Educational Tours For Senior & Mature Aged Travellers

Educational Tours For Senior & Mature Aged Travellers

Odyssey Traveller is an Antipodean travel company serving World Travellers since 1983.

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Travelling with Odyssey

Based in Sydney, Australia, our mission is to provide world-class small group tours for the mature aged traveller.

When we started in 1983, Odyssey Traveller pioneered small group tours for the mature aged traveller. We understand the challenges of travelling and are experts at creating an unforgettable travel experiences for you.

Our Values

Comfort and safety

World-class educational and cultural tours

Sustainable and inclusive tourism

Destinations

Serving World Travellers

Africa

Americas

Australia

British Isles

Europe

Middle East

New Zealand

Our Guaranteed tours

Feb, Mar, Sep, Oct, Nov +1

Small group walking tour of New Zealand

Escorted 14 day small group walking tour of New Zealand. Off the beaten track, for hiking fit like minded people curious about history, culture wine and landscapes.

Mediterranean Islands Small Group Tour | Malta, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica

Visiting Corsica, Italy

For centuries Malta, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica held the key to the Mediterranean. Unlike other European tour companies, Odyssey provides a tour leader and local guides to share detailed itineraries about the destinations on these small group journeys. This escorted tour of western Mediterranean explores the geography, history, culture and peoples of these 4 islands. Small group tour for mature couples and solo travellers. A reasonable single supplement is charged.

From A$17,850 AUD

Mar, Sep, Apr, Oct

Malta & Sicily – Mediterranean Islands small group tour

Visiting Italy, Malta

For centuries Malta & Sicily, held the key to the Mediterranean. Unlike other European tour companies, Odyssey provides a tour leader and local guides to share detailed itineraries about the destinations on these small group journeys. For mature couples and solo travellers. A reasonable single supplement is charged.

Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Jan +1

Small group tour of New Zealand’s North Island

Escorted 13 day small group tour of the East coast of New Zealand ’s North island . Off the beaten track, for like minded people curious about history, culture, wine and landscapes. Your tour director and local guides share their knowledge with you the traveller on this New Zealand tour for senior travellers.

From A$10,450 AUD

Egypt tour: escorted small group history & cultural tour of Egypt

Our small group program for senior and mature couples and solo travelers takes us to contemporary feats such as the Aswan Dam and also to current crucibles of the Egyptian experience such as Tahrir Square. Proof, were it needed, that Egypt’s role as the pivot of civilisation is far from ended. There is the opportunity to visit our Morocco, Jordan or Iran tours before embarking on this tour of Egypt.

Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Aug

Ancient Turkey escorted small group history tour

As a travel company we seek to keep guests off the beaten path. Trips that are remembered for authentic experiences. Our small group journeys in Turkey are fully escorted by an experienced local guide and an Odyssey guide to give this type of experience whether at one of the many UNESCO World heritage sites explored or local bazaars. It is always about the adventure and memories that we will create.

From A$10,550 AUD

Scottish Islands and Shetland small group tours for seniors

An escorted small group tour for couples and solo travellers of the Scottish isles including the isle of Skye draws on local guides to share their knowledge of the destinations in this unique part of Scotland. UNESCO world heritage site are visited as breathtaking scenery and authentic experiences are shared in a group of like minded people on this guided tour of remote Scotland.

From A$14,450 AUD

Tour of Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Bhutan

Visiting Bhutan, India

Join Odyssey Traveller on this small group tour in the Indian subcontinent, taking us from the verdant tea gardens of Darjeeling nestled in the Himalayan mountain range, to the hilltop monasteries of the former independent kingdom of Sikkim, and finally to the pristine and beautifully isolated mountain landscape of Bhutan.

Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Sep +2

Discovering Tasmania’s Wildlife

Small group tour of up to 15 mature and seniors travellers visiting and learning about Tasmania’s wildlife and history. Visit Maria Island, Freycinet peninsula, Cradle Mountain, Strahan, Lake St Clair and Bruny Island over 16 days.

From A$10,450 AUD

Greece small group escorted history tour

Our 21 day small group tour explores the land of great philosophers, myths, and legends. We will learn about the culture and heritage of modern Greece whilst exploring and learning Athens, which only found independence in its uprising from the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century.

From A$12,250 AUD

Mar, May, Sep, Apr

Short Spain Tour for senior and mature travellers

Join our small group guided tour of Spain, exploring this fascinating country over 10 nights with like minded people. We start in Barcelona and make our way slowly towards Madrid. Enjoy the food and culture while learning about the history of each location from our expert local guides and Odyssey Program Leader.

