As I prepare for next summer's vacation, I realized that I never posted the write-up for last summer's trip to mainland Greece. So here goes
My wife and I took a 2-week road trip around the Peloponnesian Peninsula and then up into the mainland of Greece in July of 2018. I'm a history teacher, so keep that in mind as I rate the things we did. This is very (probably OVERLY) detailed, but I want to be as helpful to others as possible. Some of the pictures posted are mine, but some were stolen from Google because I suck at taking pictures. We mostly stayed in AirBnB's except for Olympia & Delphi where we stayed in hotels.
This is the route we took in case you're interested:
![](https://i.imgur.com/jUoeynV.jpg?3)
Things to understand about Greece:
EFFECTS OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS - I learned A LOT talking to locals about its effects & what caused it. It was interesting how opinions differed between young & old, urban & rural, tourist towns & non-tourist towns. Many people lost everything, and jobs are scarce. Effects that we saw everywhere were:
* Unemployment - Not much homelessness...just idleness. Lots of people not at work, especially young people.
* Underemployment - Kind of nice for tourists, but not for the locals. Tour guides had Masters' Degrees in history. I saw only 1 teenager working somewhere that wasn't his parents' business. The average salary decreased by 40%, not including the jobs lost...just those that took a paycut.
* Abandoned buildings & abandoned construction projects everywhere outside of Athens
* Graffiti - Teenagers are pissed that there are no jobs, and they have a lot of time on their hands. Literally every government & abandoned building is heavily tagged, but most private property & ruins are clear.
* Parks are suffering - Greece has more, bigger, & nicer parks than anywhere I've ever seen. But cuts to funding have destroyed most of these parks.
* Public Services were cut - Greek government runs many services that are private (or controlled locally) in the US, so things like trash pick-up, street sweeping, and mowing along roads have been neglected.
* Income Tax rate starts at 40% and goes up from there, so locals are pissed and desperate
SIESTA - Greeks have a siesta from about 1 or 2 to about 4 or 5...kind of like Spain
MEALS - Everything is 2 hrs later in Greece than here. Even breakfast cafes don't open until 8 or 9am. Dinner starts at 8pm or so & go until 12 or 1 am, even for kids on weeknights during school months. Dinner can take 2-3 hours. In the less-touristy towns, restaurants are often outside in what appears to be the front yard of a house. It would usually be us & a bunch of locals (entire families), and we were always welcomed with open arms and had lots of fun. Greek food itself is fairly diverse, but there's no diversity in types of restaurants. 85% of all menus are the same, regardless if we were on the main drag in Athens or off the beaten path in the middle of nowhere. No chains or fast food outside of Athens. Literally none.
TREATMENT OF AMERICANS/TOURISTS - I've been all over Europe, and nearly everyone has been nice & accommodating...and Greeks are the same. They may seem rude...but they aren't really...that's just the way Greeks carry themselves (see below). Outside of Athens, nearly everyone was overly appreciative and thankful for us simply choosing to go there. Compared to Athens & the Isles, mainland Greeks feel neglected & overlooked by tourists. Their economy is in shambles & is just now beginning to recover. For this reason, I've never seen people express sincere appreciation for tourists more than they did in these smaller villages.
GREEK ATTITUDES - Greeks don't seem to give a damn about anything. Some Americans may find it lazy, or rude, or uncaring, or oblivious to the world around them, or laid back, or to be a respectable DGAF attitude that we all wish we had. Regardless, you just have to go with the flow and laugh at it sometimes. Examples include: Parking in the middle of the road without concern for traffic, never looking before crossing the street...or simply walk down the middle of it, closing stores 3 hours early just because. Restaurant table service is worse than any other European country...you just have to embrace it.
SUN & HEAT - If there are ruins in the area, there are no trees or shade. While the humidity is less, the sun itself is far more brutal than Texas. Just be prepared for that.
PRICES - Everything is super cheap once you leave Athens. Beer, wine, food (including all forms of meat), lodging...all extremely cheap.
Driving outside of Athens:
Half of Greece's population lives in the Athens metro area, so everywhere else is rural or a small town. Driving in Greece was crazy & fun. Traffic laws seem to just be suggestions. Stop signs & red lights are treated like yield signs. Solid yellow lines are just for decoration. Driving down the middle of the road is standard practice, but moving over to let someone pass you is as well. Every gas station we saw was full-service & cash only. People parallel parked 3 cars deep. Everyone drives like a crazy teenager. It was crazy...but really fun.
