Things to see and do in Greece

December 15, 2004 5:10 AM

My mom and I will be travelling to Greece in early June. We're hoping to drive (and ferry) around and stay at a variety of places. I'm looking for recommendations on must-see destinations and any out of the way spots to check out.

I'm starting out at a conference in Santorini. We'll be meeting up in Athens and staying for 7-10 days. We'd like to do some hiking, and we love good food, so any spot with a local specialty would be great. Also, what is driving like in Greece for someone (from Canada) with experience driving in Europe? The travel agent is really pushing an island cruise, but I'm afraid it'll be full of old folks and gambling.

posted by nprigoda to travel & transportation (20 comments total)

The ferries between the Greek islands are usually very good. We spent a lot of time on them this summer. The Minoan Lines ferries are newer and nicer in general than their Anek rivals. We got berths on most of the trips we took, as the trips are usually overnight. If you're prepared to book your own way through, then I'd say DIY was better than a cruise.

My advice would be to spend as little time in Athens as you need to see the ancient sites (probably 2 days), as it's a hot and smoggy place (and dusty as well, but I suspect this was largely to do with the upcoming Olympics at the time)

Santorini is stunning, but my favourite Greek Island remains Rhodes. You could stay in Rhodes Old town with a fellow Canadian. The proprieter of the hotel Spot, Lee, is a Greek Canadian. It's a small place, but the welcome is warm, and the rooms are simple and clean. We have stayed with him several times now. Whilst on Rhodes, Lindos is an interesting place to visit, although get a ferry around the island, rather than the bus, it's a much nicer trip.

I've not found any need to hire cars when I've been in Greece. We've taken buses and ferries without too many problems.
posted by viama at 5:53 AM on December 15, 2004

Delphi is probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen, period. Do not miss it.

Two other sites that stand out in my memory are:
1) The Temple of Poseidon. It was an overcast, rainy day when I went there, but it was still an incredible place. There weren't hordes of people there, either, which was a nice change from the sites in and around Athens proper.
2) Nauplia. I'm not sure how easy it is to get there, as I went with an enormous tour group and we were bussed everywhere, but this was a beautiful little town. The scenery between Nauplia and Athens was worth the trip, as well.

And make sure you pay for your subway ride EVERY TIME in Athens. A guy in my group was nearly arrested by AK-47-toting police for using an expired subway ticket.
posted by schustafa at 6:04 AM on December 15, 2004

Early June? Ask around about which orthodox saints' days are celebrated at that time of year, and which villages have festivals to celebrate. Especially in the Northern regions you find great live folk music (no, not bozoukis, but clarinets and lutes and great druyms and stuff) and whole roasted lambs.
posted by zaelic at 7:17 AM on December 15, 2004

Go to Delphi! Also, the Dora Stratou dance theater in Athens is pretty awesome.
posted by kenko at 7:31 AM on December 15, 2004

Meteora is incredible and unique but awfully out of the way in Northern Greece.

A good route around the country is Athens to Corinth (neat canal) to Mycanae to Epidaurus (best old amphitheater) to Olympia to Delphi and back to Athens. Any mainland siteseeing will be heavy on the ancient sites. There's not much else to see.
posted by smackfu at 7:43 AM on December 15, 2004

I'd avoid the islands if you can (with the obvious exception of Santorini - but Rhodes is great too). They are much more expensive and touristy than the mainland. Renting a car is cheap and driving very easy to do. Spend a week on the Peloponesos travelling to all of the sites. I second Naupflio - the drive there across the Argolid plain is stunning. Also go to Olympia, Mystras, and the acro-Corinth. Delphi is spectacular so make an effort to see it as well. My SO and I camped - which out of a car was great and cheap and easy. June is getting close to tourist season so you may have to plan ahead for proper lodging. Have fun.

Oh- avoid Patras if you can. I'm sure it is a lovely city, but it was sure in a bad mood when I was last there.
posted by jmgorman at 7:52 AM on December 15, 2004

People slag off Athens, and it certainly does require a thick skin, but don't underestimate the power or the Parthenon and the National Museum - both were worthy of repeated visits when I was there.

As for islands, Crete was off the charts cool. It's basically a little country unto itself, given the variety of things to do and see - from archaeological ruins to urban life in Iraklion and Xania to quieter village activities in the south. (You should definitely follow zaelic's advice and try to get yourself to a feast for an Orthodox saint - the music and the food were unparalleled...) It took an overnight ferry ride to get there (which was kind of an adventure in and of itself), there are probably flights if you need to budget your time.
posted by fingers_of_fire at 8:11 AM on December 15, 2004

Oh, the Benaki Museum (in Athens) is great too, and there's a place, I can't remember where but it's in the western side, near the wall of the old city, with a graveyard, where Alcibiades is buried.

The gorge in Crete should be open by the time you're there if you go. The western side of the island is supposed to be beautiful, but you'll probably want a car to go there (you can bring a car on the ferries). I'm told that Knossos isn't very interesting ("Minoan Disneyland"), though.
posted by kenko at 8:21 AM on December 15, 2004

Definitely Delphi, but stay overnight so you can get up in the morning and go up through the ruins before the tour buses get there and dump zillions of tourists all over everything. Trust me, it makes a big difference.

I recommend a visit to Crete; see this thread for Khania, and (pace whoever told kenko) Knossos is fantastic -- the partial restoration is a little cutesy, but it does help visualize the place, and for pete's sake, it's over 4,000 years old! Read Mary Renault (The King Must Die, The Bull From the Sea) before you go to get a sense of what it was like in its heyday.

