Highlights: Athens – Thessaloniki – Chalkis – Larisa – Meteora – Veria – Ioannina
10 days / 9 nights
Day 1
Arrival
Meet and transfer to hotel for dinner and overnight.
Day 2
Athens City Tour
Visit the Jewish museum for orientation and lecture on the Jews of Greece History. Visit the main synagogue in Athens, the Beth Shalom Sephardic Synagogue and view the Romaniot Synagogue also across the street. They are both located in Thission area, the historical old Jewish quarter. In the afternoon guided tour to the Acropolis and its Parthenon, the masterpiece of Athens Golden era. See also by your bus the Constitution square, the Temple of Athenian Zeus ,the Olympic Stadium, the National Library and the Palace. Have a spare time to wander around the Plaka, with its traditional streets, taverns and shops. Dinner and overnight in Athens.
Day 3
Chalkis Tour
After breakfast, we depart for Chalkis with our coach. Chalkida is the city where the oldest Jewish community in Greece is registered. Visit the 19th-century synagogue, the cemetery with graves old up to the Otto man period (16th century). See also the Holocaust monument, view the Euripus bridge before departing to Larissa. Arrival in Larissa city and dinner and overnight in your hotel or a local tavern.
Day 4
Larissa – Trikala – Kalabaka
After breakfast, walk in the Jewish district and visit the Larissa Synagogue. After our visit, depart for Trikala to visit the local synagogue and the pre-war Jewish before departing for Kalabaka. Dinner in the hotel and overnight.
Day 5
Meteora – Tempi – Thessaloniki
Morning visit of Meteora and see the monasteries, which seem to be suspended in mid-air on top of huge granite rocks, where you can see pieces of Byzantine art. Continue driving through beautiful countryside and villages, passing through the valley of Tempi before arriving in Greece’s second capital, Thessaloniki for your overnight. Dinner in your hotel.
Day 6
Thessaloniki City Tour
After breakfast begin our tour around Thessaloniki which was considered the heart of Jewish population in Greece before the second world war. We will visit the two synagogues, the Synagogue of Monastiriotes and Yad Lezikaron Synagogue. We will continue our tour with a visit to the Jewish History Museum. See also square of the Jewish Martyrs, and the Holocaust monument. Dinner and overnight in Thessaloniki hotel.
Day 7
Veria – Vergina
After breakfast departure for Veroia to visit the Synagogue and the 18th century Jewish quarter and the Jewish cemetery. The Jews of Veria were Sephardic and strongly connected with those of Salonica. Continue our tour by visiting Vergina a small town which became internationally famous in 1977, when the Greek archaeologist unearthed what he claimed was the burial site of the kings of Macedon, including the tomb of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great. The finds established the site as the ancient Aigai. Return to Thessaloniki for dinner and overnight.
Day 8
Ioannina City Tour
After breakfast, we depart for Ioannina in the morning. In the capital of Epirus we will visit the “Kahal Kadosh Yashan” Synagogue and walk in the afternoon at the Jewish district around the Ottoman castle, viewing the Holocaust memorial dedicated to the memory of Ioanniote Jews who died at the concentration camps during Nazi occupation. Dinner and overnight in your hotel.
Day 9
Return to Athens
After breakfast depart from Ioannina back to Athens. In the evening, stroll around Plaka streets, and enjoy a farewell dinner with Greek music in one of its taverns.
Day 10
Departure
After breakfast, departure transfer to the Athens airport according to your flight schedule.