Travel: Greece - General
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Thk you for your advises, could you recommend which islands that I should not miss. Have already booked the flight (Kiasu) what else, now must plan for the island hopping. We are not in the party scene anymore, so must choose family oriented place.
Can help which island is good for family vacation.
looks like the euro is down a bit so must make use of the opportuity. Learning alot from this forum, how to be Kiasu, Heeeee -
Don’t miss Santorini!
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Don’t foget to visit the Parthenon.
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ooptimizer:
Don't foget to visit the Parthenon.
It's funny how it reminds me of how \"un-cultured\" I was 'cos till today, it still looks like a rock formation to me despite the vivid \"painting & pointing\" of 3D images
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Check out this website - - http://www.thesaurus.gr/
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mum03:
Thk you for your advises, could you recommend which islands that I should not miss.
You may wish to go to:
1) Within the Cyclades e.g. Tinos, Mykonos, (near Mykonos), Paros, Santorini. These were some recommendations we received from fellow travellers who had been there.
2) Crete Island
3) Corfu island
Crete and Corfu are popular with locals & tourists. Never been there but my Greek friends used to sent me pictures of their family vacations in these two islands -
Pls have Santorini, Mykonos, Crete and Corfu on top of your list, and if you have more time to spare, only visit the Greece mainland unless you are a big fan of greek history.
Were there 7 yrs ago, just before the Olympic Game. Managed to catch the preparation for the event. Joined tour, only covered Greece mainland but not the santorini & Mykonos. Exploring to Santorini & Mykonos was out of our plan, only decided when we reached there (coz some of the tour members are going and said "must GO", then asking the local tour guide to make flight/accommodation to the islands and detoured on the last day. Luckily we made it and no regret to spend the most memorable and most romantic days and nites on the islands…the sky is so BLUE…is dark BLUE and the sea comes in waves of green, blue and dark blue.
Oboy…oboy…if there is a second chance, sure visit the islands again. And remember to stay in the cave house…which i didn’t the last visit. -
floatinggate:
WOW the way you said it, It makes me more deterrmine to visit the islands, now as a typical singaporean, for retail therapy, what are the best things to buy in Greece, and food wise what do you recommend????Pls have Santorini, Mykonos, Crete and Corfu on top of your list, and if you have more time to spare, only visit the Greece mainland unless you are a big fan of greek history.
Were there 7 yrs ago, just before the Olympic Game. Managed to catch the preparation for the event. Joined tour, only covered Greece mainland but not the santorini & Mykonos. Exploring to Santorini & Mykonos was out of our plan, only decided when we reached there (coz some of the tour members are going and said \"must GO\", then asking the local tour guide to make flight/accommodation to the islands and detoured on the last day. Luckily we made it and no regret to spend the most memorable and most romantic days and nites on the islands....the sky is so BLUE..is dark BLUE and the sea comes in waves of green, blue and dark blue.
Oboy..oboy....if there is a second chance, sure visit the islands again. And remember to stay in the cave house....which i didn't the last visit.
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I did backpacking there many many years back. Visited Sifnos, Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes, and Patmos, plus some parts of mainland (Olympia, Epidaurus...).
For preparation, I used this site...it's super good. http://www.greektravel.com/
Sifnos - nice quiet island, quite pretty.
Santornini - beautiful sunset (if you are not staying at one of those hotel with sunset view, you have to stake out a certain point....the view and pictures are amazing), I did a day tour that included a volcanic island. Must go.
Mykonos - only if you are into clubbing, I hated that island cos of the *%^&^% person whom we rented room from. Nothing much doing cos I don't drink. If you do, you'll like it.
Rhodes - liked the place, sightseeing via bus, went to some nature reserve thingy....
Patmos - visited the cave that supposedly St John was in when penning Revelations. Loved this wee island cos there was this really great seafood place that served fresh sea urchins...and they were sweet!!!! Never had that before. But it's a tiny tiny place.
Mainland Greece:
Epidaurus - everyone goes to that single point in amphitheatre.
Olympia - it was very much smaller than I thought.
Warning....I managed to get ferry timings from some other website and ambitiously planned to zip around the islands. Went to a travel agency in Athens to get tickets and the agent nearly fainted at our ambitions (every 2 days take 1 ferry type). Anyway, got the advanced tickets for quite a few islands at one go. Thing is, ferries are not on time. The only on time ones will be those departing from the Piraeus port - all else are dependent on luck. We spent hours waiting at Sifnos....not sure if the ferry was going to be here. Point of story....don't buy all your ferry tickets too far in advance, cos if one is late, it could seriously screw up your plans.
Regards stay, we only booked a hotel in Athens and Sifnos. For the rest of the trip, we just went with those that appeared at the ferry terminals. It's pretty ok, just that you won't get choice locations; and you might get mini-panic attacks. But that's what I got for not knowing where I will be when.
If you are going early May, it's not peak season - there should be rooms available. if you are going late May/June....advised to book early....rooms there go very fast and they may require minimum booking (I recall a minimum 7 day stay in some hotels in Santorini).
Enjoy the trip....it was really amazing for me! Sorry, details a bit hazy after so many years. -
Foodwise, we ate lotsa tsatsiki (a bit like coleslaw) and wraps. There are 2 main types of wines in Greece and both are very nice. Typically ate on the go in Athens and in cafes/restaurants on the smaller islands.
Shopping:
Rhodes - I recall this shop in Rhodes that sold towels.....these look like works of art; along a main shopping street. I still have framed and displayed one towel with a rose imprinted. No one knew that this is towel....everyone thought it was art. Could not find these towels anywhere else.
Athens - there is this sandal maker cum poet, Melissinos. Find him out - hope he's still alive. It's a tiny shop in a bustling market. Apparently, the Beatles visited him many times. http://www.athensguide.com/poet.html
Athens - wines of Greece: Retsina and Ouzo. There is a particular shop that stocked loads of this...it was very pretty, not sure if its the same shop recommended in the link below but I recall it's in Plaka (or whatever touristy area in Athens) . I got some bottles of it, but it wasn't to our taste.
BTW, it's ok to get souvenirs in the touristy part of Athens. We compared with the islands and Athens was still cheaper - stuff like little statues of the thinking man. A bit surprised cos i had thought islands would be cheaper. Other ideas found here: http://www.athensguide.com/gifts.html
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