What are Greece tours?

Greece tours are trips across a country of 131,957 square kilometres. The mainland makes up 83.33% of the land, and islands make up 16.67%. Greece has an archipelago of about 3,000 islands. It has the 11th longest national coastline in the world.

By area, Greece ranks 95th among the countries of the world. Its northern tip is the village of Ormenio. Its western tip is the island of Othonoi.

Greece tours also cross a large sea area. The exclusive economic zone covers 505,572 square kilometres. On land, the Pindus range has long been a barrier between east and west.

Since a reform in January 2011, Greece has had 13 regions. The country has 332 municipalities, up from 325 before a reform in 2019.

Greece tours meet a country of 10,432,481 residents, the count at the 2021 census. In 2018, tourism made up 21% of the gross domestic product. In 2008, about 840,000 jobs, or 19% of the workforce, were linked to tourism.

Tourist arrivals grew from 33,000 in 1950 to 11.4 million in 1994. Greece hosted 28 million visitors in 2022, up from 18 million in 2007. In 2022, Greece ranked 9th in the world for visitor numbers.

• Islands: One count puts the number of inhabited Greek islands as low as 166.
• Lowest point: Epitalio lies 6 metres below sea level, the lowest spot in the country.
• Heritage: Greece ranks 17th in the world for its number of World Heritage Sites.

Greece tours therefore join high mountains, small islands and a long coast in one country. Each region adds its own sites, towns and shores.

Athens Acropolis and Parthenon Walking TourCheck availability on ViatorAthens: Meteora Monasteries Tour, Caves, Beachfront Stops & LunchCheck availability on ViatorSantorini Classic Catamaran Cruise with BBQ, Drinks and TransfersCheck availability on ViatorBalos & Gramvousa: Cruise with Meals, Drinks & TransferCheck availability on Viator

Which ancient sites do Greece tours visit?

Greece tours visit ancient sites spread across the whole country. The Greek World Heritage Sites include 18 cultural sites and three mixed sites. The mixed sites are Meteora, Mount Athos and Mount Olympus. The first Greek listing was the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae, in 1986.

The Bassae temple stands on a base of 38.3 by 14.5 metres. A ring of six by fifteen Doric columns surrounds it. In 1812, visitors removed 23 slabs of its frieze. The British Museum bought them at auction in 1815.

Greece tours to Mystras reach a listed area of 54.43 hectares. A buffer zone of 1,202.52 hectares protects the land around it.

Greece tours to Delphi reach a site on top of a scarp. The scarp rises up to 500 metres above the valley floor. At Meteora, UNESCO notes the 16th century frescoes. They mark a key stage in post-Byzantine painting.

Greece tours to Samos reach the Pythagoreion and the Heraion. Both joined the World Heritage List in 1992. UNESCO listed them for the role of Samos in Archaic and early Classical Greece. Settlement at the Pythagoreion began around the 16th century BC, when the Minoans colonised Samos.

The Heraion, a large sanctuary of the goddess Hera, lies 6 km southwest of ancient Samos. Cult activity there goes back to about 1700 BC. The Great Temple of Hera measured 55.2 metres wide and 108.6 metres long.

• Aigai: Its burial ground holds more than 300 burial mounds, called tumuli.
• Philippi: The city began as Crenides, meaning “Fountains”, and Philip II of Macedon renamed it in 356 BC.
• Battle: The Battle of Philippi took place on the plain west of the city in October 42 BC.

Greece tours to Philippi also meet early Christian history. UNESCO listed it in 2016 for its Roman buildings. The apostle Paul is believed to have preached there first on European soil, in AD 49 or 50.

Greece Ville covers single sites in depth. Athens has posts on Acropolis tickets, Acropolis Museum tickets and the Acropolis tour. The Athens food tour post tastes the markets and street food of the city. The Athens bike tour post rides the car-free streets, and the Athens walking tour post explores the old town on foot. Two more posts cover the Delos tour and the Mycenae Epidaurus day trip.

What do Greece tours from Athens cover?

Greece tours from Athens cover Attica, a triangular peninsula that juts into the Aegean Sea. The Attica region covers about 3,808 square kilometres. It had 3,814,064 residents at the 2021 census. In 2018 it produced about 47% of the economic output of Greece.

