The Greek Dodecanese Islands: Kos & Rhodes

Board your overnight flight to Athens today.

Welcome to Greece! Transfer to your hotel, where you’ll get to know your Tour Director and fellow travelers over a welcome dinner, served with your choice of beer or wine.

A local guide introduces you to the highlights of this bustling ancient capital, home to the world’s first democracy.

• Drive through village-like Plaka—the historic “neighborhood of the gods” built in the shadow of the Acropolis.
• Set off on a walking tour around the Acropolis of Athens, a millennia-old, UNESCO-listed citadel and the enduring image of Greece. First properly developed by the renowned politician Pericles, it now contains the ruins of the Parthenon, Temple of Athena Nike, Erechtheion, and dozens of other archaeological sites.
• Step inside the Acropolis Museum, a 150,000-square-foot space dedicated to exhibiting every artifact recovered from the Acropolis and its foothills. First opened in 2009, it chronicles the history of Greece, from the Bronze Age to Byzantine times, through over 4,250 different items.

Enjoy a free afternoon in the city, or add an excursion to explore Athens through one of its greatest gifts: food.

Board a flight to your first Dodecanese island: Kos, a beautifully bright locale known for its Greek and Roman historical sites, as well as its picturesque beaches. Upon arriving, pay a visit to a family-owned honey business for a tour and tasting, and learn more about one of the island’s most famous exports. Prized by Hippocrates—the “father of modern medicine”—and known for its purity, Koan honey is beloved in Greece and consumed around the world. (Some 50 families produce 200 tons of it each year!)

• Arrive at the facility and meet your guide, who’ll walk you through traditional beekeeping methods and honey production processes.
• Indulge in a tasting of locally produced honeys—including typical variants like thyme and pine—paired expertly with delicious Greek loukoumades (sweet, fried balls of dough, drenched in honey syrup).

Continue on to your hotel and freshen up before sitting down for an included dinner, served with your choice of beer or wine.

Join your Tour Director and spend the first part of your day exploring one of Greece’s southernmost islands, a place influenced by over 5,000 years of Ottoman, Roman, and Venetian history.

• Begin at the ruins of the Asklepios, an ancient medical center and healing temple built in honor of one of Kos’ most famous sons: Hippocrates himself.
• Head into town to see Neratzia Castle, built in the 14th century by the Knights of Saint John; the Loggia Mosque, one of two Ottoman-era mosques on the island that still hold prayers; and the Tree of Hippocrates, a plane tree under which Hippocrates taught his students.
• Enjoy free time for lunch, then see what pieces of ancient history you can find in charming Kos Town.

Take the rest of the day to explore Kos on your own, or add an exquisite excursion to another island village. (Yes, wine and dinner will be served!)

Enjoy a full day to yourself on this beautiful island, or add an excursion to work three more of the Dodecanese into your itinerary.

Head south to Rhodes, the largest of the Dodecanese islands and the former site of an ancient wonder of the world: the Colossus of Rhodes. Sit down for an included lunch at a local restaurant, then set out for a guided tour.

• Visit the harbor to view the site of the Colossus of Rhodes. Originally built in 290 B.C., this hulking bronze-and-iron statue of the Greek sun god Helios stood until an earthquake felled it just 54 years after it was first erected. It laid in disrepair, in fulfillment of an oracle, for centuries until invading forces melted it down.
• See the traditional windmills of the Old Town before walking to the UNESCO-listed Medieval City, where Gothic and Ottoman architecture beautifully coexist. Learn how the walled city was built by order of Saint John of Jerusalem and how various groups, from Italians to Ottomans, have called it home over the centuries.
• Walk up the cobbled Street of the Knights to the Palace of the Grand Masters: an enormous structure adorned with towers, arched gates, and statues. Hear how it was restored during the 20th century by the Italians, and how it became the holiday home of politicians like King Victor Emmanuel III and Benito Mussolini.

Enjoy a free day to explore Rhodes on your own, or add an excursion to one of Greece’s most scenic historic sights.

Spend one last day getting to know Rhodes at your leisure, or add an excursion to the island of Symi—the “jewel of the Dodecanese.”

Today, fly to Athens and celebrate your trip with your group over a farewell dinner, served with your choice of beer or wine.

Transfer to the airport for your flight home or extend your stay to explore the mythic regions of Meteora and Delphi.