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Aegean Antiquities & Chic Shores

Aboard Seven Seas Navigator with Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Departure Date

10 October 2024

Duration

12 Nights

Fly Cruise From

£8,019pp

Cruise Reference

ART-0AERE13

Cruise Overview

It's no wonder that all roads lead to the fascinating and maddening metropolis of Athens.

Lift your eyes 200 feet above the city to the Parthenon, its honey-color marble columns rising from a massive limestone base, and you behold architectural perfection that has not been surpassed in 2,500 years.

But, today, this shrine of classical form dominates a 21st-century boomtown.

To experience Athens—Athína in Greek—fully is to understand the essence of Greece: ancient monuments surviving in a sea of cement, startling beauty amid the squalor, tradition juxtaposed with modernity.

Locals depend on humor and flexibility to deal with the chaos; you should do the same.

The rewards are immense.

Although Athens covers a huge area, the major landmarks of the ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine periods are close to the modern city center.

You can easily walk from the Acropolis to many other key sites, taking time to browse in shops and relax in cafés and tavernas along the way.

From many quarters of the city you can glimpse "the glory that was Greece" in the form of the Acropolis looming above the horizon, but only by actually climbing that rocky precipice can you feel the impact of the ancient settlement.

The Acropolis and Filopappou, two craggy hills sitting side by side; the ancient Agora (marketplace); and Kerameikos, the first cemetery, form the core of ancient and Roman Athens.

Along the Unification of Archaeological Sites promenade, you can follow stone-paved, tree-lined walkways from site to site, undisturbed by traffic.

Cars have also been banned or reduced in other streets in the historical center.

In the National Archaeological Museum, vast numbers of artifacts illustrate the many millennia of Greek civilization; smaller museums such as the Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art Museum and the Byzantine and Christian Museum illuminate the history of particular regions or periods.

Athens may seem like one huge city, but it is really a conglomeration of neighborhoods with distinctive characters.

The Eastern influences that prevailed during the 400-year rule of the Ottoman Empire are still evident in Monastiraki, the bazaar area near the foot of the Acropolis.

On the northern slope of the Acropolis, stroll through Plaka (if possible by moonlight), an area of tranquil streets lined with renovated mansions, to get the flavor of the 19th-century's gracious lifestyle.

The narrow lanes of Anafiotika, a section of Plaka, thread past tiny churches and small, color-washed houses with wooden upper stories, recalling a Cycladic island village.

In this maze of winding streets, vestiges of the older city are everywhere: crumbling stairways lined with festive tavernas; dank cellars filled with wine vats; occasionally a court or diminutive garden, enclosed within high walls and filled with magnolia trees and the flaming trumpet-shaped flowers of hibiscus bushes.

Formerly run-down old quarters, such as Thission, Gazi and Psirri, popular nightlife areas filled with bars and mezedopoleia (similar to tapas bars), are now in the process of gentrification, although they still retain much of their original charm, as does the colorful produce and meat market on Athinas.

The area around Syntagma Square, the tourist hub, and Omonia Square, the commercial heart of the city about 1 km (½ mi) northwest, is distinctly European, having been designed by the court architects of King Otho, a Bavarian, in the 19th century.

The chic shops and bistros of ritzy Kolonaki nestle at the foot of Mt.

Lycabettus, Athens's highest hill (909 feet).

Each of Athens's outlying suburbs has a distinctive character: in the north is wealthy, tree-lined Kifissia, once a summer resort for aristocratic Athenians, and in the south and southeast lie Glyfada, Voula, and Vouliagmeni, with their sandy beaches, seaside bars, and lively summer nightlife.

Just beyond the city's southern fringes is Piraeus, a bustling port city of waterside fish tavernas and Saronic Gulf views.


Cruise Itinerary

Aboard Seven Seas Navigator

Launch Year: 1999 Length: 172 Width: 24 Currency: USD Capacity: 482 Crew Count: 378 Deck Count: 8 Cabin Count: 241

Seven Seas Navigator® may be found in two very different regions: the South Pacific or Canada and New England. Take your pick of amazing beauty in both destinations — turquoise waters teeming with bright tropical fish or the blazing orange, red and gold leaves of a New England autumn.

As you gaze at Seven Seas Navigator®, imagine what you’ll hear as well. Listen for sounds of happiness like forks clicking on Versace dinnerware, a ball clacking on a roulette wheel, and a martini being shaken to icy perfection.

You’ll find time spent on board the ship to be just as enriching as time ashore. Relax by the pool, compete in a friendly game of trivia or bocce ball, indulge in treats at afternoon tea and gain insight from an expert lecturer.

Chat up like-minded travellers over a cocktail at Stars Lounge on Deck 6, find your Zen at a yoga class on Deck 12 or update your wardrobe at the boutiques on Deck 7. Do it all on the luxurious decks of Seven Seas Navigator®

Seven Seas Navigator Facilities

Seven Seas Navigator Includes

Cabin Details

Serene ocean views enhance the soothing colour palette in each Seven Seas Navigator® suite. You’ll also find luxurious bath amenities, a cosy robe and our superior Elite Slumber™ beds to ensure a relaxing and revitalizing voyage.

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