Travelleing to Greece - Recommendations

[Huntingwhale]

I am going to Greece next week and am looking for any advice/tips from any other CPers who might have travelled there. There was nothing in the travel thread.

Basically I am going to

Crete
Mykonos
Athens.

About 4 days each.

In Crete (Chania) we plan on going to Elafonisi Beach, a water park, and taking a day trip to Santorini. In Santorini we booked a 4 hour tour with a reputable company that will take us to 6 major sites.

On the last day in Crete, we'll drive to Heraklion and spend a night there. We then take a ferry to Mykonos the next day. I haven't really planned anything there, so it's pretty wide open. We spend 4 nights there, then fly to Athens.

Athens we are staying close the Acropolis.

Looking for any suggestions or recommendations from anyone who might have gone. I've heard that Athens has crazy pickpockets, maybe the worst in Europe, in particular on the metro. Cops are pretty non-existent in the metro from what I've read. Anyone have any bad experiences there?

I'm renting a car in Crete and Mykonos (definitely not Athens). But one question I had for anyone who has driven there before, is about the roundabouts. I can't really get a clear answer or find a video about it, but I read roundabouts are the opposite of what they are here. In the sense that cars coming into the circle have the right of way, and cars in the circle have to yield. Any truth to this? Basically I've heard Greeks are horrible drivers, but I'd like to have a good idea of how they work before I end up being ''that tourist guy''.

I'm super excited to visit Greece. It looks stunning, has great weather, and some of the best food in the world. Any general advice would be greatly appreciated! Places to see, places to eat, where to avoid, tipping customs, etc.

Would also be a good idea for a mod to link this to the main travel thread.

[Flamenspiel]

nm

[troutman]

In the Cyclades, I liked most Naxos, Paros, Santorini and Folegandros. These islands are small enough that you can get around on a scooter rental.

Mykonos is a big LGBT party destination. Ios is a party destination for European bros (like Spring Break all the time).

I might suggest 4 days is too much time on the smaller islands - spend one day on 3-4 islands. 2 days might be enough for the highlights in Athens.

Be prepared for people smoking everywhere in public.

[CliffFletcher]

Athens is a ####hole. Give yourself enough time to see the Parthenon and the museum of ancient history (1-2 days) and GTFO of there.

Find out when Brits (and to a lesser extent Italians) have their breaks and flood en masse to certain islands. Avoid those times. I've never been to Crete, but from what I've heard you'll want to maximize your time there.

I wouldn't recommend driving in that part of the world. In fact, you probably want to avoid even sitting at the front of the bus where you can see what the driver is doing.

[Fuzz]

Ios at about 8:30 am. Definitely a party island.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by troutman

In the Cyclades, I liked most Naxos, Paros, Santorini and Folegandros. These islands are small enough that you can get around on a scooter rental.

Mykonos is a big LGBT party destination. Ios is a party destination for European bros (like Spring Break all the time).

I might suggest 4 days is too much time on the smaller islands - spend one day on 3-4 islands. 2 days might be enough for the highlights in Athens.

Be prepared for people smoking everywhere in public.

Mykonos definitely is a party destination (a poor man's Ibiza), but party season dies down at the end of August and the bro crowd seems to dissipate afterwards. We aren't going there for the parties other then maybe a night or 2. But overall it looks like a cool place.

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Athens is a ####hole. Give yourself enough time to see the Parthenon and the museum of ancient history (1-2 days) and GTFO of there.

Find out when Brits (and to a lesser extent Italians) have their breaks and flood en masse to certain islands. Avoid those times. I've never been to Crete, but from what I've heard you'll want to maximize your time there.

I wouldn't recommend driving in that part of the world. In fact, you probably want to avoid even sitting at the front of the bus where you can see what the driver is doing.

I've heard the same thing about Athens. The more I read, the more I envision it being true. Definitely going to have to be on our toes in some areas. However the international flight back to Canada departs from there, so we figured 3 nights would be enough to see what we need to see.

I've read driving in Mykonos and Crete isn't too bad. Just have to drive defensively, be sober and gtfo the way when cars line up behind you. Make sure you have the proper insurance.

