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Greece/Turkey
The Ancient Aegean: Discover the Best of Greece & Turkey
Program No. 22725RJ
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The Ancient Aegean: Discover the Best of Greece & Turkey
The Ancient Aegean: Discover the Best of Greece & Turkey
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Participant Reviews
Based on 20 Reviews
SHOWING
Visiting Turkey was wonderful! The food was always delicious and we had a great variety to share. The exploration of Ephesus was one of the highlights of the trip. Exploring mosques in Istanbul was very enlightening. Everyone should visit Turkey!
— Review left December 4, 2025
The Ancient Aegean in Greece and Turkey was wonderful! Highly recommend this tour for those interested in history and the formation of civilizations in the Asia Minor area. Wonderful experience and excellent guides!
— Review left June 2, 2025
East meets West in this excellent program in both Greece and Turkey. So much history has passed through this part of the world. There was so much to learn at every stop.
— Review left June 1, 2025
A great program and a lot of fun. I was particularly worried if I could keep up, and while the trip was ambitious, it was certainly do-able. I would recommend walking sticks, though, as a way for dealing with the uneven pavements.
— Review left May 27, 2025
We've been home for a week now and are still living off of the richness we experienced on our adventure to Greece and Turkey. It was truly an immersive and transformational experience. The combination of great guides, local connections, tailored learning, and excellent travel logistics created an experience that was way beyond my expectations.
Eleni and Yasemin both did such a great job of setting expectations, communicating well, and keeping us moving and on track which enabled us to take it all in.
The surprise part for me how much I enjoyed getting to know my small cohort of 18 other people on our trip. Admittedly I was a bit nervous at first but by the third day we were loving sharing all the sights, sounds, and food together.
For those wanting actively to go in-depth on the history and culture of new and different places I can't say enough about the Road Scholar experience.
Eric & Connie / Seattle WA.
— Review left May 27, 2025
We have travelled with other companies but were very impressed with Road Scholar. The Itinerary was well put together. Our tour guides, Marily and Samie were very knowledge and their professionalism were outstanding! They were very passionate about their job and they were fun! I have recommended Road Scholar to my family and friends.
— Review left May 1, 2025
The overall quality of the educational content was excellent esp program summary booklets. The group leaders were the best. The program had a good balance of intensity and free time.
— Review left April 20, 2025
As usual for RoadScholar, this well planned trip, "The Ancient Aegean: Discover the Best of Greece and Turkey" was just spectacular. It far exceeded my expectations of enjoyment in all ways.
What particularly surprised me was how excellent and interesting "Turkiye" was. The people are so enjoyable and friendly. This experience was so eye-opening.
As I've experienced before, my group of fellow travelers were wonderful and intelligent. - I travel as a single, this is always important.
— Review left January 13, 2025
I simply cannot say enough good things about our Group Leader: knowledgeable, informative, organized, spirited. A great story teller, and she used our bus traveling time to inform us. I've been reading Greek myths since I was 10 years old ("Jason and the Golden Fleece", probably the 1959 version by John Gunther. "D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths".) But through this trip I learned a more nuanced version of Greek mythology.
— Review left November 20, 2024
Just completed a 2 week trip to the Mediterranean region. Everything was fantastic. Great guides, well organized program, interesting experiences, etc. I highly recommend this program for anyone interested in learning.
— Review left October 20, 2024
Absolutely spectacular trip that lived up to every expectation! Greek guide Chrysa and Turkish guide Jasmine were fabulous. The overall trip was educationally informative, energetic, exceptionally well planned and executed, and, most of all, fun!! The culinary delights of Greece, and even more so, Turkey made the trip even more superlative! Thank you Road Scholar for another unforgettable adventure.
— Review left October 8, 2024
What an amazing experience we had during our adventure to Greece and Turkey. The Ancient Aegean discovery has it all: Untouched, almost unreal medieval Villa and beau unbitten pass Greek Islands, mastiha plantation, fresh fish from the sea and unforgettable lunch on the shore or beautiful peaceful Harbor with delicious fresh grown vegetables, whole fried calamary and Greek drink Ouzo. How not to mentioned amazing desserts 3 times a day with breakfast ,lunch and dinner.
This trip would be impossible to be so pleasant without our outstanding group leaders Chrysa and Yasmin. These two wonderful ladies have great experience working with garden variety of diverse travelers, deep knowledge about history, culture, tradition, religion, archeological sites, local authentic cuisine. They have such a warm, caring personalities.
