MadridMan will be spending 8 days in Greece starting Monday, December 29. We have firm plans to spend our first 3 nights, including New Years Eve, in Athens in the Plaka neighborhood near the foot of the Acropolis. I've yet to make those hotel reservations but from what I've seen so far there is still availability at the hotel we're considering. Does anyone have personal experience with the Plaka neighborhood? Apparently it's a nice, old(er) neighborhood of Athens about a 10-minute walk from/to the Acropolis.



On New Years Day we'll pick up a rented car and head out of Athens, destination unknown, and return to Athens on Wednesday, January 7 for our last night before returning home.

So we have a total of 2 FULL days in Athens (including New Years Eve) and 6 FULL days outside of Athens. Here's the typical question: What should I see/do and what islands, if any, should I visit and how?

I'll be buying the necessary guidebook for information and have already bookmarked a number of websites and will be searching the defacto message boards for information and recommendations but thought I'd ask our fine, world travelers here to see if they had personal experiences.

And driving/renting a car in Greece - my Greek boss (from Athens - but has been back home in 20 years) says I'm CRAZY to rent/drive in Greece because "It's Dangerous" (i.e. they drive "crazily" there according to him).

Also, the language. They obviously use a different alphabet. I'm expecting some serious challenges with signs, menus, maps, and communicating with help-staff. Any insight?

Yes, I know, you can't believe I'm going abroad and NOT going to Spain - I can't believe it either - but I can't convince my madrileña ladyfriend to stay home for another holiday while I come to visit her. She'd like a vacation this time - can't blame her. hehehe...

Thanks very much for any personal experiences and suggestions.

Saludos, MadridMan

A tiny tip on alphabet:

Surely you know the names of the greek letters and can link those names with its shape. That is, alpha, beta, gamma, ...

Well, most or all of the greek signs are translated as the equivalent latin letters by which letter the word begins.

Better, an example:

"alpha" means "a"
"beta" means "b"
"gamma" means "g"

Even better

Wow Madridman - I may be able to repay you for all your help with my Peru trip - I have spent a total of 6 weeks in Greece over the past two years and I LOVE it! I have spent a few nights in the Plaka, you're right it is the nice neighborhood in Athens and my favorite place to stay there. Be picky about your hotel - I have stayed in, to put it in my favorite adopted british term, some really "dodgy" hotels there. The plaka itself is beautiful, especially if it is still warm enough to eat outside. (I have been to Greece in May-June and September, the off-season when it is still warm) My personal (not necessarily correct!) opinion is that 2 nights is enough in Athens, unless you are really into archeology. I did read up on Greek history before I went and it helped me enjoy the acropolis a bit more. In '02 I did have some guy flash me outside the acropolis but that's another story. The advantage you have in going to Athens in December is that the nightlife is supposedly much better IN Athens, near the plaka. In the summer, all the nightlife moves to the suburbs and the big clubs by the beaches and you are stuck wandering around the Plaka with little to do. If you are lucky you may stumble on some greek dancing, plate-breaking and live bouzouki music. The don't typically sell it to the tourists with shows like flamenco in Spain, it's purely accidental when you find it. We would ask people where we could find some bouzouki music or dancing and we would get a response like "Oh, we don't do that here anymore!" and somewhere, at 3AM in some hidden place you may find it. And by travelling in December, the nice hotels will be a STEAL! Especially in the islands. Here are my island recommendations:

Mykonos - my favorite island ever. Hedonistic, pretty streets, fun bars, authentic places where you can accidentally "stumble on" greek dancing. A lot of my favorite places closed in October, we found out while spending a lot of time chatting with bartenders. Paradise beach is the most entertaining beach I have ever been to. You name it, I saw it happen there. I think Mykonos is kind of like Ibiza for the 30+ crowd.

Hydra - this is close to Athens in the Sardonic Gulf islands. No cars, just donkeys. My ex and I stayed in a converted sponge factory called the Bratsera. Pretty architecture. Nice restaurants in hidden little alleys.

Santorini - especially with your lady-friend. very romantic, plus some great nightlife and a pretty black sand beach. If they still have them in December, take the sailboat ride. They feed you snacks and wine and you get the awesome view of the white cliffs from the sea. I still like Mykonos better but a lot of people will disagree with me.

Paros - the town of Naoussa. Pretty, quiet fishing village with some classy little hidden night spots (I hope you are not starting to think I am a lush!)

