14 Night Cruise sailing from Athens roundtrip aboard Celestyal Journey.

Idyllic Aegean:
Discover the rich history, fascinating culture and sumptuous cuisine of the sun-soaked Greek islands. With vivid landscapes to explore, our 7-night cruise invites you to indulge in traditional flavors, admire stunning landscapes and explore charming villages. We even include guided visits to the Medieval Acropolis of Lindos and the intriguing city of Ephesus, one of the best-preserved archaeological sites in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Our extra special cruise takes you on a romantic and effortless Odyssey to sun-soaked shores, quaint fishing villages, and iconic historical sites. With overnights stops in the stunningly beautiful and buzzing islands of Santorini and Mykonos, you will have the opportunity to discover hidden secrets and indulge in an authentic experience of Mediterranean cuisine and the classic Greek lifestyle.

Steps of Paul:
Join us on a mesmerising voyage to discover the romance and the mystery of the Eastern Mediterranean as we follow in the footsteps of St. Paul the Apostle. As we journey through the emerald waters of the sun-soaked Cyclades and the stunning coastline of Turkey, this wonderful 7-night adventure invites you to explore iconic landmarks, savor authentic cuisine and discover the trials and tribulations of St. Paul’s epic journey to the Eastern Mediterranean region.

As you explore the captivating coastal towns and discover charming Byzantine monuments you will learn about how St. Paul’s controversial ideas sparked riots and cast him into prison. Along the way, you will have the opportunity to visit famous landmarks including the Hagia Sophia, the Holy Grotto of the Apocalypse, the Faustina Baths of Miletus and ancient Ephesus, the best-preserved historical site in the Eastern Med.

Highlights of this cruise:

Athens
Sun-drenched and mythic, Athens is a big and modern metropolis with inspiring world heritage marvels at its very heart. The most important city-state in ancient Greece and the birthplace of democracy is also the sprawling capital of Greece today, but most of the major archaeological and historical sites are to be found within a compact area around the Acropolis itself. With a recorded history going back more than three millennia, Athens is one of the oldest cities in the world and rightly considered to be the cradle of Western Civilization. Even a short visit of the Greek capital’s highlights, starting with the iconic Acropolis, is enough to fall under its legendary spell.

Santorini
Few islands have the power to captivate the way Santorini does. Gorgeous and cosmopolitan, it’s famous for that classic Greek island look with white painted houses clustered along narrow winding lanes, perched atop reddish-black volcanic cliffs that tumble down more than a thousand feet to the wide caldera. It’s easy to see how this island, the pearl of the Cycladic archipelago, can lay claim to being the source of the legend of Atlantis, either. Santorini, or “Thera” in Greek, is most celebrated for the dramatic views of its volcanic caldera, formed during a massive eruption around 1646 B.C. That eruption shook up the island—making its center actually collapse—but also created some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.

Mykonos
There is no Greek island more synonymous with carefree times, glitz and glamour than Mykonos. At just 85 square kilometers Mykonos is a small island but it’s one that positively crackles with excitement, especially in the long Greek summer. Mykonos has a very rocky terrain and its windiness (the meltemia) can sometimes surprise you, but you’ll also find some of the most amazing beaches around and a cosmopolitan vibe you simply won’t find anywhere else. The main town, Chora, is famous for its winding lanes lined with gleaming white cubiform houses with painted blue doors and sophisticated shops and restaurants, but beyond the town, Mykonos retains a refreshingly bucolic atmosphere. In fact, Nikos Kazantzakis, author of Zorba the Greek, once wrote that “Mykonos is wonderful…the air, the earth, the dry mountain, the simple people, their dialect, the figs, the grapes, the thyme, the mint…” He might have added the madness—in a good way—because from the 1960s onward Mykonos has been a magnet for bohemians, celebrities and revelers of all stripes. A hedonistic playground of beachside DJs and summer partying—an official brochure from 20 years ago says the island shows “a complete lack of restraint and climate truly divorced from anything that resembles an everyday routine.” Just know that you don’t have to actually party from dusk until dawn to experience the best of Mykonos (though that’s certainly an option!)—all you need to do is surrender to the Mykonian sun for a bit, enjoy the breezes and be glad that you can experience a slice of this very special and mythic place.

Kusadasi
In the great atlas of Mediterranean antiquity, few cities shone as bright as Ephesus, part of Izmir province and the most culturally significant and best-preserved ancient city in Turkey. And Kuşadası, which dominates the gulf of the same name along this stretch of the Aegean coast, is one of the most vibrant and popular destinations in modern Turkey. It’s been an important port for centuries, hosting a variety of civilizations and for a time some of the most infamous pirates of the Mediterranean. The Öküz Mehmet Pasha Caravanserai was built in 1618, confirming Kuşadası’s role as a prominent Ottoman trading center. Sizzling beaches next to sparkling blue water, lively bars and a bustling Grand Bazaar add up to exciting times in this buzzing Turkish city, but above all, it is the chief point of entry to the magnificent ruins of Ephesus. South of Kuşadası, ruins of the ancient Greek city of Miletus are located near the mouth of the legendary Meander River.

Istanbul
Few cities represent as ravishing a meeting of substance and spectacle as Istanbul, a grand and sprawling capital that ranks among the world’s truly great cities. Here are grand mosques and churches, palaces and bazaars, museums and sites of unsurpassed natural beauty and of course the legendary Bosphorus, flowing from the Black Sea past the Golden Horn and the heart of the city to the Sea of Marmara. The European part of Turkey straddles the western banks of the narrow strait and Asia starts on the eastern shore, making Istanbul the world’s only city built on two continents: the very definition of exotic! In the sixth century BC, Byzantium was a colony of the ancient Greek city of Megara, and only much later did Constantine the Great move the seat of the Roman Empire here. For more than a millennium and a half this timeless metropolis was the capital of empires— with the advent of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror in 1453 Constantinople became the seat of the Ottoman Empire, before taking the name of Istanbul with the establishment of the modern Turkish Republic in 1923. Today as in the days of empires past, the convergence of cultures and multi-religious coexistence here is truly extraordinary. In Istanbul traditions from not only Islamic but also Christian and Jewish faiths rub shoulders easily with the vibrant mosaic that is contemporary Turkey.