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Pat & Mike's wonderful Greek Holiday (Athens, Naxos & Santorini)

Pat & Mike's wonderful Greek Holiday (Athens, Naxos & Santorini)

Old Jun 9th, 2005, 07:24 AM
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Pat & Mike's wonderful Greek Holiday (Athens, Naxos & Santorini)

Okay, we're back a week now and I'm officially over my jet lag -- time to "give back" and post my trip report. I actually was keeping a small journal, but lost it somewhere along the way (think maybe at an internet cafe). So I can't describe certain meals that I had in detail, but I can certainly talk about things I remember (and there are plenty!) And, sorry that this is so darned long, but I just couldnt' stop -- and this is the edited version!

What can I say, I'd been planning this dream vacation for a long time, and that's exactly what it turned out to be....a dream vacation!

Unfortunately, getting there was somewhat nightmarish! We'd used American's frequent flyer miles and were told when we booked that we'd be flying Iberia from JFK to Madrid, then stopping in Barcelona (but no changing of planes) before continuing on to Athens. However, in Barcelona we needed to get off the plane, go into the terminal and wait about 40 minutes before getting back on, so we may as well have changed planes! If I could do it over again, I'd have saved the miles for another trip and paid for direct flights. In any event, after commuting over 13 hours, we arrived at Athens airport.

We were wary about taking a taxi as we'd read so many horror stories about the taxi drivers ripping off tourists (I distinctly remember one Fodorite who sounded really savvy, saying he was damned if they were going to get him, then p**sed off that it did!) I don't know if it's the time we arrived, but the taxi line was incredibly long (about five times the worst I've ever seen the taxi line at JFK!) We simply crossed the street, bought train tickets for $7 each and boarded the train. It was a nice ride and 45 minutes later we arrived at Monistraki station (the last stop) and our hotel was about three blocks away. I wouldn't hesitate to travel this way again.

What can I say, we really enjoyed Athens!!

As an aside, I'm an independent traveler and book everything myself. However, I was getting nervous about putting this trip together and thought it was time to use a travel agent. I contacted both Fantasy Travel and Dolphin Hellas with my choice of five hotels, with the Adrian Hotel being my first choice. They both responded (five minutes apart). Dolphin Hellas said the Adrian had availability but Fantasy Travel said they were completely booked and offered me a room at a hotel that wasn't even on my list (Cyrus?) Not sure why I received conflicting replies, but at this point I decided to make all bookings (hotel, air and ferries) myself and it turned out to be a breeze!

We stayed at the Adrian Hotel which is ideally located in the Plaka area. The hotel itself was "ok". I'm not sure when they took their picture for their website, but the front of the hotel was always adorned with rugs from the vendor below, giving it a sort of "Marakkeshy" look. Not a big deal, though.

I had to laugh that the small lift could fit two -- maybe three people, tops -- yet had a standing ashtray in it! Gotta love Europe!

The room itself was basic, slightly dated, but certainly livable, with a mini-bar and coffee/tea set-up. We stayed in Room #303, which had a large terrace overlooking the square. It was great to sit out on the terrace looking down at the people sitting at the outdoor cafes, then later be at one of those tables ourselves looking up at our terrace! I actually got a chance to see one of the rooms with Acropolis view and thought ours was better (you can always see the Acropolis from the rooftop and from walking around Athens, anyway).

The first day we slept (understandably) until 1:00pm, so we missed the breakfast. The next two days were were able to make it up to the rooftop for breakfast and it was just amazing to sit and dine with the Acropolis as a backdrop! (Unfortunately, Adrian's rooftop isn't open in the evening --it would have been nice to watch the lights turn on from there).

The only downside to our room was that we would be awakened at 5:45am by the scraping of tables and chairs as they prepared for breakfast (which began at 6:30). Again, the first day you could have landed a 747 on the roof and we would have slept through it, but if you're a relatively light sleeper, you may want to request a room on the second floor.

