Hotels in Athens

So first, I recommend you read Matt Barrett's Athens Guide on Hotels. It is very helpful and tries to explain the absurd rating system. I agree with him about finding a decent C-category hotel (with AC!) in/within walking distance of the Plaka (which is located underneath the Acropolis). Sure the area is touristy and crowded, but everything is accessible and you will be able to get around easiest here.

Here are a couple links to comparing hotels in Athens:
Booking.com
Athens-Greece
As far as hostels in Athens check out these links: HostelsWeb and Hostels.
I would book now, because hotels/hostels fill up fast especially in Athens and in August.

The NYTimes has a whole travel section on Greece and actually, recently, wrote up a really interesting article about a new, ecclectic, artsy, up-and-coming area of Athens: Gazi. I think it sounds worth checking out if you're in Athens for a more than one day.

Bus Travel in Greece: Flashback to the Past!

The best way to get around mainland Greece is by bus...unfortunately. I say this because the buses look like they are from the 50's and they sorta drive that way too. I'm not saying this to discourage anyone, it will get you from point a to point b, but just being honest about what to expect.

The most important thing to remember is that in Athens there are TWO bus stations. One serves the southern part of Greece and the other the northern. You want the southern one, Terminal A (located at Kifissou 100, it's called "Kifissou" for shorthand). I won't even tell you the other station, because that will just confuse you. Buses leave the station for Sparti all day long and tickets are about 12€ (about $15). It says that the ride is about 3.5 hrs (though you can drive the distance in 2 hrs, because of stops and so forth it is longer).

To get to the bus station from the airport take bus #: X93 at door 5 of the Airport. If you want to get to the bust station from downtown Athens, catch bus #: 051 from the corner of Zinonos & Menandrou Sts., Omonia Square. Omonia Sq. is a central area of Athens just north of the Acropolis and Monastiraki (the huge fleamarket at the foot of the Acropolis).

ITALY-GREECE: "una faccia, una raccia"

OK, not so sure about the spelling on that, but I know a lot of you have heard me quote this line before (what can I say, I'm a geek). So I know a few of you are planning on going to Italy before heading over to Greece and are wondering what is the most efficient way to cross the Ionian sea...and of course, there is no easy answer!

There is a super cheap flight from Milan to Athens on EasyJet for £30 (which translates to about $60). Unfortunately, EasyJet does not fly from Rome to Athens, only from Milan (what?!). A quick search on Kayak for flights from Rome to Athens showed an average of $144 one-way cost on Alitalia. Naples to Athens for $115 and Palermo to Athens, at $142.

As far as ferries over, there is a 15 hr ferry ride from Brindisi, Italy (on the heel of Italy) to Patras, Greece (Northern tip of Peloponessos and the European Capital of Culture 2006!). You can book a reservation at GreekFerries. There is also a 28 hour ferry ride from Naples to Patras (yikes! 28 hours!). From the port of Catania, Sicily you can only take a ferry to Naples. From Palermo, ferries only go to the west coast of Italy. Needless to say, getting a ferry from Sicily to Greece is a major hassle (and makes no sense to me).

Ultimately, I would recommend flying. I apologize that in a previous post I mentioned that there are ferries from Italy to Greece (making it out to be some easy endeavor). I know some of you have travel agents that you are corresponding with and I would discuss this with them further, I'm sure they are privy to way more info regarding ferries, flights and so forth. Good luck!

Monemvasia: Gibralter of the East

The rock that is called Monemvasia sits off the coast of Peloponnese, only connected by a narrow piece of road. (FYI: Monemvasia means single entrance) Again, it's full of history and ruins and if interested please read more HERE.

Monemvasia as a day trip, takes up a good part of the day. So I only recommend this to people who plan on staying longer than a few days in Laconia. Also, for those who plan on exploring other sites around there, such as Neapolis, the island Elafonisos and maybe the island Kythira.

