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Herbal Medicine & Culture Tour in the Peloponnese
MAY 11-18, 2024
Join The Greek Herbalist to explore the secrets of Athens, Delphi, and the Peloponnese during an exciting 8-day tour.
Learn about the herbs and plants used in medicine and food since antiquity. Taste excellent wines made from local grape varieties. Enjoy both traditional dishes and modern cuisine in selected local restaurants and taverns. Visit stunning archaeological sites of world cultural heritage and become familiar with Greek history and mythology. Be enchanted by beautiful mountain and sea landscapes and fully relax on a sandy beach by the gorgeous blue sea.
What’s included:
- 7 overnight stays at 3-4 star boutique hotels in Athens and Nafplio
- All meals: breakfast, lunch or picnic, and dinner at selected restaurants and taverns, including beverages and wine (high percentage alcohol not included)
- Hands-on activities, seminars, and tastings with local experts
- Entrance fees to archaeological sites
- Transportation to all group activities
“All of Greece is absorbing and rewarding. There is hardly a rock or stream without a battle or myth or a peasant anecdote or a superstition; and talk and incident, nearly all of it odd or memorable, thicken round the traveller’s path at every step.”
– Patrick Leigh Fermor, Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese
We are preparing an exciting tour itinerary that will look somewhat like this. The itinerary will be finalized closer to the tour dates.
Day 1: Arrive in Athens
- Arrival at the airport, pick-up by Venikos, and transfer to Athens
- Check-in at hotel
- Guided city walk through the districts of Syntagma, Plaka, Monastiraki, and Psirri
- Wine tasting at a wine bar, introduction to the ancient Greek uses of wine and the modern wines of Greece
- Dinner at a selected restaurant
Day 2: Delphi
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Full day excursion to Delphi, the most important oracle of Greek antiquity
- Visit the archaeological site and the museum
- Lunch and visit to the mountain village of Arachova
- Introduction to the herbs and plants used in the oracle
- Transfer to Athens and dinner at a selected restaurant
Day 3: Acropolis, National Garden
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Visit the impressive Acropolis
- Lunch
- Guided tour of the National Garden of Athens with Maria Christodoulou
- Free time to explore the city
- Dinner at a selected restaurant
Day 4: Ancient Corinth, Organic Winery, Nafplio
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Check out
- Transfer to Ancient Corinth, tour of the archaeological site
- Visit to an organic winery
- Introduction to organic farming and wine making, guided tour of the winery, meeting with a winemaker, tasting of the wines, and home cooked lunch in the vineyard
- Transfer to Nafplio (1hr)
- Check in at hotel
- Guided walk through Nafplio
- Dinner at selected tavern
Day 5: Epidaurus, Olive oil
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Transfer to Epidaurus
- Visit the remarkable ancient theatre at Epidaurus and the Sanctuary of Asklepios
- Introduction to the herbs and plants used in ancient healing medicines
- Visit an organic olive oil producer, introduction to the production process, introduction to professional tasting techniques of olive oils, product tasting
- Return to Nafplio
- Free time in Nafplio to explore the city or walk up to the castle
- Dinner at a selected tavern
Day 6: Ancient Asini, day at the beach Tolo
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Transfer to ancient Asini (20 minutes)
- Visit the archaeological site of Asini and botanical walk
- Picnic at the beach
- Free time at the beach to swim and relax
- Return to Nafplio
- Dinner at a selected tavern
Day 7: Hands-on herbal workshop, Organic vinegar & balsamic producer, winery
- Transfer to the wine region Nemea
- Visit a boutique winery, introduction to the local grape variety Agiorgitiko, guided tours thru the winery, wine tasting
- Visit an organic vinegar producer, introduction to the production process of balsamic vinegar, tasting of the products
- Hands-on workshop of herbal-infused olive oil and Petimezi under the guidance of Maria Christodoulou. Participants will be able to take home their own 100ml bottles.
- Traditional meal in the vineyard
- Return to Nafplio
Day 8: Corinth Canal, departure
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Check-out
- Transfer to Corinth Canal (1h)
- Short stop, introduction to the history of the canal
- Transfer to the airport or Athens (1.5h)
- Departure
Tour activities are co-led by Maria Christodoulou (The Greek Herbalist) and Dominik Brun (Venikos Tours)
Maria Christodoulou (The Greek Herbalist) is a clinical herbalist exploring the wisdom and whimsy of ancient Greek herbal medicine. Based in Athens, Greece, she offers educational herbal tours throughout the country and virtual courses based on the bounty of medicine and folklore of her ancestors. She is the author of “The Greek Herbalist’s Guide to the Mountain” and “The Greek Herbalist’s Guide to the National Garden.” In 2022, Maria was the recipient of the Ancient Worlds, Modern Communities Award from the Society of Classical Studies at New York University. Visit www.thegreekherbalist.com to learn more.
Dominik Brun is the organizer and tour guide of Venikos wine & culture travels. His extensive network in the Peloponnese, focused on organic products, wines and gastronomy, as well as his in-depth knowledge of Greek culture, allow him to offer deeper insights into the vibrant Greece of today.