Help me plan Greece portion of anniversary trip
 

We have a big anniversary coming up in September 2015. We're thinking a week on Amalfi Coast (been there once) and a week in Greece, where we have never been. Will try to fly into Rome and out of Athens (or vice versa?) - will be using miles to book tix or to upgrade.

I want to see Delphi and Santorini for sure but don't know much else. We don't do group tours generally and haven't cruised but would consider it for Greece portion of trip since we know so little about the area.

Mostly looking for places to go in Greece; budget is flexible. We're in pretty good shape walking/hiking wise; love culture but also views/beauty. We like to alternate sightseeing and relaxing; enjoy cafes and antiquities. Prefer train or boat travel generally.

Advice and suggestions welcomed!

The first time we travelled to Europe was to Greece and because we were complete novices we booked a four day bus tour of the Peloponnese. It was a bit of a nightmare. Average hotels, some very nasty meals etc. the worst part was that at the numerous retail opportunities the tour guide wouldn't budge until she was absolutely sure there everyone had finished shopping (she got a % of the total spend). For those who didn't want to shop, it was a very boring experience.

We did meet some nice people and enjoyed some good laughs with them. For those reasons I would suggest a self drive trip.

Highly recommend a visit to Meteora!

Once you utter the word "Greek island," your ability to move around gets constrained and slowed down. For one week stay including Delphi and Santorini, you can probably only add Athens. Look at the math assuming 7 days including travel days.

1 day= fly into Greece
1 day= fly out of Greece
1 day= day trip to Delphi
1 day= move to/out of island that cannot be attached to other flight

Leaves you 3 full days in Santorini.

Look at what choice are available to you within your ticketing constraints. There are choices with pros and cons. Looks like you are from the U.S.? Some choices are

1. US-Athens(Delphi)-Santorini-Fly to Rome vis Santorini-Rome/Napoli-US

2. US-Rome/Napoli-Santorini via Athens-fly back to Athens(Delphi)-US

3. US-Rome/Napoli-Athens(Delphi)-Santorini-US (this one likely comes with an excruciatingly long travel day to come home from Santorini, and this is not recommended unless you buy Santorini-US as one reservation)

Delphi can be done as a public bus trip, driving yourself, or as a bus tour. It is a long day trip from Athens.

We took a trip very similar to this two years ago. My best advice is to go to Athens first, connecting through to Santorini.

Spend four days on Santorini, then fly back to Athens.

Spend three days in Athens, with a day trip to Delphi. Several
bus companies do this tour from Athens, starting early in the AM.

Now for the slightly complicated part... Two years ago, there was a flight ( small plane) I think on Alitalia from Athens to Naples. This greatly reduces your travel time to the Amalfi Coast.

If it's unavailable ( also check Aegean, but I don't think they fly this route?), fly to FCO ( Rome).

Two options: Private transfer from FCO- Amalfi Coast destination, but costly ( around 400E) OR fast train Rome- Naples ( 70 minutes) then private transfer ( around 130E) to Amalfi Coast destination.

My favorite town on the AC after many trips, most recently last June, is Positano. Favorite hotel is Hotel Poseidon, but there are several others in all different budget ranges that are quite good, too.

When you need more help, just post again! Good luck!

I just wanted to add a recommendation for a wonderful hotel in Athens. We are going back this June to AVA Hotel in the Plaka. It has gorgeous rooms, some of which have terraces facing Hadrian's Arch in one direction, the Acropolis in the other.

This hotel has seriously become one of my favorites anywhere in Europe. The location is ideal for exploring Athens,(10 min walk-if that- from the Acropolis and in the heart of The Plaka) and the hotel staff can't do enough to help guests.

Many thanks for these suggestions! Will really help us get started. Any other thoughts, send em on!

Only got to Corfu (the greenest of the Greek isles) and then into Athens. We were going to rendezvous on Myknos but in late Sep - the seas were up for a couple days (on a post law school budget - never thought about flying) so the boats stayed in port and we didn't make that.

Aussies we met and traveled with loved Crete.

So many choices. Enjoy the "research". :)

Thanks, Tom. Will be going for using miles so will have until October (335 days ahead) to book air tix.

I wouldn't spend four nights on Santorini. We did and it was too long for a place where you look at a view. Add it to the Peloponnesian Pen.

How long on Santorini, Happy?

