Greece and Greek Island Travel

Tony Page — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 10:22:54 +0000

Greece Travel: a Europe Tour that’s a Gold Medal Experience!

Flag of Greece flying over the Acropolis

Greece travel need not be an Olympic marathon. Given Greek history, the most interesting tourist sights naturally tend to be in the more southern areas of mainland Greece rather than the north.

After Athens, most tours concentrate on the major historical sites like Olympia and Delphi and a few other places of interest such as the monasteries at Meteora and the Perama Caves. Unless you have special reasons for spending longer, two weeks is really quite sufficient to cover Athens and the main areas.

Greek island travel however can take as long as you want, and the time you allot usually tends to be too short! There are seven main groups of islands, each island with a slightly different feel. The individual Greek islands all have their own unique beauty and allure, and to no two islands are the same.

Choose the classical Greek style of the Cyclades Islands, or the Venetian influence on the Ionian Islands, or a quiet and relaxing vacation amid the green scenery of the more laid-back Sporades Islands. Whatever your taste, there’s an island to match…

Of course, ignoring expatriate Greeks visiting relatives, the majority of tourists visiting Greece come on package tours to a single island destination. However, this need not be a disaster, as in many if not most cases these package tourists are isolated in resort hotels and areas. Careful choice of island and hotel (and season) can still give you the Greek holiday you dream of!

A Cruise Alternative

Another alternative is to take a cruise around the Greek Islands, and these ships often slot in a visit to the Turkish coast as well. There are some interesting cruises that take in a few Greek islands and also some Italian destinations which you may find interesting.

Although tending towards the expensive end of the market, a cruise is certainly a relaxed way of seeing the various island destinations, and can often be combined with a land tour for a more comprehensive experience. You may also get to cover a greater selection of islands in a limited time if you’re on a tight schedule.

Of course, it’s best to allow yourself as many lazy days as possible when you’re in the islands, but the main drawback of a cruise option for me is that you usually don’t get to spend the evenings there, so it’s not possible to enjoy a lazy late night dinner in the tavernas.

Book European Cruises : Choose “Greek Isles” when you search.

Our other Greece pages:

Tour Routes in Greece and the Greek islands

When to travel to Greece and the Greek islands

Useful facts, dates and links to help you plan your tour of Greece

Book your sightseeing tours or day-trips in Greece online

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What about you? What are your thoughts on this subject?

Tour Routes in Greece

Tony Page — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 10:10:15 +0000

Places in Greece and the Greek islands you shouldn’t miss

Map of Greece

Greece travel can really be split into two: mainland travel and island travel.

The only tours to visit the islands, as far as I know, are day-tours and cruises. As the latter always leave at sundown or so as far as I’m concerned they actually miss the best part of the day, eating out in the evening, so I wouldn’t really recommend them. On the other hand, if you’ve a really tight schedule and want to see as many islands as you can, a cruise may be a good option.

Travel between islands is not too difficult and it’s quite easy to get around once you’re there, so why not do it yourself?

But first, let’s deal with the mainland.

A few tours enter Greece from Italy (we did one of these and found it quite enjoyable). However, most begin in Athens so we’ll start there. The suggested route below pretty much covers the major tourist destinations on the mainland.

Obviously you may want to spend longer in different places depending on your interests; it would be easy to spend several days wandering around the Meteora monasteries area if you were so inclined.

The Route

(Note: links to the towns go to photo albums on the Travel Signposts website)

Athens – Corinth – Mycenae – Epidaurus – Nafplion – Arcadia – Olympia – Patras – Nafpatkos – Delphi – Lamla – Trikala (Thessaly) – Metsovo – Perama Caves – Kalambaka (Meteora) – Larisa – Thermopylae – Thebes – Marathon – Athens (Sounion)

The Greek Islands

As far as the islands go, they can be roughly divided into seven groups from the travel aspect:

The Saronic Gulf islands (Aegina, Poros, Hydra, Spetses);
The Cyclades (Naxos, Santorini, Mykonos, Delos, Paros/Antiparos, and Ios are the best known)
The Dodecanese (Rhodes, Karpathos, Kos, Patmos, etc)
Northeast Aegean islands (Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Samothraki etc)
The Sporades (Skiathos, Skopelos, Alonnisos, Skyros)
The Ionian islands (Corfu, Paxi/Antipaxi, Lefkada, Ithaki, Sami)
and of course, Crete.

There are other smaller islands, but these are really the main ones.

According to one classification (Greek Island Postcards), the islands can be put into the following categories:

Popular: Corfu, Crete, Kefalonia, Kos, Lefkas, Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini, Skiathos, Zante;
Peaceful: Aegina, Andros, Ios, Kalymnos, Lesvos, Naxos, Paros, Samos, Thassos;
Sleepy: Alonissos, Leros, Lipsi, Patmos, Paxos, Skopelos, Symi;
Offbeat: Angistri, Hydra, Ikaria, Ithaca, Skyros.

Well, you might agree or disagree, but that may give you a few clues to encourage further investigation!

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