I faced one other dilemma: I usually travel with a small garment steamer, but left it home because it was only 110 volts. I was determined to use only one piece of luggage for this trip, which I managed to do, only you couldn't have fit a toothpick in the luggage after I was done! As a result, my clothes were all so wrinkled. I saw the cleaning person and asked her if I could borrow an iron, even demonstrating what I needed. She said to see the concierge. However, when I approached the concierge about borrowing an iron, he gruffly told me they had none, looking at me as if I had three heads! Now, in our three days there we saw three concierges -- two were very friendly; this one wasn't. I can't believe I'm the first guest to request an iron. In any event, I just never looked as nice as I would have liked to in Athens.

But the above are minor complaints and I would definitely stay at the Adrian Hotel again.


Restaurants

We spent a long time our first evening walking around looking for just the right outdoor restaurant. Our noses literally led us to Thanasis on Mitropoleos Street. We plunked right down at an outdoor table. They told us their house special was lamb & beef souvlaki. I mistakenly heard "lemon beef" and took a pass. Mike, however, heard right and ordered it. Without a doubt, the best souvlaki we've ever had!! And cheap! I think two souvlakis, white sauce (Tzadziki?), and four beers came to something like $25US. Without realizing it, this place was highly recommended in someone's trip report I'd taken with me -- came across it the next day).

Hermion -- We went here the second night at a friend's recommendation and liked it a lot. Nice garden setting with a band playing. We both had appetizers, fish entrees, and dessert. Think everything (with a bottle of wine) came to about $100US. And the best was, it was only two blocks from our hotel.

Thanasis. Our last night -- just had to go back! It was late on a Friday night and really bustling. This time, it was near impossible to get an outside table. Hated to do it, but had to (while trying to look nonchalant) hover over people finishing up to secure a table. Some people actually tried to beat us out, but I simply let the "New Yorker" in me come out a little - hey, we're talking great souvlaki here!


Sightseeing

Of course, the obvious. Finally seeing the ancient ruins was amazing! Because we'd slept so late the first day, we arrived at the Acropolis later in the afternoon, which may have worked out in our favor (not sure how crowded it was earlier). And having the hotel situated so close to the Acropolis -- just to be able to walk to it -- was great! We still had a few hours before the Acropolis' closing time and it was the right amount of time to take it all in. The next day was dedicated to strolling around, taking in all the other ruins -- can't believe it took us so long to get to Athens! On our last night, we sat at an outoor cafe near the Ancient Agora to watch all the lights turn on. Absolutely breathtaking!

Other

Just walking around the City, taking it all in -- it was something to be walking along, then come upon a small ruin in the middle of the street! While walking, fed treats I'd brought from home to the stray cats and dogs we encountered. As for shopping, I usually love to shop, especially flea markets, but this just didn't work for me, for some reason. Bought myself a tunic top which I realized later I could have gotten cheaper at Old Navy! And I would have loved to bring back a bottle of olive oil, but was concerned about a possible mess that could occur -- and we still had a lot of traveling to do on this trip!

That's about it for the Athens part of my vacation. Again, we were surprised how much we loved Athens, though as stated on these boards, that my be partly due to coming after the Olympics clean-up. I found three nights there (factoring in losing half a day to jet lag) the perfect amount of time to stay there. Actually, I'm lying. Could have definitely stayed there a little longer, but had other places to see with fairly limited time.

On to Naxos...

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Old Jun 9th, 2005, 09:11 AM
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Welcome home! I think you were arriving at Esperas right after we were leaving...was wondering if you were going to post a report and am glad to see that you are. Looking forward to reading more.
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Old Jun 9th, 2005, 01:50 PM
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love to hear about Greece. Keep it coming.
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Old Jun 10th, 2005, 06:38 AM
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Naxos!

We'd actually left two days in our trip between Athens & Santorini open, to "wing it" while there. We were thisclose to extending Athens and Santorini by one day each, but in the 11th hour decided to go see Naxos. So glad we did!

