Premium Greece Cyclades Islands

Premium Greece Cyclades Islands

9 Days Starting in Athens and ending in Santorini

Visiting: Athens, Paros, Naxos, Santorini

Tour operator:

Intrepid Travel

Tour code:

ZVPI

Guide Type:

Fully Guided

Group size:

1 - 12

Physical rating:

Low

Age range:

15-99 years

Trip Styles:

Adventure Tours

From: $4565

NB: Prices correct on 22-Dec-2024 but subject to change.

Tour Overview

Let the charm of the Cyclades wash over you on this 9-day Premium island adventure in Greece. Start off in the storied city of Athens, explore the villages of Paros, uncover ancient riches in Naxos and soak up the views in Santorini. Hike a caldera, tour wineries, sample local kitron and take a cooking class with organic ingredients. Travel with a passionate local leader who’s eager to share the magic of their country as you discover fascinating histories, incredible food and welcoming locals.

Highlights

  • Taste a dazzling variety of Greek food during Exclusive Experiences, including a visit to an olive oil press museum Naxos, a cooking class complete with local kitron tasting, and an afternoon of wine tasting in Santorini at two different wineries.

  • Take a guided hike along Santorini’s legendary caldera, passing steep cliff faces and unbelievable views as you learn about the geological history of the island along the way.

  • Learn the tricks of the trade in Naxos during an Exclusive Experience: take an in-depth cooking class with a local, using organic ingredients from her garden to create regional specialties which you’ll then enjoy for lunch.

  • See Paros through the eyes of a local during an enlightening Exclusive Experience. Explore the island with an expert guide who will share insider knowledge on the island’s history and charming villages.

  • Soak up the magic of Santorini from your whitewashed Feature Stay hotel, offering spacious rooms, modern amenities, an expansive swimming pool and a prime location against a stunning backdrop.

  • By travelling on this trip, you’ll directly support our Intrepid Foundation partner, Amurtel, who provide a safe space for refugee women and children in Greece. Donations help them provide antenatal and postnatal care programs run by qualified midwives.

  • Learn the tricks of the trade in Naxos during an Exclusive Experience – take an in-depth cooking class with a local, using organic ingredients from her garden to create regional specialties which you’ll then enjoy for lunch.

  • See Paros through the eyes of a local during an enlightening Exclusive Experience. Explore the island with an expert guide who will share insider knowledge on the island’s history and villages.

  • Soak up the beauty of Santorini from your whitewashed Feature Stay hotel, offering spacious rooms, modern amenities, an expansive swimming pool and a prime location against a scenic backdrop.

  • Taste a variety of Greek foods throughout the trip, including a visit to an olive oil press museum in Naxos, a cooking class complete with local kitron tasting and an afternoon of wine tasting in Santorini.

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Itinerary

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Day 1: Athens

Location: Athens

Accommodation: Athenaeum Luxury Hotel or similar

Meals Included: dinner

Kalimera! Welcome to Greece. Your adventure begins in Athens, Greece’s capital. There’s a lot to experience in this ancient city, so arriving a few days early is highly recommended. When you arrive at the airport, you’ll be met by a local representative and transferred to your hotel, where you’ll have a welcome meeting at 6 pm. If you arrive early, you might like to visit Athens’ iconic Acropolis or walk around the National Garden. After your meeting, get a taste of Greece’s celebrated cuisine during dinner with your group at a local restaurant and perhaps toast the beginning of the adventure with a glass of ouzo.

Included Activities:
-Athens - Welcome Dinner at Local Restaurant
-Complimentary Arrival Transfer

Optional Activities:
-Athens - Acropolis Museum
-Athens - National Gallery of Athens
-Athens - Half day trip to Cape Sounio
-Athens - Numismatic Museum
-Athens - National Archaeological Museum
-Athens - Acropolis Archeological site (tickets must be booked online)

Day 2: Paros

Location: Paros

Accommodation: Hill Mill Paros Hotel or similar

Meals Included: breaksfast

This morning, you’ll be transported to Athens' port at Piraeus, where you’ll board a ferry to Paros – a beautiful and relaxed island with a layered history. Ferries are a great way to travel between the islands and are essential to many remote islands in Greece's archipelagos. In the afternoon, get to know Paros during an island tour with a local guide. Start off in Parikia, the island’s main town, where you’ll visit the Ekatontapiliani church, also known as the Church of a Hundred Doors. Drive through the island’s mainland, passing by ancient marble quarries, then stop off at the village of Lefkes. Take some time to explore the village surrounded by verdant hills, olive and pine trees, then call into a cultural centre in Marpissa to learn about island life from a group of local women. Carry on to Naoussa – a village known for its whitewashed alleys, Venetian castle and scenic port.

