# Greece Advice



## Sunshine Wanted (Apr 19, 2009)

Hi everyone.  We are looking ahead and thinking about what to do for 2010 vacation.  We are new to timesharing - so probably lots of newbie questions here!

We love sailing, so were thinking of Tradewinds out of Corfu, Greece for a week.  But, we also would want to have time to see Greece - spending at least another week exploring.  

What would you recommend?  Where do we start?  I know Athens would be a must, but just for maybe 2 nights?  Then, off to visit the islands.  But which/where?  What is a great guidebook that can help us get started?

And, finally - are there any great timeshare RCI trades that you would recommend?

It will be my hubby, myself and possibly my 25 year old son (and a friend??).   We are all active, love to see historical sites/ruins, and like casual types of vacations.  Thanks for the advice!


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## Carolinian (Apr 19, 2009)

Sunshine Wanted said:


> Hi everyone.  We are looking ahead and thinking about what to do for 2010 vacation.  We are new to timesharing - so probably lots of newbie questions here!
> 
> We love sailing, so were thinking of Tradewinds out of Corfu, Greece for a week.  But, we also would want to have time to see Greece - spending at least another week exploring.
> 
> ...



The ancient monuments in Athens are awesome, but after that there is not too much to the city. A day or two there will certainly suffice.

Something else that is awesome is the medieval perched monasteries of Meteora, but again that is a half day to day.

My favorite island is Rhodes, although I also like Corfu.  On Corfu, I found the day trip by boat to Albania to be fascinating.  I have also heard great things about Crete, but have not been there yet.  Crete is so large that I plan to do that by rental car moving point to point rather than timeshare.  Rhodes and Corfu are of a size that is managable by timeshare.  Sun Beach is the best t/s exchange on RHodes.  The old medieval city of Rhodes which is still much as it was when run by the Knights of Malta is fascinating.  The accropolis at Lindos is also a must-see, and the best way to get up to it is pay for a ride on a donkey.


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## Tacoma (Apr 23, 2009)

I agree with the poster that suggested Meteora it was worth seeing.  IMHO one of the most beautiful places on the earth is Santorini Greece.  It remains my absolute favorite place in the world.  The coor of the sea the white domed churches beautiful black sand beaches on one side and cliffs with donkey trails down on the other side of the island.  It's been years and I still think it was incredible.

Joan


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## catwgirl (Apr 23, 2009)

Don't miss Santorini!


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## Carolinian (Apr 23, 2009)

As to guidebooks, the two best series for Europe, I have found are the Rough Guides series and the Lonely Planet series.  For city guides in Europe the In Your Pocket series ( www.inyourpocket.com ) are excellent.  Lets' Go and Rick Steves also have their merits, but the first is too backpacker oriented and the last is too limited by the authors own opinions, often leaving out many sights worth seeing.  All of the above probably beat Fodors and Frommers.


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## retailman (Apr 23, 2009)

We went on a cruise out of athens 10 years ago. our best memory was the island of Patmos. This is were John wrote the book of revelation. What a 
wondeful place. We rented moepeds and went all over the Island.

Go if you can.


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## Sunshine Wanted (Apr 23, 2009)

Thanks everyone for the advice!  Now we will see if it all comes together...


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## hibbeln (Apr 24, 2009)

Rick Steve's is coming out with an "Athens & Peloponnese" guidebook in early May.  I generally like his guidebooks as they sort through and distill the top sights for you.  It makes it easier to figure out your initial itinerary.  Then go to the Rough Guides and Lonely Planet and other guides to beef it out and see what else you might want to add in.

We just got back (non-timesharing) last Sunday.


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## Carolinian (Apr 26, 2009)

hibbeln said:


> Rick Steve's is coming out with an "Athens & Peloponnese" guidebook in early May.  I generally like his guidebooks as they sort through and distill the top sights for you.  It makes it easier to figure out your initial itinerary.  Then go to the Rough Guides and Lonely Planet and other guides to beef it out and see what else you might want to add in.
> 
> We just got back (non-timesharing) last Sunday.



