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Old 05-01-2006, 11:58 AM   #1
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I'm about to go on my first Euro backpacking trip with my little brother (or not so little at 16), and we're going to spend a month bumming around Greece! Airfare was expensive but, you know, he's in high school and we couldn't really fudge around with the departure dates.

Anyhow, landing in Athens on June 13, leaving July 13.

For Athens, we're spending three nights there at a hotel in the Monastiraki, but after that it's much more fluid. We have a rough idea of where we want to go, but not how long to stay in places, that sort of thing.

Going northward and clockwise:

Bus to Delphi, then to Meteora (Kalambaka), then the train to Thessaloniki because I want to see the "Milan of Greece". From there, take a ferry to one of the Cyclades and ferry around for a while. I really want to see Rhodes, Patmos, some of the out-of-the-way ones, and of course Santorini.

Then Crete, mainly Iraklio and Hania, and then back up to the Pelopponese, with stops in Monemvasia, Sparti, the Arcadia prefecture (et in Arcadia ego, man!), Nafplio/Epidavros, then back to Athens.

Or we can do it in reverse. That's just about the only part I'm not clear on.

Trip! YAY! I went a whole year without going anywhere.
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Old 05-01-2006, 12:11 PM   #2
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Sounds like an amazing trip...especially if your into partying with a lot of drunken brits ha ha
I have been to Rhodes a couple of times now on girlie holidays Rhodes town is very pretty and they have a great beach at Lindos
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Old 05-01-2006, 04:09 PM   #3
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The only places I've been in Greece are Kos and Corfu, but they were both really nice. Kos in particular was my favourite, a really lovely place.
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Old 05-01-2006, 11:30 PM   #4
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Nafplio is a great base for the area - the bus links are good to the rest of the peninsula. We spent four days there, with the intention of doing daytrips most days. Illness cramped our plans a little, but it turned out to be a great place to spend the time. Probably you need two days for Nafplio itself (one for the Palamidi fortress, especially if you walk, and one for Arconafplio, the town itself and the seawall). The market was fun - Wednesday mornings, as I recall. But if you day trip from there, you don't have to pack your stuff as much, and can eat at a different restaurant every night. We went to Epidavros, think it was just over an hour each way. Argos, Corinth/Arcocorinth are close, too.

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Old 05-02-2006, 03:53 AM   #5
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Great game plan, Eunike! You'll be impressed with Meteora, I'm sure of it. As for Crete, we actually stayed in Hania (Xania, Chania -- spellings are so much fun!), a nice seaport town with lots of Venetian style buildings. We landed in Iraklion, saw Knossos, then hopped a local bus to Hania and spent 3 nights there. There's an interesting hike in the area, too, called the Samarra Gorge. I mean it's not the world's best, jawdropping hike, but it's nice.

Check the ferry schedule, too, as most of them AREN'T daily. You may have to snip or expand your itinerary here and there to match up with them. I went to Greece with my younger brother, too. We reserved the cabin for two on the ferry to Crete...since it was an overnight one, we basically rationalized the extra cost as lumped together transportation AND hotel expenses.

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Old 05-03-2006, 09:01 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally posted by tumblezweedz
Great game plan, Eunike!* You'll be impressed with Meteora, I'm sure of it.* As for Crete, we actually stayed in Hania (Xania, Chania -- spellings are so much fun!), a nice seaport town with lots of Venetian style buildings.* We landed in Iraklion, saw Knossos, then hopped a local bus to Hania and spent 3 nights there.*
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WWM! BTW, congrats on the win I have many questions to ask of you:

Did you go to the islands first, or inland first? I'm considering Thessaloniki from the itinerary and was wondering if it would make sense to go to Meteora, then double back to Athens/Piraeus. If that, er, is a sensible move.

How long would you recommend to stay in Meteora? (I'd like to take my time and really see the area, and the towns seem really cool.)

Also, any recommendations on places to stay? I, ah, don't need to party.
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Old 05-07-2006, 10:09 AM   #7
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Right On, Greece, good choice. I loved it when i was there. An amazing country.
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Old 05-08-2006, 06:07 AM   #8
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We stayed at the Pension Marianna, right in the old town. It's probably a fair bit more expensive than any hostels that may be around there, but we needed room for 6 and there isn't much accommodation available in that part of Greece in March! Anyway, they have a variety of rooms, so I'd look into prices for a two person room - it might not be a lot more than two beds at a hostel, and the location is fantastic. And the people who run it are sterling. Genuinely nice people. They were full of info on the city, as well as other tips that hopefully you won't have to use (like names of doctors and directions to hospitals...), and the pension is part way up the hill of Acronafplio - great views from the terrace where breakfast is served, or you can take it down to your room (I say down advisedly, there are MANY stairs involved) or one of the other terraces. Really central, but as I say, there were no hostel options for us when we went in March, so I don't know how the prices compare.

I hope you get there, and enjoy it as much as we did.



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Old 05-09-2006, 03:18 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally posted by tumblezweedz@May 8 2006, 06:07 AM
We stayed at the Pension Marianna, right in the old town.*
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I actually had the Marianna on my list! It looks REALLY lovely. I think Nafplio will be our last stop in the Pelopponese before the last night in Athens, so I think it might be worth it to splurge a little bit.

Thanks for the info!
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Old 05-10-2006, 03:53 AM   #10
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Hi Eunike,

I like the new avatar, and thanks for the congrats!

Honestly, other than Meteora, there's not much to see in Kalambaka. We spent two nights there, since we arrived later in the afternoon -- too late to go see the monasteries. We saw the local church with its incredibly old, dark and somewhat haunting murals on the walls the day we arrived. The next day was devoted entirely to the monasteries...we took a bus up there, then just walked from monastery to monastery, then downhill back to town. Long day, tired feet, but well worth it.

I don't remember where we stayed, though. We just checked out places from a guidebook -- Lonely Planet or Let's Go, or whatever. Nowadays, though, my normal procedure is to check the internet (hotel city search) and hostel engine (travelpunk!), then look to see if they jive up with ones recommended by guidebooks. I figure if multiple sources recommend a place, it must be halfway decent.

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Old 05-10-2006, 07:34 AM   #11
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If it was on your short list anyway, I'd definitely stay at the Marianna. Be-autiful. And the stairs are good practice for Palamidi...

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Old 05-11-2006, 02:21 AM   #12
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Oh, and I forgot to answer your other question, Eunike -- my apologies.

We actually put our ferry to Crete between our mainland sightseeing. We spent 3 days in Athens, 3 in Crete, then two in Meteora/Kalambaka. Basically, just line things up as best as possible around the ferry schedule. Since they leave from Piraeus (Athen's port), it's easy to pop between mainland and island sightseeing.

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