Greece

Day 1 | Tuesday 22 September
Arrive Athens
Arriving in Athens, the beating heart of ancient Greece and the birthplace of democracy, we check in to our hotel near the Acropolis. Once the centre of an empire and the stage for countless philosophical, artistic and political experiments, Athens is the ideal place to begin our journey into the many political configurations of the ancient Greek world. This evening we gather for a welcome dinner at a traditional taverna, a chance to meet our fellow travellers and tour leaders. Overnight Athens (D)

Day 2 | Wednesday 23 September
Sacred Heights & Political Origins
We begin with a morning talk to introduce the themes that will guide our journey, before heading out to explore the Acropolis, the religious and symbolic centre of Classical Athens. Here, the political and the sacred were inseparably intertwined – from the monumental Parthenon to the Erechtheion, each structure reflects the city-state’s self-image and aspirations. We descend to the Theatre of Dionysos, where tragedy shaped the political consciousness of its citizens, and continue to the Acropolis Museum, which offers profound insights into the role of civic religion and visual propaganda in shaping public life. Our final stop is the Pnyx, the rocky hill where Athenian citizens gathered to debate and vote – a physical expression of radical democracy. Before our evening at leisure, a late-afternoon talk draws connections between what we’ve seen and Athens’ exceptional political structure. Overnight Athens (B)

Day 3 | Thursday 24 September
Imagining History: Myth, Memory & Statehood
This morning we visit the National Archaeological Museum, home to the world’s finest collection of ancient Greek artefacts. As we move through its remarkable galleries, we trace evolving representations of power in Greek thought – from the autocratic authority suggested by Mycenaean grave goods to the civic and divine ideals embodied in classical sculpture. Among the highlights are gold funerary masks, Linear B tablets, monumental kouroi, and finely painted vases, each offering insight into the artistic imagination and political values of different Greek communities. The remainder of the day is then set aside to explore other museums of your choosing with your included Athens Museum Pass – perhaps the Museum of Cycladic Art, the Benaki Museum’s Byzantine collections, or the Epigraphic Museum, where decrees, laws and treaties speak to the bureaucratic underpinnings of Athenian politics. Overnight Athens (B)

Day 4 | Friday 25 September
Religion, Territory & Proto-State Identity
Departing Athens this morning, we travel west to the elegant port town of Nafplio, with two important stops en route. Our first visit is to the remote sanctuary of Hera at Perachora, where monumental structures and sophisticated waterworks hint at an early form of urban organisation – a community shaped more by cult than by polis. From here we continue to Epidauros, home to the magnificent theatre and the sanctuary of Asklepios. This remarkable site exemplifies how shared religious practice could transcend city-state boundaries while reinforcing local identity. Here, healing, piety and performance converged, offering a potent model of soft power in the ancient Greek world. We complete our journey to Nafplio, once the capital of modern Greece, where we enjoy an evening talk after settling into our hotel. Overnight Nafplio (B)

Day 5 | Saturday 26 September
The Argive Plain & Mycenaean Kingship
Venturing out from Nafplio today, we begin at Midea, a little-visited yet formidable Mycenaean fortress whose towering cyclopean walls speak to the grandeur and authority of Bronze Age kingship. We then continue to the Argive Heraion, a major sanctuary dedicated to Hera that played a pivotal role in Argos’s early political ambitions. This sacred centre supported efforts to unify the Argive plain – a proto-super-state project trying to match the large territories of Athens and Sparta. Our final stop is the celebrated citadel of Mycenae, where the monumental Lion Gate, tholos tombs and the so-called “mask of Agamemnon” (which we saw in Athens) reflect a model of autocratic rule grounded in divine ancestry and military dominance. Taken together, these sites illuminate the contrasts between the centralised authority of the Bronze Age and the civic structures of the later city-states. On return to our hotel, the evening is at leisure. Overnight Nafplio (B) 

Day 6 | Sunday 27 September
The Politics of Place in the Peloponnese
We begin the day at the Nafplio Archaeological Museum, home to an outstanding collection of Mycenaean artefacts, before continuing inland to Mantineia. Mantineia offers an interesting example of a synoikism, a city created out of surrounding villages on hills, itself somewhat unfortunately sited on a river – quite unusual in classical Greece. We then visit the Menelaion, a hilltop shrine dedicated to Helen and Menelaos, where myth and memory were actively shaped to reinforce Spartan identity. In nearby Sparta, we stop at the Olive Museum to consider one of the most important forms of agricultural production in the Greek world. The city’s deliberate lack of monumental architecture served to emphasise ideals of austerity and communal discipline. Our journey ends in the seaside town of Gytheio, the ancient port of Sparta, whose sheltered bay once launched fleets and received trade from across the Aegean. Today a quiet harbour town with neoclassical charm, Gytheio offers a gentler contrast to its stern inland neighbour. We check in to our hotel and later gather for an evening talk. Overnight Gytheio (B)

