Athens, Hydra, and The Peloponnese

Itinerary*

*The current itinerary is tentative and may change at the discretion of the tour guides or group leaders to ensure the trip meets the needs of the participants.

Dates: September 20-26, 2025

Principal Cities: Athens, Hydra, and The Peloponnese

Arrival Day 0: Optional early arrival

  • Optional evening meeting at lodging for a brief welcome, Q and A, and welcome dinner at the women-owned Caravin Wine and Wanderlust Restaurant. (Lodging and dinner are not included in the trip price.)

Day 1 (9/20): Athens

  • Meet as a group for breakfast at the lodging. 

  • Morning Acropolis, Parthenon, and Acropolis Museum Tour: An Ode to Women, 4-hour tour 

  • Lunch in town 

  • Free time in Athens or continue on a minibus tour of Athens with our morning guide   

  • Dinner in Plaka 

  • Meals included: B, L, D

Day 2 (9/21): Athens to Hydra

  • Breakfast at lodging and opportunity for a 7-9 am yoga session on the hills across from the Acropolis. (extra $35 charge) 

  • Travel by high-speed boat to the Island of Hydra. 

  • Check into lodging and explore Hydra, one of the only Greek islands free of wheeled vehicles. Donkeys transport goods, and people travel by foot, water taxi, or horse.  

  • Afternoon walks for an hour-and-a-half tour of Hydra with local historian Maria Voulgari to learn about the island’s highlights, history, and Bohemian past. 

  • Dinner near lodging  

  • Meals included: B, L, D

Day 3 (9/22): Hydra

  • Breakfast at lodging

  • Explore the picturesque harbor, which features boats, boutiques, and hillside mansions built in the late 18th and 19th centuries. 

  • Wander the backstreets and discover whitewashed churches, crumbling mansions, sleeping cats, and colorful doors draped with bougainvillea. Hydra’s strict architecture codes prevent the construction of modern buildings, and places like Rafalia’s pharmacy still sell products made from traditional recipes. 

  • There are museums, restaurants, tavernas, and places to swim in the turquoise sea. However, the beaches are made of pebbles, so bring your water shoes!

  • Leonard Cohen fans can follow in his footsteps and visit his old haunts, where he lived on and off from 1960 to 2016. 

  • Dinner at Sunset Restaurant, famed for its panoramic views and fresh cuisine

  • Meals included: B, D 

Day 4 (9/23): Hydra to Nafplio

  • Breakfast at Lodging 

  • Leave Hydra by boat for the Peloponnese peninsula. 

  • On the drive from the port to Nafplio, we will stop for a tour at Epidavros, an ancient theater from the late 4th century BCE with the best-preserved acoustics in Greece. Epidavros was a famed place of miraculous healing, and visitors traveled to the Sanctuary of Asclepius for cures. 

  • Our archeological tour will then continue via sea kayaks, where we will explore the sunken city known as Argolida’s Lost Atlantis.

  • Depending on the weather, we will stop at a beach to snorkel around the site and share a traditional Greek lunch. This is a four-hour tour. 

    Check into lodging and free time to explore Nafplio, one of Greece’s prettiest towns. It has tavernas, boutiques, museums, beaches, and galleries in the water underneath a fortress. 

  • Dinner in Nafplio 

  • Meals included: Meals included: B, L, D

Day 5 (9/24): Nafplio

  • Breakfast at lodging     

  • Free time to explore Nafplio’s beaches, museums, galleries, fortresses and tavernas 

  • This evening, Costas and Agathi, local chefs, will host us. Our hosts will guide us as we prepare a four-course dinner with wine pairings from the local wineries in Nemea. For approximately four hours, we will learn about Greek customs, food, and life on the peninsula. 

  • Meals included: B, D

Day 6 (9/25): Nafplio and Nemea

  • Breakfast at lodging. 

  • Leave at 10 am for a 6-hour wine and olive oil tour through the Nemea region of the Peloponnese led by Greece by the Glass (female guide, Betty or Ioanna) 

  • Visit two wine producers and one olive oil producer and learn about the region's history and wine and olive oil production. Tastings and lunch are included! 

  • Return for our last night in Nafplio and dinner in town 

  • Meals included: B, L, D 

Day 7 (9/26): Nafplio to Athens 

  • Breakfast at lodging

  • Drive 2 hours back to Athens with time to do any of the following: 

  • Free time to explore Athens! As a group, we can:

  • Observe the changing of the guard at Syntagma Square (occurs hourly)  

  • Explore the ancient Agora 

  • Shop in Monastiraki and Avysinias Square 

  • Or free time on your own

  • Farewell dinner. If we are lucky, we can catch a performance at the Odeon of Herodes. This theater was built in 161 CE and has been excavated and restored for modern-day performances. 

  • Meals included: B, L, D