Symi - in the Dodecanese. Very much like Hydra plus you can take a side trip to Bodrum, Turkey by going to Kos, which I did.

Crete - never been but a lot of people recommend it. The weather might be nicer, being so far south. Has both big resorts (which I stay away from) and little authentic towns (which I like)

I have also been to Naxos, Kalymnos, Telendos, Rhodes and Zakynthos if anyone ever has questions about those. The main harbor in Athens is very confusing and it's difficult to find your boat or get a straight answer from anyone. I dread Piraeus every time I am there.

In December the boat schedule will be very erratic. It can be at anytime. In September my friend and I were stranded in Paros (not a bad place to be) during a storm. I have learned to never make concrete plans in Greece - that's when they WILL get screwed up.

This is the most helpful Greek website I have found: www.greektravel.com I think I've said before on this message board that Matt Barrett may be as enthusiastic about Greece as you are about Spain. He has a great island synopsis and some funny personal stories about travelling in Greece over the past 30 years. I will try to dig out some more recommendations later. I think Greece will be a whole different place in December but you will have some advantages too.

The people there are so warm and friendly. Some things about Greece are so frustrating but great. I think Greece has more in common with Spain than Italy but I love all three countries. There's a whole world on the Greek mainland too, which I know nothing about.

Opa, Chicagoan/Sara

or as I like to sign my e-mails while in Greece, Saros!

Oh, and renting a car in Athens? I wouldn't do it but I am a bit of a chicken. I've seen 7 cars stop at all angles in a street and everyone yelling at eachother. If you're not afraid, I'd say go for it. The taxi drivers can be sort of shady and I was ripped off once. Don't put your bags in the trunk and negotiate a price up front. If they start talking about how they have a brother/cousin in NYC, say you do too. The town has cleaned up a bit due to the Olympics next year and it's getting better all the time. You may also get the nicest, most honest taxi driver in the world. It's just a matter of chance.

Oh - my first tip for Athens. On Minisikleous street after 9PM pretty much every restaurant has live music. You walk up and down the street to decide which one looks the best and it's really fun. I had the best meal there - "veal in the jug" it was called, with spinach pie and a tiny pitcher of wine while watching some singers. It had a nice atmosphere and was a really memorable dinner, even though I was alone! The waiter invited me to an after hours party at the restaurant but I was good and went to bed in my "dodgy" hotel.

OK, I'll shut up about Greece now. I'll try to post some more in a few days.

Wow Chicagoan! Thank YOU for the info! I'll sift through it in the coming days. If anything more comes to mind please add it here to the thread.

As for the renting/driving in Athens, we won't be using the car IN Athens but expect to pick it up the morning of New Years Day so hopefully there'll be little traffic on the roads as we leave the city for destinations unknown. UNFORTUNATELY we WILL have to return that rental car TO/IN Athens on the following Wednesday. Ugh. Is Athens really much worse to drive in than, say, Madrid??

And wow. That http://www.greektravel.com/ website DOES look REALLY useful. Just the kind of PERSONAL information we all appreciate on the internet. Thanks for that.

Thanks again for the info. Anyone else?

Saludos, MadridMan

You and your site and every one here has been so helpful to me, i hope i can give assistance. i have found that seeking tourism information from the US Tourism Organization is MOST helpful. that's what i am doing for my trip to Spain. Tourism Offices World Wide Directory the information you recieve is free, it might take a few weeks, however very worth it.

cariños y good luck,
Amy

My favourite place to visit in Athens. It has what we call an "island" feeling to it! It is also at the very centre, you can reach a lot of the city on foot.

There will be a lot of people congregating in the centre (at the Omonoia Sq if I remember correctly) for New Year´s Eve. There is usually a live music show after this, but last year there was some trouble with illegal immigrants. Your hotel staff can tell you more.

All street signs are billingual. Restaurant menus ought to be, too (10% of the country´s GDP comes from tourism). You should be able to communicate with most people in English, we speak more english than the Spanish do

Be warned about the price of the coffee, it is supposed to be the most expensive in Europe! Esp. coffee served with a view to the Acropolis

Dimitris

Expensive coffee in Greece? Yikes! Sorry to hear that. Dimitris, thank you SO MUCH for your firsthand information. I'm happy to know that signs are bilingual and that (most) menus are too. And Greeks speak more English than Spaniards, eh? That's interesting.