Pausanias wrote that Attica was first called Actaea. It later took the name of Atthis, a daughter of King Cranaus. The Kifisos is the longest river in Attica. It runs from the foothills of Mount Parnitha to a delta at Faliro.

Greece tours to Mount Parnitha reach its summit, called Karavola. It lies about 30 km north of the Athens city centre. Much of the mountain is a national park, first created in 1961. About 1,000 plant species grow there, and red deer live on its slopes.

Tatoi, the former summer palace of the Greek royal family, sits on a slope of Parnitha. Its estate covers 42 km2, 27 km from central Athens.

Greece tours east of the city climb Mount Hymettus. Koutouki cave, its largest cave, opens on the east flank near Paiania. A sanctuary of Zeus Ombrios, “Zeus the rain bringer”, once stood on the summit. Offerings found there date from the 8th and 7th centuries BC.

Greece tours to Kaisariani Monastery find it on the north side of Hymettus. Its main church dates from about 1100. The monks earned their income from olive groves, grape vines and beehives.

• Amphiareion: This sanctuary of the hero Amphiaraos lies 37.2 km north-north-east of Athens.
• Dream ritual: Pilgrims sacrificed a ram and lay down on its skin to wait for a dream.
• Eleusis: The town is the birthplace of the playwright Aeschylus.

Greece tours to Brauron recall an old cult of Artemis. Pisistratus, a tyrant of Athens, was born at Brauron. He moved its cult of Artemis to the Acropolis.

Trips from Athens have their own posts too: the Meteora day trip from Athens and the Hydra Poros Aegina cruise. The Cape Sounion tour covers the southern tip of Attica, and the Delphi day trip from Athens heads northwest to Mount Parnassus. The Delphi Meteora tour post joins both sites across the plain of Thessaly. Cruise ships that dock near Athens have the Piraeus shore excursion. Flyers can book the Athens airport transfer, and the Athens hop on hop off bus loops the centre. The Athens day trip post maps the sites beyond the city. Aegina has two posts, the Aegina day trip and the Aegina boat trip. Hydra has two posts too, the Hydra day trip and the Hydra boat trip.

Which island groups do Greece tours reach?

Greece tours reach the traditional island groups of Greece. They are the Saronic Islands, the Cyclades and the North Aegean islands. The Dodecanese, the Sporades and the Ionian Islands complete the list. Crete with its surrounding islets and Euboea stay outside these groups.

The North Aegean islands do not form a physical chain. They are grouped for tourist or administrative purposes. Greece tours there meet Lesbos, the third largest island in Greece, at 1,633 km².

Lesbos had 83,755 people in 2021, and a third of them live in Mytilene. Mytilene is also the capital of the North Aegean region. Since 1 January 2011, the region has had five regional units.

Greece tours to Euboea reach the second largest Greek island in area and population. It is also the sixth largest island in the Mediterranean. Euboea runs for about 180 km, and its width falls from 50 km to 6 km.

The Euripus Strait between Euboea and the mainland is only 40 m wide at Chalcis. The name Euboea comes from Greek words for the land of the well-fed oxen. Under Venetian rule, its Italian name was Negroponte, or Black Bridge.

Greece tours in the Sporades reach Skyros, at 209 km² the largest island and the southernmost inhabited one. The Sporades regional unit covers 275.7 km² and had 13,458 people in 2021. The Skiathos island tour post circles the green island at the western edge of the group. The Skiathos boat trip post sails on to its islets and to Skopelos.

• Saronic Islands: Salamina, in the Saronic Gulf, covers 96 km² and had 39,283 people in 2011.
• Lesbos: Its poets Alcaeus and Sappho earned it the name Island of the Poets.
• Euboea: Mount Dirfi on the island rises to 1,743 m.

Greece tours in the Cyclades cross an island group that Greece has reorganised. The former Cyclades prefecture covered 2,572 km². A reform in 2011 split it into nine separate regional units.

What do Greece tours show in the Cyclades?

Greece tours in the Cyclades show the marble art of an ancient Aegean culture. They also show churches, a monastery on a steep coast and the town of Ermoupoli. Tinos, Amorgos, Sifnos, Syros and Andros each add a different story.

