Athens, Santorini, Ios & Lots More Greece - June 2007! (Journal too!!)

hello, thanks for sharing your trip. I am planning a similar trip for my family of four this Christmas 07. We plan to rent a car and drive similar road like your from Athen to Delphi, then on to Trikala in one day, stay one night here, then to Thessalonki the next day. Do you think if this schedule ok? or Do I need to do one night at Delphi? Can you let me know where do you rent a car from ? do they charge one way rental. I check a few, but it is so pricy with one way car rental. Would you think driving in the winter on those road do able?

I rented a car through Autoeurope, but I got them to drop the one-way fee because I scoured the internet and found Europcar offered a deal with no one-way fee. I then went back to Autoeurope and they matched the deal from Europcar. The reason I went with Autoeurope is because I have rented from them before and find them to be dependable and trustworthy. I just don't know anyone who's used Europcar, but they may be fine also. It took about a weeks worth of back and forth e-mails to negotiate the deal, but it was worth it. I think the rental only cost me us$430 for 12 days picking up in Thessaloniki and dropping off in Athens.

Winter driving I think will be tougher on the Athens to Delphi stretch, but should still be doable. There is a large ski resort town not far from Delphi that is hugely popular, so people must go there all winter from Athens. Just be aware that the roads are steep and narrow.

About the driving from Athens to Dephi to Trikala. You should be able to do it if you don't want more than 2-3 hours at Delphi. The site is fairly large and has a lot of artifacts. Also it is extremely steep. We drove from Grevena, stopping at Meteora, Delphi on the way to Athens. We only spent 1 hour at Meteora and about 3 hours in Delphi, we left Grevena at 9:30am and arrived Athens around 9pm. It was a long and exhausting day. (But it was also about 105 degrees Fahrenheit!)

Honestly the driving takes alot out of you as the roads are really twisty, steep and narrow. I don't care for heights and the lack of guardrails had me a bit nervous. From Delphi to the flat plain that takes you to Trikala is only 80km, but took a couple of hours to drive due to the road. Average speed was probably 35-40kms/hour. I drove for the 3 weeks we were in Greece, but I still found that I need to pay extreme attention to the road, as the signage doesn't always indicate how sharp the next turn is. This is a secondary road for the most part (single lane).

I think Trikala to Thessaloniki should be a fairly easy drive on more modern roads. The new highways are awesome.

I personally wouldn't stay overnight in Delphi, but would push on to Trikala!

I loved Greece and am having serious separation anxiety from leaving there still!!

Good luck with all your plans and I'll be glad to answer any questions you have. Take care Michelle

hi Michelle, you got good deal on your car rental. Is it economy size? I am looking for three days, and they quote me $200. I will search around some more. btw, did you see they have hotel along the way to Meteora? there is a town under Meteora, probably Kalalamba? did you see they have logging there? we probably will stop at Delphi for about 3 hours, then on to Meteora. We will travel in the Winter, so day light is also shorter. Can you tell me approximate time driving for you from Delphi to Athen? and also driving time from the bottom town underneath Meteora to Delphi? is there a motor road for this path ? or only small town road. If we don't speak any of Greek, will there be any problem for us driving thru these path? did you book your hotel ahead of time on any of these road? also, at Thessalonki, do you think this town is worth to stay one day? we are planning to take overnight train to Instanbul from here. thanks again for your answers.

hi again, I read your journal that on one road you were stop by the Greece Police.. and your friend speak Greece, so it help. Do you think that they harrass tourist when they see a car driven by foreigner? seem like they are not very friendly.

Hi, Would like to know how much this 25 day tripto Greece cost you? m planning on going next yr june/july. Never been to any part of Europe and have been dying to go to Greece.I need to start working on a budget and wondered if you had any input.

Oh - for most meals we usually grabbed something at a small cafe style place and the meals ran from 4 Euros to 10 Euros at lunch (for a gyro with fries and soft drink) and probably 3 times that at a sit down restaurant for evening meals depending on whether you are in the city/islands or a more rural (non-tourist) area.

this is an amazing trip! i want to visit greece too now! please check out my trips too!

I hope you write for a tour guide, because you are great at it. Your journel was very informative, entertaining, and witty. Your journel evoked the many great memories that I have had in Greece. I also second the Importance of using a travel agency in Greece. Thanks Again

WOW!!!
THIS PALCE IS BEAUTIFUL!!!
I BET AN AMAZING TRIP FOR YOU GUYS!!!
I HOPE TO GO TO GREECE PRETTY SOON!!!
AFTER ALL THESE WONDERFUL, AMAZING BEAUTIFUL PLACES I'VE JUST SEEN!!!