| | | | | Arrive | Depart |
| 10th10 | MayMay | 202020 | 1 night accommodation before your cruise, staying in Athens | | |
| 11th11 | MayMay | 202020 | Piraeus, Greece, embark on the Scenic Eclipse | | |
| It's no wonder that all roads lead to the fascinating and maddening metropolis of Athens. Lift your eyes 200 feet above the city to the Parthenon, its honey-color marble columns rising from a massive limestone base, and you behold architectural perfection that has not been surpassed in 2,500 years. But, today, this shrine of classical form dominates a 21st-century boomtown. To experience Athens—Athína in Greek—fully is to understand the essence of Greece: ancient monuments surviving in a sea of cement, startling beauty amid the squalor, tradition juxtaposed with modernity. Locals depend on humor and flexibility to deal with the chaos; you should do the same. The rewards are immense. Although Athens covers a huge area, the major landmarks of the ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine periods are close to the modern city center. You can easily walk from the Acropolis to many other key sites, taking time to browse in shops and relax in cafés and tavernas along the way. From many quarters of the city you can glimpse "the glory that was Greece" in the form of the Acropolis looming above the horizon, but only by actually climbing that rocky precipice can you feel the impact of the ancient settlement. The Acropolis and Filopappou, two craggy hills sitting side by side; the ancient Agora (marketplace); and Kerameikos, the first cemetery, form the core of ancient and Roman Athens. Along the Unification of Archaeological Sites promenade, you can follow stone-paved, tree-lined walkways from site to site, undisturbed by traffic. Cars have also been banned or reduced in other streets in the historical center. In the National Archaeological Museum, vast numbers of artifacts illustrate the many millennia of Greek civilization; smaller museums such as the Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art Museum and the Byzantine and Christian Museum illuminate the history of particular regions or periods. Athens may seem like one huge city, but it is really a conglomeration of neighborhoods with distinctive characters. The Eastern influences that prevailed during the 400-year rule of the Ottoman Empire are still evident in Monastiraki, the bazaar area near the foot of the Acropolis. On the northern slope of the Acropolis, stroll through Plaka (if possible by moonlight), an area of tranquil streets lined with renovated mansions, to get the flavor of the 19th-century's gracious lifestyle. The narrow lanes of Anafiotika, a section of Plaka, thread past tiny churches and small, color-washed houses with wooden upper stories, recalling a Cycladic island village. In this maze of winding streets, vestiges of the older city are everywhere: crumbling stairways lined with festive tavernas; dank cellars filled with wine vats; occasionally a court or diminutive garden, enclosed within high walls and filled with magnolia trees and the flaming trumpet-shaped flowers of hibiscus bushes. Formerly run-down old quarters, such as Thission, Gazi and Psirri, popular nightlife areas filled with bars and mezedopoleia (similar to tapas bars), are now in the process of gentrification, although they still retain much of their original charm, as does the colorful produce and meat market on Athinas. The area around Syntagma Square, the tourist hub, and Omonia Square, the commercial heart of the city about 1 km (½ mi) northwest, is distinctly European, having been designed by the court architects of King Otho, a Bavarian, in the 19th century. The chic shops and bistros of ritzy Kolonaki nestle at the foot of Mt. Lycabettus, Athens's highest hill (909 feet). Each of Athens's outlying suburbs has a distinctive character: in the north is wealthy, tree-lined Kifissia, once a summer resort for aristocratic Athenians, and in the south and southeast lie Glyfada, Voula, and Vouliagmeni, with their sandy beaches, seaside bars, and lively summer nightlife. Just beyond the city's southern fringes is Piraeus, a bustling port city of waterside fish tavernas and Saronic Gulf views. Welcome to Athens where your journey into wonder begins with a warm greeting from your crew as you step on board Scenic Eclipse. Raise your glass and toast to the start of your luxurious cruise. |
| 12th12 | MayMay | 202020 | Santorini, Greece | | |