And whatever you do, don't use the "Let's Go" guidebook!
posted by languagehat at 8:41 AM on December 15, 2004

(what smackfu said). That's the route we took.
posted by schustafa at 9:30 AM on December 15, 2004

I didn't get to go to Knossos, because I was there the day before Easter and the workers were on strike. There's another Minoan ruin south of Iraklio, though.

Oh, also, the Nikos Kazantzakis museum in Iraklio is neat and (though it seems weird to say this) his grave is very nice as well.
posted by kenko at 9:32 AM on December 15, 2004

I loved Crete, and on Santorini, we stayed in the village of Oia, just for the sunsets. If nothing else go to Oia for a meal at sunset. On Crete, we stayed in the village at the bottom of the Gorge of Samaria. After the ferries of tourists left, it was lovely, and the stars were spectacular. This was in 1985, no idea how much things may have changed.
posted by theora55 at 9:35 AM on December 15, 2004

Southern Peloponnese is great - the Mani peninsula (where the word maniac is derived) is like the greek ozarks, culminating in one of the entrances to Hades. Small villages, plain people, simple food, not many tourists. I believe you can get ferries in and out of Kalamata. While down there Sparta and the incredible Byzantine hilltop town of Mystra, where the Byzantines survived until ca. 1400 AD.

Khania, as noted, is wonderful, very relaxing, good swimming, and yummy seafood, especially octopus - check out a place called Barbaras near the base of the breakwater. And if you want beautiful scenery and quiet, the villages on the south coast of Crete are cool - Paleokhora is about a 2 hour drive from Khania (But lots of switchbacks), and as theora55 suggests (I was there in 1985 as well, and since) the village at the end of the Samaria Gorge is cool, and I believe you can take a boat out of there to Paleokhora or points nearby (and avoid having to climb out of the gorge).

In northern Greece, Thessaloniki has some good cultural stuff, especially the museum showing the funerary goods of Philip of Macedon (father of Alexander the Great), from the nearby tomb of Vergina. And Mount Athos, of course, though men only.

On Santorini, as I am sure you know, you can see a fantastic archaeological site from the eruption. Rent mopeds on Santorini if your mother is up to it, and get to the black sand beaches. Most of the Greek Islands are over-rated imo and can be packed with backpackers. Samos, Lesbos and Rhodes are remote and large enough to diffuse that. On Samos there is a terrific pensione in an old nunnery.

While on Rhodes consider a day trip or overnight trip to Turkey. I jumped off from there to Bodrum and Marmara and on to Syria. You may need a visa in advance, but you can easily take a small ferry from Rhodes, regardless of what the locals may tell you! And while in SW Turkey Ephesus is extremely interesting - you can ferry to Samos from Ephesus and hence back to Athens.

Phew, ok, I need to take a vacation!

PS second to Delphi and Mycaene - daytrippable from Athens.

It will be VERY hot in June.
posted by Rumple at 10:47 AM on December 15, 2004 [1 favorite]

Ditto Rumple on Mystra. It's gorgeous and well worth a day or two.

In general, I'd suggest picking up Paul Hetherington's Byzantine and Medieval Greece and visiting a few of the castles or churches that he particularly recommends. Wherever you go, there will certainly be Frankish and Byzantine ruins around. Many are only minimally preserved and make for great hiking off the well trod tourist trails.

Also, a great Mycaenean site on the west coast of the Peloponnesus is the Palace of King Nestor at Pylos. You can see the tub Telemachus bathed in on his way to Sparta.

Oh, in Athens itself, the best museum is the Cycladic Museum off Syntagma Square. For sheer volume, nothing beats the nat'l museum. The Cycladic museum beats all others hands down on presentation, though.

Have fun!
posted by felix betachat at 11:54 AM on December 15, 2004

Thanks everyone for all the great tips! I'd like to e-mail some of you for further information, I hope that's okay. I have a feeling we'll need to extend our trip after seeing all of these gushing reviews! Thanks again
posted by nprigoda at 12:17 PM on December 15, 2004

the Mani peninsula (where the word maniac is derived)

No! Where do these rumors get started? Maniac is from Ancient Greek mania, which has nothing to do with the much later name Mani.

Oh, and Mycenae is well worth the visit -- and note that you can see Argos (a rival kingdom) from there!
posted by languagehat at 2:38 PM on December 15, 2004

Hit the Irish Bar on Mykonos (magificent place, if touristy in the extreme) and see if the owner, my old buddy Stavros Akritides (the man from whom I think I borrowed part of my user name) is still alive and kicking.

Literally kicking -- he taught me the sirtaki.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:01 PM on December 15, 2004

A lot of the stuff in the Cycladic museum is of dubious origin.
posted by kenko at 9:10 PM on December 15, 2004

is there an origin of the name Mani? I think I read it was the root of maniac in the Blue Guide or some other highly reputable etymological source ......
posted by Rumple at 9:24 PM on December 15, 2004

Everyone always advises getting out of athens quick, but I have to say that I thought it was a stunning city. I definitely have a soft spot for the history, blah blah blah, but - I dunno. Driving from the airport toward the city and seeing the parthenon for the first time, flooded in light on a dark summer night, is a moment I'll never forget. Be flexible with your booking in case you find it worth staying around - marble streets, museums, history around every corner.

Delos is a tiny island off the coast of mykonos which is a great day trip - it's well preserved ruins of an ancient city. (You can't stay overnight.)

Santorini is nice, but it is going to depend heavily on whether you are more interested in greece for cultural reasons or natural reasons whether you find more of interest on the islands or the mainland. A lot of the islands are mostly touristy beaches and bars, esp. in the summer.
posted by mdn at 10:33 PM on December 15, 2004