CYCLADIC ISLANDS MYCONOS, PAROS, SANTORINI and ATHENS

Athens is by Itsself iconic! Chic and bohemian the same time, with a very strong energy, which is difficult to explain it, if you don’t live it. The unique Acropolis up to a hill in the middle of the town, the artistic old town, Plaka, the central flea markets with amazing local street food, compose one of the best urban destinations. Mykonos…maybe the most world known Greek island! Cycladic sun-touched cubic houses, Aegean crystal waters, the “out of a travel book” windmills and the most cosmopolitan town (Chora) of the Cyclades. Paros, the island with the amazing whitewashed villages, next to  traditional little ports with colorful fishboats. Don’t miss to taste the local specialty, the famous fish soup, bouillabaisse. Santorini! An active volcano in the middle of the sea makes the sunset over Caldera one of the best in the world, the dark grey earth is the ideal background for the white houses and its wine..great, fabled all over the world.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • ATHENS SIGHTSEEING – Constitution Square (Syntagma), House of Parliament, Memorial to the Unknown Soldier, National Library, Hadrian’s Arch, Temple of Olympian Zeus, Panathenaic Stadium (first modern Olympic Games), Acropolis, Propylaea, Temple of Athena Nike, Erechtheion, Parthenon, Acropolis Museum
  • MYKONOS Island 
  • PAROS Island
  • Santorini Island

TOUR DETAILS

  • Tout Code: Pure Cyclades
  • Duration: 12 days / 11 nights
  • Operating: Daily from 20 April to 20 October

INCLUDED

  • All transfers with luxury private car or minivan
  • Hotels 3* or 4* on BB base, 3 nights in Athens, 2 nights in Mykonos, 3 nights in Paros & 3 nights in Santorini. (Athens hotels near Syntagma sq. within walking distance from Acropolis, Plaka and Monastiraki)
  • Private Athens city tour with Acropolis and Acropolis Museum with official English speaking guide
  • Meet & Greet at the airport on the arrival for Welcome and sharing informations
  • All entrance fees to archaeological sites and museums
  • A dinner in Paros, to taste the local specialty of Bouillabaisse fish soup.

NOT INCLUDED

  • Flight tickets or Ferry tickets
  • Accommodation taxes (1,5€ per room per day for 3*hotel / 3€ per day per room for 4* hotel)                                                                                                                                                                                                           

*All packages are flexible and dynamic for any changes according to any personal needs and desires upon request.

Welcome to Athens

1st day: Arrival to Athens a/p, welcome from our staff at the a/p, share informations and private transfer to your hotel. The rest of the day at leisure.In the afternoon you can walk (escorted upon request) at the Athens old town, Plaka. One of the most worth-seeing areas of Athens, where the architecture mirrors the Greek tradition and culture. On the way you have the chance to shop Greek folk-art products and taste our local street food, souvlaki. OPTIONAL Dinner at a traditional music tavern in Plaka with Greek dances performance, local dishes and greek wine. The best way to introduce you Greece is through our culinary and our unique way in nightlife! Overnights in Athens.

2nd day: Athens full day sightseeing, Constitution Square (Syntagma), the House of Parliament, the Memorial to the Unknown Soldier and the National Library. Driving down Herod Atticus st., you will see the Evzones in their picturesque uniform and the Presidential Palace. On your way to the Acropolis you will see the Hadrian’s Arch, visit the Temple of Olympian Zeus and you will make a short stop at the Panathenaic Stadium where the first modern Olympic Games took place in 1896. Then Acropolis, the architectural masterpieces of the Golden Age (5th century BC) of Athens, Propylaea, Temple of Athena Nike, Erechtheion, and finally Parthenon, an ode to civilization. We complete the visit with the New Museum of Acropolis. Tonight you can OPTIONAL dine at a traditional music tavern in Plaka with Greek dances performance, local dishes and greek wine. The best way to introduce you Greece is through our culinary and our unique way in nightlife! Overnights in Athens.

3rd day: Morning private transfer to Piraeus port to take the ferry to Mykonos Island. On the arrival private transfer to hotel and rest of the day is free to explore Mykonos! Wander around the colorful and busy streets of Chora (the capital town of the island), with the most glamorous of all, Matogianna street, with brand name stores and gourmet restaurants. Choose a small tavern to try local specialties like Kopanisti – a pepper flavored creamy cheese, the island’s gastronomic trademark or the famous Mykonian sausages, made from local pork. On this sun-touched island there are plenty of dining options to choose. Mykonos is also known of the parties who lasts until the early hours. Don’t miss to experience this nightlife phenomenon and to get little to no sleep while you are there. Overnight in Mykonos.

4th day: Free day in Mykonos! Enjoy a branch in the picturesque Little Venice or walk the pebble streets of Mykonos, swim at the most cosmopolitan beaches of Greece, Paradise beach and Super Paradise beach, where parties start from 4pm every day with some of the world’s top DJs or if you prefer a more family orientated beach head to Ornos and Psarou with clean shallow waters and seaside restaurants to taste fresh fish. There are also less organized beaches like Agia Anna, Kapari, Houlakia and Agios Stefanos. Be sure that no matter wich beach you going to choose because every beach in Mykonos has crystal, clear waters and golden sands, just like a beach out of paradise. OPTIONAL take a Mykonos Island Half Day Cruise including the tiny archaeological gem of Delos island.