[DiracSpike]

I was there three years ago, went to Santorini, Ios, and Athens for a day because my flight left from there.

Sounds like you have your itenerary figured and I don't want to throw doubt on it but Santorini is amazing, something you'll definitely have to see before you die. The landscape is incredible, and there's lots of beaches on the island to explore by quad. If you're going with a SO it's probably one of the most romantic places on earth, and even if you're there solo or with bros it has a surprisngly good party scene as well. Not sure how you're getting around islands but if you're going by ferry from Crete to Mykonos Santorini will almost certainly be a stop on that route anyways...just sayin!

Ios is definitely more of a party place but not all that different from Mykonos from what I've heard.

Athens is sketchy. I was there for around 24 hours and my plan was to stop at the parthenon on the way to the airport but I never made it there. My experience started with getting taken for a ride in a cab from the port and I basically had to hop out at a red light to avoid going wherever this guy was trying to drive me. The next morning walking around was eye opening, the city is dirty and crowded even by Euro standards and I didn't feel like trying to brave all the pickpockets and others at the parthenon tourist trap, plus I was tired from the islands. I do wish I had checked it out but be prepared for Athens to be a bit of a shock, the islands are infinitely better.

Make sure to try the gyros and crepes, both amazing and are dirt cheap. There's lots of hole in the wall restaurants that don't look like much but they're amazing, had some incredible lamb meals with wine for maybe 12 euros.

[Fuzz]

I vaguely remember buying a 5 litre plastic jug of wine at the store in Santorini. The next morning was not kind to me.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by DiracSpike

Sounds like you have your itenerary figured and I don't want to throw doubt on it but Santorini is amazing, something you'll definitely have to see before you die. The landscape is incredible, and there's lots of beaches on the island to explore by quad. If you're going with a SO it's probably one of the most romantic places on earth, and even if you're there solo or with bros it has a surprisngly good party scene as well. Not sure how you're getting around islands but if you're going by ferry from Crete to Mykonos Santorini will almost certainly be a stop on that route anyways...just sayin!

We actually have a trip to Santorini. It's a full day trip that departs from Rythmos, Crete, which is the halfway point between Chania and Heraklion. Surprisingly Chania doesn't have any ferries to Santorini. We were going to try a ferry from Mykonos, but because the last ferries depart Santorini so early (2:30pm), we would only be there for 2.5 hours. We then discovered that if we leave from Rhythmos, we can be there for about 8 hours. Since we are driving from Chania to Heraklion anyways, we figured better to stop halfway at Rythmos and spend the day in Santorini with a tour guide who can shuttle us around to the nice places.

[The Familia]

Was just in Greece a couple weeks ago for our Honeymoon. We did 2 nights in Athens, 5 nights Santorini, and 6 nights in Crete.

Athens: 1-2 nights is more than enough. We did a city bus tour which was great. The tour included a stop at the Olympic Stadium (the arena where the first modern Olympics were held in the 1800’s), the Acropolis museum with guided tour, and then the Acropolis itself. After that we wandered around ourselves in the Plaka district and went to see the Temple of Zeus ourselves. Athens is a little run down. Our hotel was a good 10min drive from the Acropolis, but we did wander the streets with no issue. A little sketchy at times but honestly that was from the immigrants loitering everywhere staring us down. The Greeks themselves were very friendly and helpful. No issue with pickpocketers.

Santorini: Absolutely stunning and the highlight of our trip. We stayed in a luxury villa so we could have spent 2 weeks there! We had hotel shuttle service between villages but Oia and Fira are both must sees. A very solid shout out to the village of Imerovigli, highly underrated and had excellent restaurants and great views! We did a catamaran tour that made stops at the white beach, red beach (closed due to a rock slide), and the natural sulphur hot springs right on the volcano. Very nice tour. We also spent a day in Kumari on the black sand beach. Very cool spot and highly recommended. Santorini is a bit pricy. Be prepared, their port is a ####show and very disorganized.

