For nature lovers

Butterfly ball
See myriad butterflies sipping nectar in a meadow brimming with flowers. Walking from hot Mediterranean scrub, pine forest and olive groves to mountain streams, alpine pastures and meadows, this tour takes you around the butterfly mountains, Mount Chelmos and Mount Parnassos, of southern Greece. Guided by an expert, non-lepidopterists should be enthralled by the diversity (spotting more than 50 species in a day is possible) and abundance of butterflies here. The tour also looks at the region's unique lizard and bird life. The eight-day 'Butterflies of Southern Greece' tour is offered by Nature Trek (01962 733051) for £895, departing 28 June, including flights, bed and board.

Turn turtle
For a minimum of 28 days, volunteers can help save the severely declining population of loggerhead turtles in the critical nesting grounds of Zakynthos, the Peloponnese or Crete. Sea turtles have inhabited the planet for 200 million years, but in the last 50 years their future has looked increasingly uncertain, partly due to rampant tourism. Greece hosts the largest remaining loggerhead turtle nesting populations in the Mediterranean. The aim of Archelon, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece (00 30 210 523 1342) is to treat and rehabilitate injured, sick or weak turtles, raise public awareness, especially among schoolchildren and fishermen, and operate a Sea Turtle Rescue Network throughout Greece. You can apply online, after which a £40 deposit is required (only singles or pairs will be considered; you must be over 18). Olympic Airways (0870 606 0460) flies from Heathrow via Athens from £213 return, including taxes. You're working for the love of it, so to save money camp at the pleasant, shaded Zante camping site (00 30 2695 061710) just outside Zakynthos town, for £3 a night.

Spring collection
Head to the comparatively little-visited and undeveloped island of Samos, in search of spring flowers, insects and migrating birds with Naturetrek (01962 733051). An eight-day tour will take in distinctive russet ruber fungi, yellow-horned poppies and numerous types of orchid, having attendance danced upon them by warblers, egrets and flamingos. Tours are scheduled for departure on 18 and 25 April. and cost £985 per person including flights, accommodation in a comfortable Karlovassi hotel, all meals and expert guiding.

For culture vultures

Jazz Santorini
Santorini, or Thera as it is officially known, is a stunningly picturesque island in the Cyclades. With blue-domed churches nestling in white villages clinging to volcanic cliffs, black-sand beaches and clear blue sea, it epitomises idyllic Greece. The annual Santorini Jazz Festival (00 30 2860 33452) trumpeted its first blast in 1997 with 18 major international bands, ranging across bebop, fusion, mainstream jazz, ethnic and funk. This year's dates (in July) are yet to be announced. International Chapters (0845 0700 0618) offers the Chomata studios (for two-six people) in the village of Imerovigli (five miles from the jazz) with shared pool hanging over the caldera (volcanic crater) and the sea. A week's rental costs from £770 for a studio based on two people sharing.

A brush with nature
New to Sunvil Greece for 2003 (020 8568 4499) are two painting holidays in the Peloponnese at Tolon and Mani (departing 8 June and 28 September respectively). Suitable for all levels of painter, these trips offer a combination of seaside village relaxation with visits to fantastic landscapes and places of visual interest. The price of these seven-night holidays is £831 per person. Two-week stays are also available. Price includes flights, transfers, half-board accommodation, some excursions and tuition.

The culinary arts
Winner of the Observer Travel Awards 'Best Tour Operator', Laskarina Holidays (01629 822203) offers a week's cookery course on the stunning south Dodecanese island of Symi with popular local chef Stavros Gogios. Tuition in the Greek culinary arts - seafood filo parcels and many other dishes and sauces - will take place for three hours on five mornings, culminating in a light lunch each day. The course runs 7-14 May and 15-22 October and costs £195. Staying in the Yialos harbour properties costs from £420 per person based on two sharing, including flights, transfers and (appropriately) self-catering studio accommodation.

Summer festival
Pinned to the south western shore of Crete by the rugged Sfakia mountains, Paleochora is a quaint former fishing village with wide, quiet beaches and tavernas galore. Far from the hustle and bustle of Chania or Heraklion, the town springs to life in August and September with its own summer festival, staging marionette theatre, traditional music and dance, classical music recitals and art exhibitions. Simply Crete (020 8541 2236) offers seven nights' self-catering accommodation at Ton Mari, a property comprising two separate waterfront apartments in Paleochora, for £490 per person, based on four sharing. Price includes return flights and transfers.

Saddle up
For all from novices to experienced riders, horseback is a great way to see Corfu. This trip stems from a small and friendly riding centre, where you can be assured of person alised attention, set in the heart of the island among pastures and woodland. The rides will lead you into parts of Corfu which only the local farmers visit. Wander along donkey tracks, through olive and orange groves, climb some of the beautiful mountains or traverse the base of the mountain range through pastures and dry riverbeds. Equitour (01993 849489) offers one week's half board, riding and transfers from £675 per person. Trips depart weekly from April to October. Flights can be arranged from £292 return.

