Fly from the United States to Athens, Greece.

Arrive in Athens. Spend the night at the Sofitel Airport Hotel.

This morning we depart for Amphiareion to visit this small uncrowded site with the remains of a Doric 4th century B.C. shrine to the healing diety Amphiaraus. We continue to Thermoplylae, stopping for lunch enroute. At Thermoplylae, a narrow pass defended by Leonidas and his Spartans during the Persian invasion of 480 B.C., we will be using Herodotus’ Histories as a guide to follow the vivid and dramatic depiction of the battle. After touring the site, continue to the town of Larissa for a three night stay at the Imperial Hotel. This evening there will be a welcome cocktail reception at the hotel, followed by dinner.

Morning at leisure. This afternoon we enjoy the magnificent scenery and charming, historic villages of the Pelion peninsula. Drive through Portaria, where the houses are beautifully painted in vibrant colors, to Makrynitsa, one of Greece’s prettiest villages that boasts a panoramic view of Volos. Continue to Volos to visit the Archaeological Museum, which houses items from the Neolithic age, dating from 6,500 B.C., as well as pieces from the Mycenaean period. Return to the Imperial Hotel for dinner and overnight.

Today we will enjoy a full day excursion to Meteora. About 1335, hermit monks seeking religious isolation and a secure retreat from turbulent times began to build small monasteries and chapels atop massive natural rock pillars that tower above the valley floor. Access was intentionally difficult, being made either by a series of vertical wooden ladders which could be retracted in an emergency or in a net drawn by rope and windlass to specially built towers overhanging the abyss. The monasteries soon became refuges from war and persecution. Visit a monastery and church, admiring their late Byzantine frescoes and touring the small museums. Return to the Imperial Hotel for dinner and overnight.

Visit the archaeological site at Dion, comprising sanctuaries honoring both Greek and foreign gods. Continue to Vergina, the ancient Macedonian royal capital of Aigai, to visit the ruins of the palace and the unique chamber tombs of Macedonian kings. Also visit the nearby museum. Continue to Thessaloniki where we embark Corinthian II in the late afternoon and sail.

Call at Canakkale for an excursion to famed Troy, which consists of nine cities, superimposed in rings, on a massive mound rising above the “windswept” Plain of Ilium. It was to one of these cities, as legend has it, that Paris abducted the beautiful Helen, igniting the Trojan War.

From the seaside town of Kusadasi, visit the great ancient city of Ephesus, settled since the second millennium B.C. One of the most important sites in the history of Asia Minor, Ephesus displays extensive ruins from the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. Visit the large theater in which the Ephesians rioted against St. Paul, the Library of Celsus with its imposing façade, and the Temple of Serapis. Continue to Priene, founded in 350 B.C., to see the Acropolis and Temple of Athena.

Corinthian II cruises into the flooded volcanic crater that forms the great circular bay of Santorini. From the sea, enjoy a beautiful view of the village of Phira, set atop a 1,000-foot-high palisade. In the second millennium B.C., volcanic eruptions shrouded the island in a blanket of pumice and ash, preserving many of the buildings in the town of Akrotiri, which centuries ago was inhabited by a sophisticated Bronze Age society. Visit the Nomikos Exhibition, where excellent reproductions of the frescoes at Akrotiri are on display, the Prehistoric History Museum of Thira, and drive to the unspoiled town of Oia.

From the port of Kali Limenes drive to the beautifully situated Minoan palace at Phaestos, noted for its breathtaking view of Mount Dikti and the Plain of Massara. Continue to the archaeological site at Gortyn, the Roman capital of Crete, where the Gortyn Law Code was written.

Heraklion, Crete’s main port, is the gateway to one of the finest achievements of Minoan civilization—the partially reconstructed Palace at Knossos. After visiting the Minoan site, continue to Heraklion’s Archaeological Museum, one of the world’s finest repositories of Minoan artifacts, where many of Knossos’ frescoes are on display.

Arrive at Nafplion for an excursion to Mycenae, one of the main centers of the Mycenaean world, an extraordinary civilization that flourished in the second millennium B.C. Homer referred to Mycenae, the traditional home of Agamemnon, as “rich in gold.” A tour of the citadel includes the royal beehive-shaped tombs that lie outside its walls, and the dramatic Lion Gate, which leads to the acropolis and grand palace. Continue to Homer’s “wall-girt” city of Tiryns, situated on a rocky summit, where imposing, massive walls of red and gray limestone still stand 3,400 years after construction. Also tour Argos, an important ancient city with remains that include the Mycenaean necropolis, the Sanctuary of Apollo and Athena, and the Agora.

Disembark and transfer to the Athens airport for return flights to the United States.