Greece - In the footsteps of St Paul

19 Oct 2024

Depart your chosen airport for the flight to Thessalonica. On arrival join the coach for the transfer to the Hotel, check-in for dinner and 3 nights stay.

20 Oct 2024

This morning we have a guided tour of Thessaloniki which will include the Basilica of St Demetrius and the city walls built by Theodosius in the 4th century AD, the museum and remains of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great. Dinner will be in our hotel this evening.

21 Oct 2024

Today we shall drive to Philippi, where Paul was imprisoned. We shall visit the site of the prison where his jailer was converted, and the Roman Forum where Paul was arrested for his Christian faith, and also the river where Lydia was baptised (possibly the first baptism in Europe) and the Orthodox Church dedicated to her. We shall then drive south to Kavala (Neapolis), the seaport where Paul landed in Macedonia. After lunch there will be some free time to explore this picturesque town before returning to Thessaloniki. Dinner will be in our hotel this evening.

22 Oct 2024

Depart the hotel after breakfast for the journey to Veria, we visit the modern Monument which corresponds to Bema from which Paul had preached, Pauls audience here consisted mostly of gentiles and especially of noble women, this was Pauls last stop before continuing to Athens. Our journey then takes us to Vergina, we arrive at the famous royal tombs of Vergina containing the famous treasures, from the excavated tomb of King Philippos, father of Alexander the great and the tomb of Alexander, son of Alexander the great and Roxane. We continue to our overnight stay in Kalambaka.

23 Oct 2024

After breakfast visit the Monasteries of Meteora, from the 12th century onwards, monks and hermits began to retire to the recesses in these immense grey rocks of Meteora and in the 14th century a large monastic state began to develop, which in the 16th century numbered 24 monasteries. Lunch is taken in a local restaurant; our journey then takes us to Athens for the final 3 nights stay.

24 Oct 2024

After breakfast celebrate mass in the Cathedral. There will then be a tour of Athens driving through the main streets where most important monuments can be seen, the University, library, Academy and the Parliament building, the 6th century B.C Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian's Arch. We visit the Acropolis and the famous Pantheon, the rocky Hill of Mars, the well-known Areopagus located on the northwest slop of the Acropolis. This hill gave name to a Council of Nobles, which became the Senate and the Supreme Court of Ancient Athens. In 61 A.D Paul delivered the Sermon on the unknown God, it was here that Senator Dionysius was converted to Christianity and later became the Patron Saint of Athens. There will be free time in the afternoon, dinner is taken at the hotel.

25 Oct 2024

Depart the hotel for Corinth, the drive offers a variety of landscapes, viewing the Saronic Gulf and its islands. This is the Gulf which Paul had sailed going to from Athens to Corinth. Among the ruins of the Roman Forum, we can see the Bema, a single structure from where Paul preached to the Corinthians. Corinth was the city Paul visited twice on his first trip and where he spent 18 months. Here in Corinth, Paul created one of the biggest Christian Communities in Europe. We will visit the Museum containing finds from Agora, visit the small port of Lechaio - where St Paul disembarked to visit Corinth This evening there will be a farewell dinner in a typical Greek Taverna in Athens

26 Oct 2024

Depart today for the journey back to the airport to join the flight back to the UK

B=Breakfast, D=Dinner, R=Room