Greece mainland and islands tour
Late availability on these dates: 04 Sep, 11 Sep, 18 Sep
Description of Greece mainland and islands tour
On this Greece mainland and islands tour you’ll join a group of up to 12 like minded travellers to delve deep into the nation’s history, culture and natural beauty. Unlike most Greece tours, which give you a whistlestop tour of Athens before heading for the islands, we will explore the mainland in depth. Not only will we get to know the capital, we’ll visit the ancient sites at Delphi, the monasteries of Meteora and the cosmopolitan vibes and dining scene of vibrant Thessaloniki.
The islands come next. As well as visiting high-flying Mykonos and Santorini you’ll get to explore Syros, one of the Aegean's most underrated islands and almost unknown to international tourists. You’ll also pay a visit to the sacred island of Delos, considered to be the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis and home to a living museum.
During this trip we only use public transport. Not only does this keep our ecological footprint low, it means we get much more of a chance to experience local life.
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Responsible Travel
Planet
While we want to offer the best travel experiences ever to our groups, we always make sure that this happens in harmony with the natural environments we visit.A volcanic eruption in 1500BC sank the centre of Santorini, forming the awe-inspiring caldera – a true natural phenomenon. Together with their local tour guide, the group undertakes an extensive hike here. It is always important to us that nature is treated with consideration. Our guide takes care that the group only walks along the signposted paths and thus keeps the impact on the environment to a minimum.
When visiting fragile environments, remote areas and national parks, we operate a “take in, take back out” system. Our travellers are always asked to carry any rubbish with them when hiking, to ensure no litter is left behind. To reduce single-use plastics on our trips we often provide reusable bags, encourage the use of reusable drinking bottles and are working to increase access to places to refill them.
During this trip we only use public transport to keep our ecological footprint as low as possible. Between Syros, Mykonos and Santorini we travel by ferry. From Thessaloniki to Athens and from Athens to Pyraeus we take the train. Public transport gives our travellers a unique opportunity to get in touch with the locals and learn more about Greek life. The train and ferry journeys on this trip are excellent examples of travelling like a local, with locals.
People
This small group tour has a maximum of 12 participants, allowing us to have a low impact on the communities we visit and meaning we can ensure we don’t disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people. This is especially true of our visit to Santorini’s caldera and walking from Thira to Oia through many little village. It’s activities like these that enable travellers to gain an insight into the everyday life of the locals without influencing it negatively in any way.This tour actively encourages guests to chat with local people, visit local cafes and bars, purchase local produce, gifts and crafts, and discover what life is really like in this part of Europe. In addition to the local guide, who accompanies the group throughout the entire trip, we always use specialist local tour guides on site. For example, when the group visits the Acropolis in Athens they’ll be accompanied by a local expert. In Santorini a visit to a bar also encourages travellers to communicate with the locals. Our goal is to promote intercultural communication and understanding.
Our company strives to create employment opportunities in the countries we travel to and our staff is made up of many different people from all over the world. We offer local people good working conditions, a fair wage, and empower them through training opportunities. We also work to maximise the benefits generated by tourism for local economies and communities. We source local activities that we believe are sustainable to the economy in that they allow the flow of income from visitors to be distributed to a greater audience, instead of remaining concentrated with a handful of tourism providers.
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