Greece for Spring Break
Jan 16th, 2013, 06:38 AM
#1
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Greece for Spring Break
My daughter is studying in Spain and her Spring Break is at the end of February. She and a friend are planning to go to Greece (eventhough the weather may not be great). Here is a draft of their plans...would you experts have any suggestions? Does this sound reasonable?
Saturday Feb 23rd
•arrive in athens
•check into hostel
•check out the night life (is this safe for two young ladies?)
•dinner with Acropolis view
Sunday Feb 24th
•flea market
•Explore Plaka
Monday Feb 25th
•ferry to santorini
•check in to hostel
•take bus to Fira
•explore Fira
Tuesday 2Feb 6th
•take a bus to Oia
•explore
•donkeys down to the amoudi bay
•sunset in Oia
Wednesday Feb 27th
- either going to a different island or staying in santorini. Suggestions?
Saturday March 2nd. Back to Athens, fly back to Valencia.
Saturday Feb 23rd
•arrive in athens
•check into hostel
•check out the night life (is this safe for two young ladies?)
•dinner with Acropolis view
Sunday Feb 24th
•flea market
•Explore Plaka
Monday Feb 25th
•ferry to santorini
•check in to hostel
•take bus to Fira
•explore Fira
Tuesday 2Feb 6th
•take a bus to Oia
•explore
•donkeys down to the amoudi bay
•sunset in Oia
Wednesday Feb 27th
- either going to a different island or staying in santorini. Suggestions?
Saturday March 2nd. Back to Athens, fly back to Valencia.
Jan 16th, 2013, 07:13 AM
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Going to the islands in the winter is not a good idea really...
There will be only a few restaurants and shops open, weather will be cold, and the islands will be very very boring.
There will be almost no people except locals, and the islands will not have the summer feeling that you will be expecting.
They should better explore the mainland that has many attractions, such as a couple of days in Nafplio and explore that area... ( with many important archeological sites and islands such as Hydra, Poros and Spetses nearby)
Athens has an amazing nightlife ( comparable to Barcelona )
and it will be absolutely safe for the two young ladies
There will be only a few restaurants and shops open, weather will be cold, and the islands will be very very boring.
There will be almost no people except locals, and the islands will not have the summer feeling that you will be expecting.
They should better explore the mainland that has many attractions, such as a couple of days in Nafplio and explore that area... ( with many important archeological sites and islands such as Hydra, Poros and Spetses nearby)
Athens has an amazing nightlife ( comparable to Barcelona )
and it will be absolutely safe for the two young ladies
Jan 16th, 2013, 07:40 AM
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When our DD studied in Italy, she also went to Greece for Spring Break. I don't remember exactly if it was in late February, or March. She flew from Rome, with another student.
The ferries run erratically that time of year, though, so you have to be flexible.
DD and her friend had a contact in Greece, who recommended small hotels for them, which were very nice and affordable.
The locals shops and restaurants were just beginning to prepare for their tourist season, so were opening up and cleaning up. DD and her friend were actually received very well, because they were practically the only American tourists there. A couple of restaurants gave them free food in exchange for having them handwrite the menus in English for them.
They loved Greece.
The ferries run erratically that time of year, though, so you have to be flexible.
DD and her friend had a contact in Greece, who recommended small hotels for them, which were very nice and affordable.
The locals shops and restaurants were just beginning to prepare for their tourist season, so were opening up and cleaning up. DD and her friend were actually received very well, because they were practically the only American tourists there. A couple of restaurants gave them free food in exchange for having them handwrite the menus in English for them.
They loved Greece.
Jan 16th, 2013, 08:52 AM
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PeaceOut
This sounds great that but was definitely not in February..
Preparations for the summer season are taking place much later... Most islands have a season starting in May, depending also on the Easter.
February on almost any of these islands will not be very nice.
This sounds great that but was definitely not in February..
Preparations for the summer season are taking place much later... Most islands have a season starting in May, depending also on the Easter.
February on almost any of these islands will not be very nice.
Jan 16th, 2013, 12:39 PM
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It probably was April — any earlier and they wouldn't be prepping for the summer, any later and most places would already be open. I really don't get why college-age girls would want to go to the islands in winter — I would be bored to tears, and I'm old enough to be their grandfather. ;-)
Jan 16th, 2013, 01:18 PM
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Heimdall
Many people believe that Greece has tropical or subtropical climate all year round..
They have seen films or pictures of Greece in the summer, and think the islands would be like that in the winter too....
What a shock when they hear that Northern Greece had last year minus 10-20 C for almost 3 months,or the mountainous Peloponnese !!
Once i travelled before Christmas with two belgian girls, they wanted to spend 1 week on Mykonos swimming and relaxing
Unfortunately i had to disappoint them, by telling them how the weather really is during winter
Many people believe that Greece has tropical or subtropical climate all year round..
They have seen films or pictures of Greece in the summer, and think the islands would be like that in the winter too....
What a shock when they hear that Northern Greece had last year minus 10-20 C for almost 3 months,or the mountainous Peloponnese !!
