Country Fun Facts:
- Continent: Europe
- Primary Language: Greek
- Currency: Euro (EUR)
- Passport Validity: Six months of remaining validity recommended (consult country’s embassy page)
- Tourist Visa Required: Not required for stays less than 90 days (consult country’s embassy page)
- Driving: On the right-hand side of the road. Slightly risky. (consult country’s embassy page)
- Famous For: Oh…where to begin? Democracy, Philosophy (think Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato), Olympic Games, Theatre, Cartography, Feta, Olives and olive oil, gyro, stunning architecture, the list goes on and on.
Basic Phrase:
Yes: Ναί (neh)
No: όχι (OH-hee)
Please: Παρακαλώ (Pa-ra-ka-lo)
Thank you: Ευχαριστώ (eff-kha-ri-STOE)
Hello: Γειά σου (YAH-soo)
Type of Trip: Semi-escorted, 10-Days through MyTourExpert (mytourexpert.com)
Month Visited and Temperature: End of September/first of October. Mid 60s to low 70 F (18-21 C)
Cities Visited: Athens, Crete, and Santorini
Santorini (Thira)
Highlights:
This was a great semi-escorted trip to Greece and Turkey (Explore Istanbul). MyTourExpert arranged all the logistics, hotels, and a few tours, the rest was up to us. This is really the best kind of trip, in my opinion. All the hard parts are taken care of and you have lots of free time to explore on your own.
For the Greece part of the tour, we spent two (2) nights and three (3) days in each city. The tour started in Athens with a city sightseeing and Acropolis Museum tour. The sightseeing tour was very similar to a Hop On/Off bus tour and worth getting an overview of the city. The Acropolis Museum is amazing, so full of history! Athens is wonderful to just roam. Thousands of years of history is everywhere! The subway/metro is pretty easy to use and incorporates some of that history. Allow extra time when you catch the Metro if you pass through either the Syntagma Square, Monastiraki, or Acropolis stations. They display historical finds from the subway excavations. We stayed at the Athens Gate Hotel with AMAZING visuals from its rooftop bar/restaurant. The final gem in Athens was The Plaka. The Plaka is in the shadow of the Acropolis and full of delicious restaurants and fun shops.
Next up was Crete . We did not do a lot of exploring in Crete, but could not miss visiting the Palace of Knossos. The legendary myth of King Minos hiring of Daedalus, a famed Athenian architect, to build a palace with an elaborate labyrinth inside designed to contain the Minotaur (mythological creature half bull and half man). Knossos is simply stunning. The tour is easy enough to set up as there are many companies that offer one, but suggest you pick a reputable one such as Viator (http://www.viator.com/). It is a short bus trip to the site. Also suggest you bring water with you. There may be a “gift store” there that offers a bite to eat and drink, but it will most likely be busy.
Palace of Knossos (Crete)
Acropolis (Athens)
Santorini (Thira)
The last stop in Greece was the beautiful Island of Santorini (or officially Thira). For this part of the trip, we took a high speed ferry from Crete. Whilst we did not experience any issue with the ferry, I have been told that the ferry service can be unreliable (public transportation strikes) with little notice, so if you are planning to use the ferry system pay attention to news and have a backup plan. Our transfer representative met us at the ferry landing and took us to our hotel. So thankful as I am not sure we would have found it on our own! We stayed at the Cliffside Suites (www.cliffside.gr). Wow! Wow! Cliffside Suites has been newly renovated and refurbished since we stayed but was even wonderful at the time. Getting around is pretty easy and inexpensive on public transportation, which I would suggest verses renting a scooter or car. Driving is a bit risky and you will not have to worry about parking or petrol refueling. We did not book any tours for our short stay but would suggest a winery tour and a visit to the Akrotiri historical site (high on my bucket list). Like Italy’s Pompeii, Akrotiri was destroyed in an eruption (sometime in the 16th century BC) freezing/preserving the city in time. The site has been in some stage of excavation since the mid 1860s, but started in earnest in around 1967. If you are planning a trip to Akrotiri suggest you check and recheck that it is open to the public as it has closed down in the past for a variety of reasons. I could live blissfully on Santorini for the rest of my days. Best places to see and shop are Oia and Fira. Best places to eat, almost anywhere. Find yourself a Cliffside restaurant towards sunset (may need a reservation depending on the time of year) and enjoy!