Experts count the Cycladic culture among the three major Aegean cultures, with the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures. Two famous marble figures show musicians, a harp player and a pipe player. Both date from about 2500 BCE.

Spedos figurines range from small pieces of 8 cm to large sculptures of 1.5 m. The Plastiras type is named after a cemetery on Paros. The Chalandriani type takes its name from a cemetery on Syros.

Kapsala figurines, from around 2700 BC, are named after a find place on Amorgos. On the same island, the Panagia Hozoviotissa Monastery stands on the steep south coast at 300 m. Visitors climb 271 steps to reach it.

Greece tours on Syros reach Ermoupoli, a town whose name means Town of Hermes. The Greek Steamship Company was founded there in 1856. Sifnos has 237 churches and is known as a capital of pottery in the Aegean.

On Tinos, pilgrims cross the 800 m from the ferry wharf to the Church of Panagia Evangelistria. They go on hands and knees. On 15 August 1940, the Italian submarine Delfino sank the Greek cruiser Elli in the harbour.

• Hozoviotissa: The monastery is 40 m long, no wider than 5 m, and has eight levels.
• Ios: According to Plutarch, its name comes from the Greek word for violets.
• Sifnos: Sifnios was once a local word for potter.

Greece tours on Andros reach the northernmost island of the Cyclades, about 10 km southeast of Euboea. Strofilas there was the largest organised settlement of the Neolithic in the Cyclades.

In the Cyclades, Greece Ville covers the Santorini catamaran cruise, the Santorini volcano tour, the Milos sailing tour, the Mykonos island tour, the Santorini food tour and the Santorini shore excursion. Food lovers also have the Mykonos food tour and the Naxos cooking class. Sea trips around the caldera are in the Santorini boat tour. Evening light over the caldera has its own post, the Santorini sunset tour. The island’s vineyards have the Santorini wine tour post. The seabed around the caldera has the Santorini snorkeling post. Sailing in the caldera has the Santorini sailing tour post. Pictures among the white houses and blue domes have the Santorini photo tour post. Trips by sea from Mykonos to Delos and Rhenia are in the Mykonos boat tour. The Paros boat trip post sails to Antiparos and Despotiko. The Naxos tour post explores the villages, footpaths and history of the island. The Mykonos catamaran cruise post sees the coast from a twin-hulled boat. The Paros snorkeling post looks under the sea around Paros and Antiparos. The Mykonos wine tour post tastes the island’s wines on its farms.

What do Greece tours show on Crete?

Greece tours on Crete show ancient sites, a major museum and Venetian building work. Phaistos, Malia and Zakros hold early towns and palaces. The Heraklion Archaeological Museum and the Fortezza of Rethymno add later chapters of the island story.

Texts from the Syrian city of Mari give the earliest references to Crete. Written in the 18th century BC, they call the island Kaptara. The name Crete first appears in Linear B texts of the 15th century BC.

Greece tours at Phaistos visit a site first inhabited around 3600 BCE, slightly later than Knossos. The city had its own currency, the stater. An Italian team led by Doro Levi worked there from 1950 to 1966.

Mycenaeans appeared at Malia around 1450 BC. Fire destroyed the town around 1370 BC. Six Linear A tablets have come to light there. Phaistos has given 61 items inscribed in Linear A.

On the east coast, Greece tours reach the palace of Zakros. It was built around 1900 BC, rebuilt around 1600 BC and destroyed around 1450 BC. It covered about 8,000 m² and held about 150 rooms.

Greece tours also visit the Heraklion Archaeological Museum. Its first dedicated building went up from 1904 to 1912. The archaeologists Iosif Hatzidakis and Stefanos Xanthoudidis had urged it. Earthquakes in 1926, 1930 and 1935 left it close to collapse.

• Zakros: Excavators found 591 Linear A documents there, 31 tablets and 560 sealed ones.
• Museum: The collection survived the Second World War intact and reopened in 1952.
• Mount Ida: It has the highest topographic prominence of any mountain in Greece.

