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ITALY & GREECE & CRUISE

Italy – Greece 12/1   12 days tour      Spring 2023/2024

From NEW YORK:

$4,245.00

From WASHINGTON DC:              

$4,399.00

If booked by July 31st, 2022 for the trips in 2023 and by July 31st, 2023 for the trips in 2024.

The price is based on 35 paying travelers and 6 free chaperones. For smaller independent groups we will adjust the price. The ratio for free chaperones stays 1/6. The lowest number of paying participants for an independent group is 10.

ROME, VATICAN, POMPEII, BARI, ATHENS, 4 DAYS CRUISE, ATHENS

Day-1. DEPARTURE CITY – ROME: Overnight flight to Rome.

Day-2. ROME: Arrive in Rome, settle into your hotel, and go for a walk with your tour director

Day-3. ROME: Start the day with a guided walking city tour of Ancient Rome. Visit the Colosseum, Forum Romanum, Arch of Constantine, Titus Arch, and Victor Emanuel Monument. In the afternoon visit the sites of Baroque Rome: Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Pinzio Hill, Piazza del Poppoli, and Villa Borghese.

Day- 4. ROME: Go for a guided visit of the impressive Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel, with its frescoes and ceiling by Michelangelo. Continue to St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest Catholic church in the world, with Michelangelo’s masterpiece La Pieta and Glory by Bernini. Free afternoon in Rome for some shopping or you may want to visit the Capitoline Museums displaying fine selections of Greek and Roman sculptures such as the Dying Gaul, or the mythological She-Wolf with Romulus and Remus.

Day-5. ROME – POMPEII – BARI: Depart Rome by bus and reach Pompeii. The ancient city was buried in ashes after the huge eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. Uncovered from the ashes, the city remains well preserved. Have a guided tour of the site and the museum. Continue to Bari and in the evening board your overnight ferry to Patras, Greece.

Day- 6. PATRAS – ATHENS: Upon arrival in Patras transfer by bus to Athens. Check into your centrally located hotel. Then start with a guided walking tour to see some of the known monuments: the Library, the Academy, the University, Cathedral of St. Denis, and a display of the ancient tombs found while constructing the Syntagma metro station. Dinner in a restaurant in Plaka.

Day- 7. CRUISE – MYKONOS: Transfer to Piraeus and board your cruise ship. Your vessel features a swimming pool, games room, 3 restaurants, 2 bars, dance music, duty-free shop, sauna, daily show programs, sun deck, etc. First, visit Mykonos, a magical island with famous windmills, famous whitewashed houses, busy restaurants, and shops. In the late afternoon board the ship and continue to Kusadasi.

Day-8. CRUISE – KUSADASI – PATMOS: Visit Kusadasi, a modern tourist resort, and then proceed to see the ruins of ancient Ephesus. It is the largest, and best-preserved Greco-Roman city in the world. On a guided tour see the famous Library, the main square, the public baths, and the amphitheater among many other structures. Continue to Patmos, the site of the Monastery of St. John the Divine.

Day-9. CRUISE – RHODES: Full day in Rhodes, where the Colossus, one of the seven wonders of the world once stood. The powerful walls which surround this old city are the finest examples of art in the 15th century. See the Palace of the Grand Masters of the Order of St. John, the Archeological Museum, the former Hospital of the Knights, and more.

Day-10. CRUISE – SANTORINI – CRETE: Arrive in Santorini, thought by some to be the lost continent of Atlantis. Walk to the top of the village, or use a cable-car or donkey (optional). Then to Crete, the largest of the Greek islands, and its capital Heraklion. Take a walking tour through this bustling city, and enjoy the many coffee and souvenir shops. Possible excursion to the Palace of Knossos. The place is the Bronze Age monument and was the center of the Minoan civilization on Crete. For an unknown reason, it was abandoned at the end of the Late Bronze age at c.1200 BC.

Day-11. CRUISE – PIRAEUS -ATHENS: Arrive in Pireus and disembark your cruise ship to take a bus ride to Athens. Continue with a guided city tour. Visit the Acropolis site with Parthenon and Temple of Athina Nike. Continue on to Constitution Square, the heartbeat of the city. Photo-stop at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and then on to Omonia Square and the old Stadium, built of marble and finished in c.330 BC.

Day-12. ATHENS – DEPARTURE: Transfer to the airport for your flight home.

PACKAGE INCLUDES:

Roundtrip airfare

5 nights in centrally located hotels (rooms with private bathrooms)
10 European buffet breakfasts
9 dinners (3 courses) +1 dinner at Plaka + 4 lunches and 4 snacks on the cruise

Overnight ferry Bari Patras (1 night)

5 DAYS CRUISE (4 nights)

Bus per program

GUIDED TOURS OF:
Ancient Rome, Baroque Rome, Vatican, Sistine Chapel, St Peter’s Basilica, Forum Romanum, Colosseum, Pompeii, Athens,  Mykonos, Kusadasi-Ephesus in Turkey

ENTRANCES TO:
Colosseum, Forum Romanum, Pantheon, Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, Pompeii, Pompeii Museum, Acropolis, Acropolis Museum, Ephesus

EXCURSIONS:
Pompeii, Ephesus 

ADDITIONAL SERVICES: a bus ride to the village of Mykonos, cable car, or donkey ride on Santorini are included.

OPTIONAL ADDITIONAL SERVICES: bus tour to the Monastery of St. John the Devine at Patmos, a bus tour to the Palace of Knossos on Crete, a walking tour on Rhodes, a bus tour to the Citadel of Lalissos on Rhodes, and cruise gratuities are not included.

All the additional not included services can be bought from the cruise company on the cruise ship or from E&L GROUP TOURS before the trip.

Expert local guides

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