As you can see from the map, Monemvasia sits off the right most coast of the right most finger of the Peloponnese. I think, it's a couple hours (about 95km) from Sparti to Monemvasia (can't be sure since it's been a while since I've been there myself) But I know it would make a nice stop over to stay at one of the hotels on the peninsula before trekking southwards on your journey.

Check out this guy's blog on the Peloponnese, he talks about Monemvasia.

(a pic taken from Monemvasia)

Taygetos: The Daughter of Atlas

Mt. Taygetos shadows Sparta and has the highest peak in Peloponnese. The curiously pyramidical (is that a word?) shaped peak is called Prophetas Elias and there is an "open-air" church at the very top. My Dad, sister and I hiked up to it summer of '96? I think. It took like 2-3 hrs up and then the same down. And was a mildly arduous workout but totally WORTH IT! I will do it again with any interested parties.


(At the peak my family has a marble icon with my great-great-grandfather's name engraved on it.)

Museum of the Olive and Greek Olive Oil in Sparta

I know a bunch of you are not-s0-secret epicureans and will appreciate this museum as much as I do. I have yet to visit, but plan to while I'm there in August! My Aunt, Karen (Penny's mom), got a really pretty olive branch charm from there (I'm keeping my eyes out for one).

Just remember it says it's not open on Tuesdays.

Mystras: medieval ruins

There's a lot of history associated with the palace of Mystras, and you can read about it HERE, so I won't even try to explain it all. It occupies a steep foothill on the side of Mt. Taiyetos and overlooks Sparta down in the valley. It makes for a great day trip/hike and I highly recommend checking it out. There's also a week long festival that happens up there at the very end of August/ beginning of September. I'm not sure of the dates, but it's really fun and worth checking out if anyone will be around. Lots of gypsies selling their crafts and wares!

Gythio: Seaport of Sparta

Gythio is about 27 miles south of Sparta (a half hr ride) and is a great lil town for fresh seafood and picturesque views. It's also a bustling port where you can catch ferries to islands and even boats to Italy. Kythira (an island south of laconia) is also accessible by ferry from Gythio and the port at Neapolis (check out future blogs for more info).


Just south of Gythio is the beach we frequent, Mavrovouni, the shore is about 2 miles long in length and I know there's camping there if anyone is interested. Also there are cafes and ouzeris (ouzo bars with tapa-like snacks) right off the shore if anyone wants a lite bite or drinkie drink. Check out this link for more info: Gythio

Sparta (tough reputation to live up to)

Sparti (as the locals call it) is situated in the Evrotas (the famous river from anitquity... full of gypsy camps in the dried summer riverbed) Valley underneath the Taigetos mountain range (pictured at right). Kinda looks like Pasadena, no? It's a really small town and the historical Sparta actually lies right outside modern Sparta (evidenced in photo). You could probably walk around the whole city in a couple hours, but I highly recommend stopping for some greek coffee (and cheese toast! mmm) at one of the kafenia (cafes) in the kendro (city center), located between Paleologou & Lykourgou streets. It's a great place to sit, relax and people watch. My family's favorite kafenio is called Brazilia (hmmm?) and everytime we go to Sparti for business we stop in for a coffee.

You of course don't have to get the thick sludgy greek coffee (pictured to the left). In the summer most people enjoy a cool, refreshing frappe (the forefather of the frappuchino!) I like ordering mine half sweet with milk (frappe, metreo me yala).

(Frappes are so exciting!)

Some good/interesting blogs covering laconia:

-Matt Barrett's Greece Travel Site
-Where's Mike? trip to Peloponnese 2006

Yiasou!

...means "hello" in Greek, that and "bye" and "godbless".
A word for all occasions! :P


OK, so here we go. I'm going to start posting some stuff about places around Sparta that if you have some extra time you may like to visit. Sparta is located in Laconia and there are a lot of beautiful places to visit there.


Under the "links" section you will find links (surprise, surprise) for flight search engines and the hotel in Sparta that we will be blocking rooms at (owned by my Aunt and Uncle who speak English fluently).

Hopefully, this will be a bit less cluttered than the mass emails I've been sending out (sorry!).