Our Trip in Mainland Greece & Santorini
Apr 24th, 2011, 04:50 PM
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Our Trip in Mainland Greece & Santorini
My husband and I just returned from a great trip in Greece, the mainland and one island, Santorini. (This was our 40th anniversary and my 60th birthday present!)We were blessed with wonderful weather except for one day and everything went smoothly except for one night.
First of all, thank you Brotherleelove, Heimdall, Travelerjan and others for your sound advice especially for the itinerary. My husband did not want to drive but we wanted to see the archeological sites outside of Athens. So we booked the four day Monday tour through Dolphin Hellas and decided to use them for booking the hotels. We had already bought the plane tickets to Athens and the tickets to Santorini. Uli Perschau was our travel agent and we were very pleased with her work. By using a travel agent, we were given a discount on the four day tour and our hotel in Athens included breakfast (according to Trip Advisor this is an extra expense for this particular hotel.)
Day 1. We drove about two hours to Atlanta, waited two hours for our first flight to JFK. At JFK we had about two hours and then the ten hour flight to Athens. We were Zombies by the time we arrived in Athens. We managed to find the Metro and ride to our stop at Monastiraki Square without any problem. We stayed at the Attalos Hotel and were very satisfied with it. The location was convenient, the view of the Acropolis was great, and the staff was friendly. Our room was a bit dated and worn but it was clean and comfortable. Oh! And the price was right! We would definitely stay there again. Anyway, after a nap we wandered around a bit - stumbling upon Hadrian’s Library and eating at Thannis. The meal was simple but good - we are not foodies, BTW, and we tried to stick to a budget. Many of our meals were just sidewalk cafes and we ordered souvlaki and the house wine. One night we even picked up sandwiches at Everest and ate in our room.
Day 2. We used Key Tours for a tour of Athens and the Acropolis and Cape Sounion. OMG! The Acropolis is breath taking, when we were just wandering around the streets and looked up for the first time and saw the Acropolis, it was simply stunning! The tour was a small group, perhaps because we were there in April. Anyway, the entrance was so neat and I could imagine what it would have been like during the Golden Age of Greece. We also visited the New Acropolis Museum which is really beautiful, I especially liked the glass floors over the excavations. After the morning tour, we had lunch in the Plaka - Greek salad, lamb, orange slices for dessert and Mythos beer. It was short sleeves, sunglasses weather - perfect for sightseeing. The trip to Cape Sounion was beautiful - gorgeous scenery of the sea. The Temple of Poseidon was interesting but a bit of a denouement after seeing the Parthenon. And I never saw where Lord Byron scratched his name. Altogether it was a memorable day!
Day 3. We are on our own, after a hearty breakfast of yogurt and honey. (Delicious!) We meandered through Hadrian’s Library and the Roman Agora - it was neat that we could touch the column, wander through the ruins, very little was fenced off. Then we went to the Monastiraki Flea market. It would have been interesting but…. It was so crowded that one could not stop and look at anything without being bumped or pushed or jostled in someway. It was one of those “Get me out of here!” moments. So… we went to Syntagma Square and watched the eleven o’clock changing of the guard. (It was crowded but not as much as the flea market.) Then on to the Olympic Temple of Zeus, the statue of Byron, and Hadrian Arch. Ate at a café in the Plaka and we walked back to our hotel.
Day 4. We are picked up at our hotel by Key tours for the four day Monday special tour. Our first stop is Epidaurus, the theatre was amazing and set in a beautiful location. However, it was disappointing in one respect. Supposedly, the audience can even hear the footsteps of the person on stage. Our guide tried to demonstrate the acoustics but it was a fiasco, the majority of the audience was so loud that we could hear nothing! I had just been patting myself on the back for planning this trip when it would not be crowded. Well, I had not foreseen every secondary school student from Italy being in Greece!
Around noon we arrived in Nafplio and checked into our hotel which was the King Othon. For this tour, Key just drops you off in the town and you are picked up the next day by a different tour bus. The hotel is an interesting hundred year old building. We were on the third floor up a wooden spiral staircase. Our room is clean, comfortable and the view is fabulous - out our window we see the harbor and the Bourtzi Castle. The bathroom is very up-to-date and spacious. We have lunch in a little café on the waterfront promenade. Lunch was only beer and pizza but the weather and the scenery could not be better.
