Hi,

DW, kids (DD6, DD4), and I are travelling to Greece May 14-26. We're a couple from India turning the big 4-Oh this year. Rough plans are these.

May 14: Land at Athens 1220hrs. Rent a car and drive to Meteora. 2 nights. (4 hours??)
May 16th: Drive down to Delphi. 1 night
May 17 - 19 - Back to Athens.
May 20-22 - Ferry to Naxos. Olympic air on return.
May 23-25 - Drive to Nafplio, Mycenae, and Epidavros
May 26 - Fly back home.

To me this seems like a relaxed kind of trip. Have to do two sets of car rentals as we are meeting family who are flying into Athens on 17th. Some questions I have.
- Some of the members suggested budget car rentals in Athens. Is this the best one?
- Are the meteora hikes child friendly? or extremely rugged?
- Athens - Naxos - thinking of Olympic airlines on the return leg and ferry to Athens. Got a fare of E150 for 4 of us which seems quite reasonable. Good and dependable airline?
- Can someone help with a routing of sites in Athens. We will most likely stay near city center, but wanted help on how to plan to visit the key sites - I don't plan to drive in Athens so public transport and legs mostly. Thanks a bunch. Very excited about this trip.

SS

Were it me I would go to Naxos first and do the mainland part of the trip all together. You have enough time after your 1220 landing to make the 1730 Blue Star ferry from Piraeus to Naxos. It will be a long day, but no worse than driving to Meteora, and you will have a chance to relax on the ship.

If you plan a flight from Naxos back to Athens, book as soon as possible. Flights from Naxos are on 30 pax Dash 8-100 aircraft, and spare seats won't last much longer. Also be sure to have an International Driving Permit (IDP) issued by your RTO or WIAA.

Thanks Heimdall. My original plan was to take the ferry to Naxos directly but was constrained as this is part of a larger family trip and we are meeting folks in Athens mid way and then travelling to Naxos.

Noted on the flights. Shall do the booking quickly. Thanks.

My idea was to go back to Athens to meet the family as planned, then do the mainland part of your trip. If you think your itinerary will work better, then go for it!

I just wonder about the wisdom of taking on the five-hour drive to Meteora on your arrival day, when you may well be tired and/or jetlagged. That is a challenging drive, with about half of it on the super-highway where people drive incredibly fast (especially motorcycles!), and about half on two-lane roads, some of them very winding. I'm a very comfortable driver, but I found it a fairly taxing drive.

I didn't do any hiking at Meteora. I did take a half-day bus tour arranged by the tourist info office in Kalambaka that I found very worthwhile. If you want to see the monasteries in addition to the scenery, it's helpful as they let you off at the top of the hill of one monastery and pick you up at the bottom of the hill, saving a very long uphill climb at one end or the other of the visit. That one would definitely be too much for a 4-year-old. Even the Grand Meteora - there are 300-some steps from the parking lot to see that one, and I don't know if your younger daughter will be up to that. Anyway, if you consider the bus tour, they will pick you up at your hotel and take you around. Then spend the afternoon with the car, exploring around and taking lots of incredible photos. The scenery at Meteora is worth the trip, even minus the monasteries.

Thanks heimdall and arts.

We booked our return flights from Naxos. We managed to get probably the last tickets.

Our plans have changed and there's wisdom in your point art about a long drive right after a long flight. We are now flying into Athens on 13th by 6pm. Overnight in Athens, and then driving to Meteora in the morning. I was wondering if Meteora was a self drive / independent hike kind of place but this tour sounds interesting - Will look it up. It's a good plan of doing the morning tour and then using the car in the evening.

Good thing you were able to get that flight from Naxos. By the way Olympic is now part of Aegean Airlines which has an excellent reputation.
Here is what you can expect in Naxos
Naxos Town
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr5...7632094558042/
A week in Naxos
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr...7645113682278/



Also good that you are planning to drive to Meteora the next day.

If you are driving to Meteora anyway then there is no need of a tour. Just drive up to the Monasteries. There is parking at each one as well as parking at the overviews.
It isn't really hiking that you will be doing just getting out of the car and walking to the Monasteries.

If you arrive in the late afternoon the monasteries are closed by 3 if I recall correctly so the tour buses are leaving. This is a good time to do the drive up to the monasteries so you can get unobstructed views without all the tour buses blocking site lines. You can also note which Monasteries are open the next day. Only some of them are open each day. This way you will be able to plan what you want to see.
We stayed in the little village of Kastraki. It is nestled right at the foot of the mountains and is an excellent base. We just got our room on a walk up basis. You are still early season so finding a nice discounted room is easy.
By afternoon it will be so crowded that is a good time to depart and drive to Delphi.

When you arrive Delphi find a hotel in the village. Last year we got a wonderful room with a view all the way down to the gulf of Corinth for 50 euros. Again we did that on a walk up basis.
We were at the archeological site at opening at 8am. We had the site virtually to ourselves for two hours. Then the tour buses arrive. By then we were way up high in the site which gave us an additional hour before the crowds reached us and then we left. We then went to the museum which was not crowded because all the buses were at the archeological site.
Olympia Delfi Meteora
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr...7645469717811/

Athens Definitely don't drive in Athens. Once you are at your hotel in Central Athens everything is walking distance.
My definition of Central is no more than a 10 minute walk to the acropolis. Even better if you get a hotel with an acropolis view.
When you arrive buy the multi site pass. I think it is 12 euros and it gets you into all the major sites.
Get to the Acropolis at opening. I think that is 8. Same plan as Delphi get in before the tour buses arrive. This will give you an hour or two in relative peach. Once the hoards arrive we slip out and climb Philoppas hill to look down on the acropolis and then start doing the lesser sites. All the crowds will be at the acropolis so you can see the other sites in relative peace. This pretty much works until lunch time and by then the other sites begin to get more busy.
Athens
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr/...7632121475515/

Thanks stanbr. That is definitely how I like to travel. Get in at first light before the crowds come in. We'll probably do that in Meteora. I haven't researched which monasteries to visit yet but will do this week. We are staying at Fedriades in Delphi and Lithos in Kalabaka. Heard good reviews. Booked through booking.com

I don't plan to drive in Athens but we will be renting a car downtown and driving up to Meteora. Is it tough getting out of the city? I don't plan to rent a gps but use google maps on my android device. That should suffice shouldn't it?

SS

I have read that it is fairly easy to get out of Athens as the rental car agencies are on a main route out of town. Apparently it is well marked. I certainly would not drive in central Athens but the main route is a big road so you are not navigating tiny narrow central streets.
We have never rented downtown but rather have gone back to the airport. You are on divided highway toll roads from the airport.

It is a good idea to have a decent map with you even with a mobile device. There are so many places in Greece with the same name or the same place with different spellings that having a map is a good thing to have as a back up.

Most car rentals have their offices near Syntagma Square/Syngroy Avenue.

While it is relatively easy to drive out of Athens, i would recommend the use of google Maps. I have the app on my i phone, and even though i am Athenian, i use it often, when i drive to places, i have never been before.

It is very precise and free of charge.. ( internet is required of course, check for the charges before you use it).

From the centre it is easy to drive to the Athens - Thessaloniki highway.