Greece: From the Bronze Age and Lost Atlantis to Zorba the Greek
April 16—May 3, 2026
Led by Jim May, Professor Emeritus of Classics, and Donna May, Retired Teacher
There’s no better time to journey around Greece, often called the cradle of democracy and of Western civilization itself. We’ll start with several days in Athens before heading out for ancient sites around the country.
This itinerary is custom-designed and unique to St. Olaf!
See the Overview to the right for more information on what we’ll see, do, and learn.
Join us for a Greek adventure that is far different from typical tours to Greece. While visiting several of the most famous sites in the country, our focus will be on the Bronze Age (ca. 3000-1100 BC), both Mycenaean and Minoan.
We will begin in Athens, with visits, of course, to the Acropolis, the extraordinary Acropolis Museum, the Athenian Agora (the haunt of Socrates, where democracy was born), and the National Museum, which houses (among other countless treasures) Heinrich Schliemann’s finds from Mycenae, “rich in gold.”
From Athens, we will travel to Nauplion, perhaps the most charming of Greek seaside towns, as a hub for visits to ancient Corinth (where St. Paul lived and preached), Epidaurus and its famed theater with perfect acoustics, and Tiryns and Mycenae, Bronze Age citadels, the latter the home of Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks in the Trojan War, whose exploits are recounted in Homer’s Iliad. We then fly to the island of Crete, center of the extraordinary Minoan civilization, with its palaces, beautiful frescoes and artifacts, and the origin of the storied myths of Daedalus and Icarus, the Minotaur, and Theseus and Ariadne. Along the way, and especially in Heraklion, we will see remnants of the Venetian occupation of Crete, not to mention sites relevant to the birth and death of Nikos Kazantzakis, Greece’s most famous novelist and author of Zorba the Greek.
Our study tour will conclude with a visit to the island of Santorini, ancient Thera, considered by some to be the Lost Atlantis. Destroyed by a devastating volcanic eruption in the 17 th Century BC, the island remains a geological treasure house, as well as home to the Bronze Age Minoan settlement of Akrotiri, a Minoan town that was covered, much like Pompeii, in the volcanic eruption and remains for us today a marvelous snapshot of that civilization taken at that moment in history.
In addition to our visits to archaeological sites and museums, our tour will be highlighted by other activities, including opportunities for swimming in the Aegean, a tour of a famous winery, a sunset cruise, a cooking class, and a boating excursion to the volcanic Kameni (“Burnt”) Island, not to mention plenty of time for sampling Greek food and trying a few Greek dances. As always, the hosts for our tour will be Dimitri, Myrto, and Thalia Cocconi of Educational Tours, our steadfast Greek agents and dear friends for nearly 50 years.
See more details below and use the REGISTER NOW button above to join us!
As always, the tour will start and end in Athens. You can view and print the most up-to-date itinerary here.
Our intention with each tour is to provide an itinerary that introduces you to key elements related to your destination or the educational theme, while also providing some free time for you to pursue your own interests or have some down time. The balance can vary from day to day, and from tour to tour.
You’ll get the most out of study travel if you research what to do during your free time. This allows you to reap the benefits of group travel, while also customizing the tour to your interests and activity level. Read more about How to Be an Independent Group Traveler.
Jim May, Professor of Classics and Kenneth O. Bjork Distinguished Professor Emeritus, retired from St. Olaf College in 2017, after a 40-year career in teaching and service. He is the author of many articles and chapters on Cicero, classical rhetoric, and Latin pedagogy, as well as the author, co-author, or editor of eight books. His latest volume, How to Win an Argument: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Persuasion (Princeton 2016), has been translated into 10 languages.
May received the Award for Excellence in the Teaching of the Classics from the American Philological Association (now the Society for Classical Studies) in 1986, and the Sears-Roebuck Foundation Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award in 1991. Former President of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South and the Classical Association of Minnesota, May has held two NEH Fellowships and directed two NEH Summer Seminars for School Teachers. He was Provost and Dean of St. Olaf College from 2002 to 2011.
In retirement, Jim continues to compete in handball, restore antique trucks, cars, and tractors, and sing in two church choirs. He was a rower on the reconstructed Greek trireme Olympias in 1990 and 1993. He has led nearly 30 study tours to Greece and the Mediterranean.