Later we rode this tram that took us through all the little alleys of Nafplio. The Italian students were on the train ride with us and talked, laughed, hollered at every passerby. At first we were aggravated because we heard not one word of the guide and somewhat embarrassed. (I could imagine the people on the street thinking we were poor chaperones. LOL) But it was infectious and we were laughing with them before the end of the little trip. We walk around and photograph the afternoon away. That night we met the rest of the tour group at a restaurant. I was told that the name of the restaurant is Greek for garden. We had a lovely meal, huge pork steaks. Also, our first taste of eggplant salad - it was a bit too spicy for me.
Day 5. We walked through the town and had some Greek coffee. OMG! Greek coffee is strong and prepared in an unusual manner. They put the coffee in a metal container add sugar and water. Then it is boiled in a pot filled with sand. The pot looks like a crock pot but it must get incredibly hot in order to boil the water. Anyhow, the coffee was soooo strong and then at the bottom of the cup was an inch of grounds. I wondered if they had managed to get the sand in my cup. LOL.
About noon we are picked up by Key Tours. We travel to Mycenae, it is pretty neat to see all these things that were pictured in my history & literature books…such as the Lion’s Gate and Agamemnon’s tomb. The beehive tomb was an incredible feat of engineering. ( I meant to re-read “The Iliad” but got lazy and watched “Troy” instead but it refreshed my memory and I enjoyed seeing the real walls Agamemnon’s kingdom. )
Lunch was at one of those restaurants that all the tour buses appear to patronize. It is noisy, crowded and the food is mediocre. After lunch we journey on to Olympia. Well, we are upgraded tonight, the hotel we were scheduled to stay in is full of students. We are taken to the Hotel Antonios which is a nice hotel. We ate at the hotel and the food was so-so.
Day 6.Olympia site The ancient site is really interesting, there were a lot of people but because the site is large the groups are scattered about and we did not feel crowded. The stories of the Ancient Olympics were fascinating. I was surprised that the track did not have stone seats or bleachers it was just flanked by little embankments. I am glad that we are traveling in Spring, the wildflowers are wonderful - there are red poppies, yellow chrysanthemums and purple lavender. Some of the trees are blooming, one kind looked like a redbud. Also, there was a lot of wisteria. The lemon trees and orange trees had fruit on them. We were told that most of Greece is this green only in spring, summer is too hot and dry to sustain a lush landscape. After visiting Olympia we traveled to Delphi. Delphi is really gorgeous, the mountains were beautiful.
Well, Key Tours averaged things out, the night before we stayed in a nice hotel, in Delphi we stayed in a bit of a dump. The King Iniohos needed to be scrubbed clean and some basic maintenance work completed. Our room and bathroom were not clean, the sheets were clean but the bedspread was questionable. The facing on our door was just hanging by one or two rusty nails. It looked as if it would fall at any moment. There were broken tiles in the bathroom. The only positive is that the food was okay. Oh! The ever present Italian students stayed at this hotel, they were laughing and talking loudly, and some guy was singing and playing the guitar until the wee hours. As you can imagine the walls were paper thin.
I will try to add the second half of the trip report later. We tour Delphi and say goodbye to the tour group, go to Athens, fly to Santorini, back to Athens, etc. I hope this hasn’t been boring.
First of all, thank you Brotherleelove, Heimdall, Travelerjan and others for your sound advice especially for the itinerary. My husband did not want to drive but we wanted to see the archeological sites outside of Athens. So we booked the four day Monday tour through Dolphin Hellas and decided to use them for booking the hotels. We had already bought the plane tickets to Athens and the tickets to Santorini. Uli Perschau was our travel agent and we were very pleased with her work. By using a travel agent, we were given a discount on the four day tour and our hotel in Athens included breakfast (according to Trip Advisor this is an extra expense for this particular hotel.)
