Greece

The Greek people are among the most friendly in the world, but, beware of Greeks offering "Raki" This is the local moonshine and believe me it is LETHAL. I got drunk on this in Crete once or twice and I was telling everybody I was in Ibiza (a Spanish Island). My youngest daughter was working in Malia (very nice place) for the summer so me and my wife went over to visit her. Well this night I was falling asleep everywhere so they decided Theresa would take me back to the apartment, apparently I was shouting my mouth off saying things like she only wanted me for my body (which isn't any good anyway, much less when it's full of Raki!) :-) The good thing about Raki is you can drink as much as you want and still not have a hangover in the morning, I love it.

Hostels and Student Accomodation

Greece is not to hot with youth hostels (ksenón neotítos) but those that there are tend to be fairly easy-going affairs. Few ever ask for an HI card, and if they do you can usually buy one on the spot, or maybe just pay a little extra for your bed. Charges are around £4/$7 a night. In Athens there are also cheap dormitory-style "Student Houses", non-HI hostels which despite their name are in no way limited to students. These and sometimes rural and the many island tavernas will also sometimes let roof space, usually providing a mattress for you to lay a sleeping bag down on, or even full bedding. On many beaches it is now illegal to stay the night and Greek jails are non too plush so beware.

Use our Hostel Booking form to book your hostel.
Places to see

Athens Okay, so the British stole its marbles and won't return them, but the Parthenon remains the supreme icon of European architecture.

Plaka is the old Turkish quarter of Athens, a hillside scramble of lanes, mostly pedestrianised. There's no better place for an al fresco meal.

Peloponnese One of the most beautiful towns in Greece, Nafplio is a perfect base for exploring ancient sites like Agamemnon's citadel at Mycenae and the wonderful theatre at Epidaurus.

Mystra is an astonishingly complete Byzantine city, once home to 42,000, now an open-air museum inhabited by only a handful of nuns.

The Meteora is a valley of stone pinnacles in central Greece, on whose apparently inaccessible heights are a dozen medieval monasteries.

Cyclades Islands Paros is an island with a bit of everything: nightlife, old fishing harbours, Venetian-style buildings, beaches, and even a valley of butterflies.

Naxos is a quiet island with superb sandy beaches, with many small villages that reflect the Greece of old. The localYoghurt with wild bee honey is to die for.

There’s no more dramatic Greek island than the volcanic isle of Thira (Santorini), thought to be the lost Atlantis.

Dodecanese Islands Karpathos is a real backwater Greek island with rocky coves and mountain villages, where the women still wear traditional dress.

Crete Europe’s longest gorge, the Samaria Gorge, cuts through the White Mountains. It’s a long day’s hike, but there’s a beach waiting for you at the end. Khania is a very picturesque Venetian port, Beware in the mountains this is where the "Raki" mostly comes out.

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