Paul & Luiza´s World Tour

Greece is another country we love so much and we feel so incredibly happy just to jump off the ferry. Like a mother, it’s hard for us to pick our favourite country, but to be honest, we’re pretty sure it is going to be Greece (please don’t tell the other countries).   We took a 1 & ½ hour ferry from Kusadasi in Turkey to the island of Samos in Greece, where Pitagoras comes from by the way.  We go straight to the travel agent to buy a ticket to the ferry leaving that night for Athens (as we have a hirecar booked for the next morning) but we are told the ferry is fully booked and the next one is only in two days.  So, we say, “seriously? are you telling us that we have to stay for two days on this gorgeous Greek island we haven’t seen before?”  Off to the nice “Dreams Pension” then.  We walk around Samos, drinking the local wine and eating gyros (we missed it).  We go back to the same restaurant “Pizza Subito”, and order a jug of wine just to be presented with another free one, “this one is on us”, our all time favourite Greek tradition.  After 2 days, we take an overnight ferry and arrive in Athens early in the morning.  As we’ve done our wonderful sightseeing in Athens before, we take a shuttle bus to the airport to pick up, not a flight, but a rental car.  We decided to do mainland Greece in style, so we rent a car for a week to zip around the place without a tour guide and avoiding the hordes of tourists that plague this part of the world.  We pick up our tiny but stylish Fiat Panda, a map and, itinerary in hand, set off to see Greece.  Ok, if we thought Greece could be our favourite country before, read on.  Oh, and by the way, the weather was absolutely perfect the whole time!!

6 day road trip around mainland Greece - route (with links so you can read about the significance of each site) –

Athens – Mycenae – Olympia – Delphi – Meteora – Vergina – Veria – Naousa – Pella - Thessaloniki

Day 1:  Athens – Corinth – Mycenae – Nafplion - Olympia

We leave Athens still in the morning and take the very nice highway out of town.  Almost straight away we are driving along the coast surrounded by the most dramatic backdrop of stunning mountains. We stop for a quick Gyros Pita and keep going till we reach the ancient site of Mycenae.  Definitely our scene! We then proceed to the most fantastic drive along rocky high zigzagging mountains roads, through the picturesque villages.   We really cannot describe how beautiful the drive through the mountains and the little villages is, breathtaking doesn’t do it justice. We arrive in Olympia, a lovely small town and overnight at the basic but nice “The Anesi” hotel, also eating their family tavern’s great food and go back to the room for a nice bottle of local red.  Did we mention the 1.5 litre local bottles of wine for 3 euros??

Day 2:  Olympia – Nafpactos – Delphi

We wake up and go sightseeing way before the tour buses get to the site. Olympia is a magnificent site and, of course, it is the place where the Olympic Games began and where the Olympic Torch is still lit before each game begins every four years.  Just about when the tour buses and tour guides start taking over the place mercilessly, yeah, older people have no manners when it comes to sightseeing, we go back to the hotel and leave for Delphi.  Again, the drive through the country roads is breathtaking, the road goes along the amazing Gulf of Corinth coast, with azure bays and rocky villages.  We are surrounded by pale blue skies, the unmistakable Mediterranean Sea and snowcapped mountains.  It is insanely beautiful!  We stop at the town of Nafpactos for a picnic lunch (feta cheese, brie, ham, salami, olives, tzatziki, crusty bread and fresh tomatoes) in the ruins of an amazing castle with breathtaking views high above the city and have another absolutely fantastic day.  We reach Delphi in the late afternoon, check in at the Athina Hotel and again we go for a walk around the lovely town to grab some great Greek food. 

Day 3 & 4:   Delphi - Kalampaka (Meteora)

OK, the driving on the third day is not as stunning, but just as well as we were really running out of adjectives.  After another amazing sightseeing experience, we leave Delphi at around lunchtime and drive down the mountains towards the town of Kalampaka to visit the famous monasteries of Meteora.  The drive is nice and pleasant but nothing comparable to the previous days, after all, it is all about high expectations. We stay at the lovely King Hotel for two nights and check out the very dramatic setting of the hills, no wonder the Greeks created drama.  In the morning we set out to see the amazing monasteries up the cliffs, there are six of them, some dating from the 1300’s. The monasteries are really fantastic as we are sure you will see in  the photos. After two days it is time to keep moving as there is so much more to see.  

Day 5:  Kalampaka – Vergina – Veria – Naousa – Pella - Thessaloniki

We leave the amazing cliffs of Meteora and our first stop is Vergina, to see what is arguably the greatest archeological discovery of the 20^th century, the amazing tomb of King Philip II, father of Alexander the Great.  Then to Veria, followed by Naousa to visit the school of Aristotle where he tutored Alexander the Great for 2 years, another amazing site.  We then moved to Pella to visit Alexander the Great’s capital city, yet another great site.  We finish the day driving to the lovely city of Thessaloniki.  We decide to stay for 2 nights as there is so much to see in this town. The next morning we take the tourist bus and go sightseeing.  We see the amazing ruins of the palace, fantastic byzantine churches and cathedrals and archeological ruins, some still being dug in the middle of the city, it is really unbelievable. What a great place Thesaloniki is, vibrant, funky, great food and so much history.