Our journey begins today as we depart Seattle (SEA) for Greece.

Meals: In Flight | Overnight: Inflight

We arrive today at Thessaloniki’s “Makedonia” Airport (SKG), where our local guide and driver welcome us for the transfer to our hotel.

Meals: Dinner | Overnight: Holiday Inn, Thessaloniki or similar

After breakfast we drive to Kavala, ancient Neapolis, the port where Paul first set foot on European soil after his vision of the man of Macedonia pleading, “Come over and help us” (Acts 16:9). From there we continue to Philippi, the Roman colony where Paul met Lydia, the seller of purple cloth who became the first recorded convert in Europe (Acts 16:14-15), and where he and Silas were later imprisoned, sang hymns at midnight, and saw their jailer come to faith after an earthquake shook the prison doors open (Acts 16:16-34). We return to Thessaloniki (biblical Thessalonica) where Paul reasoned in the synagogue for three Sabbaths (Acts 17:1-9).

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner | Overnight: Holiday Inn, Thessaloniki or similar

This morning we travel to Berea (modern Veria), where Paul found an audience Scripture itself commends: the Bereans searched the Scriptures daily to test what he taught (Acts 17:11). We visit the Bema of Paul monument marking this legacy before continuing to Vergina, ancient Aigai, capital of the Macedonian kings and burial place of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great — whose conquests spread the Greek language that would one day carry the New Testament across the known world. In the afternoon we drive south to Athens.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner | Overnight: Athens Avenue Hotel or similar

A full day in Athens, the intellectual capital of the ancient world. We will enjoy a tour of Athens’ greatest landmarks, including a climb to the Acropolis and the Parthenon, and a visit to Mars Hill (the Areopagus), where Paul addressed the philosophers of Athens directly: “What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23). We will have some time at leisure in the Plaka district, beneath the Acropolis.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner | Overnight: Athens Avenue Hotel or similar

This morning we visit the impressive Corinth Canal, while en route to Ancient Corinth, the bustling, worldly city where Paul spent eighteen months building one of the most significant — and most troubled — churches of his ministry (Acts 18:1-18). We see the Bema, the judgment seat where Paul stood before the proconsul Gallio and was released, and consider the church that would go on to receive two of his most searching letters. We will visit Cenchraea, the location of the ancient port where Paul cut his hair in fulfillment of a vow, and then sailed toward Asia Minor. We then drive to Athens airport for our flight to Izmir. Upon arrival, we continue by coach to Kusadasi on the Turkish coast.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner | Overnight: Charisma DeLuxe, Kusadasi or similar

We spend a full day in Ephesus, among the best-preserved ancient cities anywhere in the world. We walk the marble-paved streets past the Library of Celsus and the Great Theater, where a riot broke out against Paul after his preaching threatened the trade of the local silversmiths who profited from the worship of Artemis (Acts 19:23-41). Christ’s letter to this church in Revelation 2:1-7 commends their perseverance, yet calls them to return to the love they had at first.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner | Overnight: Charisma DeLuxe, Kusadasi or similar

We depart this morning for Pergamum, dramatically perched on its acropolis, one of the seven churches addressed in Revelation. Christ commends this church for holding fast to His name even where, as He puts it, “Satan’s throne is” (Revelation 2:13) — a reference to the great pagan and imperial temples that once dominated the hillside. We also visit the Asclepion, the ancient world’s foremost center of healing. In the afternoon we continue to Smyrna (modern Izmir), the only church in Revelation to receive no word of rebuke, called instead to remain faithful and promised the “crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner | Overnight: Hilton Garden Inn, Izmir or similar

After breakfast we transfer to Izmir’s Adnan Menderes Airport for our flight to Rome. On arrival at Fiumicino (FCO), our local assistant meets us for the private transfer into the city and check-in at our hotel. This evening’s dinner together marks a turning point in our journey — from the churches and cities Paul planted and shepherded by letter, to the city where his ministry, and ultimately his life, would be offered up.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner | Overnight: Hotel Fleming, Rome or similar

After breakfast, our guide leads us into the Rome of emperors and martyrs. We visit the Colosseum, completed in 80 AD, a monument to the same imperial power that opposed the early church; we walk through the Roman Forum, the civic heart of the empire Paul appealed to as a Roman citizen; and we see the Mamertine Prison, held by tradition to be where Paul awaited his execution. We also stop at the Circus Maximus.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner | Overnight: Hotel Fleming, Rome or similar

This morning our guide leads us through the Rome of fountains and popes — the Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona, the Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon, a pagan temple originally built to honor “all the gods” that was later consecrated as a Christian church, standing today as a quiet witness to the gospel’s ultimate triumph over Rome’s own pantheon. We have some time free for shopping and personal reflection before our final dinner together this evening.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner | Overnight: Hotel Fleming, Rome or similar

After breakfast (if flight time permits) and check-out, we transfer to Rome’s airport for our flight home, carrying with us the memory of having walked from Paul’s first steps onto European soil to his final witness in Rome.

Meals: Breakfast (if flight time permits) | Overnight: Home