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Travelling to Greece?
DOs and DON'Ts

On May 1997 I went to Greece with my wife. We don't like arranged travels and we prefer to travel on our own, because we think is the only way you can get in touch with the real country and its people. This way of travelling is harder and more expensive than others, but also more pleasant, relaxing and, that's the best, gives you a different point of view on the culture and way of life.

After my experience here you have my advice if you plan to travel on your own to Greece. You have to understand that this is MY PERSONAL POINT OF VIEW and that it is not my intention to criticize the people or culture of Greece. You also must take into account that these observations are from year 1997. Things might have changed (either in the right or in the wrong way) since then.

(Click on the icons to find hotels in that city or area)

If you plan to go in spring or summer do wear light dressing. The weather is pretty hot, specially if you are walking up and down all the day (as a tourist is supposed to do...).
Don't try to find any supermarket, grocery or any other shop selling food in Athens . There are only some supermakets in the suburbs, many Kms. away from the center. Anyway you can still buy water, bread, fruit and vegetables (but nothing else) in many kiosks along the streets in Plaka (The old town). Eat it at your own risk....
Don't get crazy wondering where the dogs are. Greeks don't like dogs (in general, of course). The only dogs you will see are rovers and those owned by foreigners.
Do go by foot to anywhere in Athens . The traffic is so dense and distances not so long that the best is to move around walking.
If you need to go somewhere too far away for going by foot, do take a taxi. They are quit cheap, but you are likely to share your taxi with someone else..!! Yes, taxis are picking up different passengers going in the same direction more or less and the driver decides whether or not he wants to carry you. If you find out how do they manage to calculate the price for each passenger please let me know, I still can't make it out.....
Don't try greek food if you have an ulcer or some other stomach trouble. Mousaka, souvlaki and other typicall dishes are very tasty but they are prepared with many spices and are really hard.
If you want to buy a good hand-made chess game, made of bronze, do visit the Poseidon Workshop in Athens. They have beautiful thinks at afordable prices.
Renting cars in Greece is quite expensive. I suggest you do rent a car from the national company "Kosmos". They offer you good cars, very friendly attention, all support you need and reasonable prices.
Hotels have a very bad price/quality rate. I really suggest you don't try to go to hotels of categories "B", "C" and so on. Only in categories "A" and "Luxury" most of the hotels are "acceptable". Anyway this clasification is not clear at all, and you had better have a look at the room before booking in. Always avoid making reservations by telephone before knowing the actual conditions of the Hotel. Otherwise you can be sadly surprised...I know it from experiece!.
Always do haggle over the price of the room when making the reservation. You can save up to a 20-25% of the initial price. Greeks like to haggle, and hotels are not an exception.
Do go to Meteora monasteries. These are a group a monasteries placed on top of isolated rocks in a wonderful environment. I suggest you spend at least one day or two visiting Meteora and Kalambaka (The town at the foot of Meteora) YOU MUST NOT MISS IT!. If you like photography and want to take some breath-taking shots do make a quick tour along the road that goes to the monasteries just before the sunset. The rocks become red and a wonderful world of lights and shadows will show up in the viewfinder of your camera. I personally took serveral dozens of slides that I hope to publish here as soon as I get an slide scanner.
If you go to Kalambaka, do eat in the restaurant ("estiatorio" in greek) KENTRIKON, in the Central Square. It is owned by Family Themis Tolis, a lovely greek old man that will serve you the best "mousaka" in Greece, cooked by his wife. Don't take care about how the place looks like, it is not exactly "Maxim's", but it's worth to go there if you want to have a very good and cheap typical greek food. On the wall you will possibly see a post card from Palma de Mallorca sent by my wife (Trinidad Grau) when we came back to Palma.
If you want a sleep in a restful hotel, a few Kms. from Kalambaka do spend the night at hotel Amalia. It is not cheap, but if you take into account the very bad price/quality rate of the hotels in greece is possible the best alternative in the area.
If you are so odd tourist that decide to go to Kastoria, an small town near a lake quite outside the usual touristic routes and famous for its bizantine churches, do not spend the night at Hotel Xenia du Lac. Although this hotel is classified in category "A" it is much worse than the worst guest-house I have seen in my life. It possibly was an "acceptable" hotel in the 60's, but no change or improvement has been made since then (and very little times it has been cleaned, by the way). You will be lucky if, as we did, leave this bad dream and do rest in one of the suites of hotel Tsamis, just on the shore of the lake. The decoration of the suites is "curious" but they have been completly rebuild and everything is new. Apart from that, you will enjoy a worderful view on the lake from the terrace of your room. (Remember to negotiate the price......!).

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