Corinth Temple ruins in Greece

Best of Ancient Greece in a Week Itinerary

Ratings of Zicasso's Service
Customizable Itinerary

This is a sample itinerary to inspire a personalized trip designed with your travel specialist

Countries Visited

Greece

Places Visited

Athens, Erechtheion, Plaka, Anafiotika...

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Suggested Duration

8 Days

This is the ultimate one-week historical tour on the Greek mainland and will cover all of the legendary ruins and magnificent sites. Piece together the Greek storyline around Athens and Peloponnese for an incredible week spent through the country’s best ruins and relics. Ruined Corinth, mythical Olympia, Apollo’s sanctuary at Delphi and different acropolises. From ancient civilization to medieval enchantment, you can also discover the Meteora monasteries, coastal Nafplio, and enigmatic Plaka.

Customizable Itinerary

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Trip Highlights

  • Discover the vast remains and ruins of Delphi, a sanctified countryside place for Apollo
  • Admire the ancient Acropolis and Agora, enduring Athenian sights that deserve their legend
  • Listen to your footsteps in the ruined and deserted city of Corinth
  • Explore the vast site of Olympia and bask in its history
  • Relax in the Peloponnese seaside village of Nafplio, where Venetian townhouses meet with historical color
  • Find yourself in the middle of the sky by visiting the 24 rock-cut monasteries of Meteora
  • Savor the atmosphere of Plaka, a lovely Athenian neighborhood packed full of cafes, boutiques and restaurants
  • Go wine tasting at a country vineyard, check out the Peloponnese beaches, discover the Mycenae acropolis, and admire all those ancient statues

Detailed Description

Greece was built over many millennia, and this handcrafted one-week tour allows you to piece together different eras and ideas.  Spread across Athens and Peloponnese, your tour will stick to Greece’s mainland, where the majority of the finest ancient treasures can be found. Traveling between the destinations is hassle-free, on comfortable road journeys that cross wonderfully remote landscapes. Your guide is also a historian, helping you to understand why and how such monuments were constructed. And while some sights like the Athens Acropolis are busy with other visitors, many of the places you go are surprisingly quiet. For while Greece’s history is scattered across Athens and Peloponnese, most visitors head to the islands instead.

You will likely walk alone through the remains of Olympia, and hear your own footsteps at the Temple of Apollo. There is a sense of peace and serenity that helps you to unwind while at the same time as you go on a detailed historical tour. Your guide will help you sidestep the day-tripping tour buses throughout, knowing when and when not to be at a certain attraction. And by traveling through Peloponnese and Athens, you will get to sleep close to the ruins, sometimes watching them turn to silhouette at sunset. While some ancient cities and temples are hidden away, most are dotted in colorful rural valleys. So as part of the tour, you get to visit villages, farms, vineyards and other pieces of living Greek culture.

Start off with two days in Athens, home to the legendary Acropolis and the Agora. There is much for the imagination here, from sculptures of maidens to the enormity of 2,500-year-old columns. Soak up all the history, and then combine the ruins with 18th-century Greece, as shown by the Athenian neighborhood of Plaka. You can spend the daytime amid mystery and mythology, and then join the locals in walking through Plaka each evening. Crossing to Peloponnese on day three you hop between ruined Corinth, 4,000-year-old Mycenae and seaside Nafplio, your base for the next two nights.

Nafplio is an elegant Venetian-inspired town above the beach. You will find a different historical tale here, along with all the color and the charm of fishing town life. On day four, you will explore the town and also visit seaside Epidaurus, where the old theater still functions to this day. Olympia is the destination on day five, and the enormous site demands a full day of discovery. Complement the history with a local winery visit then watch the Olympian torches glow at dusk. Delphi is equally majestic, incredible ruins deep in the countryside, almost too big to contemplate. Then after this memoir to Zeus, you fast forward to the 14th century and the 24 monasteries of Meteora, a place that inspires so many superlatives. From these sandstone peaks, you can journey back to Athens and your outbound flight. Consider learning more about our travelers’ best Greece travel experiences by reading their Greece travel reviews.

Starting Price

$3,300 per person (excluding international flights)

Your Zicasso trip is fully customizable, and this sample itinerary is a starting place for your travel plans. Actual costs are dynamic, and your selection of accommodations and activities, your season of travel, and other such variables will bring this budget guideline up or down. Throughout your planning experience with your Zicasso specialist, your itinerary is designed around your budget. You can book your trip when you are satisfied with every detail. Planning your trip with a Zicasso travel specialist is a free service.

