Three couples in Athens, Delphi, Nafplio, and Crete.

Greece | Sep 18 - Sep 29, 2024

Our group of six worked with Chris to plan most of our two-week trip and then we took it from there and went on to a couple islands. Chris met with us online several times to work out our itinerary and came to meet us on our last night in Greece. He was very good to work with on our plans. He was open to our ideas and he followed through to adapt to our requests, including taking a ferry ride through the Corinth Canal, seeking out archeological sites in Crete, and lunching in Arechova on our trip to Delphi.
Our guides were excellent. In mainland Greece Panagiota Kankali gave us a superb introduction to Athens and Georgia took us on an informative visit to the Acropolis. Yannis drove us to Delphi and for three additional days around Nafplio and was engaging and knowledgeable and truly kind. In Crete we had guides and drivers through GS Tours, and their staff were wonderful. Spiros Daudakis was exceptional in his passion for his country's history and culture and willingness to spend many hours answering our constant questions, and Ariadne was thorough and flexible in showing us the beauty and offerings of Chania. Our driver Yanna was very smart and enthusiastic and engaging, and Nikos was kind and competent and helpful.
The hotels were each in central locations and were quite comfortable. We stayed at the Hotel NLH Monastiraki in Athens, and even though there was a street closure due to a festival on our departure day, Yannis managed to find a way to bring the van close to us. In Nafplio we stayed a Adiandi and Amymone, which is a boutique hotel with a beautiful breakfast cafe across the street with a view of the sea. In Chania, Crete, we stayed at Elia Zampeliou Hotel, which was in an old stone house that was located in the center of the old town and very comfortable. In Heraclion we stayed at the Olive Green which was a newish functional hotel for one-night stopovers before the ferry to the islands and spatially well-outfitted. All the hotel staff were very helpful and friendly. Some of the hotels required ability to climb stairs.

We thought the whole trip was exceptional, and we especially loved Crete. We spent a lot of time in museums and in archeological sites and we climbed lots of stone steps and walked long distances and were glad for good preparation. And we ate vast amounts of delicious food.