One of the world’s most renowned small-ship operators will return to Egypt in 2018 after an absence of several years – and it’s celebrating the move with a fabulous fly-cruise-tour-and-stay holiday.

‘Fly Free Grand Aegean & Egyptian Experience’ lasts 20 nights. It includes two-night stays in both Athens and Cairo, a night in Delphi, Greece, and a 15-night cruise aboard Aegean Odyssey, round-trip from Piraeus, Athens.

It combines the wonders, hieroglyphics and history of Egypt with the beauty and grandeur of Greece.

Cairo, Egypt’s capital, is a highlight. You will enjoy a two-night hotel stay there mid-cruise, with sightseeing in Cairo and at the Pyramids of Giza.

At the heart of ‘Fly Free Grand Aegean & Egyptian Experience’ is Aegean Odyssey, a classically elegant boutique-size ship carrying an average of 350 passengers and providing a choice of restaurants.

Fly free to a Grand Aegean & Egyptian Experience

Cruise Traveller is selling the whole 20-night fly-cruise-tour-and-stay holiday from A$11,850 for an outside cabin (twin I Ocean View partially obstructed). As well as the fly-free aspect, an exclusive Mates Rates offer means that if you book the cruise and recommend friends to join you in a second cabin, all of you will receive a discount of A$250 per person.

‘Fly Free Grand Aegean & Egyptian Experience’ gets under way on Tuesday 9 October 2018 with an exclusive, complimentary transfer to your Australian departure airport – Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide or Perth. This is valid within 40kms of the airport and the same applies when you return at the end of the holiday.

You’ll fly free to Athens and on arrival transfer to your Athens hotel. A two-night stay in the Greek capital, with its Classical ruins and lively tavernas, includes a choice of sightseeing tours. Then head to the ancient sanctuary of Delphi for a night’s hotel stay and a tour of the late Bronze Age fortified city of Mycenae.

Next, transfer from Delphi to Piraeus port to embark on Aegean Odyssey for a 17-night cruise. All shipboard meals and wine with dinner aboard are covered, as are all tips aboard. Shore excursions are covered too, with options at selected ports and a lecture program featuring expert guest speakers.

The cruise doesn’t just call at famous Greek Islands – it visits lesser-known gems too. The magical island of Tinos and the picturesque port city of Volos don’t get the hype of more popular places, but that’s no bad thing! Both are superb.

On to historic Thessaloniki, familiarly known as Salonica, second-largest city in Greece. You’ll also visit Mt Athos – spiritual capital of the Orthodox Christian world, consisting of 20 monasteries and some 2000 monks – and the port city of Kavala, built like an amphitheatre on the slopes of Mount Symvolo.

Other ports of call include Samothrace, one of the most beautiful islands in Greece, in the northern Aegean Sea; Chios, fifth largest of the Greek islands; enchanted Patmos, where St John the Divine wrote the Apocalypse; and Heraklion, capital of Crete, largest Greek island and famed for the Minoan Palace of Knossos.

Aegean Odyssey sails on to ancient Alexandria on Egypt’s Nile Delta, complete with sightseeing. You’ll arrive in bustling Cairo, capital of Egypt, for a two-night hotel stay and a visit to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, one of the world’s foremost museums, and the Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza.

After Cairo, Aegean Odyssey sails from Alexandria to the Greek island of Rhodes, fortified by the Knights of the Order of St John in the 14^th century.

Back to Athens now, you’ll disembark Aegean Odyssey and be conveyed to the airport for your free flight back to Australia. Perhaps sip a final ouzo cocktail before boarding the plane after a fantastic and enriching holiday.