Travel Review: Greece Trip, Athens, Naxos, Crete, Santorini

Review by traveler

Mark M.

7.17.2022

General Info

Traveler Review

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

Greece

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

We had a great time in Greece. Anthony was very amenable and helpful. Clearly, we had no real notion of what we wanted to do but only had an idea of how long we wanted to be in Greece. Anthony was very able to fill in the gaps and make some great suggestions as to where we should spend our time. Given that my wife and I have come away with a great appreciation for Greece and her people, this reflects very well on what Anthony did for us.
On the first full day we were in Athens, Anthony had arranged for us to meet with one of his colleagues to review our itinerary. This lady did not show up the first day and when we rearranged the meeting, it was totally pointless. It felt throughout that it was her job to just meet people and say hello in various different ways. Her contribution to our holiday was zero, actually less than zero as we asked what we should do about tipping people. She said that it is people's job and that you shouldn't tip. Everywhere we went did not add tips and it was very clear that the staff depended on tips to augment their salaries. I checked the average monthly salary of a Greek person and it is not much at all. This 'advice' was not helpful at all. The meeting as mentioned before was pointless.

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

We had asked for a driver on the mainland portion of our trip. This was for 19 days, a number that we actually didn't realize was so big when we blithely agreed to it. The driver was brilliant though. He made the time pass very well. Had he not been so good, this portion of the trip could have been made miserable. It was not. He was very enthusiastic and interested in what we wanted to do (which was visit the main archaeological sites) and came up with ideas as we went along. He also introduced us to Freddo Cappuccinos, a delightful take on a fine coffee.
Our island hopping was fun too. Naxos and Crete were the highlights for us as Santorini whilst visually lovely was crammed to the gills with tourists. Up to 6 cruise ships came into the harbor daily. The central part of the main town is not that big. Still, it was great to see.
The food and wine were also great. Far more interesting to us was the Greek food and local wines. Really great.
As for the sites themselves, each one was memorable in its own way. There is so much to see and so many sites to visit. We felt privileged to be able to visit and tread in the same places as historical figures from the past.

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

We wouldn't use a driver on the mainland. For some reason, we thought that traffic in Greece would be really bad but in fact, it is a breeze. The plus points to having a driver were our enthusiastic driver who is a great guy, and of course not having to find parking. That is a trial. Mind you we did get used to having a driver by the end.
We may choose to fly to the islands next time. Taking the ferry sounds romantic and the thing to do but the reality of being crammed into fast ferries where you are hermetically sealed inside a tin can with a thousand other people takes away the romance and to me is not that pleasant. Taking the small puddle jumper airplanes was more fun. If the ferries were more traditional boat types, then that would be OK but of course, those would take far longer than the fast ferries.
We would also visit in September or October when the schools had gone back. We swam in the ocean many times and it was uniformly freezing. The water is apparently warmer later on in the year. The water however was spectacularly clear.

Travel Review: Greece Trip, Athens, Naxos, Crete, Santorini

General Info

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

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