trpchick26

I am traveling to greece in the very end of August and beginning of Sept. It is the first leg of my 5 week trip around Europe. I was thinking Athens for 3 days, Hydra for 1, and then Santorini for 3 days. Just a few questions...
1. What are some good cheaper places to stay in Athens, centrally located but with a private room for two.
2. The person I am traveling with gets sea sick very easily and I am woried about him taking a boat to Santorini. I found flights for 75 Euro round trip. Does that sound like a better option for us and is it worth paying the extra money.
Thanks!!

brotherleelove2004

Concentrate your hotel search in Athens to Syntagma Square and the Plaka area and you'll find a good selection of budget hotels. Omonia Square has acquired a reputation as being dangerous at night because of druggies and prostitution.

The ferries to Santorini are large and very comfortable vessels, all with stabilizers. Unless the winds are blowing strong he won't even feel any rocking motion.

http://www.bluestarferries.com/ENGLISH/defaultmain.htm

Select "Our Fleet"

As far as plane fare is concerned, 75 Euro for a round trip ticket is very good, so buy it before the prices change.

brotherleelove2004

If you'd like to see a photo of the ferry that runs from Athens to Santorini, give me your email address and I'll send you a jpeg.

Bpesta

Went to Greece same time in 2005 that you'll be there. I would DEFINITELY recommend flying to/from Santorini. We took the high speed ferry from Santorini to Mykonos and no less than half the folks on the boat had gotten sick. I should've known when I sat down & saw the box of seasickness bags!!

As for Athens, we stayed at the Marriott, which was just a short cab ride away from the Plaka and wound up getting a good deal (99Euro/night) directly thru Marriott. Hope this helps.

trpchick26

Very Helpful Thanks!!

brotherleelove2004

Just to be clear about the ferries, the Blue Star from Athens to Piraeus is not the same highspeed ferry that runs from Mykonos to Santorini. The Blue Star ferry is larger and more stable.

stanbr

A nice hotel in the Monastraki area just beside the Plaka and Psiri area is Hotel Attalos. It is a modest hotel but priced right at around 70 Euros a night double with breakfast included. It has a great rooftop bar with a view of the Acropolis. Based on price and location this hotel is hard to beat for those on a tight budget.

That 75 euro flight is a good buy. I'd book it now.

KESinMN

You may want to check if September is noted for rough seas.(I'm thinking it might be.) If the seas are too rough, the ferries stay in port. While that may not be a bad thing when going out to the islands, if you need to be back into port in Pireaus to catch a flight home - the last thing you need is to be stranded on the islands.

Bpesta

Very true about the Blue Star ferry being larger & more stable. It is, however, a very long trip. Be prepared for lots of smokers & uncomfortable seating unless you book business class. The five hour trip was a good time, though, to get caught up on reading & journaling on our ferry from Mykonos to Athens Pireaus.

dona

trpchick26, could u pls tell me where you found the 75E rountrip btwn Athens and Santorini? thanks

Bpesta

Have you tried www.aegeanair.com for flights from Athens-Santorini. Got a good deal there last yr.

trpchick26

That is where I found the cheap flight, Thanks

travelatte

We flew between the islands and it was great. We encountered many people who were taking ferries and because of the rough seas they were very delayed. It was worth the $ for us.

We stayed in the Plaka area and it was a great area to stay.

Travelatte

desertginter

For value hotel locations in Athens, look at the Adrian hotel. It's right in the middle of everything touristy. The rooms are big enough, have fun views of the plaka, and are functional, and a couple have a view of the acropolis, It has a wonderful rooftop breakfast room, that looks at the acropolis. Easy walk to the Plaka, and the Acropolis. Definitely fly to Santorini. Ther ferries are very long. Try not to use Olympic Airlines. From the Athens airport, last July, they bussed us to our airplane, dropped us off on the tarmac, then announced that our flight was cancelled. Since it was July, there were no other flights with unbooked seats available to get us (50 of us actually) there. About 5 hours after they cancelled our flight, they created a new one for the next day, but if you didn't follow up with them you would never have known about it. We came very close to losing the Santorini portion of our trip. Adriatic gave us standby tickets and we did get out that same night. Hope this helps.

polly229

We stayed at the Marriott in May for our first two nights in Athens and returned to Athens at the end of the trip and stayed at the Attalos. The advantage to the Marriott is that we did it on points but the location was not convenient or attractive. When we go back again this May, we'll save the free Mariott nights for some other trip and probably stay at the Attalos again. The Mariott was certainly more luxurious but we were much happier being located "spitting distance" from the Plaka. The room we had at the Attalos was quite spacious and nice for a budget room - larger than any of the others except the Marriott - but I understand there are some small ones. I will probably request a room on the front like we had before and if they give us a less desirable one, I'll whine, cry or have a screaming fit. But you can find other hotels in that area that I understand are quite pleasant - a search on Fodors for Athens hotels should turn up quite a few. I'd say this is an instance where location outweighs luxury unless you want to spend a lot of money on taxis or time walking to and riding the metro.

And I concur that I'd fly to Santorini. The ferry rides are not that charming after the first few minutes and the plane will save time. And at that fare, no contest.

Liz2005

I would recommend flying to Santorini soley for the time saver. our flight was smooth, easy and on time.

Just a note you are probably taking the ferry to Hydra - your friend will need lots of dramamine! That ferry can be extremely rocky. We took it to Spetses (stopping at Hyrda) in August. Seas were very rough and we were delayed at the ports (Spetses was the last port!). Luckily we were able to buy Dramamine on Spetses.

KathyNZ

If your friend gets seasick definitely do not take the Flying Dolphins to Hydra, I did and do not get seasick but felt I'd been in a washing machine on arrival, even in calm weather!!
I decided after my last trip that I would definitely fly to the Cyclades next time, it is such a time saver and the sea journeys are long.
If you are only going to Hydra for one day, why not take a day trip where they call in to Aegina, Poros and Hydra, I think on a large ferry so it would be comfortable as well as more informative for you in such a short stay.