You will be traveling through Attica till will reach the famous Corinth Canal. A journey” in 6,000- year history, the land that gave birth to ideas and arts, has created and shaped what we call today the western civilization. Today, a visit to Attica offers visitors a unique experience. A “journey” in its 6,000-year history, including the chance to see renowned monuments and masterpieces of the art of antiquity and the Middle Ages, and the architectural heritage of the 19th and 20th centuries. Here lies Athens, the capital of Greece, the busiest city of the country with the most prominent archaeological site and symbol of the country, the world-famous sacred rock of the Acropolis. Attica is home to some of the world’s most important and fascinating museums and archaeological sites, testimony to its long and prominent role in world history. Festivals featuring ancient Greek drama, as well as performances, sports, or culinary events are organized. Then travel towards Peloponnese!

Pick up from your accommodation in Athens or your cruise ship pier at Piraeus port. We will drive along the coastal road of Saronic Gulf to enjoy the Piraeus and Athens riviera. The Port of Piraeus is the chief seaport of Athens, Greece, located on the Saronic Gulf on the western coasts of the Aegean Sea. Piraeus port is the largest port in Greece, home to Europe's biggest passenger port, and as such is a huge draw for cruise ships from around the world bringing tourists eager to explore this centuries-old city, and one of the largest in Europe. But yet another major draw is the fact that it's easy to visit Athens because it's located nearby. The Greek capital city of Athens is just 12 kilometers or 7 miles from Piraeus port. We will drive directly to the Acropolis to admire the Temple of Democracy!

The Peloponnese is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which separates the Gulf of Corinth from the Saronic Gulf. Peloponnese grape varieties have a very special place in the treasure of native Greek grape varieties. Τhe Peloponnese Wine Roads take you on a journey to a modern, sometimes rare and definitely unknown to many wine world, full of authenticity and history. Native Peloponnese grape varieties do not only reflect the diversity of Greek and Peloponnesian wine, but also the significance of some very special Greek varieties. Among them are two of the four most renowned varieties of the Greek vineyard in the world’s best markets: the exotic Moschofilero-Mantinia and the captivating Agiorgitiko-Nemea. Moreover, Mavrodafni is known for the popular Greek dessert wine and Muscat produces sweet and potentially exquisite wines along with many more rare grape varieties.

The Corinth Canal is a waterway that crosses the narrow isthmus of Corinth to link the Gulf of Corinth to the Saronic Gulf. As such, the canal separates the Greek mainland from the Peloponnese, turning it into an island. It is an important navigational route that once allowed ships to enter the Aegean Sea. Dug through the isthmus at sea level, the canal is 6.4 kilometers long with a width of only 25 meters. The canal, though executed in the late 19th century, has been a 2000-year-old dream. Before that, ships in the Aegean Sea that wanted to cross to the Adriatic or anchor in Corinth, a rich shipping city, had to circle the Peloponnese, which would prolong their journey an extra 185 nautical miles. It is believed that Periander, the tyrant of Corinth (602 BC), was the first to conceive of the idea of digging the Corinth Canal. As the project was too complicated, Periander constructed the diolkós, a stone road that allowed ships to be transferred on wheeled platforms.

Ancient Corinth was first inhabited in the Neolithic period (6500-3250 B.C.). It is located at the northern base of the hill of Acrocorinth at the site of today’s agglomeration. Its fertile soil but mainly its strategic location at the intersection of land routes from the Balkan peninsula of Aimos and mainland Greece on towards the Peloponnese and waterways that connect the western Mediterranean to its Eastern counterpart, to Asia Minor and to Syro-Palestine, offered the region from very early on enormous potential for communication, growth and prosperity. The city, known since the Mycenaean period. The tremendous output of agricultural products, already in earlier historical periods, favored intense expansion in trade activities mainly towards the Western Mediterranean, while in the 8th century BC Corinthian colonies were founded, like Corfu in the Ionian Sea, Syracuse in Sicily, with an important role and contribution in the history of the ancient Mediterranean world.

Acrocorinth, "Upper Corinth", the acropolis of ancient Corinth, is a monolithic rock overseeing the ancient city of Corinth, Greece. The most important defensive work of the area from antiquity to more recent times. The history of the fortification is closely connected with the history of Corinth itself. Sections of the wall are discernible from ancient pre-Christian times, the Byzantine period, the Frankish domination, the Venetian domination and finally the Turkish occupation. The fortress is secured by a system of three circuit walls reinforced by towers. On the highest of the two peaks of the mountain are traces of the temple of Aphrodite on the site, where later stood a church and subsequently a Turkish mosque. The second hilltop, at the SW edge of the precipitous rock, was fortified during Frankish times and formed the inner keep of the fortress. Remains of churches, mosques, houses, fountains and cisterns are preserved within the second and third precincts.

Cenchrea was one of two controlled harbors on the eastern side of the isthmus in Corinth. Cenchrea was important for its harbor which allowed goods to move between Asia Minor and Italy, Achaia, and Macedonia. The Bible refers to Cenchrea a couple of times. One mention of Cenchrea comes during Paul’s second missionary journey. Paul stopped at Cenchrea to fulfill a vow before sailing to Ephesus on his voyage back to Syria. Apparently, the vow Paul fulfilled was a Nazirite vow, which required Paul to not cut his hair. In Cenchrea, Paul “had his hair cut off”, signaling the end of the vow. It is significant that a church was organized in Cenchrea. Paul is not specifically identified as starting the church in Cenchrea, but he is a likely candidate. Paul was “in Corinth for some time”, and he would have had ample opportunity to minister in nearby Cenchrea. If it was not Paul who started the church in Cenchrea, it was very likely someone who was saved through Paul’s ministry in Corinth.

A submersible bridge is a type of movable bridge that lowers the bridge deck below the water level to permit waterborne traffic to use the waterway. This differs from a lift bridge or table bridge, which operates by raising the roadway. The canal has a one-way system where ships can only pass one at a time and larger ships have to be pulled by yanks. At the present time, the canal is being used by tourist ships with almost 11,000 ships using the Corinth Canal per year. In Isthmia and Corinth, two submersible bridges were built across the Corinth Canal, one at each end in 1988. The bridge deck is lowered 8 meters beneath the water level to allow waterborne traffic to use the waterway. The chief advantage of lowering the bridge and not raising it is that there is no restriction on the height of ship traffic since there is no structure above the shipping channel. This becomes very practical for Sail ships and tourist boats.

It is time now to take the way back to Athens or to Piraeus port. We will drop you off at the same spot we have picked you up! End of our services. Thank you for choosing us for your tour in Greece!