Summer in Greece - Athens and Islands
Oct 11th, 2010, 07:27 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 184
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Summer in Greece - Athens and Islands
Greece in June this year was HOT (like 104 degrees hot) - but we had a fabulous time! It was just beautiful and I would unhesitatingly recommend any of the hotels we stayed at (thanks to Fodors and TripAdvisor members, and a little luck.) So here goes...
We got in to Athens in the early afternoon and booked a tour with George's Taxi, since we had 10 hours until our night ferry to Santorini. (We had bought all our ferry tickets online before we left, which I definitely recommend. We used Amphitron, which was fine except we needed to switch one of our tickets and they have a 15% change fee which we were not notified of when I bought the tickets) Our driver was Kostas, and he was great. Very helpful and knowledgeable. We went to Cape Sounion, which was lovely and we went to the 007 Spa in the Cape Sounion Hotel which was OK - no real relaxation room, so if that's what you're looking for in a spa, look elsewhere. The treatments were good and it was great to get out of the heat and into a nice air-conditioned hotel for a bit! We did have an issue with George's Taxi with a price difference between what had been decided and what had been charged. I emailed George when I got home, and that is (hopefully) being resolved. I haven't seen the money yet, but he did agree to refund it.
We got dropped off at our ferry and waited around a few hours for it. We got the an inside room and I was sure glad not to be sleeping out on the deck - it got pretty cold at night! We also didn't feel that we would have needed the more luxurious room - it was night so there wasn't anything to see through the window. In the morning, went out onto the deck to watch the sunset and our arrival in Santorini.
In Santorini, we stayed in Oia Old Houses. We had a lovely little apartment with a small but stunning balcony overlooking the whole Caldera! We had a little kitchenette and sitting room, as well as a tiny bedroom. Only issue was, we had ordered a room with two beds and the apartment only had one (I love my friend and all, but we're not THAT close!) We thought about finding another place, and looked around a bit, but it was just too hot so we decided to stay - and in the end were very glad that we did. It was also pretty close to the road so not as much steps to drag our luggage as some of the "fancier" hotels. (which counted for a lot in 104 degree weather!)
On our first day in Santorini we took the Caldera-volcano hike-hot springs -Thirassia tour which was really nice. We never did get to see the famous Oia sunset in all its glory, because the heat was so intense that the haze never quite moved away, but we tried every night! walking around looking at he shops and views was wonderful, and the photographic setting was amazing! You almost couldn't take a bad picture if you tried. We went to Fira one day and after exploring town, walked down to the port. We had wanted to take the donkeys back up for the experience - until we saw them! They were huge! So we got a little nervous and took the cable car instead. (Yes, i wish I hadn't chickened out and had taken a donkey ride!) We also walked down to the port in Oia on our last morning, and there's a place to sit and watch the water, or even swim, which was very pretty.
We spent 3.5 days in Santorini and then took the (seasick inducing!) high speed ferry to Heraklion in Crete. Definitely the worst three hours of the trip! But we made it in one piece. We rented a car from AutoTravel.gr and they picked us up at the port. We had a good experience with the car rental (other than some hidden fees, which seemed to be a theme in our trip).
Though I tried to learn a bit of the Greek alphabet before I left, it didn't really happen and navigating to our hotel in Heraklion was an adventure! After many stops to ask people, we arrived at The Galaxy Hotel. This was a lovely (highly recommeded by me) 5* hotel that we booked for an awesome price on Orbitz.com. The rooms were small but clean and pretty and luxurious feeling, and the staff was superb - they couldn't do enough for us. As it was late at night, they let us park our car in the "no parking" spot in front of the hotel for the night. In the morning, when we checked out (we were headed to Knossos and then Chania) they offered to let us park the car there again after Knossos because we wanted to go to the museums. They were just really nice and that always makes for a better stay.
We headed to Knossos. When we got there, we wanted to take the group tour. The tour guides tried very hard to get us to take an individual tour (for 8 times the price!) but we waited a bit and some other people joined us. The tour was OK - I'd give it a 6 out of 10, but definitely better that seeing it on our own, since it's hard to know what you're looking at, and they give you the background and history and stories. So I would recommend it, even though I wasn't so thrilled with our particular guide. She spent more time trying to convince us that Greek people were really wonderful, contrary to popular opinion (I didn't have anything against Greek people to begin with, so she wasn't really contributing anything there) then explaining the site. The site was fascinating, and even though I love archeaology, I guess I am not a purist, because I thought the "restoration" work was pretty cool, whether or not it is accurate. It gives you more of a feel for what the site might have looked like than just seeing ruins. The ancients built some pretty amazing things!
After Knossos, we went back to Heraklion to visit the archeological museum - very worthwhile. Then we headed along the coast to Chania. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful drive.
In Chania, we stayed at the Hotel Belmodo. I had been considering the Porto Veneziano, and almost chose that one because there weren't too many reviews about Belmondo (although every one there was, was positive) but in the end I decided to go for charm over knowing for sure it was a decent hotel - and boy did we make the right decision! We had the most incredible room, clean and beautifully decorated with a balcony the size of a bedroom overlooking the harbor. All I could say is WOW! I would stay here again in a heartbeat. They also serve a delicious breakfast every morning, brought to your balcony. (Did I mention the amazing balcony??)