Included Activities:
-Paros - Highlights of Paros Half Day Island Tour with Local Guide

Day 3: Paros

Location: Paros

Accommodation: Hill Mill Paros Hotel or similar

Meals Included: breaksfast

The day is yours to uncover more of Paros’ charms. There’s certainly no shortage of things to see and do on the island. You might like to take a guided morning hike along the coast – starting off at a fishing village and weaving through some of the island’s best beaches. In the afternoon, you’ll have the option to visit the nearby island of Antiparos – a favourite secret holiday spot for royals and celebrities. Or maybe you’d like to spend the day relaxing on one of Paros’ many beaches, cooling off with dips in Aegean Sea. Speak to your leader for more information about the activities on offer today and for tips on how to make the most of this island.

Optional Activities:
-Paros - Catamaran Day Trip to Antiparos and Despotiko with Lunch
-Paros - Farm Visit Tour and Tastings
-Paros - Public Ferry from Paros to Antiparos ( Summer months RTN ticket)

Day 4: Naxos

Noah Schneider

Location: Naxos

Accommodation: Naxos Princess or similar

Meals Included: breaksfast, dinner

Say goodbye to Paros this morning and catch a short ferry to Naxos. The largest of the Cyclades islands, Naxos has something for everyone – from beaches to an Old Town and hundreds of years of Venetian history. Take some time to settle in, then regroup in the late afternoon to learn about the town. Visit the Portara with a local guide – the giant marble doorway is the only remaining part of an unfinished temple of Apollo from 530 BC. Naxos is unique in the fact that it is the Cyclades’ only self-sufficient island, meaning all produce is grown and available on the island without imports. Because of this, the cuisine is hyperlocal and differs to the rest of the country. Try it for yourself this evening during a group dinner, where you will learn all about the regional specialties.

Included Activities:
-Naxos - Old Town Walk & Portara Guided Tour

Day 5: Naxos

Athanasios Athanasiadis

Location: Naxos

Accommodation: Naxos Princess or similar

Meals Included: breaksfast, lunch

Drive to Kaloxylos in the heart of the island’s biggest olive grove and one of the oldest in the world. Here, tour an olive oil press museum to learn about the importance of olive oil to Greek culture and traditional extraction methods. After your visit, you’ll put your new knowledge to good use as you travel to the nearby village of Galini for a hands-on cooking class. Meet with a local who will share her culinary knowledge with the group, leaving you with recipes you can cook up at home. First, collect fresh ingredients from your host’s organic garden and learn about cultivation and farming on Naxos. Then put the ingredients together to create a Naxian dish from scratch, enjoying the fruits of your labour for lunch. Pair your lunch with a tasting of local kitron. This citron liqueur, with a history stretching back to the 19th century and produced exclusively on Naxos, offers a taste of the island’s culture.

Included Activities:
-Naxos - Cooking Class at a Local Farm
-Naxos - Kaloxylos Olive Oil Press

Day 6: Naxos

ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣ ΓΑΡΟΦΑΛΑΚΗΣ

Location: Naxos

Accommodation: Naxos Princess or similar

Meals Included: breaksfast

Today is free to explore more of Naxos as you wish. You may like to head to one of the island’s beaches or discover more of its history at a local museum. The Archaeological Museum of Naxos in Chora Naxos dates back to the 17th century and houses artefacts from the Neolithic to the early Christian periods, and the Geological Museum of Apeiranthos digs up the natural history of the island. If you’re after a sweet treat, walnut cake flavoured with local kitron is an excellent regional specialty. Your leader will be on hand to help tailor a day that suits your interests.

Optional Activities:
-Naxos - Koufonissia & Rina Cave Cruise
-Naxos - Mykonos and Delos One Day Cruise from Naxos
-Naxos - Highlights Bus Tour with Free Time for Lunch at Apeiranthos

Day 7: Santorini

Location: Santorini

Accommodation: El Greco Resort Hotel (Feature Stay) or similar

Meals Included: breaksfast

Depart Naxos in the morning and catch a ferry to Santorini. When you arrive in Santorini's capital, Fira, you’ll be met and transferred to your Feature Stay hotel – a whitewashed building in traditional Cycladic style, El Greco Resort wraps around the year-round swimming pool. Featuring modern, spacious rooms, this hotel also sits in a prime location for exploring Santorini. It’s only a short walk from the Archaeological Museum of Thera, so perhaps head there to learn about how previous civilisations lived on the island. Tonight, make sure you catch Santorini's world-famous sunset.