Also, how long in Athens? Suggestions?

wwk kindly suggested 3 days in Athens -- about right? One day would be day trip to Delphi (unless we stay near Delphi -- do people do so or know a place to stay?

Agree with HT about Santorini. I found it (late September) teeming with cruise ship passengers, and apart from the architecture and the views of the caldera, not all that interesting.

Hi annw!
The problem I see is that each destination works different for each person and you do not mention any detailed plan on what exactly you want to see/do on each area and on what pace. People's advice so far is well-meant, but based on what criteria exactly?
For example I find that many people tend to under-rate what Athens has to offer, there are many sights and activities, different districts, many "faces" on this city, but people are hardly willing to do some homework beforehand or try to explore while localy. It is important to customise a visit based on your own interests rather than go by the so called "must sees/dos" or what you heard.
Then Delphi is one few-hours-long visit for many people, while a small minority comes here year after year, often for many days. There is scenery, landscape, the ancient sites, the museum, hiking, interesting surrounding area with caves, traditional mountain and sea-side villages, beaches and coves, mountain refuggees and climbing oportunities, occasionaly parachute/paragliding, racing and bicycling races etc etc (plus maybe the most popular snow ski center in Greece operating on winter).
The same goes for Santorini which I admit I am not very fond of, but still depending on your traveling style and interests, there are many things to do and see there other than the famous caldera view... Restaurants for foodies, cooking lessons, wine tours, watersports, small but important museums, important archeological sites, many boat trips, hiking and horseback riding and so on....
Maybe you want to read up a bit and decide on so and so activity/site, then see how much time you need for each. This way it is easier to decide how long to spend on each area than having people tell you this and that.

Hi again annw,

I suggested three days in Athens because: You need one day for a trip to Delphi; one day for the Acropolis and its wonderful museum; one day to explore The National Archaeological Museum, the Plaka, and Hadrians' Arch.

There is much more to do in Athens- The Benaki Museum, the marketplace, the area right in back of the Acropolis- etc, but with your time limits, this is a start.

I highly recommend AVA Hotel ( we are going back there in a few weeks) which is in The Plaka, and within a 10 minute walk of the Acropolis.

Rooms facing the front of the hotel have great views of The Acropolis on one side, Hadrian's Arch on the other.

If that's too expensive, check out Athen's Gate, also centrally located near The Acropolis, or, for a splurge The Grande Bretagne, though I think Ava's rooms blow it away!

Now about Santorini: How much time to spend really depends on your travel style. We've spent many happy times there, wandering around Oia and Ammoudi Bay, with side trips to Red Beach, a day long boat trip to the Caldera and sulphur springs and a winery.

Yes, there are tons of tourists, but we found it easy to plan around them. Just avoid getting caught wandering around Oia at sunset, etc.!

saving for great info for our "empty nest" trip...hopefully coming up soon!

Many thanks, more good info! Yes I know what you mean about travel style. We are not so much into water sports, cooking lessons, or wine (I love to drink it but DH doesn't much); more wandering, cafes, views, some archeology and eye candy. I love the idea of staying near Delphi vs. a day trip.

Any thoughts on independent travel here vs. cruise (we've never taken one)?

I'll be loading up on the travel books for sure, but this helps me get a start, so thanks!

I know some Italian, Spanish, and French, but only know the Greek alphabet; should I learn much more before going? It seems ambitious, but I do have over a year.... :)

Hi annw,

I don't like the idea of Greek Island cruises because you have only a few hours on each island and spend the rest of the time at sea. Other people love cruises, so it's a matter of personal choice.

There is no need to learn the Greek language for a trip to Athens, Delphi and Santorini. English is the <i>lingua franca</i> of the tourist trade in Greece. Learning a few curtesy phrases in a foreign language is always a good thing, though.

Heimdall gave you great advice, as always. I'll just agree with him that "there's no need to learn the Greek language" for your trip. In fact, we've found that most Greeks speak fluent English. The only time I really needed some Greek was on the island of Paros in a part of the island that was far from the main cities.

Sorry, forgot to say that I also agree with Heimdall about cruises. You don't get to choose your itinerary, and you miss out on the many options for reasonably priced wonderful Greek food!

More great thoughts, thanks a mill. Getting excited about planning! A whole new place (to us).

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annw, I hope this post is not too late! I have a STRONG recommendation, particularly if you are fond of mosaics, as I think you are?

