Sail Greece Voyagers,
We are very excited to be making arrangements for our Greek Adventure. Let’s get you some info.
Travel:
The fly in airport is Athens – ATH (Eleftherios Venizelos).
We have the yachts from June 1, 5pm to June 8, 9am in Lavrion, south of the ATH airport.
We suggest that you arrive in Athens a day or three early to explore some ancient history and architecture and wonderful taverna food! Our tour picks up from Athens Saturday morning, June 1, 10am departure from the Electra Metropolis Hotel. With some cool stops, we arrive at the boats early evening. Click for Tour Info. Boarding is by 5pm. Boats may leave dock as early as sunrise June 2 – be aboard or you’ll have a fun ferry trip ahead of you :).
Flying out. June 8, 9am, the boats will be back at the dock in Lavrion. The ATH airport is about a half hour from Lavrion. Leave plenty of time, be in a cab at least 3 hours prior. There will be others headed that way, we can group up if you like. If you are attending our Cruise Netherlands, the airport code is AMS. Cruise Netherlands starts June 10.
We’re traveling to Europe, do consider arriving early for adjusting to the time change, or staying after our Adventure. As long as you’ve come this far, you might see more of Greece, or add another European destination. Greecetaxi.gr offers tours, we’ve used them, they’re good.
Airport Transportation:
From ATH airport to Athens. If your hotel does not offer a shuttle you can take a cab just outside. When traveling, if there is no meter, confirm the price upfront. Our tour provider runs taxis too, Greecetaxi.gr, “Transfers from Athens airport to Hotel in Athens/ Plaka, from 1 to 4 persons & luggage ( with a sedan / 50 euros)”. And they have larger vehicles. But if you haven’t had enough adventure and you’ve packed lite … the M3 train goes from the airport, all the way to Monastiraki Square in the cool Plaka area in Athens. It takes less than an hour. If your hotel is closer to Syntagma square, you can get off one stop prior.
Hotels in Athens:
We have a tour that takes us from Athens to the yachts in Lavrion on June 1. Most will arrive to Athens and spend two nights, May 30 & 31.
The streets are ancient and narrow so our tour motorcoach is limited to Metropoleos St. Tour pickup will be in front of the Electra Metropolis Hotel. There are two Electras, it’s the Metropolis on Metropoleos St :). Mitropoleos 15, Athina 105 57, Greece.
There are many hotel choices for you along Metropoleos. The Electra is close to all hotels listed and at the edge of the cool part of the Plaka. I mention rooftop bars because the view of the Acropolis at night is an experience you’ll want to have.
Here is my short list of nicer hotels on Metropoleos price per night …
–Electra Metropolis. It’s big, it’s nice, rooftop bar, easy motorcoach pickup. Rated 9.4, $260 a night on Hotels.com.
–Zillers Athens Boutique. You know boutique. Quaint, overlooking park, closer to Monastiraki on Metropoleos. Rated 9.2, $180 a night on Hotels.com.
–Monastiraki Residences. Simple, cool, rooftop bar. Inexpensive. Closest to shops, Monastiraki and walking areas. Rated 7.8, $100 a night.
-Lots of Airbnb’s around the city.
There are two proper 5 stars on Syntagma Square and by Parliament … for royalty. Not far from Metropoleos and a few blocks from motorcoach pick up hotels a but more of a walk to the Plaka …
-King George, kinggeorge.grandluxuryhotels.com
-Hotel Grande Bretagne, grandebretagne.grandluxuryhotels.com
–NVJ Athens. And this little guy next to King and Bretagne, it rates high but clearly smaller and much less expensive if you book on their link.
My focus for hotels was guided by my love for the Plaka. It is central and walking distance through cool old cobblestone shop alleys, museums, ancient structures, street and rooftop tavernas, and of course the Parthenon up on it’s showcase plateau. Airport M3 lite rail drops off at Monastiraki Square.
US travel and passport info …
You must have 6 months remaining on your passport upon arrival in Greece. Most will get a 90 day visa on arrival. US State Dept. info on Greece travel, Click Here.
Cruise Netherlands follows Sail Greece. If you’re interested in a mellow exploration of Netherlands by inland waterways, Click Here.
Still to come … Crew Questionnaire, What to Bring, Marina and Final Info emails. As we do with all of our Voyages, there will be a bunch of information posted to the site here and you will get emails notifying you of updates.
Questions … Woody@AdventureVoyaging.com. If he’s sailing contact Tania@sover.net (though she might be out sailing too ;).
A version of all info you receive by email will appear on the Greece info pages …
Sail Greece Pages
Speak Greek!
Click links for Greek pronunciations …
All in one
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More on side trips from Tania …
“Glad to read you’re excited because Greece won’t disappoint. Woody forwarded to me your questions about what to with your extra time. We’ll be returning to the marina right on the outskirts of Athens after the sail. So, with two days, if you feel like seeing more islands, book a flight (faster than ferry and plenty of us will be heading to the airport) to Mykonos or Santorini. They are very popular, what you see on calendars and postcards, and smaller than Crete or Rhodes, which are too big to see in the time you have. Look them up, read about them, see which one sounds more tempting. Santorini is also sometimes called Thira. Alternatively, if you’re into antiquities, you could also look into booking a mainland tour to Delphi. It’s a very cool spot. Google “tours from Athens to Delphi”.
Hope this helps.
Best,
Tania
It might be worth buying a Lonely Planet or Fodors guide to Greece—lots of pictures and detailed information, fun research tool.