Optional Activities:
-Santorini - Akrotiri Archaeological site
-Santorini - Thira Prehistoric Museum

Day 8: Santorini

Location: Santorini

Accommodation: El Greco Resort Hotel (Feature Stay) or similar

Meals Included: breaksfast, dinner

In the morning, embark on a hike along Santorini’s legendary caldera. The island you see today is what remains from a huge volcanic explosion that destroyed the early settlements and created a geographical caldera. The natural beauty of this caldera is what makes Santorini such a special place. Your walk will take you along the north-western rim of the caldera, passing steep cliff faces and amazing views along the way. The walk ends in the town of Oia, built on a steep slope inside Santorini’s volcanic caldera. Famous not only for its scenery, Santorini’s microclimate and volcanic soil make it a top spot for wine production. Sip your way around the island with two special stops – the Symposium Cultural Centre, where you’ll learn about Greek wine and try it in traditional cups, and a family-run winery, where you’ll discover more about the history of wine production and taste the different varieties yourself.

Included Activities:
-Santorini - Caldera Hike
-Santorini - Winery visit
-Santorini - Mythology and Wine experience

Day 9: Santorini

Location: Santorini

Meals Included: breaksfast

Your adventure comes to an end after breakfast this morning. If you want to spend some more time in Santorini, just speak to your booking agent to organise additional accommodation.

What's Included

  • Accommodation
    Comfortable hotel (6 nights), Feature Stay (2 nights)

  • Athens - Welcome Dinner at Local Restaurant

  • Complimentary Airport Arrival Transfer

  • Paros - Highlights of Paros Half Day Island Tour with Local Guide

  • Naxos - Old Town Walk & Portara Visit

  • Naxos - Cooking Class at a Local Home

  • Naxos - Eggares Olive Oil Press

  • Santorini - Caldera Hike

  • Santorini - Winery Excursion & Wine Tasting

  • Meals

    8 breakfasts, 1 lunches, 2 dinners

  • Complimentary Arrival Transfer

show more

What's Not Included

  • Tipping and Gratuities

  • International Travel

Transport

GREEK FERRIESThe main means of transportation in the Greek Islands is by public ferry. These ferries are large car ferries that transport hundreds of people, along with cars and trucks. There are no reserved seats and passengers are free to walk around the ferry freely. Luggage is stored in a designated area on the car deck and is not accessible while the ferry is moving.STRIKESFerry strikes, bad weather and the general unpredictable nature of Greek public transport means you need to be prepared for possible delays and itinerary changes.

Accommodation

The style of accommodation indicated in the day-to-day itinerary is a guideline only and may change. On some occasions, alternative arrangements may need to be made due to the lack of availability of rooms in our preferred accommodation. In these cases, we will use a similar standard of accommodation.Throughout the trip, we request that our properties prepare rooms in time for our arrival, especially if we're arriving prior to normal check-in time. However, this isn't always possible which means we won't be able to check-in immediately on arrival at some hotels. Instead, we can store our luggage and explore our new destination or on some trips, have use of shared day rooms until all rooms are available.OCCASIONAL ALTERNATIVE ACCOMMODATIONThe style of accommodation indicated in the day-to-day itinerary is a guideline. On rare occasions, alternative arrangements may need to be made due to the lack of availability of rooms in our usual accommodation. A similar standard of accommodation will be used in these instances.TWIN SHARE BASISAccommodation on this trip is on a twin/multishare basis. We pair up solo travellers with another traveller of the same gender as per the gender marker on each of their passports. Please note there may be times where facilities will be shared rather than ensuite and rare occasions when you share a room with passengers travelling on different Intrepid trips than your own.CHECK-IN TIMEThroughout the trip we request that our hotels prepare rooms in time for our arrival, especially if we're arriving prior to normal check-in time. However this isn't always possible which means we won't be able to check-in immediately on arrival at some hotels. Instead, we can store our luggage and explore our new destination.PRE/POST TRIP ACCOMMODATIONIf you've purchased pre-trip or post-trip accommodation (if available), you may be required to change rooms from your trip accommodation for these extra nights.FACILITIESYour accommodation may not always have private en suite facilities or air-conditioning. European hotels generally don't provide kettles or fridges.

Important Information

1. A complimentary airport arrival transfer is included; valid if you are arriving on Day 1 or if you have booked pre-tour accommodation through us. You must provide your flight details to your booking agent at least 14 days prior to travel.2. A single supplement is available if you’d prefer not to share a room?on this trip. The single supplement applies to all nights of your trip?and is subject to availability. There are a limited number of single supplements available per trip departure. Please speak to your booking agent for further information.

Mode of Transport

GREEK FERRIESThe main means of transportation in the Greek Islands is by public ferry. These ferries are large car ferries that transport hundreds of people, along with cars and trucks. There are no reserved seats and passengers are free to walk around the ferry freely. Luggage is stored in a designated area on the car deck and is not accessible while the ferry is moving.STRIKESFerry strikes, bad weather and the general unpredictable nature of Greek public transport means you need to be prepared for possible delays and itinerary changes.