Day 1. We drove about two hours to Atlanta, waited two hours for our first flight to JFK. At JFK we had about two hours and then the ten hour flight to Athens. We were Zombies by the time we arrived in Athens. We managed to find the Metro and ride to our stop at Monastiraki Square without any problem. We stayed at the Attalos Hotel and were very satisfied with it. The location was convenient, the view of the Acropolis was great, and the staff was friendly. Our room was a bit dated and worn but it was clean and comfortable. Oh! And the price was right! We would definitely stay there again. Anyway, after a nap we wandered around a bit - stumbling upon Hadrian’s Library and eating at Thannis. The meal was simple but good - we are not foodies, BTW, and we tried to stick to a budget. Many of our meals were just sidewalk cafes and we ordered souvlaki and the house wine. One night we even picked up sandwiches at Everest and ate in our room.
Day 2. We used Key Tours for a tour of Athens and the Acropolis and Cape Sounion. OMG! The Acropolis is breath taking, when we were just wandering around the streets and looked up for the first time and saw the Acropolis, it was simply stunning! The tour was a small group, perhaps because we were there in April. Anyway, the entrance was so neat and I could imagine what it would have been like during the Golden Age of Greece. We also visited the New Acropolis Museum which is really beautiful, I especially liked the glass floors over the excavations. After the morning tour, we had lunch in the Plaka - Greek salad, lamb, orange slices for dessert and Mythos beer. It was short sleeves, sunglasses weather - perfect for sightseeing. The trip to Cape Sounion was beautiful - gorgeous scenery of the sea. The Temple of Poseidon was interesting but a bit of a denouement after seeing the Parthenon. And I never saw where Lord Byron scratched his name. Altogether it was a memorable day!
Day 3. We are on our own, after a hearty breakfast of yogurt and honey. (Delicious!) We meandered through Hadrian’s Library and the Roman Agora - it was neat that we could touch the column, wander through the ruins, very little was fenced off. Then we went to the Monastiraki Flea market. It would have been interesting but…. It was so crowded that one could not stop and look at anything without being bumped or pushed or jostled in someway. It was one of those “Get me out of here!” moments. So… we went to Syntagma Square and watched the eleven o’clock changing of the guard. (It was crowded but not as much as the flea market.) Then on to the Olympic Temple of Zeus, the statue of Byron, and Hadrian Arch. Ate at a café in the Plaka and we walked back to our hotel.
Day 4. We are picked up at our hotel by Key tours for the four day Monday special tour. Our first stop is Epidaurus, the theatre was amazing and set in a beautiful location. However, it was disappointing in one respect. Supposedly, the audience can even hear the footsteps of the person on stage. Our guide tried to demonstrate the acoustics but it was a fiasco, the majority of the audience was so loud that we could hear nothing! I had just been patting myself on the back for planning this trip when it would not be crowded. Well, I had not foreseen every secondary school student from Italy being in Greece!
Around noon we arrived in Nafplio and checked into our hotel which was the King Othon. For this tour, Key just drops you off in the town and you are picked up the next day by a different tour bus. The hotel is an interesting hundred year old building. We were on the third floor up a wooden spiral staircase. Our room is clean, comfortable and the view is fabulous - out our window we see the harbor and the Bourtzi Castle. The bathroom is very up-to-date and spacious. We have lunch in a little café on the waterfront promenade. Lunch was only beer and pizza but the weather and the scenery could not be better.
Later we rode this tram that took us through all the little alleys of Nafplio. The Italian students were on the train ride with us and talked, laughed, hollered at every passerby. At first we were aggravated because we heard not one word of the guide and somewhat embarrassed. (I could imagine the people on the street thinking we were poor chaperones. LOL) But it was infectious and we were laughing with them before the end of the little trip. We walk around and photograph the afternoon away. That night we met the rest of the tour group at a restaurant. I was told that the name of the restaurant is Greek for garden. We had a lovely meal, huge pork steaks. Also, our first taste of eggplant salad - it was a bit too spicy for me.
Day 5. We walked through the town and had some Greek coffee. OMG! Greek coffee is strong and prepared in an unusual manner. They put the coffee in a metal container add sugar and water. Then it is boiled in a pot filled with sand. The pot looks like a crock pot but it must get incredibly hot in order to boil the water. Anyhow, the coffee was soooo strong and then at the bottom of the cup was an inch of grounds. I wondered if they had managed to get the sand in my cup. LOL.
