Ultimate Greek Odyssey

Embark in Athens, where history comes action-packed. Stroll, ride or rollerblade in the shadow of Acropolis Hill. Your Y.CO Charter Specialist has arranged skip-the-line access to the top. All roads lead to your yacht moored in Athens Marina. Welcome cocktail? Try ouzotini - vodka, lime and crushed pineapple, shaken not stirred.

Wake up to lemon blossom. On sun-kissed Poros, 30,000 citrus trees form a fragrant arena for bike races and limoncello tastings. Best swim spot? Love Bay. Jade green seas flow beneath pine forests, offering scented shade to kayakers below. Best movie spot? Poros is so hot it has an alfresco cinema. As does your charter yacht.

Welcome to Spetses, the car-free Saronic island where you can visit country restaurants by horse-drawn carriage. Taxis are speedboats that gun through royal blue seas to the beach. Come sundown the 4,000 islanders decamp to Dapia. The handsome harbour is lined with captains’ mansions laced with hibiscus and trumpet vines. The action? Backgammon, cards and glasses of ouzo. Sometimes simple is best.

Kyparissi is called the most beautiful port in Greece. The reason? It’s only accessible by a corkscrew mountain road. Hire mountain bikes and tackle the descent from the top. Kyparissi is also a rock climbing nexus. Scale a razor-edge cliff then abseil down to earth. Your reward? A panoramic view to your waiting yacht in the blue bay beyond.

Wake up… in the 15th century. The tarmac road to medieval Monemvasia only arrived in the 1970s. Lose yourself in bougainvillea-splashed streets that hide stone churches and ouzo cafés. It’s time for the 21st century. Seascooter below Monemvasia’s citadel walls. Lobsters sneak around urchins in the translucent depths. Your crew can capture the scene using underwater cameras. Say cheese!

Wake up and gaze at a pure white beach. Elafonisos has the area’s longest, softest sandy beach, called Megalos. Swim in for breakfast. Crew will set up tables of croissants and watermelon beside a vodka-tonic sea. Order your Greek coffee strong. This afternoon flyboards, inflatables and other toys will leave you breathless on the massage table.

Today you’ll probably be alone. Few explorers cruise to Gerolimenas on the rugged Mani Peninsula. Taste the isolation. Mandarin marmalade and pistachio halva are produced near this oh-so-pretty port. After lunch rev your engine with a motorbike tour into Mani: a real Greece of ruined churches and isolated coves.

One day. Two once-in-a-lifetime experiences. This morning bike, scooter or ride the Y.CO SUV to the Palace of Nestor. Stroll the best-preserved Mycenaean Greek ruins, where baths and mosaics are shaded by olive trees. It’s downhill to Voidokilia Beach. These secret sands curve like the Greek letter Ω. On this beach there are no parasols or parties. For cocktails and calippos you’ll need to tender back to your waiting yacht.

Wake up to views over Kyparissia Castle. Thinking of hiking up to this towering fort? Fortify yourself with a Peloponnese breakfast of xerotigana honey pastries, lalagia donuts and pressed grape juice. Then relax. The sea around Kyparissia is part Mediterranean, part Ionian and 100% gorgeous. Lagoudis Beach is a kitesurf go-to. Kalo Nero Beach welcomes more turtles than tourists. And your yacht boasts more toys than any beach club for miles around.

This morning you'll pause at pretty-as-a-picture Methoni, where a Venetian castle and seafood restaurants are positioned on a sandy beach. After lunch, ride your RIB to Sapienza. It's a Greek Island shaped like a love heart, populated by two humans and 200 wild goats. Too crowded? Try uninhabited Schiza Island next door. There's absolutely nobody at all.

Today you’ll explore one of the most isolated, unusual and tricky to reach Greek Islands. That’s Kythira. 300 square kilometres of windmills, waterfalls and hilltop monasteries. Shared by just 3,000 inhabitants. Go wild. Canyon through creeks. Rappel down cliffs. Swim inside caves. Hike, bike or scooter to 20 knockout beaches. Dinner is a traditional Greek feast back on board.

Wake up and say wow. Gerakas resides inside a fjord flecked with ancient ruins. Imagine Norway, but with tavernas serving fresh anchovies and lobster tails. Cliff dive into 28°C summer seas. The rugged capes around Gerakas are snorkel central. Dive from your RIB to float alongside stingrays, octopus and bonito. It’s a NatGeo documentary where you’re the star.

Anchor off Hydra. This go-slow Greek Island has 2,000 residents, 300 churches, and only one town. It sways to the rhythm of Greek coffee for breakfast, island wine for lunch and microbrewery beers distilled in a Venetian mansion for dinner. The remaining 55km of coastline is yours alone. Practise cliff dives into the azur sea below. There’s no-one to see you belly flop in.

Disembark in Athens and slip on your Nike shorts. While the city slumbers you can jog 10k around Aristotle’s Walk: the temples, theatres and markets where the Greek philosopher took his morning stroll. Cool down with a Greek coffee. Then warm up in Hammam Bathing House, a marble Greek spa where manis, pedis and massage methods have barely changed in 2,000 years.