What's Included

  • Accommodations
  • In-country transportation
  • Some or all activities and tours
  • Expert trip planning
  • 24x7 support during your trip

Your final trip cost will vary based on your selected accommodations, activities, meals, and other trip elements that you opt to include.

Reviews of Zicasso's Referral Service

4.94 stars based on 2473 reviews.

Greece, Egypt Travel Review: Athens, Santorini, Crete, Cairo,...

Zicasso's travel company and their agents made the trip planning very easy. They were also very responsive when changes occurred and took care of those changes quickly, making for a stress-free and enjoyable trip. The tours, tour guides, drivers, and hotels were top-notch! Everyone was so friendly and knowledgeable.

Our travel agent was in communication with us regularly, especially during the trip, which made us feel even more at ease and supported. We received welcome gifts that were so thoughtful and appreciated! We strongly recommend using this company for any and all trips. We will be using them again!

Reviewed By Kristina C.

Greece Trip Review: Athens, Meteora, Santorini, Thessaloniki,...

The planning and execution by Zicasso's travel company were done with a lot of care and attention to detail.

The people chosen to provide various services (cab service, tour guides, etc.) were well-informed, friendly, and punctual.

The hotels chosen for the stay were comfortable and in very good locations. They were convenient for sightseeing, but also not too loud/noisy.

Reviewed By Swaroop R.

Greece Romantic Getaway Review: Santorini, Athens, Plaka,...

We had an amazing vacation and Zicasso's travel company is all to thank for this. All of our accommodations were wonderful and checked all of our boxes for romance, great service, and excellent views. We enjoyed all of the excursions that were arranged and we got to experience all that we had hoped during this trip.

Our agent and her team were fantastic to work with and all communications were easy and very helpful. Overall, we would absolutely book another trip with this company and we will recommend this service to friends and family. Thank you!!

Reviewed By Lydia L.

Greece Trip Review: Santorini, Crete, Naxos, Fira, Oia,...

Zicasso's travel agent and her team were so easy to work with and very communicative. She answered all of our questions, she listened to our ideas for the trip, and offered many of her own unique ideas to make our family trip special. I would recommend her and the agency, and we would use her again if we ever have the opportunity to travel to Greece again. Her ideas of activities were unique and less "touristy," which was exactly what we loved the most about our experience. Thank you!

Reviewed By Candice J.

Greece Vacation Review: Kalamata, Athens, Paros, Naxos,...

Wow, where do I even begin? I consider myself someone with very high expectations and Zicasso's tour planner not only met them, she exceeded them, which rarely happens. From our very first interaction to our final farewell, the communication was absolutely flawless.

She was incredibly responsive throughout every stage of the process, from planning to execution and even during the trip itself. Knowing we had someone on the ground in Greece for support gave us such peace of mind. For example, when we encountered a minor issue with the phone in our Santorini hotel room, she immediately contacted the hotel and it was fixed right away.

Every detail was handled with precision. Her professionalism, warmth, dedication, and genuine care truly shone through. She created a fairy-tale trip to Greece that we'll treasure for a lifetime and share with friends and family for years to come.

We spent 16 unforgettable days exploring Kalamata, Athens, Paros, Naxos, and Santorini. Each island transition was seamless, every private tour was fun and educational, and the entire itinerary was perfectly paced.

The drivers she arranged were always punctual, thoughtful, and friendly. In fact, the entire team she assembled was exceptional — well-coordinated, courteous, and attentive. It was truly a top-tier concierge experience.

Going forward, I can’t imagine planning a trip any other way. She has set the bar incredibly high.

Reviewed By Michelle J.

Greece Vacation Review: Mykonos, Delos, Naxos, Paros, Santorini,...

Zicasso's agent did a wonderful job creating a trip for us that included key experiences we wanted to have, quality lodging, transportation, and transfers, all within a set budget. She was available for assistance throughout the trip and kept us updated with any details we needed for our daily activities. We had numerous locations we visited and tours, and the transportation was nearly seamless to/from every leg of the trip. The trip exceeded our expectations in quality and experiences!

Reviewed By Penny M.

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