The Greek Islands & Turkey

Along the sapphire shores of the Aegean stretch some of the world’s most exquisite and intriguing golf courses. Our voyage to these sporting designs takes us to the crenellated coasts of Turkey and the Greek islands, where classical ruins, ancient myths and refreshing swims await us. Aboard our 34-guest Callisto, you will play courses so fantastic that few have even imagined they exist. In the picturesque Greek town of Kalamata, Robert Trent Jones, Sr., handcrafted the much-heralded Navarino Bay course, where our first round tees off. On the island of Crete, home to the fabled Minotaur, the tumbling elevations and daring holes of the Crete Golf Club contribute to its premier ranking among Greek courses. In Antalya, Turkey, try your swing at the National Golf Club, a David Feherty creation, and at Nick Faldo’s Cornelia Golf Resort—both extremely stunning and challenging courses. Throughout the voyage, enjoy the guidance of our onboard golf host, there to provide you with tips and individual feedback on your play. Travelers will experience the wonders of the classical age and revel in the stimulations of the present, from the volcanic island of Santorini to Rhodes’s temples of the gods. Refresh, invigorate and inspire yourself—and your golf game—on this enticing adventure in the Greek isles and Turkey.

Day 1
USA
Fly from the United States to Antalya, Turkey.

Day 2
ANTALYA, Turkey | EMBARK
Arrive in Antalya and transfer to Callisto. Overnight aboard ship docked in Antalya.

Day 3
ANTALYA
The glorious country around Antalya, on Turkey’s southern Turquoise Coast, contains some of the finest golf courses in the Eastern Mediterranean, and during our two-day stay here, we will have the opportunity to play the top two courses in Turkey. In Cornelia Golf Resort, Nick Faldo has designed one of the best new courses in Europe. From the sumptuous clubhouse to the immaculate course conditions, Cornelia is impressively lush and mature. Touring passengers will explore Antalya, built on a cliff top overlooking the azure waters of the Mediterranean. Visit the Old Town, with its colorful alleyways and bazaars; its ancient ruins, including Hadrian’s Gate; and the Antalya Museum, with its impressive exhibits from the ancient sites of the area. Overnight aboard ship docked in Antalya.

Day 4
ANTALYA | EMBARK
Today in Antalya, golfers will play the National Golf Club, created by David Feherty. Routed through a woodland of eucalyptus and pine trees against the backdrop of the Taurus Mountains, National is an unforgettable golf experience climbing the rankings of European golf. Those touring will visit two of Turkey’s great ancient sites: Perge, with its great stadium and colonnaded marble streets, and Aspendos, with its grand 20,000-seat theater, commissioned by Marcus Aurelius in the 2nd century a.d. There will be an opportunity for swimming at one of Antalya’s luxury resorts before sailing for Rhodes.

Day 5
RHODES, Greece
Rhodes reached its pinnacle during the Hellenistic period, when it was a major center of commerce, learning and the arts. Arrive this morning and ascend Monte Smith, the site of the ancient Acropolis of Hellenistic Rhodes. See the restored 2nd-century b.c. stadium, the theater and the remains of temples dedicated to Zeus, Athena and Pythian Apollo. Also explore the Old Town, one of Europe’s best-preserved and most impressive medieval towns. In lovely Lindos, enjoy lunch at Mavrikos, one of Greece’s top restaurants, after which you may take a donkey ride up to the Acropolis or spend time relaxing at Lindos’s fine-sand beach. Sail for Crete in the evening.

Day 6
AGIOS NIKOLAOS, Crete
Often recognized as the premier course in Greece, Crete Golf Club is a marvelous creation on this ancient island. The course offers a series of memorable holes and stunning views over mountainous landscape, hardly changed since the era of the Minoans, Europe’s earliest civilization. Touring passengers will explore Knossos, whose reconstructed palace reveals the brilliance and refinement of the Minoans. Reboard Callisto in the quaint port town of Agios Nikolaos and sail in the evening. There will be an opportunity to swim in the aquamarine waters of Mirabello Bay before departing for Santorini.

Day 7
SANTORINI, Greece
After a swimming stop at a lovely bay on the island of Ios, arrive in Santorini. In the second millennium b.c., volcanic eruptions shrouded the island of Santorini in a blanket of pumice and ash and collapsed the island into a fractured caldera. This ultimately produced the wild, otherworldly, multi-hued beauty of the island, while sending the Minoan civilization into irreversible decline. Take a cable-car ride up to the whitewashed homes, shops, cafes and churches of Phira. Then visit the Nomikos Exhibition, where excellent reproductions of Akrotiri’s Minoan frescoes are on display, and continue to the Prehistoric History Museum of Thera. Also visit the classic, traditionally preserved town of Oia.

Day 8
KALAMATA
Arrive in Kalamata, a lovely town built between a hill crowned by a medieval castle and the sea. Golfers will play the new, Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed Navarino Bay course, beautifully sited in the southwest coast of the Peloponnese, near historic Navarino Bay. The gently rolling terrain features a river, olive trees and sandy flatlands, combining to create a superb golf experience. Touring passengers will travel through superb countryside to Mystra, the best-preserved Byzantine town in Greece, overlooking ancient and modern Sparta.

Day 9
PIRAEUS | DISEMBARK | ATHENS
After docking in Piraeus, transfer to Athens for a morning tour of the Acropolis, crowned by the majestic Parthenon, which symbolized harmony, stability and intellect. Other structures on the Acropolis include the little Temple of Athena Nike, with its slender Ionic columns, and the magnificent Erechtheion, where Ionic style reached perfection in the building’s carved capitals and friezes. After lunch at a local restaurant, transfer to the elegant Hotel King George, located on Constitution Square, the center of the city. In the evening, enjoy a cocktail reception on the hotel’s roof garden, with views of the lit Acropolis.

Day 10
ATHENS | USA
Transfer from the hotel to the airport for return flights to the United States.