We called Olympic Airlines and booked our flights (they simply took our names, no other information). We returned to Athens Airport the way we'd arrived, by train. Once there, we paid for our flights and used one of the airport's free internet stations to look up hotels. I'd brought very little Naxos information with me, but the Galini Hotel stood out in my mind from other Fodorites' rave reviews. We looked them up, and, as time was limited, called them from a pay phone to make a reservation. They asked when and we replied "in about 1 1/2 hours". They said they'd arange to have someone meet us at the airport. A funny story I tell now was when we asked if they needed the flight number, they laughed and replied "no, it's the only flight".

The flight was a mere 35 minutes long. As promised, we were met at the airport by one of the sons (wish I could remember his name, something like Manolis). He pointed out different sights to us as we drove along.

What can I say, there is no doubt in my mind that staying at The Galini Hotel contributed to making our stay in Naxos as special as it was. We were greeted warmly by the proprietors, Kostas and Sofia. When I asked what time breakfast was, they responded "whenever you get up". We were then given a choice of three rooms to pick from! We opted for, what I will loosely refer to as, their "penthouse suite". It was separated from the rest of the rooms and you gained access to it by crossing the roof. What we had was an entire rooftop (unpaved -- big deal) with panoramic views of the beach to the left, the town to the right, and ferries cruising along, all to ourselves! Found out on our last day that we'd gotten lucky -- that particular room had been booked for one month, then was only available for four days (two of which we had it for) before being booked again for another month!

Oh, and at this point I would have given my firstborn for an iron -- they gave me an iron and a regular sized ironing board.

The hotel is ideally situated. It's right at St. George's beach and just a five minute walk to town. Even has an adorable church in it's backyard! The room itself, though a little on the small side, was perfect. Had a small fridge and, it we didn't want to lounge on the rooftop, we could throw open the window shutters and step onto the tiny terrace to look out onto the beach.

We headed out and just roamed the winding streets, stopping and taking it all in. Such a picturesque town -- we would turn a corner and just go, "wow"!

We came upon a jewelry store and purchased some really nice, inexpensive silver jewelry for me. We also happened upon a market called Pan Co where we bought a chunk of cheese, some bread, a bottle of wine and a large bottle of water. (Or so I thought -- later, back at the hotel, I took a big swig of the "water", but it was, not too sure what it was, but I can best refer to it as some kind of moonshine!) An extremely funny moment and I'm glad there was a sink nearby!

After our exploring, we stopped off at Flamingo Restaurant to have drinks and watched a fabulous sunset. Later that evening, we went to a restaurant that had caught our eye earlier, Lucullus. It's the oldest taverna in Naxos and is located on Old Market Street. We had a superb meal in a cozy setting (this first day was very windy and cool, so we opted for dining indoors). The food was absolutely delectable!

The next day we woke up really late and ran to the breakfast room at 11:00am, figuring we'd just grab a cup of coffee, rather than impose. But Kostas and Sofia were just so nice and insisted we sit and enjoy a leisurely breakfast, repeating their earlier assurance that breakfast was "whenever we woke up". The breakfast was great, a choice of cereal yogurt & honey, ham, cheese, croissants. Oh, and we had the choice to eat it outside on the patio. Nice.

We then set out for some more exploring. Strolled along the beach, then up to the winding roads of the town again. We also took a tour of the Castle, which I would highly recommend. After that, we then walked along the waterfront and purchased our ferry tickets for Santorini. Stopped for a beverage at one of the many cafes -- either Coco's or the place next to Coco's -- it was funny how you had to be sure to sit in the right colored chairs designated for each cafe. It was very quiet when we were there and I could only imagine the waterfront bustling with people later in the season.

We then adjourned to our rooftop deck for "happy hour", eating the cheese & bread we'd bought earlier. You know, as I'm writing this, I'm realizing why I returned home three pounds heavier!

That night (our second and last night) after watching another fabulous sunset, we went looking for a different place to eat. Stopped off at Naxos Cafe (which is really nice) and chatted with the owner. When we asked him for a restaurant recommendation, he said that Lucullus was the best on the island. Sure, his uncle could own Lucullus for all I know, but we decided to go with the sure thing and go back. And although the weather was nice enough to dine in their outdoor garden, we opted for indoors. Had another great meal (I do remember that Mike had a spicy pork and potato appetizer that was out of this world!) A really nice way to end the trip.