5th day: After breakfast private transfer to Mykonos port to catch the ferry to Paros island. Arrival and private transfer to hotel. Paros located in the heart of the Cyclades. Island’s main port and also the first village in the island is Parikia. The old town of Parikia is picturesque, with a Venetian castle standing on a hill at the center of the village, offering an amazing view of Parikia. Don’t forget to admire a major Byzantine monument in Greece, The Church of Panagia Ekatontapyliani (the church of 100 doors), located in the center of Parikia and built in the 4th century.

6th day: Sun-drenched beaches like Pounda and Chryssi Akti, waiting every year the visitors who love the sun, the daily beach parties and the water sports to join them! But there are also other beaches, most of them located close to Naoussa village, absolutely worth seeing like Kolymbithres, maybe the best beach on the island or the ideal for families beach Sant Maria, Piso Livadi and Logaras with crystal shallow waters and seaside restaurants. OPTIONAL (our suggestion) take the opportunity to join an erhilarating tour all around the coast of the island by a boat. In the afternoon you can visit the villages of Paros. First choice is Lefkes, a small village hidden in mountens, full of white houses and clinging bouganvillas. Ther you can visit the Museum of Aegean Folk Culture, a great way to discover the Aegean world. Another lovely village is Piso Livadi, a small fishing village less trendy than Naoussa but with its quite and family atmoshere to make it an ideal choice for a fresh grilled fish.

7th day: Today we suggest to visit Antiparos, the sister island to Paros. Every 30 minutes a boat from Pounda and Parikia getting you to this tiny paradise (it takes only 10 minutes!). A refreshing dive into turquoise waters is the best alternative choise to touristic beaches. Tonight you will enjoy a dinner in a local fish restaurant in Naoussa! Next to the traditional port of Naoussa, with the colorful fishinf boats called Kaikia, you will taste the local famous specialty of Bouillabaisse soup (fish soup). Naoussa is the prettiest place in Paros and one of the prettiest villages of the Cyclades! A cosmopolitan and chic fishing village with stone paved streets, flowered whitewashed houses and luxury brand name stores in an absolutely harmony with the traditional character of the island.

8th day: After breakfast you will be transfered to Paros port to catch the ferry to Santorini island, to continue this magical cycladic hopping! Santorini..it is difficult to find the words to talk about this island..everything sounds too little! There is no denying the uniqueness of this destination. A Caldera (crater) in the middle of the sea, Santorini’s trademark landscape, is what left from a large volcanic eruption thousands of years ago and made actually the whole island a huge natural geological museum. Today this caldera is offering the best sunsets in the world and the unique volcanic-sand beaches. 

9th day: Fira is the capital of Santorini. Walk in and around Fira is the only way to savor its beauty and walk the edge of the caldera is the only way to admire its views! Walking down the 587 steps you reach the small port of Fira, Skala. For the return you can take Santorini’s cable car. The next village called Firostefani and located about 15 minutes walk from Fira. After halh-hour walk from Fira you reach Imerovigli, the highest point of the caldera edge. In Santorini there is a magical hour which is strongly connecting in people’s mind with a magical place. The hour when the sun go down and the sky turn these incredible shades of pink, purple and orange, the only place that you should be is in Oia. Oia is a beautiful village, where the whitewashed houses and the small cherches with blue dome, provide an ideal background of the warm colors palette which gives the sun when dive into the dark blue Aegean sea. The best place to watch the sunset in Oia is the Byzantine Castle. Only a few minutes away from the cosmopolitan Oia, do not miss to visit the old wineries of Finikia. These old wineries have been converted into homes and painted in orche, blue and pink, contrary to the cycladic architecture, compose today a fairytail settlement that remind a painting. Also below Oia located a small fishing village called Amoudi Bay. You can get there walking down the footpath from Oia but you can also drive there. The islanders the best swimming spot in Santorini but not a beach. Just jump from the rocks into the amazing emerald waters. Definitely the seaside taverns is the best choise in Santorini if you like fresh fishes.

10th day: Swimming in Santorini is an exhilarating experience, a refreshing natural spa in Red, White and Black sand beaches with volcanic pebbles and impressive lunar landscapes. Red beach is Santorini’s most famous beach and fairly so! Emerald-blue waters and unusual red sand which comes from the pulverized volcanic rocks. Perivolos, Perissa and Kamari are large beaches with black volcanic sand. They are organized, lined with beach bars and taverns. And of course Vlychada beach, one of the most unusual beaches with black sand and white lunar cliffs making a unique – out of the world- landscape. Vlychada beach is a semi-organized beach. In the afternoon you can visit some of the vineyards of the island or take OPTIONAL a Wine Tour (a very popular activity in Santorini) and taste excellent wines-known as some of the best in the world. Santorini with thousands of years of wine-making tradition, remains the home of a major wine industry, based on the indigenous grape variety of Assyrtiko. If you decide to visit the wineries on your own we suggest the Santo Wines (maybe the most popular) and also Venetsanos Winery. Don’t miss to taste Santorini’s delicate products. Because of the climate and the volcanic soil, the traditional products of Santorini growing in perfect conditions and giving tastes and flavors that make the island a gastronomic paradise. Some of them as the cherry tomatos, the wine and the yellow split peas-called fava-, have been labeled as Protective Destination of Origin products by E.U.

11th day: Today befor departure you can OPTIONAL join a Volcand and Hot Springs Boat tour. A very popular tour in Santorini, you will stay on the volcano for about an hour where you can walk to the active craters and then you visit Palaia Kameni for the hot springs and the famous mud baths. Mid-day departure from Santorini island to Piraeus port. Private transfer to Athens hotel and overnight.

12th day: Private transfer to Athens airport El. Venizelos to catch your flight back home. End of the tour.