The Wonders of Ancient Greece

The seed of Western civilization is a tangle of busy streets and bougainvillea-fringed squares, a romantic litany of ruins and relics. It is no stranger to reinvention: factories are now chic hotels, historic sites a showcase for high-end fashion. But Athens is always poised to offer an education in the classics: turn the corner and she might just present you with a time-worn temple or amphitheater, set beneath the peerless gaze of the Parthenon. 

Bustling tavernas in atmospheric streets, grand Venetian mansions standing over honey-colored beaches, sunsets gorgeous enough to make Aphrodite blush: the first capital of modern Greece lost none of its charm when powers were ultimately transferred to Athens in 1834. Indeed, Athenians still find themselves drawn here: to the sweeping views from the 18th-century Palamidi fortress, staggering up the cliffside, and to that vast, crescent-shaped bay, whose blue seas sparkle with the promise of aquatic adventures. 

Greece’s largest island is a distillation of every Mediterranean dream: exceptional food, flowery streets steeped in history and swathes of olive-green scenery, where lemon groves rise above sapphire-blue seas. A Cretan adventure can be anything you wish: a barefoot, beachside affair; a romp through ancient Minoan history, or a thrilling active escape, where inland forests and rocky gorges abound with rare wildlife.