Ephesus

Day 1: Depart for Europe

• Depart on your overnight flight to Europe, arriving in Athens the following day.

Day 2: Arrival

• Arrival at Athens airport.
• After meeting our guide and driver, we drive 20 miles to the city.
• The rest of the day is at leisure.
• Dinner and overnight in our hotel.

Day 3: Athens and Corinth

• We explore the Athenian Acropolis with its Parthenon.
• We continue to the Areopagus and Mars Hill, where the Apostle Paul delivered his famous sermon (Acts 17).
• Then we take a bus tour through Athens, seeing the library, the university and the parliament.
• In the afternoon, we make our way to ancient Corinth, where Paul lived and preached—as we know from his epistles to the Corinthians. Here he established the first entirely Gentile church.
• We also visit the archeological museum and the temples.
• Heading back toward Athens, we stop to visit the ancient ports of Lechaion and Cenchrean, as well as the Corinthian Canal.
• Dinner and overnight in Athens.

Day 4: Cruise to Mykonos

• This morning we take a cruise ship to Mykonos, arriving around 6:30 p.m.
• We explore the famous island with its multitude of shops.
• Our ship departs at 11 p.m.

Day 5: Cruise to Ephesus and Patmos

• We sail to Kusadasi in Turkey, where we visit ancient Ephesus and the House of the Virgin Mary.
• We return to the ship and sail to Patmos, the beautiful rocky island where St. John in exile received the Revelation that forms the last book of the Bible.
• We visit the 11th-century monastery and the traditional Grotto of Revelation.
• We head back to our ship and head for Greece’s biggest island, Crete.

Day 6: Crete and Santorini

• We awaken in the Cretan port of Heraklion, where we visit the remains of Minoan Civilization, which reached artistic glory 4000 years ago.
• Returning to the ship, we sail to Santorini, site of an epochal volcanic eruption that some connect with the legend of Atlantis—it blew up the Minoan land mass, leaving the islands we see today.
• We may take an optional tour to picturesque Oia village.
• We then return to the ship and spend our last night on the water.

Day 7: To Delphi and Kalambaka

• Today we leave our ship, meet our guide and drive with the bus to Delphi. Here ancient leaders came to consult the Oracle.
• We visit the Temple of Apollo, the Athenian Treasury, the Theater, the Archaeological Museum, and the monument to the “One God.”
• We continue to Kalambaka for dinner and overnight.

Day 8: Kalambaka-Veria-Thessaloniki

• At Kalambaka, perched on cliffs as if suspended in air, stand medieval monasteries sheltering exquisite specimens of Byzantine art. Six of the 24 are inhabited, and we shall visit one or two.
• We continue to Veria (Berea), where Paul found a warmer welcome than he had at Thessaloniki.
• We see the monument, known as the Bema, built in honor of the Apostle.
• We continue to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city.
• Here we see the White Tower, the Arch of Galerius, the churches of Demetrius and Sophia, and the Roman forum.
• We then proceed to our hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day 9: Thessaloniki-Philippi-Kavala

• We follow the route of the ancient Via Ignatia to Philippi. Named after Philip II of Macedonia, the father of Alexander the Great, the city was witness to Paul’s first European converts.
• We see an old section of the Via Ignatia, followed by the place shown as St. Paul’s prison and the archaeological museum.
• Then we visit the river where Lydia became the first European woman to be baptized.
• We drive to Kavala, site of ancient Neapolis.
• Here we visit the harbor where Paul first landed in Greece.

Day 10: Return to Athens

• Make our way back to Athens, including stops along the way at the fabled Mt. Olympus and coastal villages.
• One last evening in Athens.

Day 11

• Depart for home