GREEEECEEE!!! Greece! Greece! Greece! Its been a dream to visit Greece ever since I studied Art History in Uni!
Here's the thing about Greece. There is sooooooo much to do and see. When I visited, I wanted to see as much as possible and that wasn't even practical to do it with public transport + toddler!!! There were 2 ways I could do this - 1. Having own transport & not relying on public transport. 2. Move to & stay in a different city everyday (like I did on my solo trip to Italy). Option 2 is again a bit difficult with Atyudarini. So yeah, we decided to take a private vehicle. But the thing about us driving a car is - we don't have practice driving on the right - in India, a former British colony, we follow driving on the left; plus we don't have an International Driver Permit as of yet.
So finally, we chose to take a guided tour. Again, the coach tours were too main-stream and catered to typical touristy places. Finally we chose an Athens private tour with WithLocals to Peloponnese which had the option to customize according to our interests. The trip was extensive and fantastic that I'll be continuing about this in 2-3 posts. Our driver & guide, Vassilis Dimitriadis is such a wonderful guy, . Being history buffs, we managed to visit 3 places with which we checked off 2 more UNESCO sites!
Our day began early at 8:00AM with a climb of Mount Lycabettus in Athens which lent such gorgeous view of the white city, including some posh houses that had roof-top pools. Here is also the Church of St.George, which is one of my earliest points when I realized there's a lot, lot, lot of similarities between Greece& India.
Here, in the churches, devotees tie small silver plates that has a stamp of man, woman, kids, baby, arms, legs, eye, wedding ring, house etc etc etc. Its offered to the Lord as a petition to cure ailments or ask for something - a practice very much prevalent in India too!!!
From there, our next short stop was at the Corinth Canal and soon we set off to our main 3 places for the day - Mycenea & Tiryns (listed together) and Epidaurus which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Obviously I'll have to write a detailed separate post on them, so I'm skipping them for now. However the whole thing took the entire day and it was about 3:00PM when we got out of Epidaurus.
Finally, we headed to Nafplio where we had a meal (yeah, it was a very late lunch) and we had informed Vasillis that we wanted to eat authentic Greek cuisine and we went to a small, unsuspecting restaurant. We had a lovely Artichoke gravy, eggplant & sauce, authentic Greek frappe and more! Indeed it was pleasing and yummy.
Our day ended with a view of Boúrtzi castle & sea from atop (beside a secret cactus forest!) and a stroll along the waterside at Nafplio Harbour till the Light House, before we started our long drive back to Athens. Did I mention, it was an awesome drive where Atyudarini slept off both in the onwards & return journeys, in Vassilis' very spacious & comfortable SUV??!!!!!
Greece is a wonderful country. Glad you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to visit the area next time! Greece is not just Greek islands and Im happy you prove this! Thank you for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great idea to experience a new place with locals, and I would definitely check put WithLocals company when I visit Athens. You chose the right option by deciding to go with them. I think that was the best for your family.
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ReplyDeleteGreece has been on my radar for quite some time. I would have visited Greece last year, but got low on budget. Really enjoyed reading this, and you seem to have had quite an amazing time, exploring Greece. Arachova is definitely one amazing destination for a daytrip from Athens.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit I never heard about Peloponnese before. It looks beautiful as the other parts of Greece. To find a guided tour that could accommodate your interests is great, just like WithLocals. Glad you found them and shared them with your audiences.
ReplyDeletePeloponnese is absolutely lovely and it's one of my favorite islands! Even though a tourist hub nowadays, many people forget about its historic significance. It's indeed one of the best day trips one can take from Athens.
ReplyDeleteJust like you! It is also my dream to visit Greece. In fact, we're planning to visit there this November. I bookmarked your post as reference. Appreciate the discount code too. Will definitely check withlocals.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful place! Your daughter is so lucky to get to explore this beautiful earth with you
ReplyDeleteThose photos are amazing! We travel the same way where you stay in a different city ever night!
ReplyDeleteI have never been to Peloponnese, but your photos have convinced me to visit this area of Greece. The views are quite similar to my beloved Croatia.
ReplyDeleteVery nice! It looks like straight out of James Bond's ideal vacation destination! :) We hope to visit there soon. :)
ReplyDeleteGreece looks beautiful! It has been on my bucket list for so long! Thats for sharing the private tour company, I will have to look into that when I visit! :)
ReplyDeleteI just had a friend return from here and she had such an amazing time. I think the two of you have convinced me to move Greece up higher on my Must Visit list. I've always been interested in visiting Athens and the islands, but it seems there's so much more to see.
ReplyDeleteGreece is one of the good destination for many pre-wedding shoots. I was following this blogger from Singapore and she got gorgeous wedding photoshoot. The temperature in Greece is just perfect!
ReplyDeleteAs always, Athens, Greece is a place that brings you to another realm of experience because of its laid-back beauty and all that it has to offer. Anyway, I always love dealing or availing a private tour operator that gives you an option to customize according to your interests, cause I find it very flexible. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
ReplyDeleteThe view of Boúrtzi castle & sea is just breathtaking. Glad that you chose a local tour as most of the time I find that tours focus on all the touristy stuff that are buzzed with heaps of crowd. You hardly get peace to enjoy and listen everything!
ReplyDeleteI once worked as a sales agent of Silkair/Singapore Airlines, which has very good connecting schedules to any point in Europe. One of the places that attracted me most was Greece. How was your private tour? Didn't you try commuting around? It's a challenge...but fun!
ReplyDeleteLoved the post. It's cool you took a guided tour and ate authentic food. We prefer to explore ourselves wherever we go
ReplyDeleteWhat eautiful place! Your daughter is so lucky to get to explore this beautiful earth with you. Your day trip up to the vista where you can see the view of the white city sounds awesome. I'd love to take a guided tour of Athens when I visit. Your eggplant meals sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteI have always wanted to go to Greece! I have never heard of Peloponnese, but it sounds like a great city to visit. Did it seem like a more popular place with tourists or mostly locals? How did you like the private tour company?
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome trip. And I love the idea of WithLocals. Thank you so much for the discount tip...
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