Expect to marvel, learn, feast, and soak in famous Greek hospitality! Movement between cities will be by air-conditioned private motor coach. Movement within each city and at cultural/historic sites will be on foot, requiring a lot of walking and standing, often over uneven ground. You should be capable of walking up to five miles per day over possibly uneven terrain, of climbing stairs that may not have handrails, of climbing in and out of various types of transportation, of keeping pace with an active group of travelers on long days of traveling, of dealing with the emotional highs and lows that can occur when experiencing different cultures, and of traveling with a group for several hours each day.
On most transfers, there will be porters available (at your own cost), but there will be occasions when — because of restricted access, narrow streets, or boarding ferry boats — it may be necessary for you to move/carry your own luggage; traveling lightly is highly recommended.
Hotels will be tourist class (four-star or superior rating) with private baths, air conditioning, and English-speaking staff.
The tour price is $7,695 per person, based on double occupancy. A supplement of $1,595 applies for a single room.
Inclusions and exclusions vary by tour, so please read the following information carefully. We try to strike a balance between not nickel-and-diming you once on the tour, while also allowing you some freedom in your price point (for meals, for example). A variety of modes of transportation tends to be pricier than a single bus throughout the tour. Highly rated guides are essential and should command higher wages.
And, note: the most recent five year average for Alumni & Family Travel tour fees was $564 per tour day. (We do not include pure travel days when calculating the daily fee, because international airfare is not included in the tour fee.) This is a longer tour, and is a great value, coming in at $481 per day. Consider that you can barely get a hotel room for under $300 these days, and that the per-day price includes all of the below-listed inclusions. This tour is a real deal!
Inclusions:
- Discussions and leadership from Jim and Donna May
- Accommodation for 16 nights in primarily 4-star hotels
- Daily buffet breakfast
- Eleven meals (as per itinerary) with local specialties and a variety of menus
- Welcome drink and snacks at Hotel Herodion
- Professional licensed guide/lecturer throughout the tour with all their expenses included
- Coach transportation as per itinerary with modern A/C bus and professional driver as per itinerary, including all driver expenses
- Airfare for Athens to Chania and Santorini to Athens via Aegean Airlines or Sky Express, including one checked luggage (max 23kg) and all taxes
- Ferry tickets Heraklion to Santorini with assigned seating
- Tips to all guides, drivers, and at group meals
- Cretan dances with dinner in Annopolis or similar village in Crete
- Special cooking class in Vamos Village in Chania followed by dinner
- Biofarm visit along with a baking class
- Live Cretan music in taverna in Chania
- Winery visit in Heraklion and Santorini, including tour of the facilities and wine tasting
- Special volcano and hot springs half day cruise in Santorini
- Admission fees to all sites and museums as per itinerary
- Earpieces for the guided visits in museums
- 24-hour assistance throughout the tour
- some limited travel insurance.
Exclusions: Airfare to and from Greece is not included. Participants are solely responsible for all expenses not specifically included in the tour fee. Examples of excluded expenses are: international airfare, airport transfers, any passport and visa fees, any recommended immunizations or vaccinations, baggage and trip cancellation insurance, alcoholic beverages (often including at group meals), laundry, dry cleaning, phone charges, room service or other items of a personal nature, expenses incurred during free time or non-group activities, lunch and dinner, unless specifically included on tour itinerary.
This schedule is based on payments St. Olaf College must make to tour vendors to guarantee group rates. We highly recommend that you purchase additional trip cancellation insurance at the time of registration to recover your payments should you need to withdraw from the tour.
Deposit due: $500 upon registration
Refund if you cancel: $475 until June 14, 2025. If the deposit is made after June 14, 2025 there is no refund.
Interim payment due: $3,500 on June 15, 2025
Refund if you cancel: $1,750 if you cancel on or before February 28, 2026
Balance due: March 1, 2026
Refund if you cancel: None, unless the tour is full and your place can be resold
Cancellations must be in writing.
Read the Terms and Conditions and Release and Waiver.
Review the latest information on recommended immunizations, visit the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Check your passport: ensure that it has at least 6 months’ validity past the program return date. Should you need to renew, visit the U.S. Department of State for instructions.
Take time to Prepare for your adventure by checking out a variety of resources, including frequently asked questions, general health information, included travel insurance, safety overview, and more.
Hold the dates of April 16–May 3, 2026, but do not book non-refundable air until we can confirm the tour is a go. (First chance for go is around the end of June 2025.) Meanwhile, you can see some tips on Booking Your Flights.
We highly recommend taking a few moments to view some gorgeous photos of Greece taken by previous travelers.
You must be logged in to post a comment.