hklukas

Hi,

I am leaving for Greece (Athens, Mykonos, Ios, Santorini, Crete) June 4th and will be there for 3 weeks. I was wondering if all of you Greece veterans out there could help me with a few questions. First, what kind of money should I expect to spend for lunch and dinner for 2 people? We don't need anything too fancy. Just good food. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Next, we arrive on a Sunday and want to leave first thing Monday AM for Mykonos. Do I need to buy ferry tickets before I go or will I be able to get them last minute? Will the weather in June be warm enough to swim/sunbathe? If I bring shorts, skirts, tanks tops, will that be enough or do I need warmer clothes? Is a backpack and a small carryon with wheels too much luggage?
I have narrowed down choices for hotels to the follwing. If you have any knowledge of any of these places I would love to hear from you so I can make my final decision.
Athens - Attalos or Plaka
Mykonos - The Palladium, Petinos Beach, Apanema, or Kosmoplaz
Ios - Far Out Village or Ios Palace
Santorini - Villa Ilias or Agnadema Apartments
Crete - Althea Village Hotel (Chania)
Last thing, I really do not want to mess with TC's. Will all of the places I have mentioned have east access to ATM's? When we went to Italy and Germany in 2002 we never had any problem and I am hoping Greece will be the same.
Thanks so much, this site is so helpful and I am looking forward to hearing from you all. If you need to email me I am at [email protected].

Thanks!
Heidi

stanbr

If you are not extravagant you can eat at a nice taverna on a budget of about $50 per day. In Greece food is eaten slowly over a long period of time and sharing is common. My wife and I often purchase bread olives and cheese for lunch and save the bulk of our budget for dinner.
These prices are common to the Islands. You should expect to spend more in Athens, probably $75 per day.

I am only familiar with Attilos in Athens. It is a budget hotel and is one of the best values in Athens. It is right on the edge of the Monastraki, Psiri area and is near the Athens market.
The hotel has a great rooftop bar with a direct view of the Acropolis. It is a C class hotel, comfortable but not luxurious.

We book our ferry's through Dolphin Hellas travel agent about two weeks in advance. The tickets are waiting for us at the hotel when we arrive. You probably don't need to do thatin June but I don't think it is more expensive and it sure is convenient.

You should expect the temp to be in the high 70's and mid 80's. It will cool down in the evening so a light wrap or sweater is a good idea.

I recommend you take a medium size backpack and bring absolutely nothing that has to be carried in your arms or by hand.
Live by the rule of threes. One set of clothes in the wash, one to wear today and a clean set for tomorow. Mix and match. Remember everything you bring has to be lugged around on the ferrys and the Islands. We learned our lesson and left our large back packs at Attilos in storage and only took two small day packs for a week stint on Samos. That worked out fine and we have been travelling very lightly since then.
We use bank machines exclusively. We found that our card only worked at about half of the banks. Once we learned which banks it worked at there was no problem accessing cash.

Nikki

One of the great bargains we found in Athens was street food for lunch at the large plaza outside the Monastiraki metro station, where there are gyros to go for 1.50 euros. Two or three places selling these from windows at the restaurants, which also have sit-down options. Cheaper to go, I think. Close to both your hotel options.

We enjoyed dinners at the following restaurants in Athens:

Plateia Iroon, on the plateia of the same name in Psiri. Telephone 210 3211.915.

Mandras, located at Ag. Anargyron 8, also in Psiri, tel. 210 321 3765

Hermion Restaurant at 7 Pandrossou, not far from the Monastiraki metro. Tel. 210 32.47.148. They have a web site at www.hermion.gr.

All were moderately priced; I don't have the details but we probably spent around $40 for dinner for two, without wine, at most.

You might be interested in my trip report. Although we didn't visit the islands, we did spend several days in Athens.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34589254

BarryK

I tried to book a room in the Plaka about 2 weeks ago and it wasn't available the dates I wanted (mid June).

hklukas

Thanks everyone for the great input, if anyone else has anything to share about the hotels or anything I would love to hear it!

worldinabag

Hi

Athens: Attalos is a few doors down from where we stayed (Cecil Hotel). Like the Plaka Hotel both are well located. The advantage of the Attalos is it's 40E a night cheaper. If you do choose the Attalos it may be advisable to get a room not facing the very busy and noisy street - although this was still bearable at the Cecil. Don't forget to take a look at the huge fish and meat market a short walk down the road (towards Omonia Square).

The last night before we left we had a lovely meal at a restaurant opposite the ancient water wheel (near the Agora). The Roman ruins and the Acropolis were lit up - we got the best of both ancient worlds, really memorable. The restaurant was called "Aerides". It cost us about 40/50 euros.

Santorini: We also stayed at Firostefani. I liked this location because it had spectacular views of the caldera and only a 10 minute walk to Fira. I strongly recommend you choose accommodation with a private balcony overlooking the caldera. We stayed at the Grotto Villas - http://www.santonet.com/hotels/grotto/.
Our room was very spacious and the balcony was large.

Enjoy your holiday - Athens is wonderful.

hklukas

Dear worldinabag,

Thanks for the great info, we'll definitely try Aerides!

Keep the info coming, I can use all I can get, thanks so much everyone!