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TRIP DETAILS
REGISTRATION AND TOUR PRICE
The price of this tour is 3,499.00 euros per person, double occupancy. (Excluding the optional additional hike through the Samaria Gorge.) Single supplements may be available for all or most of the tour. Please contact us for prices.
Why the tour price is quoted in euros: As a member of the European Union, the Greek currency is the euro. The price of the tour, as stated in euros, will not change between now and the end of the tour. However, it is possible that the value of the US dollar in relation to the euro could fluctuate considerably between now and May, 2008. For this reason, we only accept payment in euros. Your deposit and final payment will be submitted by wiring funds directly to our bank account in Crete, Greece. We will supply you with bank routing details. To determine the current exchange rate between US dollars and the euro, please visit www.xe.com. If you have questions, please contact us.
To register for this tour: A deposit of 500 euros is required to hold your place. Space is guaranteed by your final payment of the balance of 2,999 euros and is due before February 13, 2008. Please see The Fine Print (PDF: 1 page, 102 Kb) for our cancellations and refunds policy. Click here for a Registration Packet (PDF: 6 pages, 102 Kb).
The price of 3,499 euros includes:
- Ten nights double occupancy lodging and breakfast in charming inns and four-star hotels. (Five nights at a small inn in Kritsa, two nights in a historic inn in Arhanes, two nights in the eco-retreat of Milia, and one night in a four-star hotel in the city of Hania.)
- Private bus and taxi transfers within Crete for all tour activities as noted in the itinerary.
- Most meals are included in the tour price. Meals included: breakfast each day, eight lunches and five dinners.
- All lectures, seminars, discussions and field studies described below.
- Custom guided tours with licensed archaeological guides at all museums and archaeological sites.
- Entrance fees into all archaeological sites and museums.
- Patricia Kyritsi Howell and Robinette Kennedy as your exclusive guides throughout the tour.
- All tour activities described on the itinerary (subject to change).
Not included:
- Airfare to and from Crete.
- Items of a personal nature (laundry, alcoholic beverages, bottled water, medical supplies, optional excursions and other items not cited above).
- All meals and beverages not cited above (two lunches and three dinners).
- Optional gratuities for archaeological guides, taxi drivers and hotel staff.
- Costs resulting from transportation or luggage delays while traveling to and from the USA, or within Greece.
- Taxi travel on the morning of your departure from your hotel to the airport in Hania, Crete. (Approximate cost is 25 Euros.)
- Any costs for additional optional excursions not included in the itinerary.
AIRFARE TO AND FROM CRETE
The price of this tour does not include airfare. You are responsible for making your own travel arrangements to and from Crete. There are no direct flights to Crete from the United States. You will need to fly in and out of Athens, Greece, and use a Greek carrier for a 45 minute flight to and from Crete.
We would be happy to refer you to the travel agent we work with in the United States, or share tips for making your travel plans. It may also be possible for us to arrange a discounted group fare (10 or more persons) for those willing to travel on the same dates, and departing and returning from one city in the USA (most likely Atlanta or New York.) Let us know if you’d like details on this option, if it becomes available. Current round-trip fares from New York (La Guardia) to Athens, Greece are approximately $1,200.00. If you are planning to use frequent flyer miles, we recommend that you book your flights immediately.
OPTIONAL TOUR EXTENSION: HIKE THE SAMARIA GORGE
MAY 13 to 15, 2008
If you’d like to extend your stay on Crete, consider joining us on Tuesday, May 13th, for an optional hike through the Samaria Gorge. Please click here (PDF: 2 pages, 263 Kb) for more information.
OPTIONAL TOUR TO ATHENS OR SANTORINI
If you’d like to visit Athens and/or Santorini (also know as Thera) either before or after your visit to Crete, we’d be happy to arrange a tour tailored to your interests. Please contact us for more details.
IS THIS THE TRIP FOR YOU?
Our refreshing approach to travel is unusual. Unusual, in how we pace the schedule and show you respectful ways to become a guest/participant in, not just an observer of, daily life in a Cretan village. Unusual, in how we carve out time for daydreaming, naps and reflection. Unusual, in the opportunities you will have to taste, touch, smell and see a modern culture that still savors and adheres to their traditional ways of life. Unusual, in how we provide the opportunity to merge your experience of physical travel with deeper awareness of the natural world.
If you are culturally flexible and open to enjoying delicious but unfamiliar foods, meeting fascinating and hospitable people, experiencing new customs, and visiting amazing out of the way places, this is the tour for you. We welcome anyone who sincerely enjoys group travel with all its inherent benefits and challenges. We ask all members of our group to be willing to observe our suggested guidelines about culturally appropriate ways of dressing and behaving that will allow you to be welcome into worlds on Crete that few tourists even know exists.
Because we avoid corporate-owned hotels that cater to packaged tours, you should be ready to live like a Cretan. Unlike the United States, where limitless access to electricity and running water is taken for granted, utility service on Crete can be interrupted for several hours at a time with no explanation. Most of the accommodations included on this tour don’t offer room service, TV, air conditioning, telephones in the room, Internet access, or a 24-hour front desk. However, you will enjoy being treated as an honored guest by Crete’s notoriously fastidious and gracious hosts. All of the places you’ll stay will be spotlessly clean, lovely and very comfortable. We’ll enjoy many of our meals at small, family restaurants that don’t use menus; they simply cook several mouth-watering dishes from the freshest seasonal ingredients from their gardens. Meals will be served family style. Most of our days will be spent out of doors.
This tour is not for you if your idea of a trip to Greece includes long days lying in the sun on white sandy beaches, late nights spent dancing with wild abandon under a full moon inside an ancient goddess site, or the possibility of being swept off your feet by a handsome Greek ship captain. (However, we will gladly access our vast network of Greek associates to help you pursue these fantasies before or after the tour. Contact us for details.)
(Click here to view this Trip Details page in PDF format: 2 pages, 646 Kb)
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