By the way, I've confirmed our hotel for the first three nights in the Plaka neighborhood. We decided to pay 20€ extra per night in order to have a room with a view of the Acropolis. I imagine it's illuminated at night. The hotel even has a rooftop bar/lounge with a view of the Acropolis but I imagine it won't be open in December/January. Maybe we'll have access at least to enjoy the rooftop views.

Amy11, thanks for the link above. I've sent emails to the US-based Greece Tourism Board/Bureau/Whatever and requested loads of information and maps. I hope these materials arrive soon. How handy they are to have. Oh, and I've also (going overboard on this, no?) ordered The Lonely Planet guide book for Greece, the Lonely Planet Phrase Book with dictionary, and The Lonely Planet Athens city map.

I'm also considering renting a 5-speed Hundai Accent (?) for our 5-days outside of Athens. It's a compact car (but the 3rd smallest). This one was the first to have an actual trunk as the two smaller ones had hatchbacks and I didn't want to risk having our luggage "exposed"/visible while we're walking around during the day. Through Avis, a 5-day rental is about 190€ which I thought was pretty good but have yet to reserve it.

Any other suggestions? I'll post our hoped-for itinerary here soon but it seems we'll go from Athens directly to the north and work our way back down to Athens.

Saludos, MadridMan

Where north are you going Madridman? I've never been around the mainland, although that's the real, non-touristy Greece so good for you. I have always used the lonely planet guides too. As far as coffee, it seems they REALLY like their Nescafe Frappe there. I don't know if that's just a summer thing. It's a foamy iced coffee drink. I personally prefer cafe con leche but it's good on a hot day. Lonely Planet also has a GREAT book called "World Food Greece". I have the Greece, Spain, Italy and Turkey versions. It is small and it really gives you an insight for the cuisine, the history with lots of good pictures. Sort of light reading. They are small - a little bigger than a phrasebook. It really helped me understand and enjoy the cuisine of each place more, especially the Spain guide. Sometimes (rarely) I see them in Border's in the travel section but I ordered mine from the lonely planet website and have given them as gifts. For anyone even remotely interested in food, cooking and food history it is a GREAT little book to have. Especially if you are going north to some authentic little villages where you know you'll be eating the REAL stuff. spinach pie, stuffed grape leaves, grilled octopus, feta cheese, I'm getting hungry! Oh, and please have some ouzo for me over ice.

Chicagoan, I have the northern destination list at home - pardon me for not remember the names. I recall we'll visit the place in the Macedonia region with the monasteries on the high rock formations. We'll also visit Olimpia and.... hmm.. that's all I recall.

Regarding the Lonely Planet book "World Food Greece" I ALMOST bought that but guessed that the LP Greece guide book would cover food too but not in as much detail. Do you really recommend it? I am a little concern that when we're visiting the non-large-cities that the menus will ONLY be in Greek and we'll be fumbling trying to try something good/different and not have the same, safe thing which we can remember easily. By the way, I ALMOST bought the above books through the Lonely Planet website but compared their prices to those of Amazon.com and Amazon beat them by about $10 total because Amazon didn't charge shipping for orders over $25 and the books themselves were cheaper. PLUS, the shipping time was faster with Amazon.com.

Spinach pie doesn't sound too good to me but the fried octopus does! Yum!

More later. I'll update this thread with our firm(er) destinations.

Saludos, MadridMan

Cool - you're going to the hard-core, non-tourist places in the non-tourist season. I'm curious about what it's like there. I think 75 or 90 % of all tourists just go to the islands so you'll really get a different experience from what I've had. And you're right, you WILL see some menus that are all in Greek! (I do love the islands though.)

The world food books aren't so much of a reference than a "lots of pictures, love of food/food history" books. You'll definitely get by without it but to any foodies or people who love to watch cooking shows AND travel will LOVE them. More to read before or after your trip and think "oh, THAT'S what's in paella" or "oh, that's why I saw so many old men drinking ouzo and flipping worry beads around".

There's another book I can recommend people who travel - "traveller's tales Greece" and "traveller's tales Spain" - they are short, non-fiction stories about people's travels by decent and sometimes well-known authors. I don't know why I am recommending so many books, I'm not THAT big of a reader. Oh well, keep us posted on your plans!

Here's my Greek tip of the day - how I remember how to say "thank you" in Greek. It sounds like "efharisto" but I remember it easier as "F. Harry Stow".