Overall Assessment of Trip:
I loved everything about this tour package with one exception. It was too short, which was really on us not the tour company. MyTourExpert was easy to deal with and we had no in trip issues. I would not change a thing of the trip. I would recommend both the company and the locations.
Travel Tips:
Dress etiquette: Greece is slightly conservative when it comes to clothing, so please be respectful of that. What does that mean? There are exceptions for everything but generally, NO swimsuits in restaurants/bars, wear shoes (no bare feet) outside of the beach, NO short shorts or tube tops, cover your shoulders and legs if visiting a religious location. The Greek tend to dress up a bit a night when dinning out.
Stairs: In Santorini, be prepared for stairs and more stairs. The island has a beach side and a cliff side. The cliff side is chopped full of stairs, so keep that in mind for all that you do (e.g. shoes, luggage, drinking, etc.). In Athens, there were a few locations that had stairs to contend with (Parthenon) but nothing too taxing.
Cruise ship dump: If you do any research on Santorini you will come across notation of the crowds (mostly on the cliff side). Cruise ships dump thousands of tourists off about 0830’ish most mornings all year long. Just be prepared for a lot of people in between Oia and Fira, most notably when the sun sets. The glorious Aegean sunsets from Santorini’s cliff side are breath taking to say the least and can be very crowded. When choosing lodgings, it is always good to thoroughly read the reviews to see if crowding is an issue. We did not experience crowding at any time at the Cliffside Suites.
Flushing toilet paper: Most places throughout Greece, you cannot put toilet paper down the loo; you put it the bin beside. Just roll or bunch it up, put it in the bin, wash your hands and move on. Greek sewage pipes are often small and or old. The loos will handle a small amount of paper, so no need to panic if you forget once or twice.
Public Loos: Public loos tend to be limited to airports, bus/train stations, and occasionally a very few in tourist-heavy town centers. Cafes/restaurant are the best option in an emergency, but it is polite to buy something for the privilege of use. I would also suggest carrying a travel size tissue pack and hand sanitizer just in case.
Packing Tips:
Luggage: For this trip we each took one (1) 24” soft-side wheeled suitcase as our checked bag and one (1) smaller personal size bag that we carried on to the plane. I would NOT take that size bag with me again to Santorini; I would stick to a lightweight carry-on. Depending on where you arrive (ferry or airport) and where you are staying you will have stairs to content with. Keep it light and self-manageable.
Note: Do not forget your TSA approved luggage lock(s).
Personal carry-on bag contained: sweatpants, one (1) pair of undies, travel slippers/socks, blowup travel pillow, cashmere travel wrap, earplugs, earphones, Kindle, snacks, glasses/contact, and toothbrush/paste. Highly recommend a change of clothes in your carry-on if you check a bag.
Toiletries: Even though we checked a bag, we streamlined our toiletry bags to essentials. There was no need to bring a hairdryer as the hotels had them, either in the room or via the front desk.
Note: Most of European hotels do not supply washcloths, so if you need them for your trip you will need to pack them. I have packed old washcloths and tossed them. You can also buy a pack of 6-8 inexpensive ($3-5) ones at Target or compressed towels (just add water) from Amazon.
Note: Do not forget to pack a European plug adapter(s) and a converter.
Clothing/Shoes:
Because this trip was combined with a visit to Turkey, which was cooler, we packed a bit more to accommodate the weather. Below is a list of the items we packed:
3-4 Short sleeve t-shirts/tank
1-2 Long sleeve t-shirts
4 Pairs of pants (one (1) dressy black pair, two (2) linen, one (1) denim)
11 Undies
2-3 Bras
10 Pairs of socks
2 Pairs of PJs
1 Pair of sweatpants
2 Pairs of shoes (one (1) pair of ankle boots and one (1) sandals)
1 Lightweight utility jacket
1 Lightweight scarf
1 Crossbody anti-thief handbag (Pacsafe in black)
This trip was before packing cubes became a thing. Also, we did not choose to do laundry during this trip.