering value. Although the level of the accommodations may differ slightly from hotel to hotel, we are committed to your comfort. Two-bed rooms are reserved in most hotels. Triples are two-bed rooms with a rollaway cot where available and are not recommended when considering the comfort of those in the room. King-size beds are not available in most hotels; what is considered king-size usually consists of two single beds pushed together and made up separately, but with one headboard. Some two-bed rooms may have two twin - not full- or queen-size - beds.
  • Meals are included as specified in the itinerary.
  • Expedition Educator: All trips are conducted by our Expedition Educators or local guides who remain with the group throughout the tour.
  • Gratuities Included: All gratuities for restaurant and hotel staff.
  • Luggage Responsibility: All tour packages allow one piece of luggage per person and one carry-on bag. Excess luggage will be subject to charge of up to $100 per piece. The Travel Agent and/or Tour Operator shall not be held responsible for any damage to or loss of luggage/personal items. All damage/loss must be reported at time of incident and documented in writing by local authorities for submission to your insurance company.


Not Included


  • Airfare to the tour departure point and from the tour ending point is not included. Airfare may be purchased from us for travel originating in the United States. Please see Flights tab in the right-side toolbar.
  • Porterage fees at Piraeus (3 euro per bag) is not included.
  • Shore excursions and tipping on board.
  • Personal Expenses: All personal expenses such as: laundry, valet service, cables, telephone calls and postage are not included.
  • Guide and Driver Gratuities:
    • 4 seater - $70  (i.e. 2 pax) - per day
    • 7 seater - $90 (i.e. 3-5 pax) - per day
    • 10 seater - $110 (i.e. 5-7 pax) - per day
    • 10-19 passengers: Guide $10, driver $5 - per participant per day
    • 20 passengers and more: Guide $8, driver $4 - per participant per day 


       

Additional Information


  • Airline Security Measures: In the U.S., you must provide identification in the form of a passport at the time of airport check-in for travel to international destinations. Your passport name must match the name on your tour reservation and airline ticket or you may be denied boarding.
  • If you are traveling from an airport outside the jurisdiction of the U.S, you will need to determine what travel documentation and identification is required for that particular airport.
  • Due to heightened security regulations, certain items such as a metal nail file, pocketknife, cigarette lighter or tweezers, and some liquid, gel, or aerosol items may not be permitted in your carry-on luggage. Please call your airline prior to departure to obtain current information on non-permissible carry-on items and recommended airport check-in times. You may also wish to visit the Transportation Security Administration website at www.tsa.gov to obtain more information on acceptable identity documentation and prohibited luggage items.
  • Holidays and Museum Closures - Museum visits and personal shopping time may be disrupted due to unforeseen circumstances or the many religious, state and local holidays locally observed in the destinations being visited.
  • Photography During Tours: We will occasionally use photographs taken by fellow guests or your trip director for promotional purposes. If you prefer that your photo not be used in any marketing activities, please notify us at the start of your tour.
 
11 Day Exploring Athens, Thessaloniki and the Islands
2010Land/Cruise OnlyStatus 
Oct 20$3860On Sale
 
   
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