Greece tours in Rethymno reach the Fortezza, the town’s Venetian citadel. A total of 107,142 Cretans and 40,205 animals took part in building it. The Cretan author Vikentios Kornaros created Erotokritos, an epic romance of the 17th century.

On Crete, the Balos lagoon cruise and the Spinalonga tour have their own posts. So do Knossos tickets. The Heraklion tour post crosses the island’s capital and climbs Mount Juktas. From the same harbour, the Heraklion sailing tour post heads out under sail, and the Heraklion boat trip post follows the coves to the west. The Crete boat trip post follows the coasts and islets by sea. Inland, the Crete quad safari post rides the dirt tracks between hills and farms. The Crete jeep safari post climbs to shepherd huts and painted chapels. The Crete sunset cruise post follows the coast into the evening. The Crete catamaran cruise post explains how boats with two hulls sail. Further west, the Rethymno tour post explores the harbour town between Chania and Heraklion. In Chania, the Chania food tour post tastes the city and its farms. The Chania wine tour post follows the vine into the cellar, and the Chania boat trip post sails the gulf. The Chania hiking tour post climbs into the White Mountains. The Samaria gorge tour post walks down to the Libyan Sea. The island’s groves and mills are in the Crete olive oil tour. The Lasithi Plateau tour post climbs to the high plain inside the Dikti mountains. Cretaquarium tickets open the big aquarium at Gournes. The Elafonisi day trip post visits the pink-sand lagoon in the south-west.

What do Greece tours show in the Dodecanese?

Greece tours in the Dodecanese reach a group of 15 larger and 150 smaller islands. Of these, 26 are inhabited. The group lies in the southeastern Aegean Sea, off the coast of Anatolia. Its name means “twelve islands”.

Greece tours to Astypalaia reach an island of 1,376 residents. Scholars see it as an extension of the Cyclades in culture and ecology. The island is 18 kilometres long and 13 kilometres across at its widest. It covers 97 km2.

Patmos lies among the northernmost islands of the group. It covers 34.05 km2 and had 3,283 residents in 2021. Christian belief holds that John of Patmos received the vision of the Book of Revelation there.

Greece tours to Patmos reach a World Heritage Site. In 1999, UNESCO listed Chora, the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian and the Cave of the Apocalypse. Christodoulos Latrinos founded the monastery.

Leros lies 317 kilometres from Piraeus and about 32 kilometres from Turkey. It had 7,992 residents in 2021. Like Patmos and Astypalaia, it belongs to the Kalymnos regional unit.

Kalymnos lies 12 km north of Kos and less than 2 km south of Leros. A chain of islets links it to Leros. Kalymnos had 17,752 residents in 2021.

• Karpathos: The second largest island of the group keeps old dress, customs and dialect.
• Nisyros: This volcanic island between Kos and Tilos is nearly round, about 8 km across.
• Tilos: Pliny the Elder notes that Tilos was once known as Agathussa.
• Small islands: Agathonisi, Leipsoi, Kasos and Halki count among the twelve islands besides Rhodes, Kos and Patmos.

Greece tours to Kastellorizo reach the far east of the country. The island lies roughly 2 kilometres off the south coast of Turkey. The 1991 Oscar-winning film Mediterraneo is set there during the Second World War.

In the Dodecanese, Greece Ville covers the Symi day trip from Rhodes and the Lindos tour. The Rhodes boat trip post follows the island’s coasts by sea. The Kos boat trip post sails to Kalymnos, Pserimos and Nisyros. The Nisyros volcano tour post walks into the island’s craters. The Kos ATV tour post rides quad bikes over the island’s tracks. The Kos island tour post crosses its villages, castles and ports.

What do Greece tours show in the Ionian Islands?

Greece tours in the Ionian Islands reach a group of islands west of mainland Greece. Centuries of Venetian rule kept them outside Ottoman control. That rule left a distinct culture with Italian influences. Today they form the Ionian Islands Region, except Kythera, which belongs to Attica.

Greece tours to Corfu meet a long naval past. Thucydides calls ancient Korkyra one of the three great naval powers of Greece in the fifth century BCE. The other two were Athens and Corinth. Ruins of the ancient city lie at Palaiopolis.

