This was my 1st trip to Greece & 2nd trip to Europe (1st was Italy). I'm going to try to keep this brief but am happy to answer any questions. Also, keep in mind this trip was a very last-minute, not very well planned out trip so many of my "surprises" probably could have been avoided with a bit more reading & planning!

Plan was to fly from MIA to Dusseldorf via Lufthansa & on to Athens. Dusseldorf was closed due to snow storm; we circled for a while & then diverted to Frankfurt. Got in line with everyone while wondering if we would ever get a flight to Athens....ended up getting a flight within an hour & were only late by an hour from our original time. Not bad! Of course, luggage did not fair as well.....mine was fine but husband's took 8 days to make it to Greece! BTW, they MADE us check our carry on luggage in Frankfurt because the plane was full & there was no more space for carryon's even though it was within the size/wt. guidelines. This was NOT the luggage that was lost, but a piece that had been checked at MIA.

Lufthansa was really nice; coach was quite comfortable; service was excellent. Plenty of food & beverage & nearly an empty plane from MIIA to Germany (we all had extra seats to sprall out!).

Okay, well....so much for the "brief" part, that was just the flight over.....

ATHENS: We spent 7 nights at the Ledra Marriott. This is much more time than most tourists, but we were also there for business that tied us to the city longer than planned. Our days were mixed with work & touring. I think we explored every "borrough" of the city for restaurants (Plaka, Monastiraki, Kolonaki, Syntagma, Gazi), but honestly, only scratched the surface as far as the historical sites. Marriott itself was "okay"--got a good rate, but the hotel itself is nothing special & the area is "sketchy"--mostly strip clubs & car dealers.

First impressions of Athens: I've never seen so much graffiti & trash--what a shame! I watched my handbag every minute, but never had a problem. We thought the public transportation was OUTSTANDING--the nicest I've ever seen (so much cleaner & well kept than Boston, New York, Washington...). How can they keep these areas so clean while the historical sites/buildings are such a mess??!! Maybe they spend their time while on "strike" cleaning the trains, buses & stations???? They did not strike much over the holidays but soon after, it was every couple days....just always had to be sure to have enough taxi $$ with us.

The dogs/cats were everywhere--I know everyone says they starve in the winter, but honestly, they turned their noses up at several items we offered them...guess they were not too hungry!

Please, please....Wear good quality walking shoes! So many slippery & uneven surfaces! My feet were sore for days from all the walking!

We hired a guide to tour the Acropolis & it was soooo worthwhile....we learned so much more that way!

Meat Market--now that's a real eye opener--both of our teenagers almost became instant vegetarians! But as soon as we saw the next Gyro window, they were recovered! I really don't think I'd want to visit that market on a 95 degree Athens summer day!

Surprises: Everyone said, "everything in Greece is in English--don't worry"....well, it was much more difficult than I anticipated. Greek is such a difficult language anyways, but trying to find street signs & names of places was really hard! Reading the transportation schedules was not easy! I found it much easier in Italy! Maybe that's just an easier language to kind of figure out what the gist of things are but I was honestly surprised at how hard it was. I was surprised at how few Greeks spoke English as well....

Another surpirse: Lots of places do not take credit cards (even some hotels) & where they do, it seemed "frowned upon:..or "the machine is not working"....& definitely not American Express. ATM's were everywhere though! Even with an improved exchange rate, Euros still go very, very fast!

The weather was quite mild. Only a couple drizzly days & we were able to eat most meals outdoors in the cafe's with heaters....very nice! Great touring, walking weather!

Smoking: We don't smoke cigarettes but we are not normally "bothered" terribly by it but in Athens, it was just nearly impossible to get away from it! Often, we could not decide if it was better to eat outside or in because there was smoke EVERYWHERE!

Favorite Foods: Started the trip with Moussaka; ended by eating almost always a Chicken Gyro & a Greek Salad...yum! & Cheap! (Often 2Euros for a Gyro) Struggled to enjoy the "table/house" wines"....seemed watered down, but again, CHEAP! Bottled Greek wines were pretty good.