| Undoubtedly the most extraordinary island in the Aegean, crescent-shape Santorini remains a mandatory stop on the Cycladic tourist route—even if it's necessary to enjoy the sensational sunsets from Ia, the fascinating excavations, and the dazzling white towns with a million other travelers. Called Kállisti (the "Loveliest") when first settled, the island has now reverted to its subsequent name of Thira, after the 9th-century-BC Dorian colonizer Thiras. The place is better known, however, these days as Santorini, a name derived from its patroness, St. Irene of Thessaloniki, the Byzantine empress who restored icons to Orthodoxy and died in 802. You can fly conveniently to Santorini, but to enjoy a true Santorini rite of passage, opt instead for the boat trip here, which provides a spectacular introduction. After the boat sails between Sikinos and Ios, your deck-side perch approaches two close islands with a passage between them. The bigger one on the left is Santorini, and the smaller on the right is Thirassia. Passing between them, you see the village of Ia adorning Santorini's northernmost cliff like a white geometric beehive. You are in the caldera (volcanic crater), one of the world's truly breathtaking sights: a demilune of cliffs rising 1,100 feet, with the white clusters of the towns of Fira and Ia perched along the top. The bay, once the high center of the island, is 1,300 feet in some places, so deep that when boats dock in Santorini's shabby little port of Athinios, they do not drop anchor. The encircling cliffs are the ancient rim of a still-active volcano, and you are sailing east across its flooded caldera. On your right are the Burnt isles, the White isle, and other volcanic remnants, all lined up as if some outsize display in a geology museum. Hephaestus's subterranean fires smolder still—the volcano erupted in 198 BC, about 735, and there was an earthquake in 1956. Indeed, Santorini and its four neighboring islets are the fragmentary remains of a larger landmass that exploded about 1600 BC: the volcano's core blew sky high, and the sea rushed into the abyss to create the great bay, which measures 10 km by 7 km (6 mi by 4½ mi) and is 1,292 feet deep. The other pieces of the rim, which broke off in later eruptions, are Thirassia, where a few hundred people live, and deserted little Aspronissi ("White isle"). In the center of the bay, black and uninhabited, two cones, the Burnt Isles of Palea Kameni and Nea Kameni, appeared between 1573 and 1925. There has been too much speculation about the identification of Santorini with the mythical Atlantis, mentioned in Egyptian papyri and by Plato (who says it's in the Atlantic), but myths are hard to pin down. This is not true of old arguments about whether tidal waves from Santorini's cataclysmic explosion destroyed Minoan civilization on Crete, 113 km (70 mi) away. The latest carbon-dating evidence, which points to a few years before 1600 BC for the eruption, clearly indicates that the Minoans outlasted the eruption by a couple of hundred years, but most probably in a weakened state. In fact, the island still endures hardships: since antiquity, Santorini has depended on rain collected in cisterns for drinking and irrigating—the well water is often brackish—and the serious shortage is alleviated by the importation of water. However, the volcanic soil also yields riches: small, intense tomatoes with tough skins used for tomato paste (good restaurants here serve them); the famous Santorini fava beans, which have a light, fresh taste; barley; wheat; and white-skin eggplants. A former volcano, Santorini's cliffs soar out of the sparkling waters of the ancient caldera, contrasting with whitewashed buildings and blue domed roofs. Today choose one of our Scenic Freechoice activities or join a more active Scenic Discovery excursion. Freechoice: Visit the picturesque village of Oia and learn about the wine industry with a tasting, or see the black sand Perissa Beach and the enormous Mesa Vouno. Choose to see the islands volcanic history, or explore the prehistoric city of Akrotiri with buildings 4,000 years old. Alternatively, sail to thermal springs of Palea Kameni. Alternatively, tour the island and see some Santorini's volcanic history and panoramic views. Discovery: Take a Scenic Discovery excursion hiking with a guide Enjoy time at leisure to explore by day and by night. |
| 13th13 | MayMay | 202020 | Milos, Greece | | |