Channel Islands | A small group walking tour for seniors

Visiting Channel Islands

Another Small group tour of the British isles of the Channel Islands. This fully escorted, small group walking tour, takes the active senior off the beaten path with local guides to Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm.

From A$12,850 AUD

Bookings Made Easy

Book With Confidence

If less than 30 days before your tour starts you are unable to travel as a result of Government travel restrictions, Odyssey Traveller will assist you with a date change, provide you with a credit or process a refund for your booking less any non-recoverable costs.

Peace of Mind Travel

The safety of our travellers, tour leader, local guide and support staff has always been our top priority and with the new guidelines for public health and safety for keeping safe for destinations around the world, we’ve developed our plan to give you peace of mind when travelling with us.

Latest Travel Articles

Tips for Packing Light

Weight limits imposed by airlines and travel companies and a desire to collect some souvenirs serves the need to understand how to pack light, we hope this article assists you whether taking a tour to New Zealand, Europe or Britain. Odyssey Traveller is a Antipodean travel company serving World Travellers since 1983 with small group educational tours for senior couples and mature solo travellers.

Winchester Cathedral, England

Britain has an extensive network of Cathedrals, this collection of articles explores the history of some to the most popular churches to visit and explore. This piece focuses on Winchester. Odyssey is an Antipodean travel company serving World Travellers since 1983 with small group educational tours for senior couples and mature solo travellers.

History of English Cathedrals

Britain has an extensive network of Cathedrals, this collection of articles explores the history of some of the most popular churches to visit and explore. Odyssey is an Antipodean travel company serving World Travellers since 1983 with small group educational tours for senior couples and mature solo travellers.

Durham Cathedral, England

Britain has an extensive network of Cathedrals, this collection of articles explores the history of some to the most popular churches to visit and explore. Odyssey is an Antipodean travel company serving World Travellers since 1983 with small group educational tours for senior couples and mature solo travellers.

England’s Cathedrals

Article about the Cathedrals of England, the design, place and history and their settings for travellers curious about places such as York, Salisbury, Winchester, Ely, Chester, Canterbury or London where the church was a beacon linking the pilgrims paths as well through to Europe. This article links to understanding Britain’s churches. An Antipodean travel company serving World Travellers since 1983 with small group educational tours for senior couples and mature solo travellers.

Krakow, Poland

Feature article for senior couple and mature solo travellers interested exploring the history of Europe including Poland. in An Antipodean travel company serving World Travellers since 1983

The Nullarbor Plain: A Definitive Guide

Article for travellers interested in Australia and some of the iconic places in Aboriginal and the short colonial history. The Nullarbor plains adjacent to the great Australian bight are part of this set of icons to explore. Odyssey traveller is an Antipodean travel company serving World Travellers since 1983 with small group educational tours for senior couples and mature solo travellers.

Responsible Travel Tips

Article to encourage and promote responsible travel. Article supports similar articles choosing shoes or maintaining health and fitness of travel advice for solo travellers. An Antipodean travel company serving World Travellers since 1983 with small group educational tours for senior couples and mature solo travellers.

British Neoclassical Architecture & Decorative Arts

Article about the influences on Neoclassical architecture and the decorative arts in the Georgian period. Odyssey Traveller is an Antipodean travel company serving World Travellers since 1983 with small group educational tours for senior couples and mature solo travellers.

Introduction from Mark

Chairman & Owner of Odyssey Traveller (est. 1983)

With older adults of any age group joining Odyssey Travellers Small Group Tours now from countries all over the world, we continue to appreciate and enjoy your positive contribution to our small group tour programs of typically between 6 to 14 people of like minded people provide the companionship that make a great tour, a memorable one . We remain committed to you participating in our programs from wherever you live and however you choose to reach us via google, social media, such as facebook or twitter or in person.

Odyssey is unique and adaptable and we have a full programme online for seniors seeking to travel of over 180 tours available for you to book with departure dates and prices through to December 2022. We also have published more than 600 articles and country profiles to read and learn about a current or future proposed destination.

Odyssey small team’s ongoing commitment to looking after you was recently tested with the Coronavirus. Our service standards and ability to be flexible and think of innovative solutions in challenging times is reflected in our mantra of “treating others how you would like to be treated yourself”. This remains core to our approach in taking care of the details for you from the time you book to the end of the journey whether as a couple or single travellers on any sightseeing trip on our seniors coach tours All that we do is focussed on the older person and the small group journeys you seek to enjoy.

For those travellers looking at our pages for the first time, we say welcome, and to our regular travellers and members of our unique loyalty program, we say thank you and welcome back.

Who was Odysseus? – Story, Adventures & Travels

Trenton has a master’s degree in global history and has developed college Asian history courses.