Once i travelled before Christmas with two belgian girls, they wanted to spend 1 week on Mykonos swimming and relaxing
Unfortunately i had to disappoint them, by telling them how the weather really is during winter
Jan 16th, 2013, 01:46 PM
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PeaceOut, April isn't winter, but February is. Take a look at this YouTube clip taken on Santorini in February 2008: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L91zvHMR41o
I don't know if you can see this photo, but it shows snow on Paros just a week ago:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater
April can be very pleasant in the Greek Islands as long as you don't plan to swim. ;-)
I don't know if you can see this photo, but it shows snow on Paros just a week ago:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater
April can be very pleasant in the Greek Islands as long as you don't plan to swim. ;-)
Jan 16th, 2013, 06:33 PM
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If they are set on going to Santorini, I would be concerned about where the hostel is located. At that time of year they are much better off in Fira town, not out of town in an empty hostel (paying extra for everything in the facility), having to take the bus to Fira. At that time of year they should be able to get very reasonably priced accomodation right in Fira. http://www.summertime-santorini.com/ This pension was very reasonable altho they may have upgraded their facility. Also, Haroula on the same street. http://www.newharoula.com/. There are many others in the area that are very inexpensive at that time of the year. They can take a place for the first night and walk around the area and find something cheap and nice. I ran into visitors that stayed out of town in a hostel in April and they found that it was too cold to swim and there was nothing to do and every little thing was an extra charge at the hostel. All of them left the hostel and moved to Thira. They would be happier in Thira around the restaurants and bars within walking distance.
Jan 16th, 2013, 07:41 PM
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Hello!
First of all February is a rainy month in Greece in general and temperatures are low. I have been a few times off season to Santorini and specifically on February years ago and it was simply miserable. On my February visit I remember that something like 4 out of 5 days was raining or partly raining. Of course this means nothing,I may have simply been unlucky... But even on dry days, there was not much to do other than a few walks... I remember once staying in Kamari,I think that was early March, and I was struggling to find a cafe to have a morning coffee. One day I took bus to Fira where I found only one place that looked like a kafeteria on its outside but seemed to served as a local kafenion (frequented only by older men when a young female would feel uncomfortable) and an other small place that seemed to serve mostly local kids skipping going to school. An other day I took morning bus to Oia and I found nothing open, next bus back to Fira was hours later and after walking and walking around, a lady came out of a closed shop who she seemed to renovate or clean and tide up...I think actually she was just going there to kill some hours rather than do real work...Anyway, she asked me if I need some help and we started to chat, she offered me a coffee and thanks god her son waked up after a while to go to a Fira bank and gave me a lift! Maybe this lady was the 3rd person I met on the whole Oia and I am not talking about extremely early morning here, something like 11AM or something!
Now you may ask, why the hell I was there at this time of the year at first place! This is a long and complicated story that includes a girl who I was studying with in Glyfada, who was originally coming from Kamari, her boyfriend, my then boyfriend and this girl's paranoid mother... lol
Note I was 20-22 years old when all those winter visits took place if that means anything to your student daughter. On my opinion reason to head on Santorini on February would a)be the scenery, but you run the risk of fog or down-pouring rain that would not allow to enjoy this is and b) The excavation site on Akrotiri, but this opened after ages last summer and I am not sure if it remains open on winter or not.
It is up to them, but if they decide to go after all, I second Chania's suggestion to stay in Fira (capital town of the island, often wrongly referred to as Thira. Thira is actually the ancient name of the whole island-among other names) ; ) .
First of all February is a rainy month in Greece in general and temperatures are low. I have been a few times off season to Santorini and specifically on February years ago and it was simply miserable. On my February visit I remember that something like 4 out of 5 days was raining or partly raining. Of course this means nothing,I may have simply been unlucky... But even on dry days, there was not much to do other than a few walks... I remember once staying in Kamari,I think that was early March, and I was struggling to find a cafe to have a morning coffee. One day I took bus to Fira where I found only one place that looked like a kafeteria on its outside but seemed to served as a local kafenion (frequented only by older men when a young female would feel uncomfortable) and an other small place that seemed to serve mostly local kids skipping going to school. An other day I took morning bus to Oia and I found nothing open, next bus back to Fira was hours later and after walking and walking around, a lady came out of a closed shop who she seemed to renovate or clean and tide up...I think actually she was just going there to kill some hours rather than do real work...Anyway, she asked me if I need some help and we started to chat, she offered me a coffee and thanks god her son waked up after a while to go to a Fira bank and gave me a lift! Maybe this lady was the 3rd person I met on the whole Oia and I am not talking about extremely early morning here, something like 11AM or something!
Now you may ask, why the hell I was there at this time of the year at first place! This is a long and complicated story that includes a girl who I was studying with in Glyfada, who was originally coming from Kamari, her boyfriend, my then boyfriend and this girl's paranoid mother... lol
Note I was 20-22 years old when all those winter visits took place if that means anything to your student daughter. On my opinion reason to head on Santorini on February would a)be the scenery, but you run the risk of fog or down-pouring rain that would not allow to enjoy this is and b) The excavation site on Akrotiri, but this opened after ages last summer and I am not sure if it remains open on winter or not.
It is up to them, but if they decide to go after all, I second Chania's suggestion to stay in Fira (capital town of the island, often wrongly referred to as Thira. Thira is actually the ancient name of the whole island-among other names) ; ) .
Jan 16th, 2013, 09:30 PM
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I think they should skip Greek island in Feburary!! yuck. I love love the islands, but I have only been to Mykonos and Paros, and I was young then, and yes I love history and antiquities now, but have to say, wasn't top of our list then.
If they want a fun spring break , with better weather( but still won't be hot) maybe they should be looking at Canary islands. They should be able to use google to look at basic weather forecasts by month , they obviously didn't for Greece, it is still winter then ,and the islands will not be hopping.
If they want a fun spring break , with better weather( but still won't be hot) maybe they should be looking at Canary islands. They should be able to use google to look at basic weather forecasts by month , they obviously didn't for Greece, it is still winter then ,and the islands will not be hopping.
