This is not just an Odyssey, it is The Odyssey. It covers many of the places associated with Odysseus’ circuitous journey from Troy to Ithaca. Those of you with pressing commitments will be pleased to know that, by leaving out the dallying with nymphs, we have cut the journey down from ten years to just ten days. This itinerary provides an opportunity to see the sites of Magna Graecia and western Greece while immersing yourself in the pages of Homer’s epic.
Day 2 Visit the Roman theatre and go up Mount Etna, the home of the Cyclops Polyphemos. Stay in Taormina
Day 3 Head north and cross the Straits of Messina into southern Italy , keeping an eye out for Scylla and Charybdis. Visit the Museum of Magna Graecia in Reggio di Calabria and admire the famous Riace bronzes. Stay in Scilla overlooking the straits.
Day 4 Drive through Calabria to Paestum, the most important Greek site in Italy, consisting of three beautifully preserved temples from the 6th-5th centuries BC and a museum with an excellent collection of ancient frescoes. Stay in Positano.
Day 5 Take a boat trip along the Amalfi coast, keeping an ear out for the Sirens. Stay in Positano.
Day 6 Drive to Brindisi via Metapontum, another important Greek site, and Taranto. Take the overnight boat to Corfu, the kingdom of King Alcinous. Stay in Corfu Town.
Day 7 Spend the day enjoying the hospitality of the Venetian town of Corfu, and exploring its museums and churches. Visit Pontikonisi, said to be Odysseus’ petrified ship. Stay in Corfu Town.
Day 8 Set off for Ithaca. Take the ferry to the Greek mainland at Igoumenitsa, then drive south to the Nekromanteion at Ephyra, where Odysseus met his dead comrades at the entrance to the Underworld. Visit the sites of Kassope, overlooking Actium, the site of Octavian’s historic victory over Antony and Cleopatra, and Nikopolis, the city established to celebrate this victory. Stay in Preveza on the Ambracian Gulf.
Day 9 Drive to Lefkada and take the boat to Ithaca, landing, as Odysseus did, in the Bay of Vathi. Explore the various sites associated with Odysseus, mainly by foot.
Day 10 Return to the world, as Odysseus had to, on a flight from Preveza. Or stay on a few days in Ithaca.