Cailin received her MA in English specializing in Cultural Studies from Kansas State University. She has two years of teaching and tutoring experience at the university level.

Odysseus was a Greek soldier who orchestrated an attack on the city of Troy by presenting the Trojans with a peace offering in the form of a massive hollow wooden horse that contained hidden Greek warriors. Learn about the story of the Trojan War as well as the adventures and travels of Odysseus. Updated: 08/26/2022

Odysseus

Depicted here, Odysseus was one of the greatest of the Greek heroes who fought during the Trojan War. Known for his cunning intellect, Odysseus crafted the plan that destroyed the city of Troy and ended the Trojan War. The story of Odysseus begins in Homer’s epic poem The Iliad, but his second poem, The Odyssey, relates the tale of Odysseus wandering the seas for ten years as he struggled to return from the Trojan War.

Odysseus ruled Ithaca, an island kingdom. Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, had borne him a son, Telemachus, just before the events of the Trojan War began to unfold. Odysseus was favored by the goddess Athena for cunning and intellect. Odysseus is also known as Ulysses, which is the Roman form of his name.

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• 0:48 The Trojan War
• 2:43 The Land of the Lotus-Eaters
• 3:14 Cyclops & King of the Winds
• 5:18 Circe & The Underworld
• 7:16 Charybdis and Schylla
• 8:18 Calypso & Return to Ithaca

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The Trojan War

A prophecy stated Odysseus would stay away from home for a very long time if he joined the Greek army and attacked Troy. Odysseus loved his wife and newborn son. He did not want to leave, so he pretended to be crazy when the Greek army came to call. He yoked a donkey and an ox together and plowed the seashore. One of the Greeks placed Telemachus in the path of Odysseus, who swerved to miss the baby, revealing the farce. Odysseus left Ithaca and his family to fight at Troy.

The war with Troy lasted for ten years. Following the death of the Greek champion Achilles, Odysseus devised a plan to enter the city and end the conflict. Here is where the cunning of Odysseus shone through. Odysseus had the Greek army build what came to be known as the Trojan Horse, a giant hollow wooden horse to give the Trojans as an offering of peace. Inside the body of the horse, some of the best Greek warriors hid.

The remainder of the Greek army boarded their ships and sailed a short distance away from the city and out of sight. The Trojans rejoiced at the supposed end of the conflict and brought the horse inside the city walls. At night, the Greek warriors emerged from the horse and opened the gates of the city to the waiting Greek army. The city was taken by surprise and destroyed.

During the sack of the city, the Greek army desecrated the temples and altars of the gods, angering the gods. Upon the departure of the Greek army, a fierce storm caused by the gods scattered the Greek fleet. Odysseus and his men were blown off course, and this began a 10-year struggle to return to Ithaca.

Adventures at Sea

Odysseus and his men first landed at the city of Cicones. They attacked and sacked the city, which angered the god Zeus. Zeus caused another storm that blew Odysseus even farther off course and into a realm of monsters, witches and the dead.

The Land of the Lotus-Eaters

The first stop on their adventure is to the land of the Lotus-eaters, a people who created food and drink from flowers, but with a drug effect. Several of Odysseus’s crew partook of the food presented by the Lotus-eaters and forgot their goal to return home. They wanted to stay among the Lotus-eaters forever. Odysseus had these men dragged to the ships and bound below deck until the ships were safely away from the land of the Lotus-eaters and the men regained their senses.

The Cyclops

The next stop is one of the most famous adventures on the trip, the meeting of Polyphemus the Cyclops, a 1-eyed giant. Odysseus and his men stopped in the land of the Cyclops and explored the area, finding a large cave. The Cyclops entered the cave with his flock of sheep, blocked the entrance and ate two of Odysseus’s men. Odysseus devised a plan to escape the lair of the Cyclops.

The next day as the Cyclops was away from the cave, Odysseus had his men create a sharpened stake. The Cyclops returned and began drinking wine and conversing with Odysseus. Odysseus told Polyphemus that his name was Noman. Once the Cyclops fell into a drunken stupor, the men drove the stake through the eye of the Cyclops, as shown on this plate.

The Cyclops screamed and called for his brothers to come help, but when they asked what was wrong, Polyphemus answered by saying that Noman was trying to hurt him. They thought there was no danger since noman was hurting Polyphemus and left.

The next morning, Odysseus tied his men to the belly of the sheep and they escaped the cave. Polyphemus felt the top of each of the sheep as they left, but he did not feel the men hiding underneath the sheep. The blinding of Polyphemus angered the sea-god Poseidon and further caused the sea to work against Odysseus.

