Has anyone been to Greece??

[Kismet]

My DH & I are going to Greece in March to visit my brother who is studying there. I can't WAIT!!! We've got a tentative itinerary made out based on things that I remember from being there about 5 years ago and trying to avoid things he's already seen.

DH & I will have some extra time to ourselves after my brother goes back to school, so I'm looking for ideas! Has anyone been to Greece? What would you recommend to do?? Places to stay? Places to eat?

Thanks! :)

[m4star]

I have been to Greece. I was in Athens, the Peloponnese Penisula, and some islands (Santorini, Crete, Rhodes, Kos, Ios).

I strongly recommend Santorini and Ios. They are both beautiful. Athens is kinda dirty and hectic but filled with cultural treasures.

Some quick recommendations:
old world village of Fira on Santorini
Archeological Museum in Iraklio on Crete

The food is wonderful. Lots of yogurt sauces, lamb pastries, ouzo (traditional anise flavored liquor), and fish. Oh and olives!!!

You are going to just love it!!

[lhall]

Mom took me on a Mediterannean Cruise and we had two stops in Greece: Corfu and Delphi. I thought Corfu was BORING, just some 18th century palace we toured - ick. Delphi on the other hand was AWESOME. I loved the tour of the Temple of Apollo.

Leigh

[Gail]

I LOVE Greece! But honestly, it's been so long since I went, I don't remember the names of places... Actually, I love EVERYWHERE... Particularly remember loving Delphi-- the temple and the museum. Think we stayed at the Amalia, which I seem to recall being nice... Remember a neat little cafe we stopped at on the road to Lion's Gate in Mycenae-- I can't recall the name of the cafe itself, only that there was a gift shop next door called Ephigenia. There was outdoor seating, good food, lovely local red wines. And it was so long ago, that I'm sure it's all different now. Frankly, it was my first out-of-the-US and we did a packaged tour-- one of those tour/cruise thingies, so my recollections will be terribly touristy... I'm a big archaeology buff, so of course everywhere I went was looking for ruins.

If I had to do it again (and someday would love to) I think I'd let my nose be my guide insofar as restaurants are concerned. How well I remember wandering the streets of Athens, smelling WON-derful aromas. Wish I'd followed my nose a lot more than I did. Would love to go back to Rhodes and visit the Acropolis at Lindos, since there was a freak storm and I only got to see the port side, and the old fortress. A cousin of mine also highly recommended the island of Skiathos. Seems she went there because she kept hearing the following from Greeks: (Sigh.) Ahh... Skiathos....

[NydiaC]

My favorite place that we visited in Greece, this summer, was a place called Tolo. We stopped on the way to Athens. Its on a beach of Argolikos gulf, 10 km from Nafplion.

We were there only about 12 hours, just long enough to get some sleep (not that we got much). It seem like a very small town, but it didn't go to sleep. My friends and I were up at midnight shopping in this little jewlery store. The proprietors were sooo friendly. We were there over an hour. They served us wine and everything. The beach at sunrise was beautiful too. I can't remember the name of the hotel we stayed in, but the food was very good. If I come up with it, I'll let you know.

[Mbart]

I went to Greece on my honeymoon a million years ago (okay, 12 years ago!). I second the vote for Santorini and Ios. I also agree that Athens is noisy and dirty, but a necessity for the ruins, they are incredible! I remember the food being great (calamari is like nothing you get here), and everything was incredibly cheap! Granted, that was over 10 years ago, but I remember dinner out with a bottle of wine would be $10! We even got a little nutty and forgot what real prices are. We had the opportunity to stay in this gorgeous hotel, all marble and columns, with a swimming pool jutting out over the Mediterranean, but passed on it because it was $35/night. We went for the nice $6/night place, which was also right on the water! We now think back on that and just shake our heads and laugh.

Have a great time; I'm jealous!:)