Exclusive Athens with Free Time in the Plaka

For guests wanting a general orientation, a little history, time for shopping and exploring on their own, or even an optional visit to the Acropolis, this is the perfect exclusive Athens tour for you or your group, offering more time in the city than cruise line tours.

During your time in Athens, you will drive approximately 30 minutes from the pier. Upon arrival, your professionally trained guide will narrate during a city orientation, viewing such sights as the Temple of Zeus, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the former Royal Palace, which is now the Greek House of Parliament. You will pass by the University of Athens, the Academy of Athens, and the National Library.

You will also see the Panathenaic Olympic Stadium, where the first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896. From here, you will continue on to the Plaka, one of the oldest parts of the city.

Upon arrival at the Plaka, your guide will give you a time and specific location to meet for your transfer back to the pier.

Your guide will then begin an optional tour for those guests wishing to climb the famous Acropolis. As this is an option, admission to the Acropolis site is not included in the price of your tour. The entrance fee is approximately 30 EUR, and they do not accept credit cards. Admission to the Acropolis must be purchased directly from the guide, as all guests must have tickets for the same time assignment.

The Acropolis of Athens is recognized as the culmination of Greek architecture, art, and sculpture. During your visit to the Acropolis (from Greek meaning above the city), you will view The Parthenon, constructed between 447-432 B.C. as a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. Its main function was to shelter the monumental statue of Athena which was made out of gold and ivory. You will see the Erechtheon, started in 420 B.C. as a temple for religious rituals; the Propylaea, the monumental entrance to the Acropolis which blends Doric and Ionic building principles; and the small temple Athena Nike, which stands on a protruding mass of rock, protecting the gate to the citadel.

From the Acropolis, you can also look down on the Ancient Agora, Tower of the Winds, Herodes Atticus Theater, and the Theater of Dionysus from your lofty perch. The guide will lead you up, narrating as you climb. The guided portion of the tour ends upon reaching the Parthenon, allowing you free time to browse on your own. Those guests taking the Acropolis option will have approximately one hour of free time after you descend. Your guide will depart after the Acropolis tour.

For those guests not climbing, you will have approximately three hours of free time to explore.

Bordered by the Acropolis to the south and the Ancient Agora to the west, the Plaka is the historic heart of Athens. Blending with the adjacent Monastiraki district, the Plaka area seems to have a little of everything, from the ancient ruins of a Roman forum, the Greek Agora, and Byzantine-influenced churches, to restored 19th-century neoclassical homes and modern-day stores, boutiques, and cafes sprinkled throughout.

The Plaka area is home to several nearby museums including the Benaki, Kanellopoulos, the new Acropolis, and the Greek Folk Art Museum, to name a few. For shopping, you will find Greek souvenirs and clothing, as well as jewelry shops. Greek gold jewelry is often better priced than in other European countries as the labor cost is lower.

For a quick, inexpensive taste of traditional Greece, order a pita-souvlaki or gyro from a walk-up window and eat it standing up. Be aware that any time you sit at a cafe in the Plaka, you pay for the experience, and outside seating carries a higher charge than inside seating. If you want to sit down and enjoy a leisurely meal, look for where the locals are dining, which is almost never on the major streets, but usually on smaller side streets. At the designated time and location, your guide will be waiting to take you to the transportation for the drive back to the pier.

Guests wishing to stay longer in the Plaka should let their driver know, and will need to arrange their own transportation back to the port.

Due to crowds, traffic, or other conditions out of our control, the order of the tour itinerary may be changed but will still cover the mentioned sights.

Please Note: Admission to the Acropolis must be purchased directly from the guide on the day of the tour (30 EUR in cash per guest), and reservations are required. Please indicate how many tickets you wish to reserve for your group using the drop-down menu. Acropolis tickets are NON-REFUNDABLE after they have been reserved. Please do not purchase Acropolis tickets online on your own.

Exclusive Ancient Ephesus

Meet your professionally trained guide and drive to Ephesus, approximately 30 minutes from Kusadasi. Famous in antiquity for its Temple of Artemus during the years of the Roman Empire, the Greek port of Ephesus became the greatest city in Asia Minor. You will start your 90 minute Ephesus tour at the upper Magnesia Gate, and work your way down through the city, ending near the ancient Harbor.

Along the way, you will see the Forum, the Odeon, the Library of Celsus, Temple of Artemis, the Thermal Baths of Scolastika, and the Great Theater, built in the Greek era and reconstructed in the Roman period. With your skip-the-line access, you can fully enjoy these sites, which have played host to events as varied as Paul and his sermons to the Ephesians, to concerts by Sting, in part due to their remarkable acoustics.