Visiting the King of the Winds

Following their escape from the cave of the Cyclops, Odysseus, and his companions came to the land of Aeolus, king of the winds. The king gave Odysseus a sack filled with the contrary winds that would have prevented him from sailing to Ithaca. His crew did not know what was in the sack and assumed it was treasure Odysseus was hoarding for himself.

Odysseus was asleep as the ships came in sight of Ithaca. The crew opened the bag of winds, which blew the ships of Odysseus far away from Ithaca to the land of the Laestrygonians, a race of giants and cannibals. The giants destroyed all but one of Odysseus’s ships and killed most of his crew.

Circe

Odysseus and his one remaining ship landed on the island inhabited by Circe, a witch. Most of Odysseus’s crew explored the island and came across the palace of Circe. She invited them in for food and drink. The crew noticed many wild animals roaming peacefully around the palace grounds. The food served by Circe was drugged, and she turned the crew into swine. One of the crew members had remained outside of the palace and, seeing the fate of his companions, ran to tell Odysseus.

Odysseus set out to save his companions and was met on the way by the god Hermes. Hermes gave Odysseus an herb to counteract the effects of Circe’s drug. Odysseus overpowered Circe, and she agreed to restore his men to human form.

Odysseus and his crew remained with Circe for a year before resuming their journey. Circe advised Odysseus to seek the counsel of Tiresias in the underworld on how to return to Ithaca. She also warned him of dangers along the way.

The Underworld

Odysseus and his crew sailed to the end of the world to gain access to the underworld. Tiresias, the prophet, revealed to Odysseus the route to Ithaca. Odysseus also visited with some of his dead comrades from the Trojan War, including the heroes Achilles and Ajax.

The Sirens

Leaving the underworld, the first danger that Odysseus faced was the Sirens. Sirens were mythical bird-like creatures whose beautiful voices lured men to their deaths. Their island was littered with the bones of old ships and their crews. Odysseus had each of his crew members put wax in their ears to block any noise, but he wanted to hear the song of the Sirens. The crew tied him to the main mast.

The ship passed safely by the island of the Sirens. Odysseus was lured by the song and ordered the crew to steer towards the Sirens’ song, but the crew could not hear his orders and kept the steady pace.

Charybdis and Scylla

The next danger the ship needed to pass through was a strait with dangers on both sides. On one side was Charybdis, a sea monster that caused a whirlpool, sucking ships down to the bottom of the ocean only to spit them out three times per day. On the other side of the strait was the sea monster Scylla, a creature with multiple arms that would grab sailors off of the ships that passed. Odysseus was advised by Circe to sail closer to Scylla, reasoning it would be better to lose a few men rather than the whole ship. Odysseus heeded the advice and sailed on the Scylla side of the strait but lost six men in the process.

The Island of the Sun

Odysseus’ ship landed on the island of the Sun after passing the dangers of Charybdis and Scylla. Circe has warned Odysseus not to eat the cattle of the Sun, but when his men smelled the roasting meat, they forgot the warning and ate. The ship set sail, but the Sun was so angry, he destroyed the ship, killed all of the crew, and left Odysseus alone.

Calypso

Odysseus washed up on the shore of an island inhabited by Calypso, a sea-nymph goddess. Calypso captured Odysseus and kept him in a cave as her lover for seven years. Odysseus still loved his wife Penelope and wanted to return to Ithaca. The goddess Athena intervened and asked Zeus to command Calypso to release Odysseus to return to Ithaca. Calypso released Odysseus, who built a raft and sailed to the island of the Phaeacians, who entertained him and sent him home.

Return to Ithaca

Upon landing on Ithaca, Odysseus discovered that suitors had been trying to marry his wife and take possession of his property for years, thinking he was dead. Odysseus disguised himself, entered his home and talked with his son Telemachus. They devised a contest to get rid of the suitors: Odysseus had a great bow, which took great strength to string. Only Odysseus was able to string the bow. Telemachus announced to the suitors that whoever could string the bow and shoot an arrow through 12 ax heads would win the hand of his mother Penelope.

Many of the suitors tried but none could string the bow. Odysseus, in the disguise of an old man, asked to try. He was able to string the bow and, with Telemachus, drove out and killed the suitors. Odysseus had returned!

Lesson Summary

Odysseus was a Greek hero famed for his intellect and cunning. He created the plan to sack the city of Troy using a giant hollow horse. He is also famous for his long odyssey, or journey, trying to return home after the events of the Trojan War. Odysseus is one of the most well-known of the early Greek heroes.

Odysseus Overview

Learning Outcomes

When this video ends, you will be prepared to:

• Recall the focus of Homer’s second work, The Odyssey
• Identify the major players in The Odyssey
• Discuss the many challenges Odysseus and his crew faced during their journey home
• Describe Odysseus’ return to his homeland

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