Day 7 | Monday 28 September
Byzantine Bureaucracy & Remote Orders
We depart Gytheio and drive back to Sparta, past Amyklai, one of the constituent villages of Sparta and the place where Apollo’s lover Hyakinthos was supposed to be buried. In Sparta we will visit the Spartan Archaeological Museum, with its interesting collection of masks and other votive offerings from the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia. We then travel to nearby Mistra, the late Byzantine capital of the Despotate of Morea. Its atmospheric ruins – palaces, churches and administrative buildings nestled on a steep hillside – offer insight into a very different form of governance, one grounded in imperial hierarchy, bureaucratic control and Orthodox Christian ideology. From here we continue into the mountains to Bassai, where we ascend to the Temple of Apollo Epikourios, designed by Iktinos, architect of the Parthenon. Its dramatic setting and strikingly original design reflect both local identity and the religious autonomy of regional communities within broader federations. We arrive at our hotel in Olympia in the early evening, with a talk to conclude our day. Overnight Olympia (B) 

Day 8 | Tuesday 29 September
Unity Through Competition
Olympia, sacred to Zeus and host of the panhellenic games, was a neutral meeting ground for Greek states – and a highly charged political space. This morning we explore the sanctuary, stadium and museum, considering how athletic competition reinforced shared values while reinforcing individual city-state prestige. In the afternoon, we travel
to our hotel in Patras, a major port and the third largest city in Greece, and gather for a late-afternoon talk. Overnight Patras (B) 

Day 9 | Wednesday 30 September
Peripheral Power & Regional Identity
This morning we drive east along the coast of the Corinthian Gulf to Aigion, once the meeting place of the Achaian League. This federal state, less known than Athens or Sparta, represented a sophisticated model of shared sovereignty. We reflect on this final flowering of Greek political ingenuity in an age increasingly dominated by kings and empires. After visiting the Archaeological Museum of Aigion, we then take the dramatic rack railway from Diakopto to Kalavryta through the Vouraikos Gorge, one of Greece’s most scenic train journeys. This journey not only offers a change of pace but also evokes the challenges of communication and cohesion across Greece’s fragmented geography – a persistent factor in shaping its political systems. After returning to Patras, the evening is at leisure, offering time to reflect on how landscape, distance and terrain influenced unity and division among the Greek poleis. Overnight Patras (B)

Day 10 | Thursday 1 October
Federalism & The Sacred Assembly
Departing Patras today, we travel north to Thermon, the political and religious heart of the Aitolian League. Set in a rugged mountain basin, Thermon illustrates how even geographically marginal regions developed complex institutions. On arrival, we explore the sanctuary of Apollo Thermios and the remains of the bouleuterion, where league representatives gathered – a fascinating example of federal democracy functioning without the grandeur of the Athenian model. Thermon’s political system, grounded in mutual defence and autonomy, challenges modern assumptions about centralised power. In the afternoon we continue to Delphi, once considered the omphalos – the ‘navel’ – of the ancient world. After checking into our hotel, we gather for an evening talk to prepare for our visit to this most politically charged of sanctuaries. Overnight Delphi (B)

Day 11 | Friday 2 October
Oracles, Amphictyonies & Political Theatre
Delphi, perched on the slopes of Mount Parnassos, was both a religious sanctuary and a political stage. Its oracle drew envoys and petitioners from across the Greek world, and its Amphictyonic League – a council of representatives from various states – managed the sanctuary and mediated disputes. This morning we visit the lower sanctuary of Athena Pronaia, followed by the sanctuary of Apollo, with its temple – treasuries built by rival city-states to outshine each other – and theatre and stadium that hosted panhellenic competitions. We then explore the museum here, home to masterpieces such as the Charioteer of Delphi that reveal how art, religion and politics intertwined. More than a spiritual centre, Delphi functioned as a crucible of diplomacy, propaganda and identity. After returning to the hotel, the evening is at leisure. Overnight Delphi (B)