| Today choose one of our Scenic Freechoice activities or join a more active Scenic Discovery excursion. Freechoice: Join a tour of the island and learn the history, or take the opportunity to swim in one of the beautiful beaches on the island. Alternatively, visit some of the villages on the island and taste the local food. Discovery: Take a Scenic Discovery excursion by kayak around the spectacular beaches, or hike along the western cost of Milos. Enjoy the atmosphere of this charming port after dinner. |
| 14th14 | MayMay | 202020 | Khania, Greece | | |
| The second-largest city in Crete and capital of the Homonym Prefecture, Chania is located in Minoan Kidonia at the end of the Homonym Gulf between the Akrotiri and Onicha peninsulas. Chania City is divided into two parts; the Old Town, which is comprised of several connected districts built around the old Venetian Harbour, and New Town, a larger, more modern city whose centre is situated next to, and south of, the Old Town. The Old Town is home to Venetian buildings and Turkish elements that combine to create a unique architectural style, and is considered to be the most beautiful urban district on Crete. It was once surrounded by old Venetian fortifications that separated it from the New Town; however, only the eastern and western parts remain today. Due to its compact size, Skiathos can be easily explored in just a single day. Known as the Venetian harbour, Chania is located on the northwest coast of Crete. Today choose one of our Scenic Freechoice activities or join a more active Scenic Discovery excursion. Freechoice: Discover the city of Chania on a walking tour and visit the Maritime Museum, or see the traditional villages on your drive to local olive mills for a tasting. Choose to learn the history of the island, or visit a farm in the Akrotiri where you will have the opportunity to make and taste unique Cretan cuisine. Alternatively, discover Cretan wild flora and fauna at the nature reserve before planting an olive tree, or explore mountainous villages on a jeep safari tour. Discovery: Take a Scenic Discovery excursion by kayak as you paddle in the crystal clear waters of the Akrotiri Peninsula. |
| 15th15 | MayMay | 202020 | Fiskárdo, Greece | | |
| Today choose one of our Scenic Freechoice activities or join a more active Scenic Discovery excursion. Freechoice: See all the highlights of the island of Kefalonia. Discovery: Take a Scenic Discovery excursion by kayak or guided hike. |
| 16th16 | MayMay | 202020 | Kotor, | | |
| Backed by imposing mountains, tiny Kotor lies hidden from the open sea, tucked into the deepest channel of the Bokor Kotorska (Kotor Bay), which is Europe's most southerly fjord. To many, this town is more charming than its sister UNESCO World Heritage Site, Dubrovnik, retaining more authenticity, but with fewer tourists and spared the war damage and subsequent rebuilding which has given Dubrovnik something of a Disney feel.Kotor's medieval Stari Grad (Old Town) is enclosed within well-preserved defensive walls built between the 9th and 18th centuries and is presided over by a proud hilltop fortress. Within the walls, a labyrinth of winding cobbled streets leads through a series of splendid paved piazzas, rimmed by centuries-old stone buildings. The squares are now haunted by strains from buskers but although many now house trendy cafés and chic boutiques, directions are still given medieval-style by reference to the town’s landmark churches.In the Middle Ages, as Serbia's chief port, Kotor was an important economic and cultural center with its own highly regarded schools of stonemasonry and iconography. From 1391 to 1420 it was an independent city-republic and later, it spent periods under Venetian, Austrian, and French rule, though it was undoubtedly the Venetians who left the strongest impression on the city's architecture. Since the breakup of Yugoslavia, some 70% of the stone buildings in the romantic Old Town have been snapped up by foreigners, mostly Brits and Russians. Porto Montenegro, a new marina designed to accommodate some of the world’s largest super yachts, opened in nearby Tivat in 2011, and along the bay are other charming seaside villages, all with better views of the bay than the vista from Kotor itself where the waterside is congested with cruise ships and yachts. Try sleepy Muo or the settlement of Prčanj in one direction around the bay, or Perast and the