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The BEST SEASON for GREECE July and August are fine if you are prepared. It's more crowded and rooms are harder to find but the island nightlife is jumping and the beaches are lively. If you are of college age or mind this is the time for you since this is when all the students who are lucky enough to not have to work are traveling. If you are older bring plenty of sunscreen and alka-seltzer. In August all of Athens is on vacation so book rooms and ferries in advance. Be aware August 15th is the biggest holiday of the summer and the boats going to the islands before and coming back after that day are crowded and you will need to book in advance. But if you can't get to an island the 15th is a great time to be in Athens because everyone is gone. If you are planning to be in Greece in August don't wait til the last minute to book a room because you may not find one. May-June and September-October are my favorite months. The weather is perfect and the kids are in school so it's quieter. There is still some nightlife but the beaches are almost free of people on the less mainstream islands. You may get a day of rain but it usually adds a little excitement. This is a time to go to the islands like Mykonos, Santorini, and Rhodes because most of the tourists are gone. November to March can be cold and rainy but it can also be like Indian Summer. Athens comes alive during these months and there is nothing like a night out in the city. The ruins which are dry and dusty in the summer are covered with Grass. Easter is a very special time to be in Greece. This year it is on the 15th of April. In the islands it is like high-season so book in advance because if you just show up you may not find a room.
You can find
info on weather and what to pack in my Athens
Guide at
www.athensguide.com/weather.html Internet Cafes and Access in Greece
On the corner of
Apolonos and Voulis is the
Skynet
Center
which is not a
cafe but provides all sorts of internet
services and is the easiest to use and the
friendliest. The very conveniently
located
Museum
Internet Cafe
at 46 Patision
street, is an actual cafe. It is located right
next to the National Archeological Museum
which would be convenient of the museum were
not closed for rennovations.
The
Plaka Internet
World at 29
Pandrossou Street is owned by Pavlos
Georgiadis, a Greek who has lived much of his
life in Germany. This is another good place to
get your e-mail or hang out and do things that
people do when they are addicted to
computers.To find Pavlos just enter on the
ground floor and keep climbing the stairs
until you are wondering how much further can
it be and then you will be there. Great view
from the balcony.
There are also
internet cafes in Mykonos , Santorini, Lesvos
and probably every other island by now.
Getting your e-mail is not a problem in
Greece. Phones in Greece Making a phone call from anywhere in Greece has always been a pain. Most people buy the phone cards that are usable in some of the phones some of the time if you don't mind waiting in line. Or you can call from your hotel for five times the normal rate. Or you can ask in every store, restaurant, cafe or newsstand if you can make a call. This year I found the answer to my problems. I bought a cellular phone. I got a phone, with my own number that I gave to all my friends in America and Greece. No contracts like in the USA. Incoming calls are free. People can find you at anytime and if you don't want them to find you (or want to be selective) there is free voice mail service. Greece Travel-Phones will sell you a phone charged and ready to go and will give you your phone number before you leave home so you can put it on your answering machine and give to your family and friends (if you want them to have it). Not only that but you can send Greece Travel-Phones the numbers of your family and friends and they will be programed into your phone for quick and easy dialing(no trying to figure out access codes). They will also set up your answering service. They deliver your phone to your hotel, to the airport or anywhere you like, even on the islands, charged and ready to use. For more info see www.greecetravel.com/phones or e-mail Tom Mazarakis at greecetravelphones@hotmail.com The Best Ouzo in Greece!
Some General Info
Buses and
Trolleys in Athens
Take a Ride
on the Metro! See Also
www.greecetravel.com/ferryboats
Changing
Money in
Greece
Jewelery in Athens 
Hand-crafted Gold is
inexpensive in Greece. I never buy it because my
wife, Andrea makes Greek style 22k and hers is as
nice as anything you can find in Athens with the
possible exception of a store called
BYZANTINO
at 120 Adrianou in
the Plaka. Their work is so good and so
inexpensive that Andrea, (who is considered one of
the finest goldsmith in America), even buys from
them. Most of the shops in Athens and the islands
buy from wholesalers but George and Kosta are
craftsmen, creating their own designs and
recreating ancient pieces. If you are a lover of
Gold jewelery don't buy anything until you have
seen their work. If you walk down Adrianou it is
on your left at #120(next to an ice-cream shop).
For directions you can call them at (01130) 210
324-6605 or fax 210 324-7079. There are a number
of stores at the same address so be sure you are
going into Byzantino. It is right next to the
ice-cream shop. Let them know Matt and Andrea sent
you. You don't have to worry about the language
barrior because Laura, the saleswoman is American.
Byzantino was chosen to make the gold jewelry worn
by the white-robed women in the closing ceremony
of the Olympics. See www.athensguide.com/byzantino
Assistance for Foreigners Dorian Kokas has suffered every indignity possible within the Greek bureaucratic system. Dorian's story of obtaining a driver's license illustrates his finely tuned sense of the absurd. If you are planning on moving to Greece you should read this. Should you need assistance in Greece with Visas, customs, starting a business, getting a job, finding a house, getting married, Greek-American military obligations, taxes or any advice on getting through the system see www.greektravel.com/dorian Consulting, Advice and Assistance in Greece Tom Mazarakis has been doing business in Athens and on the island of Mykonos since the mid-seventies and knows all the ins and outs of Greek business, culture and bureaucracy. You can also see his informational page at www.greecetravel.com/mazarakis and it may answer some of your questions. If not you can e-mail him. Getting Married in Greece This seems to be the thing to do these days and it can be easy and expensive or cheap and difficult. To see what the options are visit: www.greecetravel.com/weddings Athens Maps: I asked my friend George from Fantasy Travel to send me a few Athens maps to give out. He did. 1000 of them! They are pretty good maps of downtown Athens on one side and Greece on the other. There are also inserts of the Athens Metro System and the new Tram that runs along the coast. There's info on transportation within Athens (buses, trolly's, ferries, trains), helpful phone numbers and some sightseeing ideas. If you want a map of Athens (and Greece) send $2 for shipping and handling to Greecetravel.com/102 Old Pittsboro Rd/Carrboro/NC 27510. If you are writing from Europe or Australia better make that $3. You also get a free Invite A Friend To Greece postcard made from my original photos. Athens Survival Guide
for Palm Pilot including a GPS map.
Come to the Zoo! |
The best ouzo in Greece
comes from Brettos, Athen's oldest distillary,
on the corner of Kydatheneon and Adrianou
streets. These are the main pedestrian streets
in the
Got time between flights?
Looking for something to do after seeing the
Acropolis? Go to the zoo! The
Attika Zoological
Park opened in May
of 2001 and after the Acropolis it is probably the
most interesting place in Athens. If you have a
layover in Athens before your flight to the
islands or home, why sit around and look at
stressed people when you can see one of the
happiest collections of animals in the world. The
zoo in Spata is one of the most humane and is the
third largest bird collection in the world! It is
a short ride from the airport and if you are
traveling with kids it is a surefire way to keep
them happy and interested in what would normally
be wasted time. For more information see