Itinerary:
We flew into & out of Athens
Athens - 3 nights
Nafplion - 2 nights
Kardamyli - 2 nights
Olympia - 1 night
Mitikas - 2 nights
Kalambaka/Meteora - 2 nights
Delphi - 1 night
My wife and I took a 2-week road trip around the Peloponnesian Peninsula and then up into the mainland of Greece in July of 2018. I'm a history teacher, so keep that in mind as I rate the things we did. This is very (probably OVERLY) detailed, but I want to be as helpful to others as possible. Some of the pictures posted are mine, but some were stolen from Google because I suck at taking pictures. We mostly stayed in AirBnB's except for Olympia & Delphi where we stayed in hotels.
This is the route we took in case you're interested:
![](https://i.imgur.com/jUoeynV.jpg?3)
Things to understand about Greece:
EFFECTS OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS - I learned A LOT talking to locals about its effects & what caused it. It was interesting how opinions differed between young & old, urban & rural, tourist towns & non-tourist towns. Many people lost everything, and jobs are scarce. Effects that we saw everywhere were:
* Unemployment - Not much homelessness...just idleness. Lots of people not at work, especially young people.
* Underemployment - Kind of nice for tourists, but not for the locals. Tour guides had Masters' Degrees in history. I saw only 1 teenager working somewhere that wasn't his parents' business. The average salary decreased by 40%, not including the jobs lost...just those that took a paycut.
* Abandoned buildings & abandoned construction projects everywhere outside of Athens
* Graffiti - Teenagers are pissed that there are no jobs, and they have a lot of time on their hands. Literally every government & abandoned building is heavily tagged, but most private property & ruins are clear.
* Parks are suffering - Greece has more, bigger, & nicer parks than anywhere I've ever seen. But cuts to funding have destroyed most of these parks.
* Public Services were cut - Greek government runs many services that are private (or controlled locally) in the US, so things like trash pick-up, street sweeping, and mowing along roads have been neglected.
* Income Tax rate starts at 40% and goes up from there, so locals are pissed and desperate
SIESTA - Greeks have a siesta from about 1 or 2 to about 4 or 5...kind of like Spain
MEALS - Everything is 2 hrs later in Greece than here. Even breakfast cafes don't open until 8 or 9am. Dinner starts at 8pm or so & go until 12 or 1 am, even for kids on weeknights during school months. Dinner can take 2-3 hours. In the less-touristy towns, restaurants are often outside in what appears to be the front yard of a house. It would usually be us & a bunch of locals (entire families), and we were always welcomed with open arms and had lots of fun. Greek food itself is fairly diverse, but there's no diversity in types of restaurants. 85% of all menus are the same, regardless if we were on the main drag in Athens or off the beaten path in the middle of nowhere. No chains or fast food outside of Athens. Literally none.
TREATMENT OF AMERICANS/TOURISTS - I've been all over Europe, and nearly everyone has been nice & accommodating...and Greeks are the same. They may seem rude...but they aren't really...that's just the way Greeks carry themselves (see below). Outside of Athens, nearly everyone was overly appreciative and thankful for us simply choosing to go there. Compared to Athens & the Isles, mainland Greeks feel neglected & overlooked by tourists. Their economy is in shambles & is just now beginning to recover. For this reason, I've never seen people express sincere appreciation for tourists more than they did in these smaller villages.
GREEK ATTITUDES - Greeks don't seem to give a damn about anything. Some Americans may find it lazy, or rude, or uncaring, or oblivious to the world around them, or laid back, or to be a respectable DGAF attitude that we all wish we had. Regardless, you just have to go with the flow and laugh at it sometimes. Examples include: Parking in the middle of the road without concern for traffic, never looking before crossing the street...or simply walk down the middle of it, closing stores 3 hours early just because. Restaurant table service is worse than any other European country...you just have to embrace it.
SUN & HEAT - If there are ruins in the area, there are no trees or shade. While the humidity is less, the sun itself is far more brutal than Texas. Just be prepared for that.
PRICES - Everything is super cheap once you leave Athens. Beer, wine, food (including all forms of meat), lodging...all extremely cheap.
Driving outside of Athens:
Half of Greece's population lives in the Athens metro area, so everywhere else is rural or a small town. Driving in Greece was crazy & fun. Traffic laws seem to just be suggestions. Stop signs & red lights are treated like yield signs. Solid yellow lines are just for decoration. Driving down the middle of the road is standard practice, but moving over to let someone pass you is as well. Every gas station we saw was full-service & cash only. People parallel parked 3 cars deep. Everyone drives like a crazy teenager. It was crazy...but really fun.
Itinerary:
We flew into & out of Athens
Athens - 3 nights
Nafplion - 2 nights
Kardamyli - 2 nights
Olympia - 1 night
Mitikas - 2 nights
Kalambaka/Meteora - 2 nights
Delphi - 1 night