Mount Athos Tour & Cruise from Thessaloniki

Itinerary

Start the tour.

We depart to Ouranoupoli along with our friendly trip attendant-archaeologist,

‣ at 08:00 from the White Tower,

‣ at 08:05 from the hotel Makedonia Palace,

‣ at 08:15 from Aristotelous Square & Egnatia Street (at the statue of Venizelos),

‣ at 08:20 from hotel Capsis and

‣ at 08:25 from The Met Hotel

The distance is 140km and lasts approximately 2 ½ hours.

Once in Ouranoupolis...

We reach Ouranoupoli at around 11:00a.m, in front of the Byzantine Tower of Prosforion; a trademark of the city, and we board the ship for the enchanting cruise* around Mount Athos. 

Mt. Athos is an independent monastic state with a history of more than 1.100 years old and nowadays consists of 20 monasteries where among them there is one Russian, one Serbian and one Bulgarian. It’s an absolute experience that you can’t miss!

While cruising...

During the cruise through the west coast of Mt. Athos, we have the chance to see from a short distance and in turn, the ports (tarsanades) of the Holy Monasteries of Hilandar and Konstamonitou, the colorful Monastery of Docheiariou, the nearby Monastery of Xenophontos, the renovated Holy Monastery of Saint Panteleimon’s – the Russian monastery – the Holy Monastery of Xeropotamou, the main harbor of Mount Athos called Daphne, the impressive Holy Monastery of Simonos Petras (or Simonopetra) and the Holy Monasteries of Hosios (Saint) Grigorios, Dionysios and Agios (Saint) Pavlos (Saint Paul’s), scattered along the verdant western coastline of the Mount Athos peninsula. 

Lastly, we can see the skete of Agia Anna (Saint Anne’s skete), just below the imposing Mount Athos, which stands magnificent at 2.000m above sea level.

The schedule for each day:

EVERY TUESDAY*: We visit the small island of Ammouliani, where we have free time to enjoy our swim in the emerald sea and to taste the traditional lunch. Ammouliani is a verdant island, with a picturesque port, traditional alleys, with the typical architecture of Mt. Athos dispersed around the island and serene waters that amaze every traveler.

EVERY THURSDAY*: We visit the Alykes Beach in the island of Ammouliani, where we have free time to enjoy our swim in the emerald sea and our lunch in a picturesque tavern right on the coast, in front of the sea. Alykes is the most known beach in Ammouliani and you can’t miss the chance to dive into its turquoise crystal-clear water.

EVERY SUNDAY**: We do NOT visit the monasteries as we visit the beautiful area of Vourvourou located at the second «finger». We enjoy our swim in one of the most beautiful beaches in Chalkidiki accompanied by a barbeque of traditional greek viands! Later on we continue our cruise and visit either the paradisiacal Drenia isles or Ammouliani for swimming, sunbathing and relax!

*Every Tuesday and Thursday the cruise is realized by a glass-bottom vessel that gives us the opportunity to see the endless seabed. The cruise reaches the port of Daphne, situated in the middle part of the third “finger” of Chalkidiki, so we have the chance to see half of the Monasteries mentioned above. Later the cruise continues to the wonderful island of Ammouliani.

**Every Sunday the cruise is realized with the ship “Calypso” where we do not visit any monasteries as the activity is focused on the experience of the greek beaches, the sun, the relaxation and the greek viands! We have the chance to visit Vourvourou; one of the most picturesque and beautiful areas in Chalkidiki!

Back to base.

We depart to Thessaloniki at around 17:00 and we are back after 2 ½ hours, making the same stops where we started from.