For more than six decades, Orthodox pilgrims have walked the holy roads in our care. We have learned what makes a pilgrimage matter: the right pace, the right people on the ground, and a team that has done this long enough to handle every detail before it becomes a problem.
Our family began organising pilgrimages to the Holy Land in 1959, from a small office in Athens. The first travellers were Greek Orthodox parishioners. The first holy site was Jerusalem.
Athens has been our operational home ever since. For more than six decades our team has worked the same set of relationships, with the hotels, drivers, local guides, churches, and patriarchates that make a pilgrimage actually run. Some of those relationships are now in their third generation on both sides.
That is the difference a long-tenured operator makes. We do not rebuild the trip every season. We open doors that have been held open for our travellers for sixty-five years.
The family launches Mystakidis Tours from Athens, focused on Greek Orthodox parish groups travelling to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and the wilderness monasteries of Judea.
The catalog expands to the saints and shrines of Greece, Athens to Meteora to Thessaloniki, then to the western coast of Mount Athos. The next generation of the family joins the operation.
Orthodox parish groups begin requesting itineraries beyond the Holy Land. Our team builds the supplier relationships across the Seven Churches of the Revelation in western Turkey, across Coptic Egypt and Sinai, and across the Orthodox sites of Italy.
Three generations of the family are now active in the business. The departure calendar grows year after year.
US parish groups begin booking directly with our Athens office. Word of mouth across Greek-American and other Orthodox parishes brings a steady stream of repeat travellers from across North America.
We form Mystakidis Tours USA and begin selling direct under our own name in the United States. The same Athens operations team that has run our trips for more than six decades, now with fixed-date programs, transparent published pricing, and one team end to end.
Our team negotiates the hotels, books the coaches, schedules the guides, and coordinates with parishes and patriarchates on the ground. When something needs attention mid-trip, the person responsible works for us, not for a third party.
Divine Liturgy, prayer services, and access at major sites are arranged directly with our church contacts. Clergy who lead a group find the work already done when they arrive. Travellers without an accompanying priest are kept close to the customary devotions.
Every guide is licensed under the destination country's tourism authority. Each guide is briefed on the theological and devotional context of the group. A good guide is the difference between a tour and a pilgrimage; we choose them carefully.
Our standing in the industry is not a marketing line. It is on the record with the recognised authorities.
International Air Transport Association accredited travel agency. The aviation industry's standard credential for travel sellers.
Licensed by the Greek National Tourism Organisation (EOT), the regulator for tour operations in Greece.
Member of the Hellenic Association of Travel and Tourist Agencies, the professional body for travel agencies in Greece.
Join an upcoming pilgrimage as an individual, or bring your parish. Either way, you travel with the same team that has guided the faithful for sixty-five years.