Gay Greece: From Achilles to Alexander the Great and Beyond
Next Tour: October 2025
$200 Early Booking Discount May 31
“It was one of the best trips we have ever taken. Professor Lear is knowledgeable, personable, and funny, and his explanations cover a wide range of topics, including things that get left out in most tours.” — Bennet Marks
Sparkling white island villages, set in a turquoise sea; fascinating ruins of ancient temples perched on rugged hillsides. Who needs an extra reason to visit Greece? But gay people, we have one: Greece is also the greatest country of gay history, the place where gay love had a central role in the cultural flowering that laid the foundations of Western culture. This is where democracy was invented, along with philosophy, history, and the theater (both tragedy and comedy)—all products of a culture in which male-male love enjoyed the highest prestige. So come discover the roots of Pride on this eye-opening tour: enjoy the beauty, charm, and great art of one of the world’s most beautiful countries, while learning about the gay side of the glory that was Greece!
Our trip starts with Athens, center of Greek culture since the Classical period. We visit the famous temples of the Acropolis, but also less commonly visited sites, such as the Kerameikos, ancient Athens’ fascinating cemetery, and the city’s amazing art museums. We will learn about the great flowering of Classical Athenian culture—where Socrates conversed with Plato, and the first tragedies were performed—with a focus on the rich evidence for same-sex love, such as the story of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, the male couple whom the Athenians worshiped (and we mean worshiped) as the founders of their democracy.
Athens will also serve as our base for day excursions to the other major sights of mainland Greece. First we take a trip south to the Peloponnese, where we visit the startling Bronze Age citadel of Mycenae, city of the Homeric epics, with the original buddy story of Achilles Patroclus (probably gay—but aren’t they all?); Nemea, where we see the remains of one of the four great stadia of ancient Greece; and Epidauros, with its amazingly well-preserved ancient Greek theater (famous today for its acoustics).
Next we take a trip to Delphi, to visit the shrine of the ancient world’s most important oracle, famous for the obscure sayings that brought tragedy to Oedipus and Croesus—and where, among other gods, the Roman Emperor Hadrian’s divinized lover Antinous was worshiped, with the most beautiful of all the many statues of him still on view today. And on the way, we visit the Lion of Chaironeia, monument to the Sacred Band, the most feared regiment in Classical Greece and a potent source of gay pride.
The next phase of our trip takes us to one of the world’s great beauty spots: the Greek islands. And we visit the two most beautiful of them, Santorini and Mykonos. After a morning boat trip out from Athens’ ancient port, the Piraeus, we land on Santorini, where we spend the next two days visiting many epochs of the island’s history: Akrotiri, the large prehistoric city that is probably the basis for the myth of Atlantis; ancient Thera, a well-preserved ancient Spartan city whose graffiti may explain the origins of Greek homosexuality; and Fira, the beautiful all-white village famed for its views of sunset over the island’s vast sunken caldera and for the donkeys that form its traditional transport system.
On our third island day, a short boat ride takes us to Mykonos, a beacon of gay freedom for the last 40 years, with its (even more?) sparkling white town, turquoise waters, famous beaches and gay nightlife. While there we also visit the nearby island of Delos, with its beautifully preserved ancient city— including a remarkable alley of ancient stone phalluses!
To learn more, contact us at info@oscarwildetours.com or (646)560-3205.
Group Size: Maximum 16
Please note that this tour involves walking tours of cities and museums.
Learn Greece’s Gay Stories:
* Zeus and his boyfriend Ganymede
* Achilles and Patroclus
* The gay founders of the Athenian democracy
* The great all-gay regiment of Classical Greece
* Alexander the Great
* Hadrian and his beloved Antinous
*Nude athletics
Travel Insurance Recommendation
We encourage you in the strongest terms to buy travel insurance.
We highly suggest you please contact our travel agent partner Tom Vise tomv2012@comcast.net to get a great rate and also help with travel arrangements, including travel flights and pre and post tour hotel rooms.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Who Is our guide?
Professor Andrew Lear combines a love of travel with a passion for gay history, and he brings both of those attributes to Oscar Wilde Tours.
Professor Lear holds a B.A. from Harvard and a Ph.D. from UCLA. He has published a widely praised book on male-male love in ancient Greek art, as well as a number of important scholarly articles in this area… READ MORE
What's Included?
Our tour starts and ends at our Greece hotel. It includes hotel accommodation; all breakfasts, 5 lunches, and 2 dinners; services of escort and local guides; admission to all sights on the tour, and transportation to them (by taxi, minibus, and train).
What meals are included?
Breakfast is included every day in our tours, and on most days we include either lunch or dinner, according to the itinerary. On this tour we include all breakfasts, 5 lunches, and welcome and farewell dinners; there is also an optional lesson in traditional Greek cooking.
What is the level of the hotels?
Our hotels are chosen for excellent 4* quality, historic charm, and central location.
Is this a good tour for single travelers?
Singles are very welcome! Our groups generally consist of a mix of couples and singles, and there is generally a nice group ethos, so no-one will ever feel left out. Single rooms are available, with a supplement; we are also happy to try to find you a room-mate if you would prefer.
Is this tour designed for first-time visitors?
We try to design our tours both for repeat and first-time visitors. We include a number of lesser-known sights, but also major sights—which we see from the perspective of their often ignored gay history.
Who is this tour a good fit for?
Our tours focus on LGBT history and art and are designed for groups of LGBT people. They are however open to the LGBT-friendly as well.
Is this a good tour for people with difficulty walking?
All of the main sights in the tour are visited on foot, on walking or museum tours. There may be uneven ground, for instance in archaeological sites, and steps in some museums or historic houses. The amount of walking is not, however, excessive: we rarely exceed 2 miles a day. We travel from site to site by train or air conditioned bus (or at times, in major cities, in fleets of taxis or limousines).
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