The aim of Routes of Empowerment was to empower young people in Greece facing economic barriers, discrimination, or social exclusion, by giving them the chance to design and live a transformative DiscoverEU travel experience on equal footing with their peers. The project addressed a clearly identified gap: only 15% of Greek youth know about DiscoverEU (Eurobarometer 502), and the standard DiscoverEU pass offers no individual support - leaving behind precisely those who would benefit most. Our specific objectives were: → Open access to European mobility for young people with fewer opportunities. Twenty participants aged 18, all from households below the income threshold of €11,664, would receive full financial coverage and pre-booking support so that economic barriers would not exclude them from European travel. Several participants also faced discrimination linked to gender identity, sexual orientation, migrant background, or non-visible health conditions. → Develop leadership, organisational and communication skills. Rather than handing participants a ready-made itinerary, we wanted them to co-design every trip - researching routes, comparing accommodation, managing a real budget, and making collective decisions. This was the core mechanism through which soft skills would develop. → Strengthen European identity and active citizenship. Most participants had never travelled abroad. By experiencing several EU countries firsthand and engaging with local communities, we wanted them to discover a sense of belonging to Europe and the opportunities the EU offers young people, especially Erasmus+. → Promote sustainable, green travel. With around 90% of participants having never travelled by international train (Greece has had no international rail connections since 2018), the project aimed to introduce rail as a meaningful, environmentally responsible alternative and embed sustainability into daily group practices. → Break down stereotypes and fight isolation through diverse group composition. Each travel group was composed with attention to gender balance, diverse backgrounds and lived experiences, creating space for intercultural exchange within Greek youth itself. → Test and document a model for inclusive group DiscoverEU. A secondary but important objective was for LevelUP Greece - a less-experienced organisation - to consolidate practices for accessible, youth-led mobility that could inform future projects and be shared with peer organisations. The project was structured as four ten-day group travel activities (A1 - A4), each accompanied by two trained facilitators: a Group Leader (focused on learning, reflection and crisis management) and an Accompanying Person (focused on logistics, digital tools and individual support). The four activities were thematically distinct - Chasing Freedom (Central Europe), Kaleidoscope (Western Europe & Italy), Bridges of Communication (Northern & Eastern Europe), and Mediterranean Inspiration (Western Mediterranean) - but shared the same methodology: youth-led planning, train travel where possible, daily reflection, and a Youthpass-based recognition process.