If you plan to spend a night in the vicinity of Delphi, then also take a little time to drive the short distance to the Byzantine monastery of Hosias Loukas. The monastery's katholikon, with its gold-backed mosaics, is fascinating beyond my ability to describe!

It seems to me that, from Delphi, you drive through the nearby, picturesque town of Arachova and from there to the monastery. When we visited, some years back, we hired a driver in Athens and went to both the monastery and Delphi in a day trip, and I sorely regretted not taking just one more day.

If you go to Hosias Loukas, you will not regret it! Have a great trip!

Many thanks, Smalti! The trip is in 2015, so your post is perfect timing. Just getting back to working on the itinerary -- as mentioned we have never been to Greece so I will have to do a lot of research.

As a mosaic aside, did you know that American mosaicist Sonia King runs "working in white" mosaic workshops in Greece? I'll be skipping it on this trip since am with DH but another time, might be nice!

"Working in white"--sounds interesting, annw!

Hope your anniversary trip will be wonderful!

We spent 3 days in Athens. On the spur of the moment, from Plaka station we took the train to Piraeus (port city). From there we booked, again spur of the moment, a ferry to AEGINA.
Wow. The best pistachios we have ever eaten in our whole lives. Labelled " new season" they are roasted right there. You can even buy them raw and eat them that way.
Pistachio ice cream, etc . we ate fresh fish supper then caught the last ferry back to Athens. Regret? Not bringing home more freshly roasted pistachios!

Thanks again, smalti!

Egghead, thanks for sharing that experience -- sounds wonderful!

Someone I know brought back pistachios from Iran and though I had never been a fan, they were fabulous! These sound even better.

Hi Ann.
If you are willing to rent a car you can drive to Delphi and stay in the village which is about a kilometer to the site and museum. This gives you the opportunity to get to the site before the tour buses arrive. You will have the site virtually all to yourselves.
There are daily buses that go from Athens to Delphi just google KTEL bus Athens to Delphi. The buses are modern and comfortable.
Last alternative is to take one of the day bus excursions. Dolphin Hellas and fantasy travel have these available. My issue with the excursion though is it is a long day and you will be at the site with all the other tour crowds.
Here are images of Delphi numbers 28 to 67
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr...7645469717811/

As for Santorini this is the place to stretch your budget and get a hotel with a caldera view. Since this is an anniversary trip you will want that view. Santorini is expensive which is one of the reasons people suggest staying only three nights.
Santorini http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr5...7632154800782/

Lastly Athens
There is so much to do and see there that three days without a day trip will just get you familiarized with the Acropolis area sites.
Is there any chance you can add a couple of days?
Athens http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr5...7632121475515/
Have a great trip

Thanks stanbr these are great suggestions!! We are ok adding to Athens and it sounds like we should. Ditto allocating funds for the view place in Santorini (love views).

i'm going to work on the air tix as soon as we are 335 days out and will move on to reservations then --

annw-

If you do Greece first, consider renting a car while at the airport and drive yourselves to Delphi. We rented a car and spent 8 nights or more touring the mainland. Our rental had no GPS, we've never been to Greece before, and we managed to get to all our destinations fine. For Delphi we drove there from Olympia. The only problem we had was trying to find the road to get us to where we would cross the Rio bridge. We could see the bridge bur couldn't find the road to take us across it. Fortunately we came across some motorcycle policemen who were able to give us directions! We spent 2 nights there and were able to wander around Arahova, do some shopping, tour the Delphi Arch. Museum and the site. We had dinners at some nice restaurants-Epikourous and Vahkos.

Then from Delphi you drop off the rental car (there are free shuttles from the airport that take you to the car rental offices) and either spend some nights in Athens or go directly to Santorini. The easiest and fastest is to fly. We took the ferry from Mykonos to Santorini and it was long but nice. We had 3 nights in Santorini at Oia at a traditional cave house with a caldera view and a small pool. www.atrinahouses.com We had a rental car and went to some wineries-Santos and Sigalas, spent time at Perissa Beach, saw the sunset with tons of people at the end of the main path in Oia (the next day we drove our rental car to where the desalination plant was and parked the car and walked to the path that leads from Oia going to Fira. There we saw a very nice sunset with just a handful of people and a view of the the white/blue buildings of Oia.) That next day we also went to Red Beach, Kamari Beach, Ammoudi where we ended up having dinner at Katina's. We also had dinners at Laokasti and Nectar & Amrosia. Akrotiri was not open when we were there in 2011 but if it is when you go you may want to visit this important site. Some other things to do: www.santorinisailing.com
www.santorini-yachts.com
www.thiratours.com/Santorini-volcano-cruises.htm

There's an Arch. Museum in Fira.

