Ioannina1st Sep 2026

Northern Greece is a land of forests, snow-capped mountains, old arched bridges and sturdy stone villages, a very different experience to the sun scorched beaches and pristine sugar cube houses usually associated with this beautiful country. Positioned on the western shore of Lake Pamvotis and encircled by the impressive Pindus Mountains, we find Ioannina, capital of Epirus, and one of Greece’s most scenic towns. It was here that Lord Byron began his epic poem ‘Chile Harold’s Pilgrimage’ while visiting the court of Ali Pasha and Edward Lear painted his depictions of a landscape in transition from the period of Ottoman rule to that of a modern state.  

From this most excellent of bases, we explore a selection of extraordinary archaeological sites each representing a different era of Greek history: Dodona, Greece's oldest oracle site, predating Delphi; Kassope 4th-century city with impressive theatre, Nikopolis, founded by Octavian in 31 BCE and Arta with its outstanding Byzantine monuments.