From Chania, we took day trips to Elafonisis beach (gorgeous!!) and Samaria Gorge (great experience!)
Be aware (we weren't) that at the end of Samaria Gorge, there is only one ferry back a day so if you go in the early morning to avoid the heat, you wait 5 hours for the ferry. It was fine, it just would have been nice to know - so now you know! Not much to do in town - there are some restaurants, a gorgeous rocky shoreline, and there is one restaurant that has an internet cafe which helps while away a few hours. It was a super windy day (ie - trees being bent in half) so we couldn't just stay at the beach for 5 hours.
After a (too short!) stay in Chania, we took a flight to Athens. We took a taxi from the airport to our hotel - Hotel O&B. That was our "splurge"hotel, all the others were under 100 euro a night. And it was a really amazing hotel! Very modern design, staff was incredible - they went out of their way in every way for us. And the beds were heavenly - I'm tempted to buy one for myself! The neighborhood looked a little sketchy, but so did most neighborhoods in Athens, and it was totally fine, even for two women.
In Athens, we went to the Jewish Museum, the National Archeological Museum (which is incredible - and a little overwhelming...44 rooms of statues...44 rooms of Greek vases...etc.!) Next day, we took a tour of the Acropolis. Again a group tour - we had to wait a little while for a group to form, but it was totally worth it to know what you are seeing. There is scaffolding up, as they are renovating the Parthenon, but it's still an incredible sight! The new Archeological museum is pretty cool, and just the right size - a lot to see but not too much. They have a great balcony where you can have a meal or drink overlooking the Acropolis.
On our last day, we took a day trip to Delphi. Also, highly recommended. The wonderful thing about Delphi, is that it's not just ruins - it's ruins a gorgeous mountain setting, so you can enjoy it even if you're not into ruins. Only thing i would change about the tour, was give us more time to look around in town. They just let you stop at one souvineer store for about 15 minutes - I assume the tour company gets commission from that store.
And that was it! Took a taxi to the airport the next morning and left with wonderful memories of a beautiful country and hopes to go back some day to see all the things we didn't have time for on this trip! (And maybe go back to our amazing balcony in Chania
We got in to Athens in the early afternoon and booked a tour with George's Taxi, since we had 10 hours until our night ferry to Santorini. (We had bought all our ferry tickets online before we left, which I definitely recommend. We used Amphitron, which was fine except we needed to switch one of our tickets and they have a 15% change fee which we were not notified of when I bought the tickets) Our driver was Kostas, and he was great. Very helpful and knowledgeable. We went to Cape Sounion, which was lovely and we went to the 007 Spa in the Cape Sounion Hotel which was OK - no real relaxation room, so if that's what you're looking for in a spa, look elsewhere. The treatments were good and it was great to get out of the heat and into a nice air-conditioned hotel for a bit! We did have an issue with George's Taxi with a price difference between what had been decided and what had been charged. I emailed George when I got home, and that is (hopefully) being resolved. I haven't seen the money yet, but he did agree to refund it.
We got dropped off at our ferry and waited around a few hours for it. We got the an inside room and I was sure glad not to be sleeping out on the deck - it got pretty cold at night! We also didn't feel that we would have needed the more luxurious room - it was night so there wasn't anything to see through the window. In the morning, went out onto the deck to watch the sunset and our arrival in Santorini.
In Santorini, we stayed in Oia Old Houses. We had a lovely little apartment with a small but stunning balcony overlooking the whole Caldera! We had a little kitchenette and sitting room, as well as a tiny bedroom. Only issue was, we had ordered a room with two beds and the apartment only had one (I love my friend and all, but we're not THAT close!) We thought about finding another place, and looked around a bit, but it was just too hot so we decided to stay - and in the end were very glad that we did. It was also pretty close to the road so not as much steps to drag our luggage as some of the "fancier" hotels. (which counted for a lot in 104 degree weather!)
On our first day in Santorini we took the Caldera-volcano hike-hot springs -Thirassia tour which was really nice. We never did get to see the famous Oia sunset in all its glory, because the heat was so intense that the haze never quite moved away, but we tried every night! walking around looking at he shops and views was wonderful, and the photographic setting was amazing! You almost couldn't take a bad picture if you tried. We went to Fira one day and after exploring town, walked down to the port. We had wanted to take the donkeys back up for the experience - until we saw them! They were huge! So we got a little nervous and took the cable car instead. (Yes, i wish I hadn't chickened out and had taken a donkey ride!) We also walked down to the port in Oia on our last morning, and there's a place to sit and watch the water, or even swim, which was very pretty.
We spent 3.5 days in Santorini and then took the (seasick inducing!) high speed ferry to Heraklion in Crete. Definitely the worst three hours of the trip! But we made it in one piece. We rented a car from AutoTravel.gr and they picked us up at the port. We had a good experience with the car rental (other than some hidden fees, which seemed to be a theme in our trip).
