Greece Tour Guide Info?

November 10, 2006 3:37 PM

After saving for a couple years my family and two others are ready to have our Greece vacation this spring, and now I need some organizational advice. There's great info in previous askme threads on itineraries and what to see, but I am hoping to find a local tour guide who can help us see the sites.

Does anyone have any recommendations of reputable agencies or people that would be willing to set everything up for us, as well as provide a guide (and ideally transportation)? Although not necessary it would be super-de-duper awesome if there existed a guide in Greece that spoke Korean, but that may just be a bridge too far, and everybody does speak english. If it matters, the stuff we'd like to see are a fair helping of the touristy stuff, a bit of the idyllic, a bit of the cosmopolitan, and hopefully (for me) a trip to see the location of the Battle of Thermopylae. Any advice or pointers is very much appreciated!

posted by forforf to travel & transportation (4 comments total)

This guy is quite a resource on Greece. I know him personally - disclaimer, he's a client (but not for web design) - and I think if you sent him a message, or contacted one of the travel agencies he works with, you might just find what you need.

Here is his page of tour guides and agencies - the bottom section has a couple of private tour guides listed (though for some reason he has a bunch of Google ads mixed in).

I haven't tried any personally, and again, I mainly know him because he's a client, but his web site is amazing -- full (and it's huge) of his own writing about Greece, and I believe he personally knows (or at least meets) all the people he represents, even though he lives in North Carolina.

If nothing else, you could probably contact the individual agencies and ask if they know anyone who speaks Korean.
posted by amtho at 6:55 PM on November 10, 2006

I think it's thrilling that you have purposely saved for some time to make this trip...so many people think, oh sun, beach, party, let's go to Greece! As for myself, I thought about it for decades before I finally went -- and it lived up to my dreams. I've been to Greece 6 times in 7 years, so you can see it's an addiction.

Are you coming from Korea, or from USA, and what are the dates you are thinking of? I go with different friends every year and I do all the planning & arrangements... in 2007 several friends and I are planning a trip arriving Athens May 24, leaving June 11. What is your timetable? What are your "must-sees"? Maybe I can be helpful-- I look forward to your feedback!
posted by travelerjan at 2:57 PM on November 11, 2006

Thanks for the enthusiasm! To answer a couple of your questions, we're travelling from the US, and as for the "must-sees", there isn't any "must". I'd love to see the pass of Thermopylae if its not to out of the way, but that's the only specific item. We also don't have a fixed time table, other than May-June (similar timeframe as your trip). The main reason I'm looking for some outside help is to offload the detail planning so that we can enjoy and just kinda be herded along from place to place.
Although I'm light on specifics, I do have some general idea of what I'd like to get out of the trip. First would be some healthy doses of Ancient Greece; the Parthenon, or other ancient sites ... I'd like to see at least 3. A half or full day relaxing on some nice beach area would be another goal. Exploring some archetypical Greek town and shops; and of course some good Greek food. That leaves a few days that still need to be filled, but those would be filled in quickly once we figured out the in-country transportation and lodging logistics. The group is 5 older adults, one college student, and 3 gradeschool kids. The adults are split between those that adore history and those that enjoy more of the cosmopolitan atmosphere.
I certainly would appreciate any thoughts or advice! Thanks!
posted by forforf at 11:07 PM on November 11, 2006

Dear Forforf,
After your information, I realized that you really DO need a guide situation, not someone like me who takes people on her holiday.

I checked the resource given you above, and think your very best bet is "two clicks down" on his list... It's called OPA Tours and the link is
http://www.greecetravel.com/opa/index.html
Matt Barrett recommends it highly and I can see why... this is a service run by 2 women -- An american art educator/tour coordinator and a Greek archeologist/manager they create and escort each tour on flexible dates -- with no more than 20 people. You are 9 people, probably you could pair up with another similar-size group of people that have contacted them.

Their website gives their sample spring itinerary and you contact them directly for details and cost estimates. It may be that you can ask for specific changes as well. There would be room at the end of the trip (if you arrange your flights to add an extra Athens day) so you yourself could go to THermopylae, tho you should know there's not much there.
I wish you good luck in your planning and a wonderful trip!
posted by travelerjan at 6:59 AM on November 14, 2006