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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   2326 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for May 26, 2023

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Going for a tour of Greece this month. Any recommendations? Route is Corfu-Zagori-Athens. Trying to avoid tourist crowds as much as possible

Zagori is great, I wanted to go there, but only got as far as Parga. Parga is also great, the beach there is incredible.

You can't really avoid tourists in Corfu or Athens. Staying away from the coast might work in Corfu, but what's the point of staying on an island if you keep to the interior?

Do you have any stops planned between Zagori and Athens?

Do you have any stops planned between Zagori and Athens?

No so I was thinking of simply taking a flight from Ioannina to Athens. Unless if there is something really worthwhile

There's Meteora, but then things get sparse. You have to drive all the way across the plain of Thessaly to Thermopylae and then turn south to see the ruins of Delphi and Hosios Loukas.

It looks like you won't be going to the parts I went to, other than Athens, in which I only spent a day. I've also been to Mykonos and Santorini, which are filled with tourists which you said you want to avoid. But my impression is that the economy thrives on tourism, so I don't know how it easy it is to avoid tourists completely. The advantage of this though, is that unlike Italy, which is similar in many ways, most people there seem to speak English.

A Greek Uber driver who goes back every summer told me each island is very different from the rest. Mykonos is boring in my opinion unless you like to dance at clubs. It's known for as a place for partying. Santorini, which is popular with couples, is stunning. Oia, which a very beatiful city on a cliff, was packed with tourists, and that was in May. I think it gets a lot busier in the summer. I've also heard good things about Naxos.

Athens was filthy. Almost every building is completely covered in bad graffiti up to a certain height. The ground is very dirty. Everyone says to avoid it. It does have some cool ruins though and a few old buildings. In the more touristy areas of Athens everything is overpriced and there are Africans aggressively trying to sell bracelets on the street. But it's easy to find areas without many tourists. It's a huge city. Most of it is ugly and gross though.

It's definitely one of the more interesting countries I've been to and I would love to go back and explore more. For example, on those two islands, particularly Mykonos, there were a lot of vehicles that had clearly been abandoned for a very long time. And again, just an astouding amount of graffiti in certain areas. It's obviously a somewhat dysfunctional country. Every part I went to was very different from the other parts though, and my impression is that there were a lot more things to do there.

One tip: Google Maps isn't very accurate in Greece.

Africans aggressively trying to sell bracelets on the street

I have spent one night in Athens years ago (literally only the night) and it was spent walking around for hours with an African guy trying to sell me a "friendship bracelet" by proving we are friends now. He wasn't very good at it

Naxos is awesome - highly recommended for the history there.

Athens was filthy. Almost every building is completely covered in bad graffiti up to a certain height.

And don't forget the brothels... they're called "studios" there, and there was a truly surprising number of them when I went last summer.

Have been to Mykonos and stayed in Athens about a month. The cab drivers in Athens are 100% insane as is all the traffic in the area so just be ready for that I guess. Look for restaurants with mean looking old Greek men sitting outside them all day long- the waitresses might not speak english and it might be awkward but the food will be so, so good. I recommend anything with feta and any and all roast meats- roast chicken with potatoes in Greece can be insanely good, roast pork, fava bean dip, of course try spanikopita from bakeries... now I miss Greece!

The Acropolis in Athens is cool but going to have tourists, the Acropolis Museum nearby is pretty good too. The city can be quite grimy but doesn't really feel unsafe so it can be charming but I personally stayed in a suburb which was a bit more comfortable. The beaches near Athens are odd, they're mostly a few yards wide a the largest so I wouldn't really recommend them unless you're just really in the mood for the beach while you're in Athens though I imagine you'll just do the beaches in Corfu instead

But have fun, Greek people can be super super nice if you're friendly and laid back. Also just general advice as someone who travels a ton: Do a bit of research on places that interest you personally and have them starred on a map (I just use google maps.) Then when you're in an area you can pull up your map and see a handful of places that looked interesting to you beforehand and you can just go. It's good to have a variety of things, like some restaurants, snack places, museums, shops, whatever you're into so you can always have an idea for something to stop by when you need something or want to kill some time and don't know the area well already. If there's something that interests you, look into it, don't do tourist stuff just because everyone else does it.

Don’t hang the Turkish flag out of your car if you can avoid it?

must....resist...temptation....

One of the classic blunders. Really, it’s only one step removed from starting a land war in Asia.

Two steps. A naval war between Europe and Asia.

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