Im Herzen der griechischen Inseln

Enhance your cruise and extend your trip with a carefully designed programme.

Day 1 – Athens

Meet and greet at the airport arrival hall. Look for PONANT sign.

You will be greeted by our local English-speaking representative and directly transferred to the King George hotel.

On the way to your hotel, you will enjoy a scenic drive passing by the Panathenaic Stadium, a 19th-century reconstruction on Roman foundations, in which the first modern Olympic Games took place. You will then pass by some of the most important sites of the city including the Hellenic Parliament, the Constitution Square and the Monument of the Unknown Soldier. You will make a photo stop at the bottom of the Acropolis Hill with its spectacular view of the Parthenon before being transferred to your hotel.

Check-in in your room.

The rest of the afternoon is at leisure.

Dinner on your own.

Day 2 – Athens

For those visiting Athens for the first time, this is an excellent introduction to one of the great cities of the ancient world.

After breakfast, you will depart for the Acropolis, a symbol of the glory of ancient Greece, where you will climb its smooth marble steps as visitors have for centuries. History opens before you as you reach one of the masterpieces of classical architecture, the Propylae, which serves as the entrance to the complex. See the Temple of Athena Nike, or Wingless Victory, and the Erechtheum with its classical Porch of Maidens, the Caryatids. Stand in awe of what is considered to be the most perfect example of classical architecture in the world, the Pantheon designed as a shrine to Athena and at one time housing a massive gold and ivory statue of the warrior goddess. Looking down from the Acropolis see the two ancient theatres in its shadow – the Greek theatre of Dionysus where the masterpieces of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripide and Aristophanes debuted to delighted audiences, and the gran Roman theatre of Herod Atticus, restored and used for concerts and classical plays during the summer Athens Festival.

Your next stop will be the New Acropolis Museum which is an archaeological museum focused on the findings of the archaeological site of the Acropolis of Athens. The museum was built in order to house every artifact found on the rock and on its feet, covering a large period of time, from the Greek Bronze Age to Roman and Byzantine Greece. The museum was founded in 2003 while the organisation of the Museum was established in 2000. Finally, it opened to public on June 21, 2009. Nearly 4,000 objects are exhibited over an area of 14,000 square metres.

Following your visit to the Acropolis museum, you will enjoy a tasteful Greek lunch at a local restaurant in Acropolis area. You will then have some time to stroll around the colorful nearby street of Plaka, before being transferred to the port to embark your ship.

Your hotel:

Dating back to 1930, King George Hotel is a luxury 5-star hotel. It is located close to Syntagma Square in the city centre, within walking distance from the wonders of Athens, as the Parliament House or the Acropolis. 

Your programme includes:

• 1 night accommodation at the King Georges hotel 5* (or similar) in Classic standard room, including breakfast.
• Meals as mentioned in the programme.
• Beverage package during meals (mineral water + 1 soft drink or 1 local beer + 1 coffee or tea).
• Transfers, visits and entrance fees as mentioned in the programme.
• Local English-speaking guide.

Your programme does not include:

• Dinner.
• Tips for the guide and the driver.
• Personal expenses.
• Other services not mentioned in the programme.

Contact of your hotel:

King George Hotel

3, Vasileos Georgiou A street, Syntagma Square

105 64, Athens, GREECE

Telephone: +30 210 3222210

Duration of the visits is given as a guide only. The order of the visits may be reversed.

To know your PONANT flight schedule, please contact your travel agent; it is also indicated on your electronic ticket included in your travel documents.

Travel with peace of mind as PONANT organises your transfer between your port of disembarkation and the airport.

Athens

After disembarkation procedures are completed, you will depart the port of Piraeus by coach for an exploration of one of the oldest city in Europe, Athens.

You will enjoy a panoramic sightseeing tour of the city. You will make your first stop at the Panathenaic Stadium, a 19th-century reconstruction on Roman foundations, in which the first modern Olympic Games took place. This stadium is also known as the Kallimármaro which means “the beautiful marbled”, because it is the only major stadium in the world built entirely of white marble. It was also restored to host some competitions during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Your next visit will be at the Byzantine Museum & Christian Museum, one of Greece’s national museums. Its areas of competences are centred on – but not limited to – religious artefacts of the Early Christian, Byzantine, Medieval, post-Byzantine and later periods which it exhibits, but also acquires, receives, preserves, conserves, records, documents, researches, studies, publishes and raises awareness of. The museum has over 25,000 artefacts in its possession. The artefacts date from between the 3rd and 20th century AD, and their provenance encompasses the entire Greek world, as well as regions in which Hellenism flourished. The size and range of the collections and value of the exhibits make the museum a veritable treasury of Byzantine and post-Byzantine art and culture.

At the end of the morning, you will be taken to the Plaka Old District located at the bottom of the Acropolis, in the historic heart of Athens. You will have some free time (about 45 minutes) to explore on foot Plaka’s pedestrian shopping streets where you will find jewellery stores, souvenir shops, cafes and restaurants.

You will then be transferred to Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos”. It is approx. a one-hour transfer.

Your programme includes:

• Transfers, visits and entrance fees as mentioned in the programme.
• Services of a local English-speaking guide.

Your programme does not include:

• Lunch.
• Tips for the driver and local guide.
• Personal expenses and other services not mentioned in the programme.

 Duration of the visits is given as a guide only. The order of the visits may be reversed. For the times of your PONANT flight, please contact your travel advisor; they are also shown on your electronic ticket included in your travel documents.