Greece family Vacations

Depart from home and brave the open skies on your way to Greece. The history calls you forth, the promise of beaches, hikes, togas, beards, and cheese, and where the photos you once stared at between the covers of your high school text book, the same photos your children have traced with their fingers over and over again, are about the jump off the page and into being. You make your way east while the sun sets in the west bringing, shortly, a new morning that blankets the hills that surround Athens. Look out your window and see the olive trees and the speckled homes. You are almost there.

What’s Included: breakfast, dinner

Day 2: The Shock and Awe of Family

Arrive at the Athens International Airport and wow the family with a private transfer into the city. The marble mountains create a natural gateway into Athens where the white stone continues to supply and decorate the area just as it did in ancient times. As you enter the city you can see the rising pillars of the ancients you grew up dreaming about, the flared top and cylindrical shape as tall today as it was thousands of years ago. After you settle into your hotel the day is yours to explore the city, the sites, scents, and the beauty of the modern day. Bakeries sit on almost every corner adding a sweet aroma to the air. The tallest hill at the center of the old city is known as the Acropolis, where the Parthenon stands on high.

Visit the 19th century neighborhood of Anafiotika within the center of the city, along the northern slopes of Acropolis hill. The whitewashed walls shine in the afternoon sun. The stone paths add an echo to the walkways giving you a perfect introduction to the diversity of Greece, almost taking you out of the ancient city and giving you the feel that you have transferred to the islands already. The narrow, hilly laneways offer the beautiful unexpected views of the Acropolis and the surrounding sprawl of modern Athens; the historic area calls to a time when the law said, “If you can build four walls and put a roof over it in 24 hours the land is yours.” The night settles over the city and you can find yourself strolling along the Plaka, the main pedestrian street of Old Athens. The Acropolis is lit atop the mountain like a beacon. People call out for you to sit beneath the city lights and enjoy a meal amidst the vibrant night. The scent of fresh bread and luscious olives lingers over the cobblestones. Athens has welcomed you and your family bringing history to the brink of modernity.

What’s Included: accommodation

Day 3: Who Needs History Books

Let the pages of the old classic myths come alive as you spend the day touring and discovering the wonders of antiquity within the classics of Athens. The stone stadium of Panathenaikon almost glows in the morning light; the marble seats stretch and surround the field that once held the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. The flags wave in the breeze giving a flutter to the morning while the city has begun to stir. It is easy to imagine the markers of competitive runners, competing for the love of country and chance to prove their speed. Stone and grass mix with the contemporary history of the stadium as your children watch the imaginary games in their heads, thinking of the countries that participated, the strength of the wrestlers, the roar of the crowds, and the possibility of the games to come.