Recommendations for escorted trip to Greece for 22 year old woman
 

My friend's daughter bought airline tickets from the US to Greece to participate in a musical event that has been cancelled. The daughter would still like to go to Greece, leaving mid-June of 2009 but the parents want an escorted trip, as she would be alone and has not traveled much.

She is flexible with the travel times, which the change fee allows. She'd like the escorted trip to be 7 to 10 days.

Since I like to travel, I was asked for advice but I've never been to Greece and don't know much about it. I threw out names of companies such as Globus, Tauck, Maupintour, Trafalgar, and said to call AAA.

Maybe you can help with something more interesting or creative. Thank you very much!

Check these:

http://www.tourvacationstogo.com/singles.cfm

Check out: www.intrepidtravel.com.au/trips/ASE
www.peregrineadventures.com
www.imaginative-traveller.com

Suggestion - Kontiki tours are reasonable and cater to folks under 35. From my experience, the popular tour companies like Globus, Trafalgar, Insight etc. have much older travelers.

Thanks for the replies. I even used Peregrine for a trip one time, but didn't know they did Greece.

Contiki tours are a younger crowd (most tours will be age 40+), but they are also known as a party tour. Trafalgar also has tours that are for 21-38 year olds so a little less party age than Contiki.
http://www.trafalgartours.com/breakaway-for-21-38s-2009

How old is the daughter?

Oh, sorry! Didn't look at the title closely enough. My daughter backpacked to India, Nepal, Thailand, etc on her own when she was only 18. Greece, by comparison, will be easy. :-)

It seems as if your friends have over-protected this 22-year-old just a bit!! Does SHE want an escorted tour or just Hovermom & HoverDad? Anyway, I flicked thru those Trafalgar tours, and I think a good choice might be the Greek Island Hopper 2009.

Why? Because the other tours using a cruise ship are on that Louis line with all the recent bad reviews--and they rush u on & off isles. The Island-hopper takes u on fast-ferries to 2 islands (alas, the overly popular Mykonos & Santorini, but it's a start!) & gives u 3 days, mainly at leisure, on each island...time to link up with other new friends in the group & do fun stuff.

Finally, I would suggest that she not book a flight out immediately on the return to Athens -- rather, 3 days later. This would give her a chance to do something on her own, or with a tour-friend, AFTER she's become familiar with traveling in Greece.

One terrific 2-day trip would be by bus (just 2.5 hours each way) to Nafplio... a STUNNING World Heritage city on the bay of Argos. I've been there as a solo female, very comfortable on my own, here's a slide show of its delights:
htto://travel.webshots.com/slideshow/55199579dJbWv
a fine budget hotel there is Leto; overlooking town & bay.
- OR if she wanted it as a "package" there's a tour that would also take her to 2 famous Ancient Sites and STILL give her a full afternoon evening & morning At Leisure to enjoy Nafplio as depicted in the slide show...
http://www.chatours.gr/sub_cat_page.asp#7

This would not be the cheapest overall trip, but it would give the parents the security of an escorted-group itinerary, plus the opportunity for a SAFE foray on her own, as an adult.

Actually, if I were 22 and wanted to visit the islands without taking ferries (personally, I'd take the ferries on my own), I'd check out www.easycruise.com.

tut-tut thursdaysd!! YOu forget the point! This young adult's parents are not trying to avoid the ferries ... they are frightened of her actually taking a trip on her own without a tour guide -- and on Easy Cruise she would (gulp) be on her own.

Good one, travellerjan! :-D My daughter (the one who went to India on her own at 18 years old) just flew from England to Brazil, and arrived in Rio yesterday.

What I didn't mention before, is her trip at age 18 was the making of her. She came back full of self confidence, and went on to get a good degree at university. Was I worried while she was away? Yes, of course! But you have to let young people spread their wings - and they are a lot more capable of looking out for themselves than we oldsters sometimes think. :-)

<i>Contiki tours are a younger crowd (most tours will be age 40+)</i>

I assume you mean most tours OTHER THAN Contiki?. My daughter went on a Contiki tour when she was 19 and the MAXIMUM age was 35. She had a great time, and she isn't a partier at all. They went out, and had fun, but it wasn't like a co-ed freshman dorm!

Oh dear, are we back in culture-shock land where European parents and American parents do it differently? I'm a European living in the US and I can't get over the wrapping-in-cotton-wool syndrome.
I'm with thursdaysd on Easy Cruise, great idea and good prices too. You get to see a lot of Greek islands very painlessly if that's what you want.

And I'm an American living in Europe. My daughter was born in Houston, so there is no culture divide here! :-)

There is one thing no one has mentioned here. IMHO Greece is a very safe place to visit. Your friend could travel to Greece independently, take a couple two or three day tours through a company like Chat, and spend a few days in Athens by herself seeing the sights. If she prefers to go through a travel agent to make her parents feel more secure, she could look at Fantasy Travel in Athens for all reservations. She would then have a contact at Fantasy should there be any travel problems while there. This option offers the best of both worlds. Independence and the structure her parents need.

Thanks