To sum it up, I absolutely loved Naxos (kind've left my heart there) and wish we had allotted more than just two days for it. Would have like to have rented a car to explore the rest of the island. Oh,well, next time. I definitely plan to return.

Time to go to Santorini....

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Old Jun 10th, 2005, 08:41 AM
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I love Naxos - was there in the mid-70's and back again in 2000. It really is a wonderful destination. I'll be interested in reading your Santorini report. I preferred Naxos myself.
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Old Jun 10th, 2005, 09:48 AM
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I'm really enjoying your report - Naxos sounds absolutely wonderful. Curious about the Galini Hotel rates. The website doesn't show rates. Your report has made me decide to put Greece on my short list. I am looking forward to hearing about Santorini!
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Old Jun 10th, 2005, 11:13 AM
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Excellent report on my favorite island. We were lucky enough to spend about a week there last time and it's never enough.

If you get a chance to return, also check out the interior villages and towns on the other side of the island.
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Old Jun 10th, 2005, 11:39 AM
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Thanks, everyone, for your feedback.

Barb, sorry, I should have included the hotel rate in my report -- we paid a little under $50 US per night for our room. Great deal!

Will work on the Santorini portion over the weekend.

Pat
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Old Jun 10th, 2005, 11:50 AM
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Pat - that's amazing!! Would you go back to this hotel if you return to Naxos? It sounds like it was within walking distance to lots of things. How is public transportation on the island in general. This is giving me lots of food for thought, many thanks!
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Old Jun 10th, 2005, 12:47 PM
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Hi Pat

I'm enjoying your report very much. We've never been to Greece and look forward to going at some point. Thanks.
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Old Jun 10th, 2005, 04:25 PM
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Dear Pat, great trip report. We didn't get to Naxos, chose Paros instead which was wonderful. But now Naxos is on my list for next time.
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Old Jun 10th, 2005, 09:35 PM
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Agh! I can't wait for the Santorini portion! I've loved the report thus far; it's only fueled my desire to go to Greece!
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Old Jun 14th, 2005, 06:13 AM
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Barb,

In case you're still reading this thread, yes, I would definitely stay at the Galini Hotel again. It was so convenient to town.

As for public transportation, I was only there for two days and walked everywhere.

Maybe Repete and others can help you with that.

Pat
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Old Jun 14th, 2005, 06:33 AM
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Hi Barb,

Buses on Naxos aren't as convenient as Santorini, where I've used them a lot, but they do run on as decent schedule (except when my Greek friend parked in the turnaround in Halki ...) and they hit most of the island.

When we were last there in September, it seemed like they were every half an hour.

The reasons they were as convenient was that:
1) Naxos is a big island with scattered towns and wonderful rural areas.
2) It doesn't have a straight narrow route like the Oia-Imerovigli-Fira run.
3) Naxos just not as tourism driven.

We got a car for about half our stay, but that's because we were near Agios Prokopios. Stanbr has some good recs within walking distance of the Hora.

Even if you stay there, I'd recommend getting a car for a day or two to explore the marvelous outer areas of the islands -- Halki, Apiranthos, Apollon. They are true gems as are some of the rural beaches. You can do some of this via bus, but the logistics are a bit tougher. Our car was about 30 E per day and the driving was easy.
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Old Jun 14th, 2005, 07:02 AM
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Santorini

We took the Blue Star Ferry from Naxos and it was, as has been recommended, a great way to arrive in Santorini. It was like taking a mini-cruise and took 2 1/2 hours. And, even though I'd seen countless pictures of the clusters of dazzling, white buildings perched on the cliffs, I have to say that in person that sight simply took my breath away. And it was especially thrilling knowing we'd be staying there!

I'd arranged with Esperas Hotel to have a taxi waiting for us. I'm so glad we did -- it was really a mob scene once we got off the ferry. We ended up sharing the taxi with another couple who were going on to a different hotel.