In Athens we had 3 nights at Athens Gate www.athensgate.gr (I think we couldn't get a room at AVA www.avahotel.gr) after our rental car mainland trip and then 1 night at the end of our time in Greece at the Sofitel right across the street from the airport as we had an early morning flight home the next day. I wish we would have had at least 1 more day in Athens. There is a lot to see and do. Due to what was going on in Greece (we saw lots of protests) some sites were closed early. I don't know why but one guy told us it was that there was no money to pay the staff to stay longer?? When we got to the Ancient Agora around 3 pm it was already closed. In Athens we had dinners at Manh Manh, Tzitzikas Kai Mermigas, and Orizontes.

A great way to celebrate your anniversary!

Thanks Chris that is great info! Getting excited about the Greece part of our trip and less trepidation with all the good info.

Ann - forgot to add: We did take a "cruise" - or rather the overnight ferry from Brindisi to Corfu. Loved it - as we drank heartily (this was a trip with my two law school roomies after we took the Bar) - and slept overnight out on the deck - or rather - passed out on a deck lounge? :)

Actually - before took the overnight train from Rome to Brindisi - and at Foggia - at 2 AM - the conductor must have thought we were crazy as we popped out to take pics of the sign at the train station - as my roomie's dad had been a bomber pilot stationed at a base by Foggia in WWII.

When we got to Brindisi - it was mid day - and we met two guys and their good looking lady/sailing partner - who had a Catamaran moored in the harbor - so we drank wine and had cheese all afternoon. The Italians along the main street were laughing at us - as we trekked from the dock back to the wine store three times - re-filling the four bottles - and the bottles cost 10 cents - which was more than the wine we kept replenishing.

Oh - those were da days.....................

Once there - on the greenest of Greek Isles - I took the ferry/train/bus from Corfu into Athens and when I got off the bus in Athens - the guy hawking tours spoke pretty good English and I asked him - how did you learn English?

Watching Kojak - was his reply. :)

Start working on your flight using miles NOW. It took me a month to use my American miles & I got them today to Athens. Need to get return ones as I didn't have enough on American for return & what they quoted me on return part was WAY too high We are leaving San Francisco September 16th. Good luck

Thanks; our trip is on hold, as DH's colleague has stage iv metastatic cancer & getting serious chemo
.
:( for everyone involved, most especially colleague.

So sorry, annw.

Hi everyone, and thanks again for all of these great ideas and all the info!

For our 40th this August due to work situation we are going to take one week and do an Alaska cruise on HAL -- first cruise; hope it works! (We are on west coast.)

Then, I am working on a postponed trip to Greece and Amalfi for March 2016. I secured mileage-only business tix from SFO to Frankfurt March 8. Waiting to book the return trip on Delta miles, probably from Athens.

So,since we got tix into FRA, we think we will side trip to Berlin for 2 days (arrival and next day) since DH is WWII buff, and then fly to Naples if possible, and get to AC. After 3-4 days there we will head over to Greece and fly back to SFO from ATH assuming I can get the tix.

Looking to spend time in Athens, Delphi, stop at Santorini if that works; wondered about Mycenae, Mykonos, Paros, and the like -- really like the recs above though! I'll know more when I memorize the map!

Hello again! Glad to see you back and in good health!

If this Europe trip is meant for March, do note that many of the seasonal ferry connections and flights might not run. For example Mykonos-Santorini is a summer route, on March you may have to travel through Athens to make it work!
I do not know about Amalfi coast but do note that Greek islands off season have a completely different ambiance than on summer months. Something to seriously consider.

All that said,this thread has gone really long and as far as your trip takes a different direction now, maybe you could open a new thread if you need further advice.

Regards,

I agree with Mariha you should now open a new thread on travelling to Greece in March. Personally, that time of year I would stay on the mainland rather than going to the islands.

OK thanks; these are good suggestions. I'll review the thread and print it out and then see where we are with new plans! Thanks a mill.

WWK I started another thread but am checking on availability of AVA hotel in Athens as recommended. Location sounds perfect.