Anyone ever been to Crete? Honeymoon thread
- Thread starter rezarxt
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Been to Crete 3 times- loved it! That being said, for a honeymoon Santorini is 1000X better. JMO.
Before you even start, we didn't go to Crete.
What we did was go in middle May, slightly before the season. Bought a book on Greece first and studied up.
Had 2 days booked in Athens, one more day there in 2 weeks; bookends.
Went to Piraeus (Port city of Athens; their version of the subway gets you there, no cabs at all) first day and saw the ferry schedules. Kicked around Athens for the time we had, the next day we booked a ferry and Santorini it was!
Got off the boat (slow boat through the islands, 8 hours; a handful of stops) and went straight to a tourist bureau next to the docks. Watch the islands you stop at, remember the interesting ones.
They showed us a book of hotels, we picked one. They called, and a van drove us there.
Got finished with Santorini (day trips to other islands, rented a defective four-wheeler on Ios, I think) then decided on Mykanos.
Same thing; slow boat to Mykanos (3 hours) didn't bother with a tourist bureau; took the rolling luggage into the city and just looked for hotels.
Found 2 we liked, and walked back and forth between them seeing rooms. Until one of the owners saw us vacillating and worried about losing our money. Took us to a wonderful little room with a small balcony looking over the water. You need to bargain with Greeks, Know a few words, it can save you a bunch, and get you better service.
"La" means "No," but "epharisto and Parakolo" are the most useful; "Thank You" and "You're welcome". The name in English "F. Harry Stowe." is how I remembered "thank you." Parakolo I just had to get used to. 'pare ah kolo'
Took it; same money as the other hotel, less than Santorini (forgotten how much less; Santorini was $120 eu/night there.)
Honestly, we had more fun on Mykanos than Santorini. Loved them both, though. Busses to everwhere, water taxis to beach bars. Walk around drinking a beer...
On Santorini we rented a small car and ran around the island. Buy fuel at the first place you see; gas stations are rare in the islands.
What I'm saying we did was to go out as far from our 'base camp' of Athens as we wanted (Santorini was where we really wanted to start) and work our way back there island by island. Two days for jet lag/orientation, one day to say goodbye to Greece.
You'll love it, no matter what you decide on.
Mike
What we did was go in middle May, slightly before the season. Bought a book on Greece first and studied up.
Had 2 days booked in Athens, one more day there in 2 weeks; bookends.
Went to Piraeus (Port city of Athens; their version of the subway gets you there, no cabs at all) first day and saw the ferry schedules. Kicked around Athens for the time we had, the next day we booked a ferry and Santorini it was!
Got off the boat (slow boat through the islands, 8 hours; a handful of stops) and went straight to a tourist bureau next to the docks. Watch the islands you stop at, remember the interesting ones.
They showed us a book of hotels, we picked one. They called, and a van drove us there.
Got finished with Santorini (day trips to other islands, rented a defective four-wheeler on Ios, I think) then decided on Mykanos.
Same thing; slow boat to Mykanos (3 hours) didn't bother with a tourist bureau; took the rolling luggage into the city and just looked for hotels.
Found 2 we liked, and walked back and forth between them seeing rooms. Until one of the owners saw us vacillating and worried about losing our money. Took us to a wonderful little room with a small balcony looking over the water. You need to bargain with Greeks, Know a few words, it can save you a bunch, and get you better service.
"La" means "No," but "epharisto and Parakolo" are the most useful; "Thank You" and "You're welcome". The name in English "F. Harry Stowe." is how I remembered "thank you." Parakolo I just had to get used to. 'pare ah kolo'
Took it; same money as the other hotel, less than Santorini (forgotten how much less; Santorini was $120 eu/night there.)
Honestly, we had more fun on Mykanos than Santorini. Loved them both, though. Busses to everwhere, water taxis to beach bars. Walk around drinking a beer...
On Santorini we rented a small car and ran around the island. Buy fuel at the first place you see; gas stations are rare in the islands.
What I'm saying we did was to go out as far from our 'base camp' of Athens as we wanted (Santorini was where we really wanted to start) and work our way back there island by island. Two days for jet lag/orientation, one day to say goodbye to Greece.
You'll love it, no matter what you decide on.
Mike
Yes...Crete = paradise. Been there a few times on missions with the Air Force. Tough duty but somebody had to do it.
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