The family voyage · December 2026
Thirteen days from the Bosphorus to the Acropolis.
December 19 – 31, 2026 · Istanbul → Athens · Viking Neptune
For Grandpa
“Thanks so much, Grandpa. These are some of the coolest places anywhere, and all of us are so excited to spend Christmas doing this. We're going to make it a great trip — and appreciate every second of it.”
With love, Shawn, Erica & Andrew
The whole crossing
Six ports, from the Bosphorus down through the Aegean and across to Athens. Tap any star to open that chapter.
December, day by day
Thirteen days and six ports, plotted against ten Decembers of real observations — and once the trip comes inside the sixteen-day window in early December, it starts drawing the real forecast over the top.
Chapter I · Where it begins
Three empires kept their capital here, and we get five days in it. A mansion-hotel in the old city, three days among domes and bazaars — then we step aboard the Viking Neptune and watch the minarets light up from the water.
Enter Constantinople→
Chapter II · Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve at the walls Homer sang about. Nine cities stacked three thousand years deep, a horse with a famous secret — and the shortest call of the voyage: ashore at ten, away by four.
Enter Troy→
Chapter III · Christmas Day
Christmas morning is free; the tour goes in at half twelve. Ephesus is the marble main street of the Roman East, where the Library of Celsus still stands two stories proud. The bazaar by the harbor is on Grandpa's list.
Enter Ephesus→
Chapter IV · The island fortress
An island the Knights of St. John held for two centuries behind walls that never fell to siege. We walk the Street of the Knights to the Grand Master's palace — shut for the holiday, but the medieval city around it is open sky and nearly ours alone.
Enter Rhodes→
Chapter V · The oldest stop
Europe's first civilization left its palace at Knossos and its bull-leapers in the museum at Heraklion. We get both — the museum with a guide in the morning, the palace on our own after. The oldest stop on the voyage, by about a thousand years.
Enter Crete→
Chapter VI · The finale
Four days in Athens: a night aboard in Piraeus, then two more ashore after the ship lets us go. The Acropolis after dark, dinner late like locals, loukoumades by Grandpa's decree. Home on New Year's Eve.
Enter Athens→
Until we leave
The Neptune sails from Galataport. The old city is across the water.