Korkyra fought in the Battle of Sybota, which helped start the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides called it the largest naval battle between Greek city-states until that time. Corfu came under British rule in November 1815, after the Napoleonic Wars.

Greece tours to Kefalonia reach Mount Ainos. Its bedrock is mainly dolomite and limestone of Cretaceous age. About 3,000 to 4,000 people live on its slopes. Strabo records a sanctuary of Zeus Ainesios on the mountain, and Hesiod mentions it too.

Paxos lies 15 km from the southern tip of Corfu. Its main town and seat of the municipality is Gaios. Myth says Poseidon made the island by striking Corfu with his trident.

• Paxos: The smallest of the seven main islands covers 25.3 square kilometres.
• Antipaxos: This island of 5 km2, largely covered in vineyards, lies about 3 kilometres south of Paxos.
• Antikythera: The municipality of Kythira also includes the island of Antikythera to the south.

Greece tours to Kythira reach an island set between the Greek mainland and Crete. Its architecture blends traditional, Aegean and Venetian elements. Its customs reflect centuries of Greek and Venetian life side by side.

In the Ionian Islands, the Navagio shipwreck tour, the Paxos Antipaxos cruise, the Corfu shore excursion and the Zakynthos blue caves have their own posts. So does the Ithaca day trip from Kefalonia or Lefkada. The Kefalonia boat tour post follows the coasts and caves of Kefalonia by sea. The Lefkada boat tour post sails the islets of the Inland Sea, and the Lefkada island tour post crosses the island by land. The Corfu sunset cruise post sails the coast as the sun goes down. The Kefalonia island tour post crosses the island by road, and the Melissani cave tour post rows across its cave lake. The Corfu boat trip post follows the island’s coasts by sea. The Zakynthos island tour post circles Zakynthos by road. On Corfu, the Corfu tour post crosses the island’s mountain and hill villages. The Zakynthos turtle boat tour post follows the loggerheads of Laganas Bay. The Zakynthos boat trip post reads the Ionian Sea around the island.

What do Greece tours show on the mainland?

Greece tours on the mainland cross regions from the Peloponnese to Thrace. The Peloponnese is a peninsula joined to central Greece by the Isthmus of Corinth. Thessaly lies in northern central Greece. Epirus covers about 9,200 km2 in the northwest.

Greece tours to Monemvasia reach a fortified town founded in the sixth century. Its plateau rises 100 m above the sea and runs 1 kilometre long. In 1890, a cut through the sandy isthmus made a passage for ships.

The Mani Peninsula is the southern extension of the Taygetus range. It ends at Cape Matapan, the southernmost point of continental Greece. Its old name, Maina Polypyrgos, points to its tower-houses. From 1978, the state named tower-house villages “traditional” and limited building there.

Greece tours in Mani reach the Apidima Cave, where Neanderthal fossils were found. In 2003, the whole peninsula became a “cultural complex of international importance”.

Greece tours in Epirus reach Zagori in the Pindus mountains. It covers 1,000 square kilometres and holds 46 villages. Its seat is the village of Asprangeloi. Mount Mitsikeli, at 1,810 m, forms its southwestern side.

Ioannina lies at about 500 metres, on the western shore of Lake Pamvotis. It is the capital of Epirus and had 64,896 residents in 2021. The city was ceded to Greece in 1913, after the Balkan Wars.

• Thessaloniki: From the 16th to the 20th centuries, it was the only Jewish-majority city in Europe.
• Co-capital: Greeks call Thessaloniki the “co-capital”, after its Byzantine rank beside Constantinople.
• Metropolis: The Thessaloniki metropolitan area had 1,006,112 residents in 2021.
• Thessaly: The region joined Greece in 1881, after four and a half centuries of Ottoman rule.

Greece tours to Mount Olympus reach a massif on the border of Thessaly and Macedonia. Its highest peak, Mytikas, means “nose” and rises to 2,917.727 metres. In Greek mythology, the mountain is the home of the gods.

On the mainland, the Nafplio day trip, the ancient Olympia tour in Elis, the Epidaurus tour and the Ancient Corinth tour have their own posts on Greece Ville. The Corinth canal tour post sails through the cut in the isthmus. The Thermopylae tour post walks the pass where Leonidas held the line. The Mount Olympus day trip post visits the highest mountain in Greece. In Halkidiki, the Halkidiki boat tour post sails the gulfs of Kassandra and Sithonia, and the Mount Athos cruise post follows the monastery coast.