Though I tried to learn a bit of the Greek alphabet before I left, it didn't really happen and navigating to our hotel in Heraklion was an adventure! After many stops to ask people, we arrived at The Galaxy Hotel. This was a lovely (highly recommeded by me) 5* hotel that we booked for an awesome price on Orbitz.com. The rooms were small but clean and pretty and luxurious feeling, and the staff was superb - they couldn't do enough for us. As it was late at night, they let us park our car in the "no parking" spot in front of the hotel for the night. In the morning, when we checked out (we were headed to Knossos and then Chania) they offered to let us park the car there again after Knossos because we wanted to go to the museums. They were just really nice and that always makes for a better stay.
We headed to Knossos. When we got there, we wanted to take the group tour. The tour guides tried very hard to get us to take an individual tour (for 8 times the price!) but we waited a bit and some other people joined us. The tour was OK - I'd give it a 6 out of 10, but definitely better that seeing it on our own, since it's hard to know what you're looking at, and they give you the background and history and stories. So I would recommend it, even though I wasn't so thrilled with our particular guide. She spent more time trying to convince us that Greek people were really wonderful, contrary to popular opinion (I didn't have anything against Greek people to begin with, so she wasn't really contributing anything there) then explaining the site. The site was fascinating, and even though I love archeaology, I guess I am not a purist, because I thought the "restoration" work was pretty cool, whether or not it is accurate. It gives you more of a feel for what the site might have looked like than just seeing ruins. The ancients built some pretty amazing things!
After Knossos, we went back to Heraklion to visit the archeological museum - very worthwhile. Then we headed along the coast to Chania. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful drive.
In Chania, we stayed at the Hotel Belmodo. I had been considering the Porto Veneziano, and almost chose that one because there weren't too many reviews about Belmondo (although every one there was, was positive) but in the end I decided to go for charm over knowing for sure it was a decent hotel - and boy did we make the right decision! We had the most incredible room, clean and beautifully decorated with a balcony the size of a bedroom overlooking the harbor. All I could say is WOW! I would stay here again in a heartbeat. They also serve a delicious breakfast every morning, brought to your balcony. (Did I mention the amazing balcony??)
From Chania, we took day trips to Elafonisis beach (gorgeous!!) and Samaria Gorge (great experience!)
Be aware (we weren't) that at the end of Samaria Gorge, there is only one ferry back a day so if you go in the early morning to avoid the heat, you wait 5 hours for the ferry. It was fine, it just would have been nice to know - so now you know! Not much to do in town - there are some restaurants, a gorgeous rocky shoreline, and there is one restaurant that has an internet cafe which helps while away a few hours. It was a super windy day (ie - trees being bent in half) so we couldn't just stay at the beach for 5 hours.
After a (too short!) stay in Chania, we took a flight to Athens. We took a taxi from the airport to our hotel - Hotel O&B. That was our "splurge"hotel, all the others were under 100 euro a night. And it was a really amazing hotel! Very modern design, staff was incredible - they went out of their way in every way for us. And the beds were heavenly - I'm tempted to buy one for myself! The neighborhood looked a little sketchy, but so did most neighborhoods in Athens, and it was totally fine, even for two women.
In Athens, we went to the Jewish Museum, the National Archeological Museum (which is incredible - and a little overwhelming...44 rooms of statues...44 rooms of Greek vases...etc.!) Next day, we took a tour of the Acropolis. Again a group tour - we had to wait a little while for a group to form, but it was totally worth it to know what you are seeing. There is scaffolding up, as they are renovating the Parthenon, but it's still an incredible sight! The new Archeological museum is pretty cool, and just the right size - a lot to see but not too much. They have a great balcony where you can have a meal or drink overlooking the Acropolis.
On our last day, we took a day trip to Delphi. Also, highly recommended. The wonderful thing about Delphi, is that it's not just ruins - it's ruins a gorgeous mountain setting, so you can enjoy it even if you're not into ruins. Only thing i would change about the tour, was give us more time to look around in town. They just let you stop at one souvineer store for about 15 minutes - I assume the tour company gets commission from that store.
And that was it! Took a taxi to the airport the next morning and left with wonderful memories of a beautiful country and hopes to go back some day to see all the things we didn't have time for on this trip! (And maybe go back to our amazing balcony in Chania
Oct 12th, 2010, 05:15 AM
#2
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 4,205
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for your very informative report! It was particularly valuable that you told what you thought of the various tour situations -- so helpful for other newcomers. And it was also useful that you were clear about the weather and how it affected your actions ... many people (even myself after 9 trips) just look at the monthly averages and take them as gospel -- Nope, you CAN have a heat wave in Greece, just as in your hometown.
Oct 12th, 2010, 03:56 PM
#4
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,435
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I am so happy you had a great trip to Greece. I have been many times and I do know about the heat. It can slow you down. I know why everyone wants to leave Athens in the summer. Next time drive around the Peloponnese and the Pelion Pennisula is fabulous.
Yipper
Yipper
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
oneillchris
Europe
42
Feb 25th, 2007 08:42 AM