While I like his theory of travel, which is one I used myself before I had ever heard of Rick Steves, I find him much too opinionated on what he chooses to put or not put in his guidebooks.  He leaves out much that is more interesting than some of what he does put in.


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## KDD (Apr 27, 2009)

*Look up Matt Barrett online for info about Greece.*

For Greece, I cant imagine anyone better than Matt Barrett.  Look his info up on line for free.


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## cmh (Apr 29, 2009)

KDD said:


> For Greece, I cant imagine anyone better than Matt Barrett.  Look his info up on line for free.




I second the Matt Barrett recommendation.  We used his web site when we planned a trip to Athens and to a few Greek islands.  His advice is awesome and right on target.  We spent 2 days in Athens, and then visited 3 islands - Lesvos, Mykonos, and Santorini.  Since you are in the area, Santorini is a must.  Personally I would not recommend Mykonos although it is one of the most visited islands.  And Lesvos was so unique!  

Here is his website:   http://www.greektravel.com/


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## hibbeln (Apr 30, 2009)

Matt Barrett's information on how Greek restaurants "work" (it's a little different than here, ESPECIALLY if you are ordering fish) and also all his information essays about food/drinks were invaluable.   He just has a WEALTH of information on that website.

I like Rick Steve's as a starting point because he generally points you in the right direction for the "must sees".  When I'm just starting to plan and get a handle on a new area, I actually appreciate his opinionated ways!  Then we expand outwards from there and use lots of other guidebooks and the internet to get more info and "less travelled" areas.


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## Sunshine Wanted (May 15, 2009)

Thanks for the information!  I'll have to search his website for info.


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## Dave&Linda (Jul 18, 2009)

Patty: I know you asked the question regarding Tradewinds and Greece a couple of months ago but if you haven't already heard TW is no longer in Corfu and has moved down to Lefkas. A couple of years ago we did the trip, spent four days touring in and around Athens, did the cruise, came back to Athens and did a four-day bus tour through Peloponnesus to Olympia, up to Delphi, and on to Meteora before returning to Athens. Then we spent a final day doing a day trip to some of the islands. Thoughout the trip we followed Matt Barrett's advice for just about everything, staying at the Cecil Hotel on Athenis St., right in the middle of all the action. We also spent some time at the roof-top bar at the Attolas Hotel down the street where you get a great view of the Acropolis at night. We used the Dolphin Hellas travel agency to set up our tours. If you have any specific questions please let me know. Hope this isn't too late to help. Dave


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## hibbeln (Jul 20, 2009)

Hey!  We stayed at the Attalos Hotel last April!  (picked mostly because of that rooftop bar).  Yep, the Cecil was just a few doors down.

A little bit of Athens goes a long way.  I hadn't been there in 20 years (when I got stuck in Athens for a little over a week).....this time we spent 2 nights. Ugh.  Still just not an attractive city.  Unless you really really love urban areas, see the sites and get out.  ALL the rest of Greece is lovely.


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## gresmi (Dec 5, 2009)

We're also set for Greece, May 2010. Popular opinion is to see Athens and get out or fly into Athens, get out, and hit it on the return before getting on the plane for home. I get that. Question is: Where to go, what to do otherwise?? We've got 17 days total. Flying out of Kennedy NYC on May 11, 4 pm, arriving Athens on May 12, 9 am. Departing Athens on May 28, 12:35 pm.

We're finding that Greece (and the islands) are a BIG place, and somewhat overwhelming to plan for. We're considering Santorini, Nafplion, Crete and a couple to 3 days in Athens as our general destinations of choice so far. At this point, we're almost completely illiterate of Greece, but trying to learn every day.

Thanks for any and all suggestions and advice. Completely welcome.

Enjoy!


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## Conan (Dec 5, 2009)

We flew from Athens to Crete (it would be a long ferry ride) for a timeshare week (you need to be ready willing and able to rent a car and drive on two-lane highway and mountain roads).  

Leaving Crete it's a short ferry ride to Santorini and although we flew out from there you could take another ferry to Mykonos before departing.