Crete: Stayed in a resort close to Heraklion but we rented a car. Highly recommend renting a car and the driving in Crete was very, very easy. We drove 4 hours (each way) from our resort to Elafonisi beach and it was worth it! The drive was very nice, especially in the mountains as you get off the main highway. Be on guard as the roads are very narrow on extremely steep cliffs with busses trying to weave their way up and down. Traffic circles were standard (the two I encountered) and I had no issue. Elafonisi beach is amazing. The beach rivals the sand in the Caribbean (very soft and smooth). Water is crystal clear and very shallow so you can walk out very far. The beach is isolated, so if you want to take advantage, I would recommend staying in a little bed and breakfast for the night (we did). Depending where you are staying, he drive can be far. The beach gets extremely packed so get there early for a good spot. Crete was very nice but the food was mediocre in my opinion. Athens and Santorini has way better food.

If you have any questions PM me and I’ll try to help you out!

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Ios at about 8:30 am. Definitely a party island.

Was that me? I don't think it was me but it could have been me.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Was that me? I don't think it was me but it could have been me.

LOL, no it wasn't you. Just some random dude with really good sleeping/no beer spilling skills.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by The Familia

Was just in Greece a couple weeks ago for our Honeymoon. We did 2 nights in Athens, 5 nights Santorini, and 6 nights in Crete.

Athens: 1-2 nights is more than enough. We did a city bus tour which was great. The tour included a stop at the Olympic Stadium (the arena where the first modern Olympics were held in the 1800’s), the Acropolis museum with guided tour, and then the Acropolis itself. After that we wandered around ourselves in the Plaka district and went to see the Temple of Zeus ourselves. Athens is a little run down. Our hotel was a good 10min drive from the Acropolis, but we did wander the streets with no issue. A little sketchy at times but honestly that was from the immigrants loitering everywhere staring us down. The Greeks themselves were very friendly and helpful. No issue with pickpocketers.

Santorini: Absolutely stunning and the highlight of our trip. We stayed in a luxury villa so we could have spent 2 weeks there! We had hotel shuttle service between villages but Oia and Fira are both must sees. A very solid shout out to the village of Imerovigli, highly underrated and had excellent restaurants and great views! We did a catamaran tour that made stops at the white beach, red beach (closed due to a rock slide), and the natural sulphur hot springs right on the volcano. Very nice tour. We also spent a day in Kumari on the black sand beach. Very cool spot and highly recommended. Santorini is a bit pricy. Be prepared, their port is a ####show and very disorganized.

Crete: Stayed in a resort close to Heraklion but we rented a car. Highly recommend renting a car and the driving in Crete was very, very easy. We drove 4 hours (each way) from our resort to Elafonisi beach and it was worth it! The drive was very nice, especially in the mountains as you get off the main highway. Be on guard as the roads are very narrow on extremely steep cliffs with busses trying to weave their way up and down. Traffic circles were standard (the two I encountered) and I had no issue. Elafonisi beach is amazing. The beach rivals the sand in the Caribbean (very soft and smooth). Water is crystal clear and very shallow so you can walk out very far. The beach is isolated, so if you want to take advantage, I would recommend staying in a little bed and breakfast for the night (we did). Depending where you are staying, he drive can be far. The beach gets extremely packed so get there early for a good spot. Crete was very nice but the food was mediocre in my opinion. Athens and Santorini has way better food.

If you have any questions PM me and I’ll try to help you out!

Awesome write up! Appreciate the info, especially the bit about Elafonisi beach. That's one of the main highlights we are looking forward too and I'm happy to hear it was amazing, and that the driving in Crete wasn't too bad.

[Mark]

I lived on Crete for a few months and had a great time exploring the island. Knossos was awesome to see and there are some nice wineries a little further past that if you are into that. Rethymno was actually my favorite city on Crete (maybe because it wasn't a major ferry city). It just had a great feel to it compared to Heraklion and Chania. From there you can drive south through the Kourtaliotiko Gorge to Preveli beach which has palm trees and is fairly picturesque. It's a massive island with so much to explore depending on what you are into.