Arrive in Athens on suggested flights and make your way to the hotel. Renaissance Tours or your travel agent can assist you with your flights and other travel arrangements, including travel insurance (a condition of travel), a private hotel transfer, accommodation before or after the tour and a room category upgrade.

At 18:00, join your tour leader Lucienne Joy and fellow travellers for a welcome briefing at the hotel followed by dinner.

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Check out of the hotel and transfer to Piraeus, Athens’s ferry port terminal. Sail across the Saronic Gulf to the stunning island of Hydra, celebrated for its sense of timeless serenity, and immortalised by American novelist Henry Miller in The Colossus of Maroussi (1941).

In the 1950s, Australian novelist George Johnston and poet Charmian Clift made Hydra their home, attracting a vibrant bohemian circle of painters and poets – among them the Australian painter Sidney Nolan, whose bold modernist style was deeply shaped by his years on the island. Leonard Cohen followed soon after, finding in Hydra the quiet beauty that inspired his early songs. Their stories linger in the island’s tavernas along its waterfront and in its sunlit courtyards where conversations once sparked paintings and prose.

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After a talk by Lucienne, embark on a walking tour, including the Monastery of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the ornate Rafalias Pharmacy and Artists’ Square. Enjoy a guided tour of the fascinating Panagiotis Tetsis Museum, housed inside the old residence and studio of the late painter. Then, view the historic George Johnston and Charmian Clift house, as well as Leonard Cohen’s beloved residence. Pass by the Xeri Elia Douskos taverna, famed for the iconic LIFE Magazine photo of Cohen beneath its olive tree.

Later, stroll by the Sophia Loren Windmill and Leonard Cohen’s memorial bench and admire the sunset before enjoying dinner at a waterfront restaurant.

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In the morning, take a short ferry trip to nearby Spetses, known for its pine groves, elegant houses with red-tiled roofs and lush courtyards. Visit the Bouboulina Museum, dedicated to the 19th-century seagoing commander Laskarina Bouboulina, the bravest of all Spetsiot revolutionaries. Then, visit the Anargyrios School, where novelist John Fowles once taught and set his cult novel, The Magus (1965).

Return to Hydra by ferry in the late afternoon.

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This morning, return to Piraeus and then transfer by coach to Athens Airport for a flight to Kefalonia (flight included in tour price).

On arrival in Kefalonia, the largest of the Ionian Islands, transfer to the hotel in Argostoli, set alongside a deep bay.

Tonight, enjoy dinner at a local restaurant.

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After a talk by Lucienne, travel to Fiskardo, a picturesque harbour town with distinctive Venetian two-storey houses painted in soft pastels, and the location of the childhood home of celebrated Greek poet Nikos Kavvadias.

In the afternoon, explore the village of Asos, crowned by a 16th-century Venetian fortress. This timeless settlement, with its cobbled streets and crystal-clear waters, has long captivated writers and artists.

Return to the hotel via the village of Farsa and Myrtos Beach, which gained international literary fame through Louis de Bernières’ Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (1994). Greece’s most photographed beach served as a key filming location for the 2001 movie adaptation, where its white pebbles and turquoise waters provided the perfect backdrop for this wartime love story.

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In the morning, stop at St Theodori Lighthouse on Argostoli’s waterfront to take in the stunning sea views. Continue to the Monastery of St Andreas, founded during the Byzantine era. Visit its ecclesiastical museum, which houses an exceptional collection of frescoes and panel icons. Then, wander through Metaxata, once home to Lord Byron, who composed verses celebrating its “sun-drenched hills and verdant olive groves”.

The afternoon is at leisure to relax and to take in the beautiful island setting before dinner at a nearby waterfront taverna.

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This morning, travel by ferry to the island of Ithaca, steeped in myth and history. Famous as the home of Odysseus, Ithaca – and particularly the journey to the island as a metaphor for the struggles of life – inspired Homer in the 8th century BCE and his modern Greek successor, the early 20th century poet Constantine Cavafy, considered to have revived the tradition of Greek poetry.

Explore the Homeric sites of the island and enjoy astonishing scenery such as beautiful beaches with clear blue water, lush green valleys and quaint mountain villages. Return to Kefalonia in the late-afternoon.

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Today, transfer by boat to the island of Paxos, the smallest and most intimate of the main Ionian Islands, long celebrated as a sanctuary for writers, artists and creative souls. The island’s ancient olive groves and the picturesque harbour of Gaios have inspired countless painters, most notably Edward Lear, with his acclaimed 1863 watercolour View of the town and harbour, Paxos, Greece during his extensive documentation of the Ionian Islands.

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The morning is dedicated to the Paxos Biennale, a contemporary art festival that has transformed the peaceful island into an innovative open-air gallery. Founded by visionary Marina Tomacelli Filomarino, the festival showcases paintings, sculptures, site-specific installations, photography, murals and video installations spread across the island’s most evocative locations.

In the afternoon, continue by ferry to Corfu.

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Following a talk by Lucienne, set out on a walking tour of Corfu’s Old Town, strategically located on the Ionian Sea and flanked by two ancient fortresses. The city remains a fine example of Venetian and Byzantine art with elegant mansions and imposing buildings. Discover Spianada Square and the French-inspired arcades of the elegant Liston promenade, and follow the literary trail of Lawrence and Gerald Durrell through the Boschetto Gardens – renamed the Durrell Gardens in 2006.

After lunch, explore Mon Repos, commissioned in 1828 by the British Commissioner, Sir Frederic Adams. Located on top of Analipsis Hill and surrounded by magnificent English landscape gardens, this grand palace was the birthplace of Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh – affectionately remembered in his adopted British homeland as ‘Phil the Greek’.

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Begin the day with a visit to the Dionysos Solomos Museum, housed in the poet’s 19th-century family home. Then, enjoy a guided tour of the Corfu Reading Society, established in 1836. Its grand library became the gathering place for luminaries like Ioannis Kapodistrias, Heinrich Heine and local painters who sketched its elegant reading rooms.

Later, discover the neo-Classical Achilleion Palace in Gastouri, commissioned in 1889-91 by Empress Elisabeth of Austria (‘Sisi’) as both a retreat and artistic homage to her beloved Greece. Stroll the Peristyle of the Muses, where nine marble figures honour literature, science and the arts, and admire the sea views from the palace’s sweeping English gardens.

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In the morning, explore the Rothschild Gardens, created in 1814 by Baroness Adelina de Rothschild. Stroll among the exotic palms and camellias that inspired painter Niko Ghika’s luminous landscapes.

Enjoy lunch at Thomas’s Place, a family-run taverna beloved by Louis de Bernières, before a guided tour of the White House, Lawrence Durrell’s residence in the village of Kalami. Here, Prospero’s Cell (1945) was written in the upstairs study.

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This morning, visit the charming village of Paleokastritsa, home to a 13th-century Byzantine monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Paleokastritsa’s breathtaking vistas of emerald coves and olive-clad cliffs inspired Lawrence Durrell’s poetic descriptions in Prospero’s Cell and have drawn painters such as Niko Ghika, whose evocative landscapes capture the region’s unique interplay of light, colour and rugged beauty.

Tonight, celebrate the conclusion of the tour with a special farewell dinner with Lucienne and fellow travellers.

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Tour arrangements conclude after breakfast.

Renaissance Tours or your travel agent can assist you with your flights and other travel arrangements, including a private airport transfer, additional nights’ accommodation either before or after the tour and travel insurance (a condition of travel).

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