Roman mosaics of Risan in the other direction. Startlingly beautiful, the Bay of Kotor has been inhabited since antiquity and is often described as the Mediterranean's only fjord. Today choose one of our Scenic Freechoice activities or join a more active Scenic Discovery excursion. Freechoice: Join a guided walking tour of this world heritage listed city, or visit Perast with architecture dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries, before boarding a boat to Our Lady of the Rock island to visit the chapel filled with magnificent paintings by local Baroque artists. Alternatively, visit the Old Royal Capital of Montenegro, Cetinje, and the village of Njeguši. Discovery: Join a guided hike of the Kotor city walls to St John's Fortress and be awed by the views of Kotor and Boka Bay. Time at leisure this evening to wander along the waterfront, before experiencing a folklore show on board Scenic Eclipse. |
| 17th17 | MayMay | 202020 | Dubrovnik, Croatia | | |
| Nothing can prepare you for your first sight of Dubrovnik. Lying 216 km (135 miles) southeast of Split and commanding a jaw-dropping coastal location, it is one of the world's most beautiful fortified cities. Its massive stone ramparts and fortress towers curve around a tiny harbor, enclosing graduated ridges of sun-bleached orange-tiled roofs, copper domes, and elegant bell towers. Your imagination will run wild picturing what it looked like seven centuries ago when the walls were built, without any suburbs or highways around it, just this magnificent stone city rising out of the sea.In the 7th century AD, residents of the Roman city Epidaurum (now Cavtat) fled the Avars and Slavs of the north and founded a new settlement on a small rocky island, which they named Laus, and later Ragusa. On the mainland hillside opposite the island, the Slav settlement called Dubrovnik grew up. In the 12th century the narrow channel separating the two settlements was filled in (now the main street through the Old Town, called Stradun), and Ragusa and Dubrovnik became one. The city was surrounded by defensive walls during the 13th century, and these were reinforced with towers and bastions in the late 15th century.From 1358 to 1808 the city thrived as a powerful and remarkably sophisticated independent republic, reaching its golden age during the 16th century. In 1667 many of its splendid Gothic and Renaissance buildings were destroyed by an earthquake. The defensive walls survived the disaster, and the city was rebuilt in baroque style.Dubrovnik lost its independence to Napoléon in 1808, and in 1815 passed to Austria-Hungary. During the 20th century, as part of Yugoslavia, the city became a popular tourist destination, and in 1979 it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. During the war for independence, it came under heavy siege. Thanks to careful restoration, few traces of damage remain; however, there are maps inside the Pile and Ploče Gates illustrating the points around the city where damage was done. It’s only when you experience Dubrovnik yourself that you can understand what a treasure the world nearly lost The historic walled city of Dubrovnik will be a highlight of your cruise. World Heritage-listed, it has remained largely unchanged since medieval times. Today choose one of our Scenic Freechoice activities or join a more active Scenic Discovery excursion. Freechoice: Discover the historic city centre and visit some of Dubrovnik's most significant historical landmarks, or see the Croatian country side with a tour to the Konavle Valley, taste local wines and discover the tradition of silk weaving. Discovery: Take a Discovery excursion by kayak and see the medieval walls from the sea, or walk the city walls, climb the Minceta Tower and hear fascinating stories. Enrich Be enthralled by a moving private concert set in a magnificent Baroque church in the historic precinct. |
| 18th18 | MayMay | 202020 | Hvar Island, Croatia | | |
| The Croatian island of Hvar bills itself as the "sunniest island in the Adriatic." Not only does it have the figures to back up this claim—an annual average of 2,724 hours of sunshine—but it also makes visitors a sporting proposition, offering them a money-back guarantee if there are seven consecutive days of snow (snow has been known to fall here; the last time being February 2012). Today choose one of our Scenic Freechoice activities or join a more active Scenic Discovery excursion.. Freechoice: Visit World Heritage-listed Starigrad or explore the picturesque medieval centre of Hvar. Alternatively, visit a family owned cellar for an olive oil tasting and see the magnificent views from the Fortica fortress. Discovery: Take a Scenic Discovery excursion by kayak and discover the beautiful surroundings of Hvar and Pakleni islands. |