Day 12 | Saturday 3 October
Myth, Territory & Resistance
After a morning talk, we set off on a memorable walk from Delphi to the coastal plain near Kirrha, passing through land once considered sacred to Apollo and protected by religious decree – a striking example of how myth and politics governed real territory. This walk offers insights into the physical and symbolic geography of Phokis, a region that resisted both Theban and Macedonian domination. Along the way, we enjoy a picnic lunch. In the afternoon, we visit the UNESCO World-Heritage listed monastery of Hosios Loukas, one of the most beautiful examples of Middle Byzantine architecture in Greece. Its richly decorated mosaics and sacred atmosphere offer a contrast to the political turbulence of the Classical world, while its continued existence across shifting empires testifies to enduring regional identities. Overnight Delphi (B, L)

Day 13 | Sunday 4 October
Memory, Myth & Martyrdom
Departing Delphi this morning, we loop east, north, and then west around Mt Parnassos, to explore the historic region of Phokis. Our first stop is the Phokikon, once a gathering place for the Phokian League, followed by Tithorea, a city famed in Herodotos’s account of the Persian Wars. After a scenic drive, we arrive at Thermopylae, the narrow pass where Leonidas and his 300 Spartans staged their legendary last stand in 480 BCE. Though little remains today beyond a modern monument, the power of this myth endures – a symbol of collective sacrifice and the ideological shaping of political memory. After a picnic lunch, we continue south-east through Lokris and Boiotia to Chalkida on the island of Euboia, a city with deep roots in colonisation, trade and innovation in early Greek politics. Overnight Chalkida (B, L)

Day 14 | Monday 5 October
Foundations & Futures of the Polis
This morning begins with a talk at the hotel before we visit the Arethousa Museum in Chalkida. Here the exhibits trace the city’s importance in the Archaic period as a naval power and cultural exporter through colonisation. We then continue to Lefkandi, a unique site from the so-called Greek “Dark Age”, between the Bronze Age and the rise of the polis. In the afternoon, we visit the newly refurbished Archaeological Museum of Thebes, whose sophisticated displays illuminate Boiotia’s complex political landscape, and consider Thebes’s long struggle to unify surrounding territories, culminating in brief moments of dominance over other Greek city-states. An evening talk rounds out our understanding of these competing models of local and regional power. Overnight Chalkida (B)

Day 15 | Tuesday 6 October
Contested Histories & Open Borders
Today we set out for a day of evocative, open-air archaeology as we make our return to Athens. At our first stop at Aulis, the mythical departure point for Agamemnon’s fleet to Troy, we reflect on how Greek political entities drew legitimacy from mythological pasts. Plataiai, by contrast, is a site of historical battle – the decisive clash in 479 BCE that ended the Persian Wars. Long overshadowed by nearby Thebes, Plataiai exemplifies the fate of small poleis caught in the power struggles of their neighbours. Finally, we ascend to the fort at Phyle, offering panoramic views over Attica. This was the site where exiled democrats launched the counter-offensive to restore Athens’s democracy after the rule of the Thirty Tyrants in 403 BCE – a testament to the resilience and enduring appeal of the democratic ideal. After a picnic lunch, we return to Athens for an evening at leisure. Overnight Athens (B, L) 

Day 16 | Wednesday 7 October
Port, Power & the Politics of Empire
This morning we turn our attention to Athens’ port district, beginning at the Archaeological Museum of Peiraieus. Here, we explore how naval power and maritime trade underwrote Athens’s rise as a 5th-century superpower. Inscriptions, bronze statuary and naval dedications reveal a civic identity grounded in sea power, technological innovation and imperial ambition. We then stop at Perama for a view across the straits of Salamis, site of the decisive 480 BCE naval battle – a turning point in the defence of Greece and the consolidation of Athenian prestige. On return to our hotel, the remainder of the afternoon and evening is at leisure. Overnight Athens (B) 

Day 17 | Thursday 8 October
Legacy & Landscape on the Attic Coast
Our final full day takes us along Attica’s spectacular coastline, beginning at Marathon, where an outnumbered Athenian force triumphed over Persia, an event mythologised into a foundation moment of democratic resilience. At nearby Brauron, a sanctuary of Artemis tied to young girls’ rites of passage, we then reflect on the role of religion in regulating civic identity. After a picnic lunch, we continue to the majestic Temple of Poseidon at Sounion, perched above the Aegean. The temple’s inscriptions include modern grafitti by, among others, Lord Byron. Time permitting, we also visit Rhamnous or Thorikos – sites of Attica’s peripheral life and frontier defence. We close our tour with a farewell dinner along the Attic Riviera, looking back on a journey through the evolving – and often conflicting – forms of Greek political imagination. Overnight Athens (B, L, D) 

Day 18 | Friday 9 October
Depart Athens
Following breakfast this morning, individual transfers are arranged to Athens Airport. (B)