Most European travel guides available in the United States advice tourists not to go to Greece. I can see their point as far as travel time goes. If someone only has 10 days to see Europe, Greece may well be too remote to warrant the travel time. Athens is usually considered the 'biggest rip off in Europe." Is any of this true? The Olympics will provide the city of Athens and the country of Greece with a chance to show what they have to offer in front of the entire world.
Athens - perhaps not as much. Athens has crowds, smog, inflated prices and some of the most annoying cab drivers I’ve ever encountered. OTOH, Athens has the Akropolis, the national museum with all the sculptures and ceramics you’ve seen pictures of - to say nothing of the streets where ole Sokrates and Aristoteles walked. You can’t visit Greece without going to Athens, but it’s not really the most endearing city.
But once you make your way to Pireaus, jump on a ferryboat and start island-hopping, you’re in for amazing scenery, good food, nice people and - if you steer cear of the obvious tourist traps - low prices. And the sight of an island with white-washed houses and sandy beaches and olive groves appearing on the horizon of the blue, blue Med gives you an idea of why Odysseus kept trying to find his way home.
Greece is a nice country, and the people are wonderful, but Athens is a toilet. Every time I’ve visited, I’ve gotten out of the city and into the countryside just as fast as I could.
Total agreement on island-hopping. Some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen. The memory of sitting at the bow of the boat, watching the dolphins ride the bow-wave will stay with me forever.
I met someone at a hostel once who said Greece was actually good for a budget. She said she stayed in a hotel/hostel with a balcony overlooking the sea for like 2 euros a night (maybe it was two pounds, she was from Scotland), and basically that you can live like a king there because stuff is cheap. This was an island, I believe, though.
I enjoyed Athens, and it definitely merits a visit, but the islands are where I’ll go for good when I win the lottery!
For the most part, the islands are laid back and relaxed, the food is amazing, the people are wonderfully nice, and the scenery is unbelievable. I completely fell in love with the Cycladic islands, and desperately hope to go back and explore more of them someday.
I always recommend the Greek islands to my friends who are headed to Europe.
With all the money spent on the Olympics, Athens might benefit from the “Barcelona effect”. Until that City hosted the Olympics it had mixed reputation with some parts of the city ( especially near the water-front) very run down. Now it is one of the most fashionable places to visit. Millions have been spent in Athens on transport and other aspects of the infrastructure. Hopefully there will be a permanent improvement in the quality of life in that city from now on.
Completely agree. Some of the friendliest people I ever met, and good prices on food and lodging.
Crete is especially astounding. Lots of history and natural beauty. Rayne Man, you may well be right. dalej42, I think Rick Steves really does not pay a whole lot of attention to Greece, but other guidebooks offer plenty of coverage. Try Lonely Planet, or Matt Barret’s site.
I reread my Rick Steves guide and he doesn’t tend to give much attention to Greece. On one of the TV shows, he seems to like Greece, but doesn’t think first time European tourists should try to include it on their agenda. I think I see his point. Greece is probably well worth a visit. However, for someone who is trying to do the “Grand Tour,” Greece is probably too isolated to include. It would be similar to touring the United States in 21 days and trying to include Alaska. Flying into Anchorage and spending a couple of days there doesn’t give you much of a feeling of Alaska. I imagine visiting Greece and seeing only Athens for a day or two probably isn’t worth the expenditure in time, especially if it means cutting time from a more central location.
It’s more than 20 years since I visited, but Athens was smelly and smoggy - we went up to the Acropolis and you could see the layer of smog. The rest of Greece was wonderful - we went on a tour of major classical sites. I have been to Olymia; I have stood and spouted lines from a Greek play (can’t remember which, but it was likely Euripides’ Antigone) in the theatre at Epidaurus (the acoustics are perfect).
Who wrote those travel guides?
If one goes for vacations anywere ,you have to be prepared to spend some money.You can not get stuff for free.
And Greece for sure is not expensive.
Who wrote those travel guides? :dubious:
If one goes for vacations anywere ,you have to be prepared to spend some money.You can not get stuff for free.
And Greece for sure is not expensive.
Hate Athens, LOVE the rest. History, food, culture, food, amazing scenery, food, friendly people, food and Ouzo are all highlights of the place.
I hate lightening tours anyways, but can understand the opinion to avoid Greece on one. But if you have a week- go there. Any of the islands or coastal towns will do. My favorite for flying into is Crete, then ferry-hop to other places. Maybe Athens will be better now, it better be. I had to pull a switchblade on a cabbie who attacked my mom when I was 14.
When I was in Belgrade last month, I met a couple of Danish girls. They had been in Belgrade the previous week, left it to travel to Greece, but decided after only a day or two to go back to Belgrade. The reasons they gave were first, that Greece was much too expensive, and second, that the men were “disgusting”.