Check out our Q&As

  • Is this trip right for you

    Pickpocketing can be an issue in Athens, especially on public transport. Make sure you keep your valuables concealed and secure while travelling on the metro or bus and you should have no problems.

    Summer temperatures in Greece can reach up to 40°C, so you will need to be able to cope with the heat if you're visiting at this time. Please consider the time of year and your suitability for visiting during that season.

  • What policies are in place for Covid-19?

    Please contact us for latest COVID-19 policies

  • How long has the tour company been trading?

    Intrepid Travel has been taking travellers around the world for over 30 years

  • Will the accommodation included meet local health and safety regulations?

    Yes

  • What Ethical Travel credentials does the tour company have?

    Since 2002, The Intrepid Foundation has supported over 130 organisations across the world. We’re creating positive impact through the joy of travel, community and connection.

  • Do you operate a “single share” option and how does it work?

    Over 50% of traveller travel solo with Intrepid. You can choose to share a room with another solo travelle of the same sex for no additional charge, or choose to pay a single supplement if you’d like your own room. Please request this when booking, and we will secure you a single supplement wherever possible. Please note, if you are booking a last-minute trip, it may be harder for us to secure a single room

Reviews of this operator

Maroochy Dazza (Google Reviewer)  

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LivvyGrace 4 (Google Reviewer)  

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V Open (Google Reviewer)  

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I have just come back home after doing Intrepid's 10-day Vietnam Express Northbound tour. What a SUPERB tour. We saw lots and did lots, it was jam-packed full of sights and activities. Our tour leader, Tam, was the best ever. Very knowledgeable, organised and lots of fun too. The other 10 people on the group were all lovely. The places we visited were very interesting. We even visited local homes and ate just like the local people do. I highly recommend Intrepid to anyone considering touring a new country. This was my 5th tour with them and they have consistently been fantastic.

Jack Edwards (Google Reviewer)  

I have travelled with Intrepid...

03-Jun-2024

I have travelled with Intrepid a number of times now and can't recommend them enough. The trips are always exciting, full of history and immersive in the culture and environment. The office staff are great too and always happy to help with any questions you might have. Everywhere I have gone with the company has been different but the guides and itinerary have always been excellent and full of knowledge and passion for their country. Add in the social responsibility angle the company has and it top quality ethical practice and you can't go wrong

Jo Clayton (Google Reviewer)  

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15-Mar-2024

I recently went on an 11 day tour of India with Intrepid and was impressed with every aspect of the tour, the tour leader and the organisation behind the scenes. I always travel alone so it was a big deal to join a tour, I didn't want to feel less independent or ferried about. I loved being part of a group and the things we saw and did on the tour, I would never have known about or seen if I had been by myself. I loved it from start to finish. Yes the overnight trains were not easy to sleep on, but I managed. Meeting locals on board was a high light for me. English is widely spoken in India and its amazing who you strike up a chat with. I had two problems on the tour - one my own fault and one hotel related. The support from Intrepid was amazing. I cannot thank them enough for going the extra mile to support me. I recommend Intrepid 100% and have gone from thinking an organised tour is for people who don't know about Lonely Planet and can't do solo stuff, to realising its a faster, better, more fun way to get to know a country truly and deeply whilst on a bit of a budget. I will book again and again with Intrepid. I loved it that much! Big thanks to tour leader Daddy H. Devender for his help on day one, and Nick in the Oz office for his fab customer care skills. Also the person who staffed the emergency whatsapp in India - you saved my sanity helping me get there a day late! THANK YOU ALL X

Nicole  

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Alice Norton (Google Reviewer)  

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Henry Guy Robinson   United Kingdom

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Prices last published on 22-Dec-2024

Book with Confidence

  • Free Date Changes

    Intrepid Travel allows you to make 10 free date changes, as long as the change is made at least 56 days before the start of the tour.

  • Transfer as credit to Future Tours

    Intrepid Travel allows you to transfer existing payments to a future tour to avoid cancellation fees if you can't travel and inform intrepid travel, 56 days before departure.

  • Low Deposit

    Intrepid Travel requires a minimum deposit of 400 USD per person or the full booking value, whichever is less, with the final balance not due until 56 days before departure.

  • Cancellation Policy

    We don't charge a cancellation fee, here is a summary of intrepid travel charges.

    Up to 56 days before tour starts: Forfeit 100% of deposit.

    At 55 days before tour starts: Forfeit 30% of booking price.

    At 30 days before tour starts: Forfeit 60% of booking price.

    At 14 days before tour starts: Forfeit 100% of booking price.

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