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## Passepartout (Dec 5, 2009)

Gresmi, if you are into history, Greece will be one huge museum. Everyplace they stuck a shovel in the ground, they struck antiquity. I found Athens to be a sort of 'one trick pony'. The Acropolis is good for less than a day. Wandering the Placa (the old marketplace below it) is good for a few hours- mostly touristy stuff. We truly enjoyed the Archaeological Museum, but how many broken pots, no matter how ornate can you gaze at before your eyes glaze over. Your plan of 3 days there will be about right. Since the Athens Olympics, Athens is fairly easy to navigate.  It's fun to brush up on your Greek alphabet and try to parse out old signs.

We watched a video from Rick Steves on Athens and the Peloponnese, and another one of his on the Greek Islands. You'd do well to beg, borrow, buy or steal those to watch before you go. Check out www.travelvideostore.com for more choices.  A good guidebook is indispensable. I like Lonely Planet.

We really love Greece and Turkey and keep going back. Hope you do too.

Jim Ricks


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## hibbeln (Dec 7, 2009)

Rick Steve's has a new book out on Greece. I would highly suggest getting it and reading through it to get a sense of different itineraries that are possible.  While he is not as comprehensive as other guidebooks, what he does do REALLY well is weed through ALLLLLLLL the things you could possibly see (which can be so overwhelming) and picks out "These are the things you will probably want to see!"  Kind of the "best of" or "top 10" approach.  This helps a lot to get started, then you can flesh it out from other information sources.

We also struggled over where to go and what to do.  We were there over Easter (early April) last year for 11 days.   17 days will be a GREAT amount of time!

I would suggest flying into the Athens airport, making your connection and flying on upon arrival.  Then stopping into Athens for your "stay" on your way home.  That way you won't have to worry about missing your connection home.

We flew to Santorini with a connection in Athens.  Each of the islands has its own flavor.  I think the top ones that everyone considers are Santorini, Mykonos and Rhodes.  Look through Rick Steve's and see what fits your group out of all the islands.  Crete is obviously on the list, too, but it is so large it is a trip unto itself and probably deserves a whole week.

We picked Santorini as our "one" island because of.....well, that view!  And it truly was stunning.  And we were fortunate to be there at the low season so it wasn't crowded.  If you go to Santorini I would highly recommend staying in Oia because it is just so darn charming.  We stayed in a traditional cave hotel called Aris Caves.   www.ariscaves.gr   Wow!  The most hospitable hosts anywhere.  Charming to the nth degree.  GORGEOUS views.  Worth every penny.  Everyone in our group (from Grandma down to my 11 year old son) declared it the best place we'd ever stayed anywhere.  On Santorini we soaked in the ambience, rented a car for a day to do wineries and ancient ruins and sightseeing.

With 17 days (and being more in the "island season" in May) you might want to do more than one island.

We flew back to Athens and picked up a car at the airport and drove to Nafplio on the Peloponesse Peninsula.  The Peloponesse has a LOT to recommend it.  We stayed first in Nafplio/Nauplio/Nauplion (you'll see it spelled different ways) which is again very charming (can't recommend it highly enough) and handy to see Ancient Corinth, Mycenae, Tiryns, Epidauros......   After that we moved on to Olympia (wow, what an incredible site and a GREAT series of museums...the museums were so good they even kept our sons (ages 11 & almost 14) interested and we were all on some serious ancient ruins and museums burnout by that point).   With more time we would have considered adding on Monemvassia (did I spell that right?) for a night, also maybe Mystra, and driving from Olympia up across the bridge to Delphi.

I'm just throwing those things out to give you some ideas of things to check out.

The Greek people are absolutely delightful hosts in every way.  Athens is pure chaos and it is often hard to see its charms, but every place else we went in Greece was so incredibly charming that you would swear it was created just for your pleasure.

Please feel free to ask more questions or start a new Greece thread!


