Best Vacations for History Buffs: 10 Trips Where the Past Is Alive
The Mediterranean classics
Rome, Athens, and Istanbul (not in this catalog) are the three great Mediterranean history cities. Rome offers a full week between the Forum, Colosseum, Vatican, catacombs, Ostia Antica, and the Appian Way; $1,500 to $4,000 per person for a week. Athens plus a Peloponnese road trip (Mycenae, Epidaurus, Olympia) runs $1,400 to $3,500 per person for a week. A Mediterranean cruise adds Pompeii, Ephesus, and other key sites to a floating itinerary at $1,400 to $6,000 per person.
Ancient Egypt
A Nile River cruise plus Cairo and the Pyramids is one of the single densest historical weeks in the world. Egypt's major sites (Pyramids, Karnak, Luxor, Valley of the Kings, Abu Simbel) all fit in a one-week itinerary. Pricing runs $1,800 to $6,500 per person for a week including flights and mid-tier Nile cruise cabin. October through April is the comfortable window; summer heat makes southern Egypt punishing.
The Middle East
Petra plus Wadi Rum plus the Dead Sea is the single most-visited historical week in Jordan. The archeological scale of Petra and the Nabatean history there are the main draws; $2,200 to $5,500 per person for a week. Israel (Jerusalem plus Tel Aviv plus Masada and the Dead Sea) is the densest layered-history week in the world at $2,400 to $5,500 per person.
Asia and the Americas
Kyoto plus Nara covers Japanese temple and shrine history across 1,400 years of imperial capital. Machu Picchu plus Cusco plus the Sacred Valley covers the Inca Empire's heart. In North America, Charleston and Washington DC are the two strongest history-trip options. Kyoto: $2,000 to $5,000 per person; Peru: $1,800 to $5,500; Charleston: $1,600 to $4,200; DC: $1,400 to $3,800.
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