Andante Travels

Introduction

Western civilisation germinated and flourished here in Athens, and this is where the roots of democracy, Classical art, architecture and literature still lie. It is the home of quintessential Classical ruins, and the key to understanding the ancient and modern western world.

Preparation for the hosting of the Olympic Games in 2004 gave the modern city an elegant and efficient metro system and led not only to the refurbishment of museums, but to the excavation of a number of important archaeological sites. It is now possible to gain an understanding of the layout of the Greek city, and even the Roman one, while the Plaka district at the foot of the hill of the Acropolis preserves traces of the Byzantine and Ottoman centuries. The new Acropolis Museum is open at last, and includes the superb Parthenon frieze, in copies and originals. There are also excellent displays in the metro stations.

Visiting the Acropolis in February has a number of benefits, especially in the relative lack of crowds, so that your view of the Parthenon and the Erectheion is unimpeded by people. Our comfortable base is in the Plaka, much of it freshly restored, within walking distance of most of the sites. Many are illuminated at night, with magical views.

Two days are spent away from the city, driving through the countryside of Attica - north and south - to visit the sanctuaries of Delphi and Sounion, both spectacularly situated.

Itinerary

day one
Group flights London to Athens or you can meet the rest of your party at Athens airport to travel by metro to our hotel (or meet us at the hotel).

day two

Walk through ancient Athens, past the Theatre of Dionysus, the very place where the masterpieces of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes were originally performed. There were no permanent structures at that stage - the surviving ruins date from the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

Continue to the towering remains of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, one of the landmarks of Athens, a typical Roman structure, built in honour of Regilla, Atticus’ wife, in about AD160. Stop for a view of the newly restored Propylea, where we can imagine the processions that were part of the lifeblood of Athens. Climb to the incomparable Acropolis, which still dominates the city with a complex of religious sanctuaries.

Most famous is the Parthenon - ‘Chamber of the Maidens’ - ie the priestesses of Athena - built in the 5th century BC to house a colossal chryselephantine (gold and ivory) statue of Athena, patron goddess of the city. After an independent lunch, visit the Kerameikos district, named in ancient times after the hero Keramos, son of Dionysus and Ariadne, where an extensive cemetery was excavated during the 19th and early 20th centuries, with a museum built to house the finds.

day three
Continue your exploration of Athens in the morning with your Guide Lecturer; the itinerary will follow on from yesterday’s, and will include the Greek Agora and Hadrian’s Arch. We will also visit the newly opened (at last!) Acropolis Museum. Free time this afternoon, with an optional walk around Plaka (the old town) or more of the remarkable ancient monuments which have survived here for two and a half thousand years. A longer walk to the Pnyx and the Philopappou Monument could be on offer today or on the afternoon of Day 5.

day four
Private coach today to travel north out of the city to the pan-Hellenic sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, in a wonderfully dramatic mountain terrace setting. The site was chosen for the natural cleft in the rock which exuded vapours which, when inhaled, aided communication with the prophetic god. The temple, on a high terrace, is approached by the sacred way which passes numerous “treasuries” and other monuments of the city-states of Greece, vying for your attention in the past and present. Above the temple lies the stadium, worth the climb for its superb views as well as an illustration of the multiplicity of activities which were part of the functioning of this social, political, and religious site. Byzantine monastery of Hosias Lucas, one of the great religious buildings of Greece, in an exquisite setting on a terrace in the Elikonas peaks. It comprises two domed churches, the Theotokos (10th century) and the Katholikon (11th century), the latter with some wonderful gold-in-glass mosaics.

day five
Spend the morning in the splendid National Archaeological Museum in Athens. The artefacts, from all over Greece, are absolutely unmissable, and make one of the finest collections in the world. Free time this afternoon to explore further monuments and/or museums, such as the excellent Goulandris Museum of Cycladic and Ancient Greek Art or the Byzantine Museum.

day six
Private coach to travel east to Thorikos, an ancient city whose most prominent ruin is the theatre, and which was once a defensive outpost for the region famous for its silver mines, on which the Athenian economy depended. Continue to the stunningly situated Sanctuary of Athena Sounias and Temple of Poseidon at Sounion, one of the most evocative ruins in Greece, a landmark for boats sailing between Piraeus and the islands, which inspired Lord Byron thus: Place me on Sunium’s marbled steep, Where nothing, save the waves and I, May hear our mutual murmers sweep; There, swan-like, let me sing and die: A land of slaves shall ne’er be mine - Dash down yon cup of Samian wine!

day seven
By metro to airport and return flight from Athens to London.

Included

WHAT’S INCLUDED

• Flights scheduled flights from London to Athens or arrange your own flights
• Transfers the Athens metro will be used between airport and hotel. You could join the rest of the group or make your own way independently.
• Local Travel Private a/c coach on Days 4 & 6. Public transport (tickets provided) or on foot in Athens.
• Guide Lecturer Not to be confused with "guest lecturers"!  The guide lecturer will be with you from breakfast to supper, and probably even a drink in the bar afterwards.  There is the occasional site where they may not be allowed to guide because of local regulations (we normally manage to circumnavigate these) but otherwise the guides are just that.  They will have been chosen because of specialist knowledge and their ability to communicate and interest you.  After 22 years of making tours worldwide, we are highly appreciative of the attributes of a good guide, and intensely critical of people who do not possess them.  If you would like to know more about Dr Ffiona Gilmore Eaves, please click her name.
• Fieldnotes written for the tour
• Entry Entry to all sites in programme
• We tip the driver and if there is one, the local guide, on your behalf

You Arrange

• Flights if you prefer. It may suit you better, and you may get a good deal, on flights from your local airport - see above for price without flights
• Meals - you will be surrounded by competing tavernas in the Plaka

Flights & Visa

Airline: Scheduled flights with BA
BA632       London Heathrow/ Athens       12:25/ 18:05
BA641       Athens/ London Heathrow       15:00/ 16:50

Please note these flights are an indication of what the flights are likely to be. Please contact the office for exact details

Visa and Passport Requirements (for British passport holders only)*
Note:  Passport needs to be valid for the duration of your stay.