How does the sea shape Greece tours?

Greece tours cross two seas that meet around the country. The Aegean Sea covers about 215,000 km2 between the Balkans and Anatolia. The Ionian Sea lies to the west. The Aegean reaches its deepest point, 2,639 m, west of Karpathos.

Greece tours south of the Cyclades cross the Sea of Crete. It stretches north of Crete, east of Kythera and west of Rhodes, Karpathos and Kassos. Across Crete, the Libyan Sea begins on the southern shore.

Greece tours in the north meet the Thracian Sea, the northernmost part of the Aegean. The whole sea lies north of the 40th parallel. Thasos and Samothrace are its Greek islands. The thermal springs of Loutra Eleftheron lie near Kavala.

The Myrtoan Sea lies between the Cyclades and the Peloponnese. Legend names it after Myrtilus, whom an angry Pelops threw into the sea. Another story links the name to a small island called Myrtus.

Greece tours west of Athens follow the Gulf of Corinth. This inlet of the Ionian Sea separates the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. In the Middle Ages, it was known as the Gulf of Lepanto.

• Thermaic Gulf: This gulf in the northwest corner of the Aegean is about 100 km long.
• Silting: Ancient seaside towns such as Pella now stand kilometres inland, because rivers filled the gulf with silt.
• Rivers: The Pineios, Aliakmon, Loudias, Gallikos and Axios all empty into the Thermaic Gulf.

Greece tours across these waters link the mainland and the islands. The Aegean islands once eased contact between Europe and Asia. The ancient Greeks lived around its coasts and on its islands.

How does nature shape Greece tours?

Greece tours meet a land of mountains, lakes and forests. The Pindus range runs roughly 160 km from north to south. It stretches from southern Albania down to the north of the Peloponnese. Geologists see the range as an extension of the Dinaric Alps.

The Aliakmonas is the longest river that flows entirely in Greece, at 297 km. Three rivers are longer: the Evros, the Strymonas and the Axios. Each starts abroad and runs a shorter course on Greek soil. The Aliakmonas drains a basin of 8,813 km2.

Greece tours to Prespa reach two lakes split by an isthmus. Great Prespa is shared by three countries, and Little Prespa lies mainly in Greece. Each country around the lakes has its own Prespa national park.

Lake Kerkini in Central Macedonia is a reservoir created in 1932 and redeveloped in 1980. It replaced a vast marshland. It lies on a migratory flyway, which makes it a prime place to watch birds.

Greece tours to the Dadia Forest reach oak and pine woods in the Evros regional unit. It is the only forest in Europe where all four European vultures can be seen. The protected area covers 7,290 hectares and draws about 35,000 visitors a year.

Mount Parnassus rises above Delphi in Central Greece. Its rock is limestone, but it also holds bauxite, an aluminium ore that is mined there. Its melting snows give water to the villages around it.

• Taygetus: Its name, taken from the nymph Taygete, is one of the oldest recorded in Europe.
• Five fingers: From Byzantine times to the 19th century, Taygetus was also called Pentadaktylos, or “five-fingered”.
• Snow: In winter the whole Parnassus range opens for skiing, with resorts at Arachova.

Greece tours to Parnassus also meet old myths. The ancients held the mountain sacred to Dionysus and to Apollo. It was also the home of the Muses, and Delphi there was called the navel of the world.

What food and wine do Greece tours meet?

Greece tours meet a cuisine with roots in Ancient Greek and Byzantine cooking. It also took Middle Eastern, Balkan and Italian influences. Common desserts use nuts, honey, fruits, sesame and filo pastry. Barley goes into paximathia, beside everyday wheat bread.

Feta is a white brined cheese of sheep milk, or of sheep and goat milk. Since 2002, the EU has protected the name as a designation of origin. Laws in the EU and 25 other countries limit the name feta. The mix holds up to 30% goat milk.

