8 explosive days to northern Greece and turkey private tour

Experience a rare northern Greece tour departing from Athens for Lamia, Tempi valley, Dion, Katerini, Thessaloniki, Pella, Vergina, Lefkadia, Kavala, Xanthi, Komotini, Alexandroupolis, Delta Evros, Dadia forest, Didimotichon, Orestiada, Turkey Edirne, Katerini, Thermopylae and back to Athens.

Highlights of the 8 explosive days to northern Greece and turkey private tour

  • The most important monuments of Greece
  • Enjoy the modern life of Greece
  • Taste authentic Greek dishes
  • Admire the picturesque landscape of the country
  • Experience unexplored Greece
  • Visit Turkey
  • An expert English speaking tour driver

Description of northern Greece and Turkey private tour

Day 1: Athens – Dion – Katerini – Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki-Greece
Thessaloniki-Greece

 

After breakfast, our Athens taxi tours driver will drive us to the famous, sacred Macedonian town of DION.

Lunch in Katerini in a nice taverna by the sea. We then continue our private tour to THESSALONIKI, the largest town in Northern Greece.

Visit the most interesting museum of THESSALONIKI and go for sightseeing in the city with its modern unique nightlife. Overnight.

 

Day 2: Thessaloniki – Pella – Vergina – Lefkadia

In the morning Athens taxi tours will drive us to PELLA, to visit Alexander the Great’s capital. We’ll continue to VERGINA to visit the tomb of King PHILIP and the famous ‘’Vergina Treasures’’. Then we’ll head on to Lefkada where you can visit the excavations. Return to Thessaloniki through VERIA. Overnight & free evening.

Day: 3 Kavala, the small Monte Carlo.

Kavala, Greece
Kavala, Greece

Today Athens taxi tours will take us to KAVALA, the ancient Neapolis. A POLE OF ATTRACTION!!! Writers & travelers have called KAVALA «the small Monte Carlο. » And they weren’t wrong. Owing to the amphitheatrically of the city, the harmonious coexistence of modern with the old, the combination of the mountain with the sea, the varied cultural events, which are held in modern and ancient theatres and the opportunities for several excursions to such places as in the nearby bright green island of Thassos and the archaeological area of Philippi, the region of Kavala has been a pole of attraction for tourists in its 2,500 years of history. It has always been a crossroads of culture and a stop for great travelers and army leaders, from Philip II, Alexander the Great and Mark Antony to Apostle Paul comes to Neapoli to preach the Christian faith in Europe. Additionally, we can visit the castles & the museums (Archaeological Museum, Municipal Museum, the castle of Kavala, the citadel at Philippi, the castle at Palaiochori, Anaktoroupoli at Nea Peramos, the tower at Apollonia, the castle at Orfani).

Overnight in Kavala

Day 4: Kavala – Xanthi -Avdira (Abdera) – Alexandroupolis

Alexandroupolis, Greece
Alexandroupolis, Greece

After breakfast with the Athens taxi tour driver, we will enter Thrace the birthplace of a man who inspired men, people, nations, and countries to fight for their freedom, SPARTACUS. The birthplace of DEMOCRITUS 460 – 370 BC (Avdira, Municipality, Xanthi)  the originator of the ancient atomic theory. We will drive to Xanthi, founded in 879 BC as Xanthia. In the beginning, it was a small village and it experienced all the tumultuous eras of Thracian history. Experience the orthodox & Muslim populations living harmoniously side by side in the city.

The Polytechnic School of the Democritus University of Thrace is based in Xanthi.

The city also features a vast array of restaurants, taverns, and ouzeri, that serve local delicacies. Special mention must be made to the seafood taverns, both in the city and those scattered around the town’s outskirts, near the sea.

Xanthi is famous for its deserts and dried nuts. Plenty of cariokes, Sutzuk loukoumia, pastelia, siropiasta, hazelnuts, almonds, etc., can be found in both the stores of the Old town and the bazaar that is held every Saturday.

Furthermore, Xanthi is famous throughout Greece for its carnival. Every year, and for fifteen consecutive days during the period of Mardi Gras, a grand carnival is organized with references to both local customs and traditions and modern-day life.

Overnight in Alexandroupolis.

Day 5: Alexandroupolis – Evros Delta – Dadia forest

Delta Evros river, Greece
Delta Evros river, Greece

In the morning together with Athens taxi tours, we’ll visit the city of Alexandroupolis and the Evros Delta. Alexandroupolis, the capital of Evros, occupies a leading position in the geographical area of E. Macedonia and Thrace, as it stands at the crossroads between the countries of the European Community, the Mediterranean, Asia, and the Black Sea zone. It is notable as the major internal border node of the European Community. Alexandroupolis is built by the sea and has a coastline of  35km length. One of the most outstanding features of its landscape is the wetlands formed by the big rivers Evros and the Nestos that cut through it. Its antiquities date from the Paleolithic era with the appearance of the first Thracian tribes to the period of Roman domination (2nd and 3rd century B.C.), when its civilization reached its peak.