For active types

Football crazy
Greece boasts nine daily newspapers dedicated solely to football. 'There is a crazy passion for football here,' says French international Christian Karembeu, Athens club Olympiakos's latest high-profile signing. Bitter rivals Olympiakos and AEK Athens took the Greek first division title to its last game last year, with Olympiakos emerging victorious. To see this year's clash of the Titans, on 9 March, Fan Fare Events (0161 437 0002) offers a £380 package, including flights from Heathrow to Athens, two nights' B&B at a central three-star hotel and good quality match tickets.

Sail in style
Island hopping the posh way (that's Port Out, Starboard Home, landlubbers) with exclusive crewed yachts that offer the ultimate way to see Greece in style. If you charter your own private yacht you can anchor anywhere, from secluded coves to busy har bours, deciding where you go en route. Choose from Mediterranean Experience's (020 8445 6000) range of boats, from the billowing sails of an elegant sailboat to a majestic motor yacht. At its most basic, taking a family of four on a motor yacht with a captain and deck hand costs from £940 per day.

Dive, dive, dive
Scuba diving in Greece is restricted unless at an official diving school in order to protect the many antiquities resting on the bed of the Aegean. Mirabello Bay in north-east Crete combines such a school with family-run five-star luxury at the Istron Bay Hotel. It runs a range of courses in the pool and in the azure Aegean - a Padi open-water course takes three to four days and costs approximately £195. A week's half-board stay at the hotel with Filoxenia (01422 375999) costs £571 per person based on two sharing - including flights to Heraklion airport, Crete.

And the kids come too
The Retreat in Sivota nestles on the mainland's beautiful north-west coast, dotted with tiny coves, green hills and deserted beaches. New for 2003, Neilson (0870 333 3358) offers this ideal family holiday destination, with creche, kids' activities, tennis, mountain biking, dinghy sailing, windsurfing, waterskiing, snorkelling, kayaking and diving. A week's stay for two adults and two children (under 12) costs from £1,800, including flights, transfers, club board (all breakfasts, elevenses and lunches and four evening meals), and all activities bar scuba diving (£1,940 if both children are over 12).

For urbanites

Road to ruins
The second city of the Byzantine empire (after Constantinople) and of modern Greece (after Athens), Thessaloniki is famed as the capital of Macedonia and of Greek cuisine. So good is its food that the gustation-obsessed panjandrums of the EU are summitting there in June. It boasts superlative Byzantine churches, Roman ruins, a distinctive Turkish quarter and several important museums, including the Archaeological Museum that rivals Cairo for spectacular ancient artefacts and holds Philip II's skeleton. A short taxi or coach ride away, Alexander the Great's birthplace Pella has fantastic ruins as does Vergina, where Philip II was buried. Olympic Airways (0870 606 0460) flies direct from Gatwick from £149 return, including taxes. Stay at the luxurious Electra Palace Hotel (00 30 2310 294000) which has rooms from £60 per night.

Olympian spirit
Just 108 years after Baron de Coubertin called on the world's youth to revive the ancient Athenian spirit of the Olympics, the Games are coming home. Athens is hosting the world's most diverse sporting event 13-29 August 2004 but it's worth planning ahead if you want to enjoy the spectacle of the world's fastest and strongest. Sportsworld (01235 554844) has been selected by the British Olympic Association as the official vendor of holidays to the 28th Olympiad. The official brochure will be launched in April with the tickets for events and holiday packages going on sale in May. Tickets range from £10 for a session at fringe events such as base ball, to £690 for the athletics medal ceremonies. Package prices range from around £1,775 for three nights' three-star B&B accommodation and return flights, to £8,500 for an 18-night five-star stay. To get to the head of the queue you can register with Sportsworld on 01235 541173. The fully refundable registration costs £250 for holiday packages and £100 if you are just applying for tickets.

Simply capital
Classical magnificence, twentieth-century monoliths, wonderfully atmospheric, a poisonous atmosphere: Athens has been known to delight and dismay in equal measure. But with the facelift and major internal surgery that comes with hosting an Olympic Games (see our news story, page 4, this section) the bounties of this cradle of Western civilisation - the Acropolis, Agora, the National Archaeological Museum, Temple of Olympian Zeus - are becoming increasingly painless to enjoy. Other attractions include productions of ancient plays in their original settings, the Monastiraki Flea Market, classy restaurants of Kolonaki, and the narrow labyrinthine streets of Plaka. EasyJet (0870 600 0000) offers return flights from £58 including taxes. Three nights' three-star B&B costs £350 with Travelscene (020 8424 9648) including flights and transfers.