Northern Greece & Alexander the Great Private Tour

Northern Greece is a different country to the one most visitors know from postcards. Thessaloniki is the cultural capital — a port city of nearly a million people with a Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman past visible on every street. Vergina, an hour west, holds the royal tombs of the Macedonian kings, including the unopened tomb of Philip II — Alexander the Great's father — discovered intact in 1977 and now displayed in one of the most atmospheric museums in Europe.

Our five-to-six-day private Macedonia journey is designed for guests who already know the basics of Greece (the Acropolis, perhaps the islands) and want to understand the country's depth. The route covers Vergina (the royal tombs), Pella (Alexander's birthplace), Dion (the sacred city of the Macedonians at the foot of Olympus), Thessaloniki (the White Tower, Roman forum, the Byzantine churches), Kavala (the elegant port town with its Roman aqueduct still standing), and Philippi (the UNESCO site where Saint Paul preached his first European sermon).

The food across Northern Greece is the country's most refined. The region's bakeries (bougatsa originated in Thessaloniki), its meze tradition, the small fish tavernas along the coast and the wine valleys around Naoussa and Goumenissa make every meal a proper part of the journey. We arrange specific restaurants in advance — the kind that locals actually use, not the ones that advertise to tourists.

From €3,600 for five to six days, the journey includes the private vehicle and driver throughout, all nights in pre-selected boutique hotels with breakfast, on-board Wi-Fi and water, and a small Greek farewell gift. This is a journey for guests who measure travel by depth rather than highlights — and the most common comment we hear at the end is that it was the trip they wish they had taken first.