| 19th19 | MayMay | 202020 | Split, Croatia | | |
| Split's ancient core is so spectacular and unusual that a visit is more than worth your time. The heart of the city lies within the walls of Roman emperor Diocletian's retirement palace, which was built in the 3rd century AD. Diocletian, born in the nearby Roman settlement of Salona in AD 245, achieved a brilliant career as a soldier and became emperor at the age of 40. In 295 he ordered this vast palace to be built in his native Dalmatia, and when it was completed he stepped down from the throne and retired to his beloved homeland. Upon his death, he was laid to rest in an octagonal mausoleum, around which Split's magnificent cathedral was built.In 615, when Salona was sacked by barbarian tribes, those fortunate enough to escape found refuge within the stout palace walls and divided up the vast imperial apartments into more modest living quarters. Thus, the palace developed into an urban center, and by the 11th century the settlement had expanded beyond the ancient walls.Under the rule of Venice (1420–1797), Split—as a gateway to the Balkan interior—became one of the Adriatic's main trading ports, and the city's splendid Renaissance palaces bear witness to the affluence of those times. When the Habsburgs took control during the 19th century, an overland connection to Central Europe was established by the construction of the Split–Zagreb–Vienna railway line.After World War II, the Tito years saw a period of rapid urban expansion: industrialization accelerated and the suburbs extended to accommodate high-rise apartment blocks. Today the historic center of Split is included on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites. Today choose one of our Scenic Freechoice activities or join a more active Scenic Discovery excursion. Freechoice: Step into the past as you explore the historic city of Split with your experienced local guide, or visit the UNESCO World-Heritage site Trogir, the best preserved Romanesque-Gothic complex in all of Central Europe. Alternatively, step back in time in the village of Stella Croatica and taste local delicacies. Discovery: Take a Scenic Discovery trek up Marjan Hill for spectacular views. |
| 20th20 | MayMay | 202020 | Rovinj, Croatia | | |
| One of the true jewels of the Mediterranean, Rovinj is a jaw-droppingly beautiful town, which juts out into sparkling Mediterranean. Dominated by the pencil-like bell tower of the Venetian Saint Euphemia Cathedral, pine tree forests flow to the borders of the quaint Old Town - which evokes the romantic, tangled backstreets of the Venice. Rovinj - or Rovino in Italian - is a city of split personalities, with two official languages - having been owned by the Kingdom of Italy between 1919 and 1947. This fishing village on the Croatian Adriatic is famous for the St. Euphemia Cathedral, the highest church tower in Istria. Today choose one of our Scenic Freechoice activities or join a more active Scenic Discovery excursion. Freechoice: Explore the well-preserved historic centre that started developing in the 3rd century, or visit the Roman Amphitheatre in Pula built at the same time as the Colosseum in Rome in the 1st century. Discovery: Choose a Scenic Discovery excursion by kayak with a local or a guided bike tour |
| 21st21 | MayMay | 202020 | Venice, Italy, disembark the Scenic Eclipse | | |
| Venice is a city unlike any other. No matter how often you've seen it in photos and films, the real thing is more dreamlike than you could imagine. With canals where streets should be, water shimmers everywhere. The fabulous palaces and churches reflect centuries of history in what was a wealthy trading center between Europe and the Orient. Getting lost in the narrow alleyways is a quintessential part of exploring Venice, but at some point you'll almost surely end up in Piazza San Marco, where tourists and locals congregate for a coffee or an aperitif. Your cruise ends this morning as you disembark and transfer to the airport for your flight back to the UK, taking away memories of a truly unforgettable journey. |