Greece tours to Kalamata meet the large, dark purple Kalamata olive. Within the EU, the name has PDO status for olives from the region around Kalamata. The same variety grown elsewhere is sold as Kalamon olives.

Mastic is a resin from the mastic tree, also called the tears of Chios. It dries into brittle, clear pieces. When chewed, it turns bright white and tastes of pine and cedar.

Greece tours in Macedonia meet Xinomavro, whose name means “sour black”. It is the main red grape of the uplands of Naousa and around Amyntaio. Its world area grew from 1,971 hectares in 2010 to 2,239 hectares in 2013.

Agiorgitiko is a red grape grown in the Nemea region of the Peloponnese. In 2012, it covered the largest area of any red grape in Greece. Near Metsovo, it is blended with Cabernet Sauvignon into a table wine called katoi.

• Tsipouro: This un-aged brandy holds 40–45% alcohol and comes from grape pomace.
• Ouzo: This dry aperitif takes its flavour from anise.
• Pasta: Greek kitchens use local pasta such as hilopites.

Greece tours with a wine stop meet one of the oldest wine regions in the world. In the medieval period, wines from Crete and Monemvasia fetched high prices in northern Europe.

How do travelers get around on Greece tours?

Greece tours start at airports, ports, roads and rail lines. Athens International Airport began operation on 28 March 2001. It replaced the old airport at Ellinikon in time for the 2004 Olympics. It is the largest international airport in Greece.

Heraklion International Airport is the second busiest airport in Greece. It lies about 5 km east of central Heraklion and serves both civil and military flights. It bears the name of the writer Nikos Kazantzakis, a native of Heraklion.

Greece tours in the north use Thessaloniki Airport, 13 km southeast of the city in Thermi. The Athens–Thessaloniki air route is the tenth busiest in the EU, with 1.8 million passengers.

The A2 motorway, called the Egnatia Odos, runs 670 km across northern Greece. It links the western port of Igoumenitsa with the Turkish border at Kipoi. Building began in 1994 and ended in 2009.

Greece tours to the Peloponnese can cross the Rio–Antirrio Bridge. Its official name is the Charilaos Trikoupis Bridge. It opened on 12 August 2004, one day before the Athens Olympics. It links Rio on the Peloponnese with Antirrio on the mainland.

The railway from Piraeus to Platy is an electrified double-track line. It forms the longest section of the main rail link between Athens and Thessaloniki. Its operator, owned by the Italian state railway since 2017, took the name Hellenic Train in 2022.

• Attiki Odos: This toll motorway system forms the outer beltways of Athens, 70 kilometres long in total.
• Lavrio: This port town lies about 60 km southeast of central Athens.
• Silver: In Classical times, the Laurium silver mines were a chief source of revenue for Athens.

Greece tours by train pass Thebes, Larissa and Katerini on the line north. Branch lines reach Chalcis, Lamia, Volos, Karditsa and Trikala. In the south, the line meets the Athens Airport–Patras railway at Acharnes.

When is the best time of year for Greece tours?

Greece tours meet a climate that is mainly Mediterranean. The complex land creates a wide range of local climates. Average yearly temperatures range from about 4 °C on Kaimaktsalan to 22 °C at Lindos. The north mixes continental, Mediterranean and humid subtropical climates.

The Pindus range splits the weather of the mainland. Its western side is wetter, with maritime features. Its eastern side has drier and windier summers.

Greece tours in the dry southeast meet the least rain. Xerokampos records the lowest average yearly rainfall, at 219 mm. Theodoriana records the highest, at 2529 mm.

Winter cold can be harsh in the north. The lowest temperature on record is −27.8 °C, at Ptolemaida. A sinkhole at Kechroti once logged −35.3 °C. High mountain areas have an alpine climate.

Greece tours around Easter meet Holy Week, when Orthodox churches call each day “Holy and Great”. Great Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and prayer, comes before it. Eastertide then runs for seven weeks, until Pentecost Sunday.

• Mountains: The Greek mainland is extremely mountainous for a European country.
• Semi-arid: Semi-arid climates are the second commonest type in Greece.

Greece tours therefore change with the region as much as with the month. The wetter west and the drier east give two different summers. Lindos and Tris Ekklisies share the warmest yearly average in the country.