Hotels

6 nights B&B in an attractive and comfortable hotel in the Plaka area of central Athens.

Map

Comments

What did you enjoy most about this tour?

Ffiona Gilmore-Eaves was an excellent tour leader and certainly added to my overall enjoyment.

Just about everything - especially the two late afternoon walks around the Parthenon followed by wonderful Greek dinners in a variety of restaurants with great company.

Every minute of our time was used. We walked and we saw and had a good insight into historic Athens.

Thoughtful and highly informative guide of the highest academic quality. Her enthusiasm and sheer skill in leading a group of travellers.

a) Visiting places to see first-hand what I had studied in my Open University courses on 5th century Athens. e.g. Acropolis, silver mines etc.
b) The company of like minded people.
c) The food - and Athens itself.

I enjoyed the variety of sites we visited on the tip, which opened my mind to the prehistory and history of Greece. The tour showed in an introductive way all that Greece and Athens in particular could offer archaeologically. I also enjoyed the community atmosphere of the group and their interest in archaeology.

Having plenty of interesting places to visit without being rushed and allowing enough time to really get the feel of each site.
I liked walking through the city with Ffiona who could tell us about all the sites. I liked learning interesting facts,. I like the relaxed pace and the freedom.

The places we went were really interesting and we could enjoy and appreciate them at our own pace. We also had enough free time to allow us to get an impression of the actual city.

- Ffiona's afternoon walks.
- Her evening talk.
- The excellent organisation of the whole tour.

We covered a lot and Ffiona did a brilliant job in linking it all together.  I learned a lot and the group was great.  The weather was very kind to us.  I am determined to return soon - always a good indication of a good tour.

Reading List

This list is no more than a guide to some books that you may find useful to read in advance of the tour. The bibliography on Greek art and archaeology is absolutely vast, so these are just a few suggestions to begin with (first five books listed). More specialised works are listed lower down. Talks given on the tour will attempt to fill in the background to what we are seeing, so no prior knowledge or pre-tour cramming is expected or needed. In many cases, we expect that you will find some of these books even more interesting and useful to read once the tour is over.

Guide Lecturer's Choice: (if you only want to read one or two books)

P. Connolly and H. Dodge   The Ancient City: life in classical Athens and Rome. Oxford University Press, large format paperback edition 2001. Very well illustrated, including helpful reconstruction drawings. Highly recommended.

A.R. and M. Burn  The Living Past of Greece: a time-traveller's tour of historic and prehistoric places. Herbert Press 1980. Out of print but available through book searches. Good chapters on Delphi, Athens and Attica, with plans, and historical background. More than a guide book: readable and illuminating.  Highly recommended.

J. Freely  Strolling through Athens. Tauris Parke paperback, 2004. Unusual guide book in the form of 14 walks, packed with information and quotations, and very readable, about the sights of all periods. Recommended.

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R. Barber  City Guide Athens (Blue Guides)  Handy paperback, pocket size. Very brief background chapters, but basically a guide book. Includes Sounion but not Delphi.

M. Belozerskaya and K Lapatin  Ancient Greece: art, architecture and history.  British Museum 2004.  Format like "Eyewitness" guides, with concise, but useful, text. A quick overview, nothing in great depth, but includes topics like sculpture, burial practice, etc. Lack of plans is a drawback.

Griffiths Pedley, J. (1998): Greek Art and Archaeology. London.

A very readable and well-illustrated introductory account, divided into broad chronological periods with the various areas of Greek art and archaeology (settlements, sculpture etc) treated in sub-headings within each chapter

Lawrence, A.W. (1996): Greek Architecture. Yale.

The original edition of this book was written in the 1950s. Since then it has undergone numerous revisions and further editions (so you may well come across an earlier one), twice by Prof. R.A Tomlinson, and it remains the best general survey of ancient Greek architecture.

Orrieux, C. & Pantel, P.S. (1999): A History of Ancient Greece (trans. J. Lloyd). Oxford.

There are hundreds of books on Greek history, but this is a readable illustrated modern account of the main events and figures, with further discussions of other basic aspects of Greek life such as slavery, drama and education.

Guidebooks

As always, the Blue Guide is a useful general account, with historical summaries and helpful glossaries as well as site plans. For Greece, there is a general guide as well as the one devoted to Athens and its environs, mentioned above. Hard-core archaeologists may also be interested in the and specifically archaeological guide on Greece by C. Mee and A. Spawforth in the Oxford Archaeological Guides series (2001).

Travel books

We recommend to you a publishing company with a mission to keep the classic works of travel literature in print. Eland and Sickle Moon Books produce an excellent catalogue of travellers' literature, old and new.

+44 (0) 20 7833 0762 - www.travelbooks.co.uk This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Archaeology books

Oxbow Books, based in Oxford, are suppliers of probably the biggest range of archaeology and history books. They produce a quarterly catalogue, and can be contacted on

+44 (0)1865 241249 - www.oxbowbooks.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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