The lakes and wetlands of Thrace are among the most important in Europe with perhaps more than three hundred protected species of birds. More than 200,000 wild water-birds spend their winter here. The flora has drawn the attention of ecologists.

Dadia forest, Greece
Dadia forest, Greece

This constitutes one of the most important wetlands, not only in Greece but also in Europe. A surface area of 9.500 ha (8.000 ha of land and 1.500 ha of water) has been included in the list of protected wetlands of the International Ramsar Convention (1971), because it hosts important bird species. Furthermore, the Evros Delta is characterized as a Special Protection Area (SPA) and is proposed as a Site of Community Importance (pSCI) in the Natura 2000 network (according to Directives 79/409/EEC and 92/43/EEC, respectively).

A second option can be visiting Dadia forest:

The center is 50 km north of Alexandroupolis, in Evros prefecture of northern Greece. Explore the famed forest reserve of Dadia, one of the last refuges for predatory birds in Europe. It is home to 36 out of 38 of Europe‘s predatory bird species! Here are numerous Eco tour options in the vicinity of Dadia.

Hiking: A number of forest paths start right next to the Center, leading to the observatory, and to the Gibrena peak (620 m.) which affords a panoramic view of the park. The park covers an area of 350,000 hectares with two ‘absolute protection’ core areas of 7,250 ha. The forest’s pines, oak, and beech trees give shelter to over 200 bird species, 40 reptile and amphibian species, small and larger mammals. Rare birds include the black vulture and the sea eagle. Surrounding the forest, there is a varied landscape including small rivers,  valleys, and prairies that delight visitors. You can go for a swim in the afternoon.

Overnight in Alexandroupolis.

Day 6: Orestiada – Didimotichon –Turkey Edirne (Adrianoupoli)

Orestada, Greece
Orestada, Greece

After breakfast, we will visit with Athens taxi tours New Orestiada, the most recently founded and northernmost town in Greece.

Orestiada’s numbers just 74 years of existence, as it was built in 1923 by Greek refugees who left Andrianoupolis and Karagats after the GreekTurkish Treaty of Lausanne.

The town is in north Trace, in the Evros Prefecture, and is situated in the middle of a fertile rural area with 1.000.000 arable acres and abundant water from the rivers of Evros, Ardas, and Erithropotamos. We will visit the bridge of the Ardas river and the International youth festival’s area which takes place there every July or August.

Edirne (Andrianoupolis), Turkey
Edirne (Andrianoupolis), Turkey

Turkey – Adrianoupolis,

Our private taxi tour will continue to Adrianoupolis in Turkey which according to legend was build by Orestes, the son of Agamemnon (King of Mycenae) and later on was named after the Roman emperor Hadrian. During the period of the Byzantine & Ottomans Empire, it was the most important urban center of western Thrace. The city reached its zenith in the period of 1550-1920. In 1821 the inhabitants participated in the Greek revolution and experienced the brutal reaction of the Ottoman  state (massacres, looting of houses and shops, burning of churches, etc.) At the end of the 19th century, the city of Adrianoupolis and the surrounding area still had 143 Greek schools. Adrianoupolis was captured on 15 July 1920 by the Greek army.

The Greek presence did not last long. With the armistice of Mudanya on (29 September 1922), the Greek army was forced to leave western Thrace. The Greeks of western Thrace left their ancestral homes and followed the Greek army. Today Adrianoupolis is part of Turkey and it is famous in the area for its open market and offers good opportunities for buying goods (like leather) at attractive prices. In the afternoon Athens taxi tours will drive us back to Greece in Orestiada.

Overnight in Orestiada.

Day 7: Orestiada, Didimotichon, Dion, Katerini

The sacred city of Dion in Macedonia Greece
The sacred city of Dion in Macedonia Greece

After breakfast, our Athens taxi tours driver will drive us to the fortress-town of Demotika which played an important part in   Byzantine history. In 1189 during the Third Crusade, Frederick Barbarossa held the town hostage while negotiating with Emperor Isaac II Angelos. The wounded Michael IX fled here after his defeat by the Catalan Grand Company at Aprus (1305), and here in 1341 John VI Cantacuzene had himself proclaimed emperor. The town fell to the Turks in 1361 and Murad I made it his capital for four years before transferring to Adrianopole; his son Bayezid was born here. Charles XII of Sweden stayed at Demotika in 1713-14, a virtual prisoner of Ahmed III, to whose dominions he had fled after the Battle of Poltava.

Continuing our Greece private tour we will drive through the town of Evros prefecture and eastern Macedonia and arrive at Katerini through Thessaloniki and you will have free time to explore the area or time for swimming in the afternoon.

Overnight in Katerini

Day 8: Thermopylae – Athens

In the morning, after breakfast, we will continue our Greece private tour crossing the towns of central Greece. Visit Thermopylae, the site of the famous battle where Leonidas & the 300 Spartans fell fighting the Persian invasion force and we will return to Athens in the afternoon.

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