14 Night Cruise sailing from Athens roundtrip aboard Celestyal Journey.

Trace the stories and explore the lives St. Paul the Apostle, early Christianity, and the melting pot of cultures we call home. Embarking on two adventures back-to-back, you’ll experience the combined wonder of our Steps of Paul and Eclectic Aegean Cruises.

You’ll get closer to faith as you follow Paul’s footsteps around the emerald waters of the Cyclades, taking in the Hagia Sophia, Grotto of the Apocalypse and ancient Ephesus. Then you’ll fill your heart in Oia among blue domes and golden sunshine, live a Byzantium dream on the moonlit streets of Istanbul, and do so much more. A joyous journey for modern missionaries.

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.

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.

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.

Volos
Multifaceted Volos occupies a vaunted place in Greek mythology as the legendary home of Jason and the Argonauts and also has one of the most spectacular natural settings in Greece. This bright and sunny port city is the capital of the mineral-rich Magnesia region of Thessaly, located about midway between Athens and Thessaloniki on the Greek mainland coast. Volos can boast a truly marvelous location on the Pagastikos Gulf, opposite the Pelion peninsula that juts into the Aegean Sea. The lush green peninsula, named for the father of Achilles, King Peleus, was the mythical home of the half-human, half-horse centaurs and on its highest summit, Mount Pelion, was where the fabled ancient beauty contest between the goddesses Hera, Aphrodite and Athena took place—leading to the Trojan War. No wonder a region so green and gorgeous is steeped in legend—it’s also where Jason set out on ships with the Argonaut sailors to find the Golden Fleece. Volos is a veritable springboard to the foothills of Mt Pelion, with its rustic villages sprinkled amid forested hillsides, and is also the gateway to the ethereal cliff-top monasteries of Meteora.

Volos itself offers everything you need for an exciting or relaxing day in port. Step off your Volos cruise, and you’re greeted by a thriving university city whose energetic pace will whisk you up into its whirlwind of activity, along the edge of the beautiful natural harbor and in the tsipouradika—traditional tavernas—and set you on course to uncover some real architectural gems, both ancient and neoclassical. Wander around and you’ll find grand urban mansions sitting beside nods to the city’s long-lasting industrial heritage. And following the hum of activity will see you in Volos’ favorite local hangout Kontaratou, which is brimming with countless cafes and eateries of all kinds.