Athens and the Cyclades: Mykonos and Santorini

Arrival at Athens Eleftherios Venizelos Airport and transfer to your hotel.
Depending on your flight time you can rest or take a first walk through Plaka and Monastiraki. At dusk, climbing the Areopagus rock or a rooftop terrace to watch the Acropolis light up is a good way to begin the trip.

After breakfast the full-day guided tour begins. We start at the Acropolis to stay ahead of the heat: the Theatre of Dionysus and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus on the south slope, then the Propylaea, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Parthenon and the Erechtheion with its Caryatids.
We then walk down to the Acropolis Museum, whose top-floor gallery follows the exact orientation of the temple and reassembles the frieze. In the afternoon, a panoramic drive: the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the marble Panathenaic Stadium where the first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896, Syntagma Square with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the changing of the guard, and finally the lanes of Plaka and the Monastiraki flea market.

The day is entirely yours. The National Archaeological Museum, the Ancient Agora with the Temple of Hephaestus, the Kerameikos cemetery or the Museum of Cycladic Art are the classic choices.
Alternatively, join the optional Cape Sounion excursion, following the coast road to the Temple of Poseidon for sunset. Late afternoon also suits the funicular up Lykavittos Hill, or a wander through Anafiotika, the pocket of island-style houses tucked under the Acropolis.

Pick-up at the hotel and transfer to the port of Piraeus. The fast ferry crossing to Mykonos takes between two and a half and five hours depending on the season and the vessel, with the Cycladic coastlines in view for much of the way.
On arrival at Mykonos port you are met and taken to your hotel. The afternoon is free in Hora, the island's capital: whitewashed houses, blue doors and shutters, the Kato Mili windmills and the Little Venice quarter with its tavernas right at the water's edge. The church of Panagia Paraportiani is among the island's most photographed buildings.

A free day. The southern beaches — Platis Gialos, Paraga, Elia — are reached by local bus or sea taxi; the north coast, with Ftelia and Agios Sostis, is quieter and windier.
Alternatively, take the optional excursion to Delos: about 30 minutes by boat from the port to an island that was one of the great sanctuaries of the ancient world and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You see the Terrace of the Lions, the sacred lake and the houses with their mosaics. The whole island is an archaeological site: there is almost no shade, and the last return boat runs to a strict schedule.

Transfer to the port according to the ferry schedule. The Mykonos–Santorini crossing takes two to three hours by fast ferry and usually calls at Paros, Naxos or Ios on the way.
On Santorini the boats dock at Athinios port; the road climbing from there to the caldera rim is a sequence of hairpins and delivers the island's first startling view. After checking in, the rest of the day is free in Fira: the path along the caldera edge, the Museum of Prehistoric Thera, and the terraces looking out to the volcanic islets in the late afternoon.

A full-day guided island tour. In the morning we visit the excavations at Akrotiri: a Bronze Age town buried by the great eruption of the seventeenth century BC and preserved with its two- and three-storey houses, its streets and its drainage system. The site now sits under a roof, which keeps it shaded and cool.
We then climb inland towards Pyrgos and Profitis Ilias to visit a winery. Santorini's vines are pruned into low basket shapes (kouloura) to shelter the fruit from the wind; the tasting covers assyrtiko and the sweet vinsanto. In the afternoon we reach Oia on the caldera rim: blue-domed churches, the ruins of the castle and the sunset. Return to Fira in the evening.

After breakfast, transfer to Santorini airport or to Athinios port according to your flight or ferry time.
If you leave later in the day you can store your luggage at the hotel and take a last walk through Fira or have a coffee on a terrace above the caldera. Our services end with the transfer.