GREEK AEGEAN ODYSSEY

With Helen Nicholson

08-29 May 2009

Byron evoked the image of the Isles of Greece in his call for Greek independence, and the hundreds of little islands scattered throughout the Aegean Sea have always attracted visitors of all kinds. In this tour we visit some of the most attractive and interesting, and in the process cover nearly four thousand years of history and different civilisations and cultures as the islands fell under the sway of Greeks, Romans, Venetians and Turks before achieving independence as part of Greece.

The oldest sites are in Santorini and Crete, and our week in the latter island allows us to see not only the Bronze Age ruins of Knossus and Phaistos, but also the Venetian centres of Heraklion and Chania. In Delos we're in the religious centre of the classical Ionian world, while Rhodes gives us the headquarters of the Knights of St John between their forced departure from the Holy Land and their arrival in Malta.

Then there's the scenery. Naxos is regarded as the most beautiful of the islands, while the whitewashed houses and churches and their blue roofs in Mykonos and Santorini are a visual delight, the latter perched spectacular on the rim of the ancient volcano. Santorini must be approached from the sea to get the best views of the whole town. The mountains of Crete are equally dramatic, with the roads corkscrewing up and down a series of hairpin bends, providing magnificent views of the island, and theres an opportunity to walk a little way into the impressive Samaria gorge. And on every island there are the wildflowers.

So be prepared! Take good walking shoes so you can explore everything, and take lots of film for your camera. This is a tour with a reasonable amount of spare time, so you can really soak up the atmosphere.

Your Tour Leader Helen Nicholson is an archaeologist and educator. She has extensive teaching experience and lectures undergraduates and adults at the University of Sydney. She was the Education Officer at the Nicholson Museum for three years, lectured for the Australian Academy of Decorative Arts and is a partner in Astarte Resources, a company that produces educational products. Helen has worked on archaeological excavations in Italy, Greece, Jordan and Cyprus, and currently works as an archaeologist in NSW. Helen is an experienced tour leader and has led many highly regarded study tours to Europe and the Mediterranean. This will be the third tour that Helen has taken for Alumni Travel.

Tour Price:

Land only, per person twin share: $8,495.00

Single Supplement: $1,880.00

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