It’s no secret I am completely in love with Greece. I enjoy most countries but I am not upset I have to return to Melbourne over London or New York at the end of my holidays. But, for my beloved Greece, I would move there in a heartbeat (goodbye study, goodbye career, goodbye everyone). Because of my passionate love turning my fingers into happy, rambling little bees, I have segmented this blog into a series of posts (aka love narratives). There are so many fulfilling and enriching things to do in a Greek winter, my time there cannot be contained in one post.
I first visited in spring 2015 at the end of a few stressful years. Being enveloped by Greek culture in Corfu and Athens was some sort of magical therapy- soaking up the sun, laughing with new friends and eating gyros (let me tell you- nothing competes with eating pita, tzatziki, fries and souvlaki washed down by Mythos). I have aggressively reminisced ever since and couldn’t wait to return.
This year, close to the end of two months travelling, I had a block of time set aside for Greece. Unlike the rest of my trip, the details of these 5 days were neglected in my otherwise scrupulous planning. I would pull out my laptop in Airbnbs all over Europe and sit there, dumbfounded. In my last post on Dublin, I spoke about how I was excited by the prospect of exploring the new and unknown. This trip was the opposite- I had already met Greece, fallen in love and was nervous about continuing our fling. Pressure mounted on how to spend a rare, few precious days in my favourite country.
I was firm on one thing- I wanted to go on a road trip. I put A + B together= Car rental is cheap and there are ancient sites to be seen! Turns out, road tripping during a Greek winter isn’t a popular choice. Information is sparse. If you decide to spend summer on the islands, you would have millions of Google results and hundreds of planned tours and packages. If you plan a holiday in wintry Europe, there are also plenty of options. What to do during winter in Greece- there are not so many inspiring itineraries.
Then, I ran out of time to plan. In a rush (I think it was at midnight after a day out in Munich), I rented a car and booked an apartment in Athens and decided to wing the rest. I thought- Greece isn’t a huge country and most trips would be possible within a day and, if not, hotels are cheap enough for random overnight stays when needed. But, as someone who thrives off organisation, I fidgeted the entire flight from Rome, extremely nervous for the unknown.
I arrived at Athens airport and was picked up by my car rental company Green Motion (who I highly recommend). My driver kept pulling over to show me pictures of his rescue dogs and UNESCO sites to visit. He kept telling me to approach anyone if I needed anything, to always, “ASK ASK ASK!!” Everyone will help- a reassuring phrase to someone with little planned. His friendliness and hospitality reminded me of why I feel so welcome and at ease in Greece and foreshadowed a great week to come.
After picking up the car, I drove into Athens. My Airbnbs hosts, a little old couple, waited patiently even though it was close to midnight. Tonia, bless her heart, gifted me with a few cakes from a local bakery and showed how to make Greek coffee (a few days later she sent me an apology for not visiting to drink coffee with me because of a medical emergency). After this, I walked down the street and bought a midnight gyros for 2 euro and savoured every bite. I fell asleep so happy to be back- and buzzing to start my road trip.
Before I go into my great Greece road adventure in a series of blog posts, I want to explain a few of my survival strategies for any aspiring road-trippers. I recently told a Melbourne-Greek lady I road-tripped Greece and she almost spat out her coffee and praised my bravery. Roads are rough, long, windy and don’t always make logical sense. But, while it is tough it is so worth it to see the treasures of this ancient country.
BASE YOURSELF IN ATHENS
- Flexibility. I did not need to plan or follow a consecutive route in a particular direction. I planned spontaneously based on mood and recommendation. I departed from Athens each day, going west one day, north another. While it added time because of city traffic, it was worth it. I made sure I booked an apartment that was both close to central Athens and a freeway exit.
- Home base. Having somewhere to return to each day took off a lot of stress. didn’t need to check into a new hotel each night and only needed to pack a day bag instead of carting around all my stuff. As I got lost a lot during my adventures, returning to civilization and crowds was a comforting feeling.
- Nightlife. Coming back to Athens each night and being able to enjoy the nightlife was fantastic. The food and drinking culture is something not to miss. I am not a big party person but the laid-back culture means I could sit in a cozy beer garden until the early hours of the morning, totally at ease. Dont worry, I will talk about that in future blogs.
CHOOSE YOUR MAPS AND ROADS WITH CARE
- Google maps is a SHAM. Relying on it took me into farms, beaches and (almost) a lake. It did everything to avoid the freeway and made me cry.
- Download “HERE WeGo”- an offline map app which helped me stop having crying fits because it provided much more accurate routes.
- Use freeways! Despite Google maps issue with them, the freeways are godsends. My friend said about Greek roads, “What takes a bird 20 minutes takes 2 hours in a car.” The freeways help minimise this frustration. Beware- everyone speeds in Greece and make sure to have plenty of cash because tolls pop up quite a lot and range between 1 and 5 euros.
- Always ask for directions, people are very willing to help, even if they speak little English. Greeks are extremely welcoming and, unlike other European countries (*cough Italy*), they love meeting tourists and helping them explore their heritage and culture.
Despite having little planned, in under a week I spent time in the Peloponnese, visiting the ancient sites of Corinth and Mycenae and the seaside town of Nafplion, drove in central Greece through snow-clad mountains, spent time at the ancient site of Delphi, saw the medieval monasteries perched on giant rocks in Meteora, swam in a lake in the middle of winter, visited the Temple of Poseidon on Cape Sounion and found time to eat and drink in the Athens suburbs of Gazi, Plaka and Psyri. Best of all, winter wasn’t even a problem. Compared to the 0-ish temps of the countries I visited in Europe, I was met with blue skies and 17 degree days. Apparently, there is always a small streak of good weather in January and I managed to catch it. A Greek tour guide told me this was because I am Australian and Nick Cave is also Australian so therefore I have good luck.
I had a crazy week full of food, history, culture and natural beauty. I am writing about each jam-packed day, reliving the happy moments and can’t wait to share these joys far and wide. Subscribe at the bottom of this page to be notified when a new post comes out (by post I mean me rambling about how much I love Greece) and make sure to confirm your subscription. These blogs will help anyone who is planning a Greece trip (even if it is in winter!) and for those without plans, I promise, I will build a case on why you must visit this wonderful country.
