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Questions for recent travellers to Athens and the Greek Islands

Questions for recent travellers to Athens and the Greek Islands

Old Sep 16th, 2012, 12:53 AM
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Questions for recent travellers to Athens and the Greek Islands

I would like to hear some comments from those of you who have holidayed in Greece this summer. How were the costs of accommodation, did you manage to find discounts? Prices for eating out etc especially compared to when you were last there, say a year or so ago? How were the services in the tourist industry, travel by ferry and availability of rental cars or tours? We read a lot about it in the media but an overall picture from a contributor would be appreciated. Thank you.
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Old Sep 16th, 2012, 01:46 AM
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We were there last month and all was normal. I didn't notice many deals for food or hotels and food was similarly priced as last year when we were there. No strikes impacted our two weeks and we had no issues with tours, etc.

People did note that it was slower than last year but I dont think you will have any issues as a tourist. I think some museums have shorter hours so you may want to check that. And of course strikes can happen so be aware of that but other than that the Greeks will welcome you with open arms and appreciate your tourist dollars!!
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Old Sep 16th, 2012, 02:45 AM
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The media usually don't bother to report about these things...

The cost of accommodation has dropped at least about 10%, depending on the destination even more, on the top of that,there have been many special offers this summer.

Restaurants have lowered their prices as well, especially in destinations that are popular with Greek visitors.

The service in the tourist industry remains unaffected, this has nothing to do with the economical crisis, if that was the meaning of your question.... People will try their best to satisfy your stay in Greece, like they always havedone in the past.

In fact i don't think you will even notice that there is a crisis, unless you talk with Greeks, who will tell you more about what;s going on in the country. ( something that you won't read in the media either)

Everything is normal, be it travel by ferries, inner Greek flights, car rentals etc, as for strikes there have been NO strikes this summer.. there will be a general strike on the 26th of September though.

Something that is important to say is that the Greeks will welcome you to Greece and definitely won't see you as a Dollar but as a guest.
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Old Sep 16th, 2012, 11:30 AM
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I was in Greece the end of June, beginning of July. The only discount I recall is when I asked for one when paying by cash, no deep discounts if that is what you are asking. Service levels were as good as they were on my last trip about 6 years ago. Ferries were running, rental cars available and tours being offered. There were few people in restaurants, but I thought maybe we were early in the season. For the most part, had I not been following the media coverage, I would not have known Greece was having economic problems.
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Old Sep 16th, 2012, 11:51 AM
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As for discounts....
You may not be able to see the difference, but almost all hoteliers in Greece have reduced their rates... in worst case about 10%....
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Old Sep 16th, 2012, 12:04 PM
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If you find a hotel you like but it's a little too expensive you can try this: Write to them, tell them they were recommended to you and how much you like their hotel, and ask if they have any rooms for X euro. If you don't try to 'lowball' them too much they might say yes. Keep within 15% of their price and you could get lucky.
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Old Sep 16th, 2012, 12:34 PM
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We were there early summer and re-visited the same apartment on Santorini with no cost difference from last year.

We are booking again for next year so I'll be curious to see if they have lowered their price.
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Old Sep 16th, 2012, 02:05 PM
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Back home last week after our annual September visit to Greece.

Our hotel rate matched exactly what we paid last year. Prices were lower for most things from a simple coffee to dinner in the evening. Similarly, there was a noticable drop in prices when buying goods in supermarkets compared to 2011.

Services were exactly as they always were. Fabulous people and a great country to visit. We've been returning now for almost 20 years and will continue to do so.
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Old Sep 17th, 2012, 01:35 AM
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Thanks for your interesting replies. I am booked for next spring and have managed to get some great rates in hotels, did not ask for them but they were as advertised and most at special rates. I did a check again and found that some were more now once you put up June which is of course is the start of the busiest times. Yes, the Greek people are lovely and I feel saddened by what has happened, it is good to hear that some of you go regularly for holidays and will continue to do so. I don't get there as often as I would like. It is a beautiful country for sure.
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Old Oct 1st, 2012, 03:41 PM
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We just got back a few days ago from our first trip to Greece -- one thing we found was that many places (including museums) want cash only -- in one instance (The Acropolis Museum) they made me go to another register in order to pay by credit card, and the Archeological Museum in Athens made us pay in cash.
Tourism was down this summer, according to the people we talked to, and the crisis is real. The anger we encountered, however, was towards the Greek government and certainly not toward the tourists.
Our trip was great -- never did we feel unsafe, and the people we met were all very accommodating and friendly. I would go back in a heartbeat.
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Old Oct 1st, 2012, 11:57 PM
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Thanks so much, this is the same as other comments from recent travellers to Athens, two friends have been in the last few weeks. A lot of places in Europe only accept cash, when I was last in Rome fairly recently some museums only accepted cash, it's not an uncommon thing.
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Old Oct 2nd, 2012, 11:42 AM
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Yes, we found it in Rome as well. We also had some problems with some of the ATM's in Rome but not at others. Just don't do like we did and get down to your last Euros before trying to get more.
Have a wonderful trip!
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Old Oct 2nd, 2012, 07:58 PM
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Yes, you are right, I can remember a bit of panic in 2002 when needing cash to pay for a hotel in Austria. But don't do what I did last time, was so prepared, ATM, credit card, debit card, some cash etc and then thought I'd lost the debit card. How annoying to get home and discover it tucked into a travel brochure after paying $48 on the phone home to cancel it!!!
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