Trip was designed to cover multiple area to study culture and a history in 2 great countries. We have 4 different hotels, 2 in large cities such as Athens and Istanbul. And 2 Boutique hotels on island and resort area Kusadasi.
We enjoyed our Olive oil tasting experience, and Traditional Turkish rugs factory.
We survived Grand Bazar and Species Bazar.
Our Leaders went above and beyond to help everybody to satisfy their desire to attend different activity in our leisure time. I am very grateful for our group leader Yasmine, who help us to visit house of Virginia Mary in Turkey. This was on forgetful experienced in very meaningful.
I recommend for traveler to also take the opportunity and attend traditional Turkish bath It was another and forgetful experienced.
We visited multiple Greek Orthodox churches and the most historical and famous Mosques in Istanbul. Every single day was filled with Joy, learning opportunity, sharing wonderful pictures and personal discoveries.
We had an outstanding lecture provided by program manager Kazim that lasted 2 hours instead of 1 hour. I strongly recommend this program for travelers!
— Review left October 1, 2024
I loved this tour, both guides were extremely knowledgeable . We had rather more free time than I experienced in my last trips, but I teamed up with others during those times and we explored on our own. Meals were excellent for the most part although the first night meal in the hotel was somewhat mediocre.
— Review left September 26, 2024
Excellent group leaders! We've attended more than a dozen previous RS programs. This one ranks among the best. Prospective participants, however, should honor the "keep the pace" expectation...there are lots of steps and irregular walking surfaces.
— Review left June 3, 2024
This trip is a wonderful combination of exploring the major sites of the cities with some out-of-the way hidden gems in the countryside. Be ready to be fairly active walking on ancient cobblestones (no hand rails on many of the stairs) and up and down the hills of the Aegean. The guides are top notch and everyday we learned something new and fascinating.
— Review left June 2, 2024
The Road Scholar tour:"The Ancient Aegean: Discover the Best of Greece & Turkey" was our first but not last Road Scholar tour. The pre-trip materials were excellent, and our 2 guides were fabulous - Interesting, Knowledgeable and Fun. The choice of destinations was well considered, as we visited some places that were off the major tourist beaten paths, such as the Island of Chios, Sounion and some small towns and attractions in both countries.
— Review left May 1, 2024
My wife and I had the BEST time on this trip. That was made possible because of the two group leaders Elani in Greece and Sami for the Turkey part. The two of them are so knowledgeable of their own countries. Both explained what we were seeing in a context that encompassed social, economic and religious aspects of the time. Everything we saw was important and meaningful. They are wonderful group leaders and are skilled in the logistics of group travel ie. patience and a sense of humor.
The name Ancient Agean is a very fitting title for this tour. It was explained that our group was the third time this tour was done. I hope Road Scholar continues to offer it because it really gives a good overview of that part of the world.
My wife and I had done some reading before the trip of the history. This trip really tied together what we read and what we saw and the events.
Please keep this tour so others can learn from it like we did.
— Review left November 5, 2023
The Ancient Aegean geography and history was revealed on this journey. I now appreciate the richness of this part of the world, where prior to this excellent opportunity, it was an unknown.
— Review left October 31, 2023
Interacting with the other participants was a major positive of my experience
— Review left September 24, 2023
This is a trip of many contrasts. It explores the civilizations of classical Greece, the Aegean, the Byzantine empire, and the Ottoman empire. There is a different group leader for Greece and Turkey so you get all this, plus a lot about modern culture and politics, from two different perspectives. The hotel in Athens is a block away from everything and there is enough free time to explore the shops and restaurants. Chios is like no other Greek island, with its mastic trees and citrus groves, and the medieval villages with city walls and narrow passages and building coated with black volcanic stucco and painted in some wild patterns. It is relaxed and does not have the crowds. The ancient city of Ephesus is well preserved. Istanbul is a very exciting place with its mosques, Byzantine churches, city walls, markets. old and new neighborhoods, ultra-modern buildings verging on the abstract, and views of the waterfront in almost any direction. Hearing the call to prayer from the minarets around the city was a new experience. Food is excellent everywhere. In Greece it is more traditional Greek. In Turkey it seems more gourmet and is probably the creation of the individual chefs. There is plenty of seafood like octopus, sea bass, and fried anchovies. Chios has mastic ice cream and mastic liqueur. It was a very ambitious trip. A lot of walking, standing, and rough pavement, possibly more demanding than other trips. It was well organized and the group leaders were knowledgeable, friendly, and very helpful.
— Review left June 28, 2023