10 easy travel tips to better enjoy a Greek vacation

10 tips to enjoy a Greek vacation

When you travel abroad or even in the United States many times it is a learning experience.  Recently we traveled to Greece the land of my ancestors. I had always wanted to visit Greece and this past Christmas my husband gifted me with a Greek vacation.  Now don’t get me wrong, I loved it.  There were, however, parts of this Greek vacation that were not as pleasant as I had hoped.  I take that back, I expected some bumps, but I think we discovered there are other ways to do the same things with less of a bumpy road.  So what follows are my suggestions for possibly a few less bumps. As the saying goes forewarned is forearmed.

1.  Book it yourself. We opted to go with a travel agency.  They booked our flights, our hotels, and our transportation from one island to another.  This vacation was booked 6 months in advance.  I think the next time I will choose to book my own flights, transportation, and hotels.   When you book things that far in advance even as a private person you can get the most reasonable rates. 

2.  Check the airline. Our scheduled itinerary was to fly to London on British Airways, then after a short layover, fly to Greece.  I hate to bash any airlines but the plane we were on was old.  And I mean old.  The seats were crammed as close as possible and since the travel agency booked the flight we had the worst seats on the plane.  There were no windows in the same zip code and we were situated right by the bathroom.

3.  Check the airline amenities. Our short layover turned into several hours (Not the airlines fault) and the second flight, which was 3 ½ hours didn’t even offer a soft drink.  The flight attendants blocked the aisles with their credit card machines for people to pay for drinks or a light lunch for quite some time.  No one could even walk down the aisles to visit the restroom.  When they finally reached us, they were out of everything except some foul couscous lunch salad that after two bites we promptly tossed in the trash.

Arriving in Athens

4.  Use local transportation when necessary. We finally, reached Athens.  Our hotel was nice in the center of the city.  We could see the Acropolis from the roof and as anyone who ever looked off into the distance from atop a building, it looked a lot closer than it really was. While it wouldn’t be considered walking distance to the Acropolis, we opted to walk.  8 miles, we walked, but it was totally worth the walk.  For anyone who has issues walking, I suggest taking a bus or a taxi.

5.  Steer clear of ferries if you have extra money. On the following day (we did lose a day with the flying) we were to board a ferry to the first of our island. The hotel was nice enough to provide us with a bagged lunch. The ferry has assigned airplane style seats? And, they were, of course, the worst seats on the boat.

4 ½ hours later we arrived in Mikonos. Mikonos was a beautiful island and our hotel was fantastic!  The grounds were lovely with plants and flowers galore.  The pool was relaxing with a bar right there for refreshments.  The included breakfast was typical Greek fare and very good. Why such a wonderful hotel? Even a broken clock is right once a day. (Not exactly breakfast items but Greeks don’t usually eat breakfast, which you may read about in a previous post)

6.  Book your own hotels. After our stay in Mikonos were continued on our way to Santorini. Yes, another ferry, that took several hours with the worst seats on the pretty empty boat!  Now, the hotel in Santorini was the worst hotel on the trip.  Actually, it was the worst hotel I have ever had the unpleasant opportunity to endure.  There was no chair in the room, only a bed.  The bathroom was so small that you had to hold the sink while you used the toilet.  The shower was probably 2 foot by 2 foot and the shower curtain would stick to you when you showered.  The water overflowed but they, fortunately, had a drain in the floor.  Camping with Girl scouts, I’ve been in outhouses in the woods that were way nicer than this one.  Wow that the travel agency would use that hotel!  Greece is not known for its great breakfasts but this one with its stale bread, canned fruit and yogurt was by far the worst!  Is there a positive?  There has to be some positive right?  It was close to the main drive in Santorini and the Wi-Fi worked better than all the other hotels!!!!

7.  Skip the extra 4 hours to Oia unless you have a lot of extra time but be sure and visit Akrotiri.  Santorini was beautiful as was Mikonos.  We took a tour of the island, which was totally worth it.  We paid the extra money to go to Oia to view the sunset, which I would suggest you forego.  The extra 4 hours to not see a sunset due to cloud cover was exhausting and I think a sunset from any part of this island would be just as beautiful.

