Conde Nast asked several travel experts to name a tour of their country others would find extraordinary. Travel specialist Christos Stergiou described a tour organized by the company True Greece that starts in the capital of Athens and ends on the Greek island of Santorini. In between, participants on the tour have coffee with Eugenia Papadimas, the famed Greek pianist, then enjoy a private performance by Papadimas in her home. The tour continues with a visit to Greek winery Domaine Sigalas, where founder Paris Sigalas guides visitors through his estate and provides them with a special wine tasting. The tour ends with dinner on Santorini, complete with wines from Domaine Sigalas. This brief, unique tour costs roughly $6,000 for two people.
For visitors to Greece who want a tour of the country's coast but are eager to stay away from spots filled with tourists, a trip spent volunteering to help the region's dolphins might be the answer. Travel and Leisure magazine calls the Greek dolphin conservation tour by Global Vision International, a "more altruistic, no less adrenaline-pumping experience." The Mediterranean common dolphin is on the list of endangered species, and conservation program volunteers travel with researchers daily on boats to help them gather information on the sea mammals. Volunteers also get to have their share of fun, swimming in the Gulf of Corinth and enjoying the local cuisine in the village of Galaxidi. Travel and Leisure says of this adventure, "The only thing better than swimming with dolphins may be saving them."
A voyage among the Greek Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea on a two-masted wooden sailboat called a gulet is the tour of a lifetime, according to National Geographic Traveler. The tour sets itself apart from other Greek tours by starting in Turkey, where National Geographic reports "the focus is on offbeat sites such as the Turkish village of Turgut, where guests are invited to share sage tea and honey with locals." After boarding the gulet in Turkey, the sailboat makes its way to the Greek islands of Kos, Nissiros and Tilos before circling back to Turkey. Voyagers disembark the gulet several times during the tour to enjoy the Greek islands' pristine beaches and native flora and fauna.