Now comes the funny part. The taxi driver dropped us off at a very weird looking area (the only way to describe it is that it kind've looked like a bunker -- the complete opposite of what awaited us!) After giving us our luggage, he informed us that we were to pay the taxi fare at the hotel and we gave him a generous tip. Only after he drove away and we stepped through the "opening" did we learn that we were nowhere near our hotel!! Turns out we'd been deposited at the other end of town, high above Perivolas Hotel! I left the luggage with Mike and worked my way down to Perivolas' office. The staff there treated me nicely, giving me a glass of water and calling Esperas for us, who immediately dispached their guy to come collect us. I have to say that it was, without a doubt, the most beautiful setting I've ever been lost in!

Now this wasn't a terrible thing to have happened to us -- just an inconvenience. But it was funny how we had to field questions from Yvonne and other Esperas staff members,who were totally baffled and kept asking us just how we'd ended up there!

The situation became a little less funny, however, when we were approached the next morning by an Esperas staff member, telling us the taxi driver had sent word that we'd told him we had no money to pay him! Mike furiously ran off to get our cash machine receipt to show that we'd taken out 200 Euros just before boarding the ferry in Naxos -- we would never arrive anywhere -- especially Santorini -- without money! In the end, they tracked down just who the driver was and he relayed his apologies for any inconvenience he'd caused us, insisting that we not be charged for the ride. We replied that if that was the worst thing to happen to us this vacation, we'd be okay. And, guess what...it was!

We absolutely loved Esperas! When we'd booked about three months ago we'd requested a studio, but they only had a studio available for the first two nights of our stay and we'd have to move to a traditional house for the remaining two nights.

We had Room #110 and we just fell in love with this room! It was ideally situated, directly below the pool area and close to the office and breakfast room. The room had all the amenities you could want, including a small kitchen area and fridge. Opening the front shutters, you looked straight out to the water and outside the side door we had a fabulous corner balcony, with cushioned couch-type seating adorned with pastel pillows. You couldn't ask for a better spot to sit and watch the sunset!

As mentioned before by other posters, Yvonne, the hotel manager, is absolutely wonderful -- some people were born to be in the hospitality business. On our second day there, she said she could work it out that, if we chose to stay in our studio, she would instead upgrade another couple who were supposed to check into our room for the remaining two days. We first checked out the traditional house and decided to remain in our studio. Although the traditional house was nice, we liked our studio's location better and thought the balcony was more private (don't get me wrong -- people would pass our terrace on their way up or down, but we never found it intrusive). We also took into account the fact that we wouldn't have to pack up again -- something we'd been doing a lot of on this trip!

Our first night we went to the hotel restaurant to dine while watching the sunset. Snapped the very first picture and, as is our lives, our digital camera chose just then to run our of juice! Luckily, we still had Mike's huge, old Minolta that he still insists on dragging along. The next day we went to a photo shop in town hoping they could help (even offering to pay for them to charge the digital) but they weren't able to help us. So I purchased one of those disposable cameras as our backup. On the third day, Mike realized that there was an option to charge the digital in our room after all, hidden in the bathroom outlet designed for the shaver. So, many hours later, we were back in business. (Though I'll always cherish the picture we have of me holding up the disposable camera, with the cliffs as a backdrop!)

We spent our four days in Santorini either relaxing by the hotel pool or venturing into town by going up, around, down, many winding stairs. Another funny thing, to prepare for this trip, we'd stopped taking the elevator in our apartment building at home -- neigbors would see us and get upset, thinking the elevator was broken! In the end, that was, in no way, practice for the steps we dealt with!


Sightseeing

We went to the Akritori ruins. To get there, we simply took the bus to Fira, then switched for another bus. These ruins were truly amazing to see. I really wish we'd gotten the chance to see the frescoes at the museum, but that'll have to go on my "next time" list. There's a really nice gallery right behind Fanari Villas where we bought a miniature frecoed urn as a souvenier for ourselves.