Once we had a few days blocked off & could leave Athens, we decided to hit an Island....no idea which one, tried to look online but did not spend enough time researching & so we RUSHED to the port thinking there was a 3pm to Santorini only to find out it was 7pm departure--maybe it was seasonal--not sure! I found the online ferry schedules difficult to read...but maybe that's just me & I was trying to rush.

SANTORINI: New Years Eve-ferry toSantorini; arrived 4am....w/no hotel res. Once we realized nothing was within "walking distance", we took a Taxi to town (originally had the bright idea that no hotel was needed for "just a couple hours of sleep", but after 45 minutes sitting outside, shivering in front of the only open place in town--the bakery--we walked over to The Pelican Hotel which was warm, comfortable & spotless for a few hours of rest (50E). Next morning, rented a car & explored. Ended up the next 2 nights in Oia @ Alexander's Boutique Hotel (after reading about it here)--tough to find if you don't ask, but what a spot! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! Alexander himself is so personable & welcoming! Santorini was pretty much "closed" for the season but we were able to find restaurants & enjoy the peace. The natural beauty is still there in the winter! I want to go back & see it in action in season! Must be stunning!

After Santorini, we returned to Athens & within a few hours had a looooonng flight back to the US.

We too were in Athens the week before Christmas (actually flew out on Christmas morning). I loved Athens and would go back in a heartbeat! I really don’t remember all the graffiti, but do remember the large dogs lying around—and there were a lot of them. It seems curious to me. I wonder what the story is with them.

We actually had no trouble finding people who spoke English and, like you we explored all around, both by metro (very well run, I agree) and by walking (one’s legs really do get a good workout). The terrain of the city surprised me—so many hills.

Yes, I absolutely agree, the acropolis was spectacular. It was wonderful to see such an impressive historical site. Glad you had a good visit there too.

Its funny you say you don't remember the grafitti, because when we visited Rome a couple years ago, I didn't notice it at all, but remember reading comments about it after we got back; I only saw the beauty. I certainly don't mean to say that I didn't find beauty in AThens because it truly is there. I really liked Athens & feel it does not always get a "fair shake". I was glad we had an extended amount of time there, but of course, there are so many beautiful places in Greece; wish we could have seen more of them!

Thanks for the informative trip report, especially the food section. My mouth was watering at the mention of moussaka. Interesting to hear about the graffiti, contrasted with the clean and spotless metro although I read they had majorly revamped/added lines for the '04 Olympics.

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Thanks for the report, it's the first one I can remember where someone visited the Greek islands in the middle of winter. I've often wondered what they are like then, it's interesting that there were still hotels and restaurants open. I sort of had the impression that it's like a ghost town. We were in Greece in August last year and Santorini was crowded with tourists so I think being a lot quieter sounds kind of nice.

Glad you enjoyed it, Greece is one of our favourite destinations.

Kay

Thank you for sharing your story. We are going to visit Athens (hope it won't be very snowy in 2 weeks). My husband and I were wondering whether it's enough space for driving in the historical part of the city and in Athens in general. We booked the smallest car (https://rental24h.com/greece/athens-airport) that they had but we are still worrying about that. Could you help us? Thanks!

This post is nearly 6 years old, so I doubt the OP is still checking for replies.

I can tell you that you don't need a car in central Athens, because most of the historic sites are in a small, mostly pedestrianised, part of the city. Athens has an excellent metro and bus system, so it's easy to get around. Watch out for pickpockets on the metro and near some of the bus stops.

Cancel the car! Not only for the reasons Heimdall mentions above, but for the fact that you will spend most of your time looking for a parking space, or paying high sums for car parking facilities, then still have to walk as you won't be near most of the sites.
I live here, & with the public transport available we sold our car, we only hire one if we want to leave the city

Dear yiasas,
As you understand, I live here too.
So, to be honest... the traffic problems is not the only reason that we sold our cars... Too many expanses for our salaries.
Although, I agree about the good transportation, and appily, we do not have that huge traffic problems as other countries, but sometimes it does n/t worth to drive.
I only ues my car on weekends, because I need it to drive away to my family...