Ariadne’s Escape
A Journey to Mythical Greek Islands
Wandering the Aegean with Liv Albert
October 22-31, 2026
My dear readers and listeners,
Firstly, this trip has been adjusted slightly to offer a lower cost and different dates; find the new brochure and information above (or below!)…
For countless reasons, I am thrilled to invite you to join me on a tour of Ariadne’s Escape. We’ll begin on the island where it all began: Crete. It’s on Crete where the earliest proto-Greek civilization developed, that of the Minoans in Knossos. We’ll be awash in bull iconography and labyrinthine roads as we visit cities and sites on Greece’s largest island. As we follow in the footsteps of Ariadne’s journey, we travel deep into the Cyclades, landing on the island of Naxos where none other than the god of wine and revelry himself, Dionysus, rescued the Cretan princess Ariadne from Theseus’ abandonment. Today
Naxos is home to a host of archaeological sites including a temple to Dionysus, one to Demeter, and an ancient marble quarry. (It is also, on a personal note, my favourite island and the place I find the most peace… In 2024 I even scooped a kitten from a Naxian mountainside and brought him home to Canada!)
From Naxos we sail to the most famous of poleis: Athens, the city of Athena. We explore this storied (and beloved!) ancient world and journey from there down the coast of southern Attica to its southernmost tip, the cape of Sounion. It’s here, hanging off the edge of a seaside cliff, where we’ll find the temple of Poseidon, one of the most stunning sites on the mainland. The temple was built on the spot where the ancient Greeks believed King Aegeus threw himself into the sea that would take his name, distraught over the death of his son, Theseus (who was in fact not dead: he only forgot to change the colour of his ship’s sails, a code he’d set with his father to signal he’d survived the famed Minotaur on Crete). Athens becomes the final stop on this mythology- and archaeology-rich tour. I’ll be giving casual discussions and lectures looking at the myth and history we encounter along the way. This will be our first group foray into the Cycladic islands and I could not possibly be more excited to share it with you all!
Please, join me to explore a few of my personal favourite places in Greece, and some of the most mythologically rich places in the whole of the Aegean.
Your favourite philhellene,
Liv Albert
Rates: $ 5,690 per person, double occupancy. Single room supplement: $ 1,190.
The trip is open to open to international travellers despite the reference to departures from USA/Canada!
Reservations: call Thalassa Journeys at 866-633-3611 or email reservations@thalassajourneys.com.
