pdmlynek

We got off NCL Jade at Terminal B as well, on 19 June 2022, and X80 buses were in operation. We took one to Syntagma Square, and then the X95 bus to the airport. About 4 EUR for each bus per pax, I think. There is supposedly a X96 bus that operates between the pier and the airport, but we couldn't find it. 😞

A few points: (1) To be honest, the problem is not the line to get the tickets. Those lines are relatively short, even during busy times. There are even kiosks for the tickets. The problem are the lines into the Acropolis once you have the tickets. You are not saving yourself much time if you order the tickets ahead. (2) Further, I would not buy tickets for places in Greece remotely. I've got burned several times previously. You have no idea what you are buying, if it is a legitimate vendor, if the tickets will be valid when you get there, if there are discounts (there are various discount schemes based on age, citizenship status, school status, etc., that they do not tell you up unless you ask for it), and various combination schemes with other archeological sites in Athens. (3) If you want to obviate long lines, do not go through the main entrance, but through the entrance in the southeast corner of the Acropolis. But it is a longer hike to get to the top. (4) Finally, if you really want to avoid long lines, get there first thing in the morning. The additional bonus is that it wont be a hot, and you'll enjoy your time at Acropolis more. Good luck!

We actually did that in several sea caves on Corfu 10 days ago. We rented cars in town, drove to Palaiokastritsa about 30 min away, rented a couple of speed boats, and visited several of these caves. There are about a dozen of these in the area. The boat rental people do not want you to boat into the caves, or even close to them. You need to drop the anchor about 40 m away, and swim the rest of the way in. You should get a nautical map of the area, and annotate it from Google maps where these caves are, because the navigation charts that our boat rental place gave us did not have them. The sea caves are nice, but it was merely an addition to the visits to the several beaches in the area. As far as timing goes, we also had 8 hrs on Corfu (but 7:00 to 15:00). Given that we spent a little over an hour sightseeing the Old Fort and rest of the Corfu town (grossly inadequate time, but that is all we had), 1 hr round trip to Palaiokastritsa, we had 3 hrs on the sea. Whether 3 hrs is worth it or not is up to you -- for a non-boating family as ourselves, it was fine.

Dear fellow cruisers: Our family will be visiting Argostoli, Kefalonia in June this year, and we are trying to figure out what to do. Kefalonia is a beautiful Ionian Island that would take many weeks to see thoroughly. We only have about 8 hours on the island (10:00 to 18:00). We likely need to select only a few places to enjoy instead of trying to see everything through our windshield. A few questions. (1) We are planning to do by car one of three routes (a) Southern Loop: Argostoli – Agios Gerasimos Monastery – St George's Castle (Κάστρο Αγίου Γεωργίου) – Skala – Poros – Sami – Agia Efimia – Myrtos Beach – Argostoli (b) Northern Loop: Argostoli – Sami – Agia Efimia – Myrtos beach – Assos – Fiskardo – Argostoli (c) Western loop: Argostoli – Vouti Beach – Petani Beach – Xi Beach – Lixouri – Argostoli Please let me know which of these three loops would be the best for about 6 to 7 hrs. Or is there some other drive that you'd recommend? (2) The car rental in Argostoli is about twice as expensive as at the airport. Is there a way of picking up a car at the airport easily from the pier? (3) Argostoli, due to 1953, does not seem as historically significant or interesting as the port cities of Corfu, Mykonos, or Rhodes. We plan on stopping only at Katavothres (Καταβόθρες) at 38.1938°N, 20.4743°E; Monument to the Fallen of the Acqui Division (Μνημείο Πεσόντων Μεραρχίας Acqui) at 38.1889°N 20.4770°E; and Church of St. Gerasimos (Ιερα Μονη Αγιου Γερασιμου) at 38.1598°N 20.4863. Is there anything else that deserves a visit in Argostoli? (4) Half of Kefalonia is on karst stone, thus contains dozens of caves. Unfortunately, aside from the two show caves, namely, Drogarati Cave (Σπήλαιο Δρογκαράτη) at 38.2275°N 20.6283°E and Melissani Lake (Λίμνη Μελισσάνη) at 38.2567°N 20.6243°E, none seem very accessible. Some caves, such as Drakaina Cave (Σπηλαιο Δρακαινας) 38.1495°N 20.7675°E are off limits because they are archeological sites; some caves, such as Agalaki Cave (Σπηλαιοβάραθρο Αγγαλάκι) 38.2355°N 20.6173°E or Gruspa 38.1738°N 20.5253°E require steep descent on lines and spelunking equipment; some caves, like Zervati Cave (Σπηλαιο Ζερβατι) require cave SCUBA diving equipment; etc. Any suggestions for caving on Kefalonia would be appreciated. Thank you!

We will be visiting several Greek islands in June on NCL Jade this summer, stopping by Patmos, Rhohos, Mykonos, Kefaloni, Kerkyra/Corfu, and Thira/Santorini. For several of these islands, I am able to get a map (1:20k to 1:50K range) from the main stream publisher but for others, it is slim pickings. There are just two publishers that cover each of these islands, namely, Orama (https://www.oramaeditions.gr/ ) and Anavasi (https://anavasi.gr/) , both appear to be based in Greece. For those of you who like to do your excursions in Greek islands, do you recommend Anavasi or Orama? Thanks!