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## gresmi (Dec 8, 2009)

Hi Debi,
Sounds like you packed a lot of fun into your trip. How many days did you have overall? As you noticed, we are gone for 17 overall. We've got just enough experience in Europe to respect the theory of "plan, then do half of the plan". So, we're being somewhat conservative on time at each location along the way at this point.

Do you feel like Nafplio/Nafplion is doable as a day trip out of Athens? I'm interested in absorbing some of the history there. Are the any other sections of the Peloponnesus peninsula you think is a good idea?


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## hibbeln (Dec 11, 2009)

You could do Nafplio as a daytrip, but you would kick yourself.
The Peloponesse was DELIGHTFUL!  Really awesome.  Wonderful people.  Great ruins.

I'll try to reconstruct our itinerary:

Wed. night - flew out from Detroit to Amsterdam to Athens
Thurs. - arrived Athens.  Caught flight 2 1/4 hours later to Santorini

Santorini:  THursday night (arrived late, well after dark) and flew out Monday.
Stayed in Oia and LOVED it.  If you're a 20 something and want to go to discos and party and meet singles, then stay in the Fira area.  Otherwise, go to Oia (we were a large family group with grandma, 2 couples, 3 grandkids (one post-college, one in 8th grade, one in 5th grade)).  

Monday:  Flew back to Athens and picked up our rental cars and drove to the Peloponesse.  Driving straight from Athens to Nafplio took maybe slightly less than 2 hours and was easy navigating.  We meant to stop off and see the canal at Corinth but somehow missed the exit off the freeway.  We also meant to stop at Ancient Corinth on the way (yes, like Corinthians from the Bible) but that day ended up being the day that we scuttled all of our plans and took it easy.  Both those things would be easy to do IF  you got an early flight to Athens from Santorini/wherever.

Tuesday:  Explored Nafplio (cute city!) especially the Palamidi Fortress above the town which we had a ton of fun scrambling around all the ruins and exploring hidden corridors and tunnels.  Fun if you love exploring!  Take a flashlight.  This is a great town to sit in the main square at night and enjoy dinner and soak up the local culture.

Wednesday:  Went around the area and took in Ancient Mycenae, Tiryns, and Epidauros.  There are many great ruins within a 30-40 minute drive of Nafplio to choose from.

Thursday:  Drove across the "mountains", past the gorge, through the woods, to Olympia.  Stopped in some little villages sightseeing along the way.
Also went to the site of Ancient Olympia and the museums in Olympia.  We felt we cut it a little short here.  We should have spent the next morning finishing seeing the museums, but ran up again the Greek Easter holiday the next morning.

Friday:  Drove back to Athens.  Explored Athens.  By this time all the kids were so happy to have a hotel with a room with internet, so they played online later in the afternoon and watched cable t.v. (!) while we (the two couples) went on a Greek beer bender in our hotel's rooftop bar and Grandma relaxed ALONE in her room!  After the calm and friendliness of the rest of Greece, Athens is kind of like a slap in the face, hence our retreat to the hotel.  There's only so much you can take of Athens.

Saturday:  Did a walking tour of Athens in the a.m. (highly recommended to help you understand what you're looking at when you look at the ruins) then ancient sights all day.  By late afternoon we were wishing heartily that our flight out was that evening.

Sunday:  Flew home!

If we had a few extra days, the places most likely that would have been added to our itinerary would have been Monemvassia and Mystra on the Peloponesse, and then also Ancient Delphi (maybe after leaving Olympia, drive up to Delphi, then loop back to Athens from there).

We thought the pace we had was good.  Towns are small, so a few days in any one place (even Nafplio) is enough.


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## gresmi (Dec 12, 2009)

HI Deb,
Pleasure reading your post.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you stay in Oia? We're also interested in staying there. It seems to be the best choice for proximity to being close to restaurants and a little night life, but not totally embedded in a party atmosphere.

How many days do you recommend on Santorini? We're still open on our plans, with lots of responses on accomodations.

Very nice to see you got a chance to explore some of the history on the peninsula. Do you think staying in Athens, doing day trips is ok?

We've got 3 full days set up for Athens. Do you think this is a good plan?

Greg


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