You will walk along the Arcadian Way, where once Mark Antony and Cleopatra rode in procession. You will hear stories of Alexander the Great, the Virgin Mary, and many other famous visitors who walked the same marble streets that you are walking. As you depart the Ephesus site, you will be able to view the hilltop ruins of the Basilica of St. John in the distance, which was erected over his grave in the 6th century A.D. by Emperor Justinian.

Returning to the town of Kusadasi, guests will have the option to end their Ephesus tour in the shopping area, where they can attend a Turkish carpet explanation and explore the shops filled with jewelry, carpets, leatherware, and copper goods, or both. Turkish salespeople expect you to haggle and quite often you can get 10-15% off the listed price. Treat it as an adventure. The cruise pier is a 5-10 minute walk from the main shopping area.

Guests not wishing to attend the optional carpet shopping should stay on the bus and they will be taken directly back to the pier.

Exclusive Snapshot of Malta

Escape the 50+ person mob tours the cruise lines offer with this group tour of never more than 30 guests (and often less). Leaving the port, you will be driven to Mdina. Approximately 30 minutes away and Malta's first capital, Mdina dates back to before Roman times. Together with the guide, you will stroll through the quaint winding streets, admire the beautiful palazzos still used as homes by Malta's oldest families, and enjoy the view from the bastions of the 'Silent City'. The total walking time with stops is approximately 45 minutes.

After leaving Mdina, you will have a short photo stop outside the Mosta Dome Church, the third-largest dome in Europe. In 1942, the church had 300 people inside when a bomb pierced the dome and miraculously failed to explode.

Arriving in Valletta, you will begin your approximate 90-minute walking tour of the capital city of Malta. You will visit the Upper Barrakka Gardens for a panoramic view of Malta's natural harbors and the historic cities of Senglea, Cospicua, and Vittoriosa in the distance.

Continuing through Valletta's main streets, you will walk to St. John's Co-Cathedral, the 16th-century knight's own church. Revealing a staggering display of Baroque art, it houses some of Malta's finest art treasures. The two masterpieces by Caravaggio, "The Beheading of St. John the Baptist" and "St. Jerome," hang in the Oratory.

At the end of the tour, you will walk past various important buildings before reaching your transport, which will be waiting to return you to the port below. Guests wishing to remain in town may do so but are responsible for getting themselves back to the cruise pier at their own expense.

Please Note: The St. John's Co-Cathedral will not be open to the public on Sundays and public holidays. In such instances, visits to the cathedral will be substituted with a visit to the Grand Master's Palace. The same would apply in case of any last-minute closures of St. John's Co-Cathedral. The order in which the sites are visited may change according to the logistical needs of the day.

Exclusive Pompeii and Amalfi Coast

Departing from the Maritime Station cruise pier in groups of never more than 30 people max, you will meet your guide and your driver, who take you on an approximately 45 minute drive along the road that follows the Bay of Naples towards Mount Vesuvius and the ancient City of Pompeii, which lies in its shadow. Ironically, one of the ancient world's worst disasters preserved time in Pompeii, where you will experience life as it was lived in 79 AD. Once a thriving empire, it was devastated by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD when 30 feet of volcanic ash and pumice stone covered the city.

Upon arrival in Pompeii, you will enter by one of its ancient gates, and a short walk will take you to the city's hub, the Forum. Surrounded by lavish temples and porticoes, you'll begin to grasp the lifestyle of the inhabitants. Admire the mansions and the art of wealthy patricians who moved to Pompeii to escape the turmoil of Rome; view countless paintings and inscriptions. See the streets with raised pavements on both sides and the stepping-stones that ensured pedestrians a safe crossing at intersections. Your guided visit to Pompeii is approximately 2 hours.

After your visit to Pompeii sit back and appreciate about a 40 minute drive to the door of Amalfi Coast: Vietri sul Mare, the picturesque seaside resort situated on top of a hill facing Amalfi Coast. It is one of the most popular holiday resorts in Italy. You will have approximately two hours to yourself in Vietri to buy lunch, shop, take pictures, or stroll the narrow streets and several churches on your own. You will then drive back to Naples.

Please Note: The entrance fee to Pompeii is included in the tour price; however, all guests must present a valid photo ID on the day of the tour. Crowds are to be expected at all sites and lines for certain attractions may exceed over one hour to enter. The tour itinerary may be reversed but will still cover the mentioned sights. Heavy traffic congestion should be anticipated and may affect the duration of the excursion. On select days or holidays, heavy delays in traffic may contribute to a change of itinerary at the operator's discretion. Your tour of the ruins is guided.