About noon we are picked up by Key Tours. We travel to Mycenae, it is pretty neat to see all these things that were pictured in my history & literature books…such as the Lion’s Gate and Agamemnon’s tomb. The beehive tomb was an incredible feat of engineering. ( I meant to re-read “The Iliad” but got lazy and watched “Troy” instead but it refreshed my memory and I enjoyed seeing the real walls Agamemnon’s kingdom. )
Lunch was at one of those restaurants that all the tour buses appear to patronize. It is noisy, crowded and the food is mediocre. After lunch we journey on to Olympia. Well, we are upgraded tonight, the hotel we were scheduled to stay in is full of students. We are taken to the Hotel Antonios which is a nice hotel. We ate at the hotel and the food was so-so.
Day 6.Olympia site The ancient site is really interesting, there were a lot of people but because the site is large the groups are scattered about and we did not feel crowded. The stories of the Ancient Olympics were fascinating. I was surprised that the track did not have stone seats or bleachers it was just flanked by little embankments. I am glad that we are traveling in Spring, the wildflowers are wonderful - there are red poppies, yellow chrysanthemums and purple lavender. Some of the trees are blooming, one kind looked like a redbud. Also, there was a lot of wisteria. The lemon trees and orange trees had fruit on them. We were told that most of Greece is this green only in spring, summer is too hot and dry to sustain a lush landscape. After visiting Olympia we traveled to Delphi. Delphi is really gorgeous, the mountains were beautiful.
Well, Key Tours averaged things out, the night before we stayed in a nice hotel, in Delphi we stayed in a bit of a dump. The King Iniohos needed to be scrubbed clean and some basic maintenance work completed. Our room and bathroom were not clean, the sheets were clean but the bedspread was questionable. The facing on our door was just hanging by one or two rusty nails. It looked as if it would fall at any moment. There were broken tiles in the bathroom. The only positive is that the food was okay. Oh! The ever present Italian students stayed at this hotel, they were laughing and talking loudly, and some guy was singing and playing the guitar until the wee hours. As you can imagine the walls were paper thin.
I will try to add the second half of the trip report later. We tour Delphi and say goodbye to the tour group, go to Athens, fly to Santorini, back to Athens, etc. I hope this hasn’t been boring.
Apr 24th, 2011, 07:01 PM
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No, your details are delightful. It is always fun to hear about people's first encounters with things like Greek Coffee (which really is Turkish Coffee only the GReeks -- after 400 years of conquest & oppression -- refuse to call it that). Glad to hear you enjoyed the Greece Spring -- yes, much of the land is dry, so the end of the rainy season has the most lush greenery.
Apr 24th, 2011, 07:46 PM
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Your report is bringing back great memories. We travelled to Athens from Sydney and via London - it took approx 30 hours in total and were completely wrecked by the time we arrived at our hotel. Like you, we also freshened up and walked to Hadrian's library and had a quick, simple dinner.
We also had that heart stopping moment when we happened to look up and there is the Acropolis in all its' glory. I'll never forget it.
We seem to have done a similar bus tour to you. At Epidaurus we found the accoustics amazing. My husband and I climbed to the last row of the theatre and in his normal speaking voice, my husband and a young man standing on the stage were able to recite Shakespeare to each other. It was incredible!
We also loved Delphi, so I'm waiting to hear what your thoughts were.
We also had that heart stopping moment when we happened to look up and there is the Acropolis in all its' glory. I'll never forget it.
We seem to have done a similar bus tour to you. At Epidaurus we found the accoustics amazing. My husband and I climbed to the last row of the theatre and in his normal speaking voice, my husband and a young man standing on the stage were able to recite Shakespeare to each other. It was incredible!
We also loved Delphi, so I'm waiting to hear what your thoughts were.
Apr 25th, 2011, 03:20 PM
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Thanks for the positive comments.
Cathies, I wish we could have experienced the acoustics at Epidaurus like you did. That is really neat.
Travelerjan, I am so glad that you mention in some post the four day Monday tour, it was what we wanted. It provided more time in Delphi than other tours did and we loved Naplion and liked being there on our own.
Cathies, I wish we could have experienced the acoustics at Epidaurus like you did. That is really neat.
Travelerjan, I am so glad that you mention in some post the four day Monday tour, it was what we wanted. It provided more time in Delphi than other tours did and we loved Naplion and liked being there on our own.
