Highlights of Greece and Italy Tour

Rugged and rounded rocks dominate Capri, an island that has been wowing visitors since the time of the Roman Republic. Sail across the Bay of Naples, passing shards of rock that stand like nature’s sentinels. Stop in the island’s caves and grottoes, stroll through the small village, and then ride on the funicular to Capri’s upper town, where you continue to celebrate the allure of old-world Italy. There are gardens to discover, pizzerias on the piazza, and so many Italian treasures on an island of vast natural splendor. The wind carries you back to Sorrento, and a second evening in the old town is yours to enjoy being immersed in a classically Italian atmosphere.

Traveling back to Naples you can stop at Pompeii, a legendary ruined city that has been excavated from the ashes of Mount Vesuvius. Villas and temples line broad streets, their columns stretching out towards the mighty volcano peering down. Take a closer look at Vesuvius and its history, and then continue the journey north to Naples, a city that’s become an unexpected masterpiece of Italian travel. Naples is more than the birthplace of pizza, as it is also a city of inspiring art and architecture and a place of wonderfully local experiences. The guide will provide an orientation, gathering your bearings for some self-guided exploration in the late afternoon and evening. Take a walk around, and you will find Naples to be a very local city, where you can live and breathe an Italy mostly untouched by tourism.

Stand on Piazza del Plebiscito and admire the building and see how their grandeur stretches out towards the broad boulevards. Stand within the sanctuary of the royal palace, and then go walking into staterooms where great works of art fill entire walls, and it is amazing the attention to detail. Also on a guided tour of Naples, you can explore the old theater, Teatro di San Carlo where gold glistens and the extravagance of a past age is everywhere to see. Keep walking through Naples, your guide taking you into the back streets where the smell of cafes and pizzerias keeps you entertained. Move into the afternoon, and there is a choice of art galleries to explore, each telling a tale of an art world that is just as impressive as the one in Rome and Florence.

Take the fast train to Rome and take your first steps into the city of legend with your hotel located in the old heart of empire and civilization. This first day in the Eternal City is at your leisure for a chance for you to explore without a map. Almost everywhere you turn, there is a new impression, the modern and antiquated juxtaposed on streets that grab all your senses. Sometimes it appears that you are lost, turning corners onto streets that all look the same. But then you make one more turn, and a towering monument comes into view, perhaps Trajan’s Column or the Colosseum. And then you realize what it means to be in a city with over 2,000 years of history.

Trajan’s Column rises like a legend from antiquity. Piazza Venezia has such elegance and spreads enchantment everywhere you look. The Arch of Constantine and Arch of Titus bring details etched all over the facades. Move next to the Temple of Venus, columns suggestive of what used to stand there before going onwards to the Colosseum and you can almost hear the atmosphere of yesteryear, chatter, and footsteps echoing around walls that have stood for so long. With your engaging local guide, the Eternal City really comes alive with so many whispers sneaking out from the walls, each with their own accompanying story. Today’s tour celebrates the famous icons of Rome, bringing you eye to eye with monuments that have defined the world.

Walk a little further through Rome, and you enter a new state, the Vatican City opening up in all its pomp and excess. Stand beneath the Sistine Chapel ceiling and look up at Michelangelo’s masterpiece, and then stroll through the Vatican Museums to connect the dots of art history with so many statues and canvases from around the Christian world. It is best to go early, just as the doors open, so you can view the art before the midday crowds start blunting the experience. Enjoy your lunch on a square that looks up at the Pope’s residence, and then return to the back streets for a free afternoon in Rome.

Fly across the Mediterranean to find that Greece has a fragrance entirely different from Italy. Touch down in Athens and travel to your small resort town on the seaside, Nauplia your base for the next two nights. Along the way, you can stop to admire the Corinth Canal, where the color of blue is quite remarkable. Stretching along the hillsides, Nauplia looks a little like Sorrento at first glance. But as you walk around and drink at the cafes, you will find the town to be distinctively Greek. Smells, sounds, the subtle feelings that exist down each street are very different in the sultry Mediterranean air.

Take a short morning walk along the harbor, the soft sound of lapping water accompanying you past grand yachts. Nauplia dates to the Middle Ages, but today you can go further back in time in Epidaurus nearby, a spellbinding old city with an amphitheater that is on a phenomenal scale like no other in Greece has been so expertly preserved. Mycenae maintains the feeling of times past, thick slabs of stone lining walkways and creating archways, imposing ruins showing the splendor of the Mycenaean civilization. That is 3,400 years ago now, but on an archaeological tour, you can still explore the artistic expression of a people that left a lasting legacy on the world. Of course, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as such a majestic citadel could not be anything but.

It will be a short drive back to Athens, and your local guide will narrate the journey through a bustling old capital. Artisanal plates spill out from small stores as traders shout down the narrow, cobbled lanes. The Acropolis looks down, glimpsed when you come to a crossroads in the oldest part of the city. As you walk, you will pass great odes to the past with the Olympic Stadium, Syntagma Square, and the Arch of Hadrian, and then move upwards to the Temple of Zeus. On your first day in Athens, you will stay beneath the Acropolis where the streets come alive with everyday life. You will be walking the lanes of history, and in some ways they are untouched, but in another way, they juxtapose modern vibrancy with an antiquated setting.

The next day, you will travel higher and up the hill to the ancient Acropolis, the birthplace of democracy as we know it. Marvel at the Parthenon, with so many columns built upon the rugged stone. When the sun shines through during early morning hours, it is easy to see why people would think this is a site for a godly purposes. Stand before the Temple of Athena Nike and see the megalithic columns, and then the most sacred of all ancient Greek temples, Erechtheion. Your afternoon and evening both days in the city are free, so you can explore sides to Athens that most interest you, your guide able to provide plenty of recommendations. Two days is enough in Athens as the bustle and traffic can become challenging, but in two days, it will feel like you have covered a thousand years of history and memories.

The Mediterranean glistens all kinds of blue as you take the ferry to Santorini, an island that is every bit as beautiful as the photos. Famous for the white and blue facades of Fira and Oia, Santorini is one of those places everyone should see. You feel privileged to be in such a pristine and preserved place, the white and blue houses standing on cliffs high above the water. Your hotel is in Fira, a town that looks like a postcard everywhere you turn. Nothing is planned for today, so you can take a walk along the steep streets, take your photos over the Mediterranean, sit at the cafes along the water, and feel the warm breeze through your air as you enjoy your welcome to the finest Greek island of all.

Spend the last couple of days exploring to find that there is more to the volcanic isle than just the blue domes and the white walls. Prehistoric settlements can be seen at the Akrotiri Excavations, suggestive of time before the ancient Greeks. Ride the funicular up Profitis Ilias Mountains for panoramic views that greet you when disembarking at the summit. Eat lunch in the quaint village of Pyrgos and find fresh seafood and local delicacies on the menu, accompanied by some Greek wine tasting. Then head off along cliff-lined shores and spend the afternoon at a beach of black volcanic sand. Back in Oia, the evening can go any which way you like with so many cute restaurants and lookout points in a compact, pedestrianized town.

The next day is mostly left free for more time to spend on the beach or along the harbor watching the world go by. As afternoon spills into the evening, you will board a catamaran and start sailing towards the sunset. Cruise beneath the cliffs and perhaps choose to go for a late swim in the Mediterranean. Wine and dinner are served on board, and you will probably be traveling on the power of the wind, sailing back into Oia as the stars start to shine. The cruise epitomizes Santorini’s travel experience, a chance to explore but most importantly, a time to relax in the most glorious of settings.

To depart from Greece, you will fly from Santorini to Athens to meet your international departure, but only after one last leisurely morning