Escorted Tours of Greece

Greece is a land of deep blue seas; long, sandy beaches; and strings of beautiful islands. It has a fabulous cuisine, with the emphasis firmly placed on fresh produce simply cooked, best sampled in a family run taverna. From crystal waters to delicious food, golden sunshine to abundant antiquities, Greece has all the ingredients for a wonderful cultural holiday.

Greek cuisine is justifiably famous for its emphasis on the freshness of the ingredients, and the simplicity of their presentation. Eating is a social occasion, and restaurants and cafes are often filled with the noise of families and friends catching up on events and ordering more and more food and wine. Sit-down meals are therefore convivial affairs that are fuelled by food that is often delivered to the group for sharing, rather than to the individual.

The idea of courses is alien to the Greek mind, and any food that is ordered will arrive as and when it is cooked, rather than being delivered in strict succession. Most meals normally begin with a series of orektika (appetizers) that are placed in the centre of the table and passed around within the group so that each person can fork or spoon off onto their own plates as much of the various dishes as they wish to eat.

These orektika are hot or cold, and often consist of dips such as tzatziki (a yoghurt and garlic dip), fava (pureed yellow peas) and melitzanosalata (a roasted aubergine/eggplant dip); salads made of a mixture of tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers or carrots; cheeses, both fresh and fried; courgette/zucchini or aubergine/eggplant fritters; little cheese or spinach pies; a plate of freshly fried whitebait and so on and so forth. The list is endless, and every restaurant, village and region of Greece has its own particular delicacies.

For those with some room left, these orektika are followed by larger plates of grilled or roasted meat or fish, or perhaps some mayirefta (dishes that have been cooked for several hours, e.g. casseroles) such as the famous moussakas. Desserts are usually simple affairs of fresh or baked fruits, or small portions of sweet confections such as halva (semolina) or baklavas.

These kinds of restaurant-based feasts are a weekly part of Greek family life, but Greek cuisine does not begin and end here. In fact, it is the street food or fast food that is in many ways emblematic of their culinary tradition: a slice of freshly-baked spinach or cheese pie from the local bakery; a toasted sandwich stuffed with sliced meats, slivers of vegetables, and cheese spreads; or a pitta bread folded around freshly-carved chunks of spit-roast meat and garnished with fresh salad and tzatziki sauce, all washed down with a locally-brewed beer or soft-drink.

Although not for the calorie conscious, this food, with its emphasis on freshness, conviviality and simplicity, is quintessentially Greek.

With such a broad range of landscapes, it is no surprise that precipitation rates and temperature ranges can vary considerably from region to region across the year. In general though, the Spring and Autumn months are characterised by cool weather, with occasional rain showers, the Summer months are hot with hardly any rainfall, and the Winter months are cold, with occasional heavy rain and snow at higher elevations.

The further south you go, the warmer the temperature, the further north and west you go, the greater the chance of rain and cooler temperatures.

A full range of seasonal temperatures in Greece can be found here.

Greece is a land of mountains. They begin in the north-west of the country, and run south-east until they slip beneath the waves of the sea; their peaks periodically breaking the surface to form the thousands of islands for which the Greek waters are renowned. These mountains divide the mainland into a series of small habitable valleys and plains, determining the distribution of villages and towns across the landscape and shaping rainfall patterns and road networks.

This broken landscape has bequeathed Greece a wide range of environmental conditions, many of which are not suitable for large-scale modern agriculture, and as such have reverted to a ‘wild’ and rocky state. It may not be the idyllic rural landscape filled with babbling brooks and shady sun-dappled forests imagined by the Pre-Raphaelite painters, but it is magnificent in its raw and untamed state, and the endless miles of coastline contain some of the best coves, beaches and gulfs in Europe.

In bare statistical terms, Greece occupies an area of 131,940 sq km (50,942 sq miles), and has a coastline of 13,676 km (8,498 miles). It has more than 2,000 islands, 170 of which are permanently inhabited. A geographically complex country, it can be divided into the following zones for ease of description. Read more about the various regions in Greece here

Greece is a land synonymous with history and archaeology, and as such is a perfect place to travel on a cultural holiday. From the Bronze Age civilizations of Mycenae, Knossos and Santorini to the Classical giants of Athens, Sparta, Rhodes and Delphi; from the Byzantine wonders of Mystras, Monemvasia and Patmos to the modern comforts and pleasures on offer in Athens and Thessaloniki. The sights of Ancient, Medieval and Modern Greece are simply world-class.

Famous in the western world as the birthplace of history, philosophy, theatre and democracy (among much else), Greece has witnessed the passage of some of the ancient world’s most gifted individuals. Less well known is its later role as an important part of the Byzantine world, and as a province in the Ottoman Empire. Its winding path through history has endowed Greece with a variety of archaeological and architectural jewels from all ages, as well as a series of world-class museums devoted to its ancient heritage and its modern culture: the Benaki Museum of Islamic Art and the Jewish Museum of Greece should not be missed.

In short, Greece provides an insight into many of the major Mediterranean civilizations, both past and present, and the achievement of its peoples has provided the very bedrock on which many of them were built. Here’s further information about some of the key moments in Greece’s history.