After seeing Akritori, we took a cab back to Fira and jumped out once we saw Senor Zorbas (we'd intended to have lunch there, but though it was more in town). We had great Mexican food in a stupendous setting, right on the cliff! This is also where we bought the rest of our souveniers (their pitcher, salsa dish and t-shirts).


Other Restaurants

Of the restaurants and tavernas we ate at, two of our favorites are:

Katinas -- trekked down to this great taverna. I had a roe appetizer, and we both had a really nice fish with fries. We overheard another waiter tell people at the next table that they could go in and pick out their fish before ordering. Our waiter hadn't told us that, but we were very happy with our pick, anyway. And it was nice to stroll along the wharf after we ate.

Oh, and I'm not using the word "trekked" loosely. To get to Katina's, we walked along a rough horizontal dirt path which extends from Esperas over to the big walled stairway that leads down to the wharf. I was really nervous walking this path, and told Mike, in no uncertain terms, that there was no way I was taking it when we returned. However, after walking up all those stairs that seem to go on forever -- in the heat -- I quickly changed my mind!

Ambrosia -- Went there for our last night. Fabulous setting. We were seated at an upstairs corner table and the food was absolutely delicious -- we both opted for the seafood risotto. (I understand they also own Ambrosia & Nectar, which also serves lunch). A perfect way to wrap up our stay in Santorini.


We left the next morning for our Aegean Airlines flight back to Athens. To cap it off, as we were getting out of the cab at the airport, our driver laughingly asked if we were the people who had been left off at Perivolas!

We took Aegean back to Athens and had to wait 3 1/2 hours for our next flight out. And, get this, Mike was seriously considering taking the 45-minute train ride to Thanasis, grabbing a souvlaki, then high-tailing it back to the airport! It probably could've worked, but was too risky.

To sum it up, we had an absolutely wonderful, dream-come-true vacation. Athens, Naxos and Santorini were all great in their different, special ways. Thanks to everyone on this board who helped us put this trip together (my original post was titled "Help me get to Greece"!)

To those of you planning your Greek holiday, I wish you a fabulous vacation!





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Old Jun 14th, 2005, 07:59 AM
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Well you have certainly whetted my appetite to visit this wonderful island. Sounds like renting a car for part of the time would be a good idea. I'm not crazy about driving, but if the traffic isn't too bad, I might give it a go. Really looking forward to the rest of your report.
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Old Jun 14th, 2005, 08:20 AM
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Barb -
I did a google search for Hotel Galini - but couldn't find the one on Naxos - could you post the web site address - thanks.
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Old Jun 14th, 2005, 08:22 AM
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Hi Pat - love the report! We're headed to Athens, Mykonos, Naxos & Santorini in less than 4 weeks, and our stay on Naxos is at the Hotel Galini so I'm thrilled to hear how happy you are with it!

On the downside, we have less than a day in Naxos (unfortunately the way things worked out with ferries, etc.) so am curious as to what you would recommend we do in that time? We arrive around 3:30 on one afternoon and depart around noon the next day. Should we just stick with exploring town, maybe with a visit to the castle? Any tips appreciated!

- Megan
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Old Jun 14th, 2005, 09:10 AM
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with little bit mre googling finesse - I believe I found the website:

http://www.hotelgalini.com/hotel/index.html
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Old Jun 14th, 2005, 12:19 PM
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I posted a reply but it hasn't taken -- will try again.

Carta Pisana - I got all hotel information from gonaxos.com. Thought you might like to try a different website.

Megan, You still have plenty of time to see some of Naxos. I'd definitely stick to roaming around town (by the way, the Castle tour takes only 30 minutes) You should then still have time to catch a great sunset and go out to dinner.

As I mentioned, the owners pick you up and drop you off at the ferry (make sure you work that out with them!) The ferry is only a five minute drive from the hotel, so, unless you sleep late like Mike & I did, you'll still have a few hours the next day to stroll along the waterfront or even just lounge on the beach (the weather was a little to cold for us when we were there).

Let me know if you need any other help. If not, have a wonderful trip!

Pat C.

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