greece scenery

[karen327]

I have always heard how beautiful Greece is. We are booked on a cruise that will stop at Athens and Olympia. Will we be able to see the true beauty of Greece or do we need to go to one of the islands for that.

[John Bull]

I have always heard how beautiful Greece is. We are booked on a cruise that will stop at Athens and Olympia. Will we be able to see the true beauty of Greece or do we need to go to one of the islands for that.

 

Hi Karen,

 

Wrong ports for scenery.

Piraeus to Athens is all urban, and not very attractive.

Olympia from Katakolon is rural, but rather scrubby.

The only part of Greece that I've found attractive countryside is on Crete. plus spectacular cliffs on Santorini. But I'm not widely-travelled in Greece - if you post your other Greek ports perhaps others can chip in

 

JB :)

[paul929207]

I agree with JB, neither Athens nor Olympia is particularly scenic.

[texancruzer]

Been to a few places in Greece..... will visit a few new ones in October.

Here are my thoughts on "scenic" quality of each.

 

Corfu - beautiful island. Lush, green (over a million olive trees). Stunning scenic vistas, charming villages.

 

Crete - also beautiful. We were pleasantly surprised at this port. We took a private tour and went into the countryside. Lots of beautiful areas.

 

Santorini - also beautiful but in a different way. Cliffs, views and charming town scenes....... but a bit scruffy otherwise.

 

Mykonos - nice island. Charming town with windmills.

 

Athens - big big city. Kind of dirty but full of amazing history. The acropolis and the views are pretty spectacular. The Plaka is a unique area. But scenic is not a word I would really use here.

[cruisemom42]

I have to disagree about Olympia. Katakolon was not very scenic, but the site of Olympia certainly was, with lots of overhanging trees and all the ruins scattered around. If I were at home, I'd post a few photos. I guess it's what I think of as "Greece", not the holiday posters of sunny isles.

 

Athens -- yes, not terribly "scenic" in the typical sense. But go into the Greek agora, which is one of the more scenic areas and fairly green compared with the Acropolis (which of course has its own category of "scenic" attractiveness...). Just try to ignore the urban sprawl.

 

As for Corfu, it did not greatly impress me. Pretty, yes. Scenic....well, not to me. Mykonos and Santorini have that more typical Greek island look, with Santorini having the stunning cliffside views.

 

The prettiest Greek ports I've visited have been Nauplia (not far from Athens in miles but a world away in scenery...) and Monemvasia, which has to be one of the most scenic places I've been to recently. See a photo I took here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=38704328&postcount=3

[Hlitner]

There are many gorgeous parts of Greece, and many of the most beautiful places are on some of the hundreds of Greek Islands. For example, the Ionian Islands (of which Corfu is the main island) are simply amazing which is why Jackie Onassis loved living on Skorpios. You want beauty....go on a yacht cruise of these islands (we did this a few years ago) and your will be blown away by the spectacular views. Drop anchor off Shipwreck Beach on the island of Zakynthos (and swim in to the beach) and you will be in awe. But large cruise ships are limited in where they can go. If you insist on seeing Greece from a ship you are limited to what you can see and do. Santorini is certainly one of the most beautiful spots in Greece and you can get to that island on a large ship. The area around Nauplion is quite picturesque and you can get there on some cruises. The Island of Crete (visited by many ships) has lots of natural beauty, but we have to rent a car and drive to find the best spots. And that brings up another point which is that folks that limit themselves to cruise line excursions also limit what they can see. On the island of Santorini there is a gorgeous beach called Red Beach....but you will never get there on a cruise line tour.

 

As to the mainland of Greece, we once rented a car and drove from Pireaus down to Sounion which has quite a view from the Temple of Apollo. The drive down along the coast was very attractive and, at one point, I simply parked the car along the road and we went swimming off a gorgeous beach (you will not do this on any excursions). Then we decided to drive back to Athens via an inland route and got delightfully lost in some mountains where we stumbled on a really neat cave. My point is that there is a lot of wonderful and beautiful things to see and do...but you must often expand your horizons and be a little adventurous to find the best places.

 

By the way, sometimes folks can be their own worst enemies. For years we have suggested that folks who visit the Italian island of Capri take the chairlift from Anacapri to the top of Mt Solaro where the views are spectacular. What we often hear is "my excursion does not go there" (no cruise line excursion does that chairlift) or "I do not like heights" or "I am afraid to do anything on my own" etc etc.

 

Regarding your ports of Katakolon and Athens, these are not the most picturesque places. But if you get a nice day in Athens the views are pretty nice from the Acropolis and even nicer if you go to the top of Mount Lycabettus (you can get there on your own by bus and funicular). As to Katakolon, most folks take a tour to Olympus which is not an overly attractive place. But if you rent a car and drive along the coastline there are some pretty attractive beaches and seaviews.

 

Hank

[agabbymama]

I've been to Greece twice. My husband and I spent 3 weeks with friends on the Pelopenese peninsula in a town named Akrata. They took us up into the mountains to Kalavrita (real trees and scenery). The only place in all of Greece we went that I thought was really scenic. I was very dissapointed in Greece. From Athens to Corinth, to Mycenae, to Nafplia, Katalon, Delphi, Eon, Petra, and all countryside in between. I call it brown barren, rocky with scraggly bushes. Lots of olive and lemon groves. And most of the beaches have pebbles or gravel, not something I want to lay on.

 

So I was pleasantly surprised when my friend and I did the Grand Med cruise and went to Corfu. It was actually green and lush. A very pretty scenic island. Santorini not so much, more volcanic barren countryside.

 

But beauty is in the eye of the beholder. My stepdad thought the Mojave desert was absolutely beautiful and I call it a barren desert wasteland.

[Holly2]

We enjoyed Katakolon much more than we expected. We took a tour with Andrew of Katakolon taxi tours and in addition to the ruins went to a lovely, small family vineyard, through villages, up to a monastery for a terrific panorama and to a great beach. Felt we really got a feel for Greece.

I wonder what a tour guide in Athens would suggest for scenery.

We pretty much designed our own tour with athensbytaxi. Did see great views of Acropolis and colorful changing of the guards. Not sure if you are looking mainly for natural beauty or anything scenic.

[karen327]

Thank you everyone for your information. Athens and Olympia are the only two stops we have in Greece, rest are in Turkey and Italy. I am going to look at this as a historic cruise, I loved going to Mayan ruins in the Caribbean, so I am sure I will enjoy what Europe has to offer. I also do love to see beautiful landscapes though. I don't like taking ship excursions, so I appreciate any private excursion or do it yourself advice I receive.