8.  Officially I will never take another ferry I don’t care how much cheaper it is! So our time in Santorini came to an end. The time had come to, yes, board another ferry.  This time we were to return to Athens where our flight would be leaving the next day.  It was at least 12 hours by ferry and we didn’t arrive at our hotel till almost midnight.  Worst seats on the boat, yet again.  What did we learn from this?  Time is money.  Your time is worth money.  Don’t take a ferry if at all possible, even if it costs a little more.  A quick search and I discover some flights start at only $35 for a 35-minute flight one-way.  Not too horrible when you consider the comfort and time.  Again, seeing as everything is booked 6 months in advance, I can’t imagine if you did these bookings yourself it wouldn’t have been a lot better.  You could choose your hotels, your flights and seats, and your tours.

9.  Do it yourself.  All in all, I loved Greece.  I loved every part of Greece.  Too bad I didn’t have the time to enjoy more of Greece. I hate to use another old saying but-- if you want something done right, do it yourself!

10.  Pack some tissues and washcloths.  I forgot to mention, no hotels where we stayed had tissues or washcloths.  You may want to pack some!

Grecian cats--no, not a new, travel version of the musical

The interloper

During my recent trip to Greece I came in contact with cats, a lot of cats.  A quick Google search reveals that most Greeks feel that cats are not exactly house pets, but a wild species best left to their own devices.  As a result they wander the streets and ancient ruins with pretty much no human interference.

Even we Americans know that one doesn’t own a cat.  A cat owns us.  If a cat wants something, it gets it.  All the while plotting their happy little owner’s demise.  When we come home from work the dog greets us with gusto.  He jumps, yelps, and licks while his tail wags at 100 miles an hour.  The cat, on the other hand, stands aloof, as if to reprimand us for not being at her disposal all day.  She may, if it suits her, decide to saunter by and rub against our legs; simply to piss off the dog.  We hear her purr and we imagine it is for us, which in all reality may not be the case.

Grecian cats strolled around many of the outdoor restaurants and cafes.  They sunned themselves on walls and threaded their way through the crowded streets full of multi national tourists.  Most looked well fed and fairly healthy.  They were not pets but not exactly what we Americans would call feral.  They lay beside humans and begged with only their presence.  Who but a local could refuse their enormous staring eyes? These cats have perfected the art of begging.  They remind me of the squirrels and chipmunks in National parks that know just what cute little tricks to do to get the goofy human to toss them a few nuts. 

My husband who fancies himself a Dr. Dolittle tried to pet a docile looking black and white cat lounging on a path and was put in his place with a quick swat of the paw. That’ll teach you, lesson learned.  They are not house cats. 

Evenings in Greece are beautiful, cool and comfortable not even requiring an air conditioner, and there are very few bugs.  So as we went out to dinner in one of the many outdoor cafes, we chose to leave the windows to our hotel room open. Do you see where I am going with this?

Returning to our room after a delicious dinner, we turned on the lights and proceeded to get ready for bed.  A strange sound was coming from the sofa, and, to our surprise we saw a large ginger cat casually using the back of the couch as a scratching post.  It just stared, and not the sweet large eyed, begging stare.  It was a look that said we were the intruders and it was standing it’s ground.

Shaken, I turned to my husband with a look that said, “What should we do?”  "Should we call the desk?"  Or do we just wait and see if it’s friendly?

My husband tiptoed over to the door, and opened it. (Not really sure why he tiptoed since the cat already saw us and they can't fly)  Then he comically deepened his voice and said, “SHOO.”  Seriously?  Shoo?  This was steadily becoming a cartoon.  I almost expected Jerry from Tom and Jerry to jump out from behind the sofa.  My husband repeated his shooing while ridiculously flailing his arms. The cat jumped off the sofa and casually, with a regal toss of it’s head, walked out the front door, but not before I snapped his pic.

Maybe the Greeks have it right after all.  Cats should just be left to their own devices.  They can use people when they want.  They can walk around like they own the place, because in their minds they do.  And nature can take care of the rest.

The beauty of Greece

Our beautiful hotel in Mykonos