Traveling to Greece

[embrassezla]

I'll be heading to England for work in April, and from there to Greece for a week of vacation. I'm going to do half that time in Athens, and the other half on an island. I bought all my tour/language books, but haven't really made any definite plans yet. Anyone have advice on what islands to visit, getting a flight from western europe to Greece, tips in general while I'm there?

[WorkInProgress]

Oooooh, fun! Unfortunately, nothing beyond regular travel tips, as I've not been to Greece. Have a fantastic time! Live it up and eat well.

[Winter Storm]

Jealous!!!! :)

[winneythepooh7]

There's a good chance I may be going to Greece in the next year myself for a friend's wedding. I've never been there but heard it's one of the most beautiful places on earth.

[weary]

ooh oooh ooooh!!!! no tips but so excited for you em, and i'm going to be watching this thread closely b/c i'm supposed to be going in either april or july!!! (all depends on my friend's schedule.) we just started looking into it, so i'll email you w/ anything i learn....although it sounds like you are way ahead of me w/ all your books and whatnot!

how funny would it be if we were there at the same time?

[embrassezla]

how funny would it be if we were there at the same time?
I'll be there third week of April. :)

[weary]

aww, man! we're looking at the 2nd week of april or the 1st week of july! so close!!! LOL.

[Orca]

You need a budget airline

www.ryanair.com

www.easyjet.com

www.flybe.com

www.bmibaby.com

www.thompsonfly.com

There are others if you google "budget airlines". I don't know of any Greek ones but I am sure one of these will fly to Greece.

You don't say where you are going to be in England but I am assuming London. Most of these cheap airlines fly from smaller airports rather than Heathrow or Gatwick (though I've flown Easyjet from Gatwick). The nearest little ones to London are Stansted (nr Cambridge) and Luton. If you go to Victoria bus station in central London there will be direct buses to both of these airports at all hours (www.nationalexpress.com is the main national bus company in the UK) Also check where you will arrive at the other end as the same principle applies. These airlines may not fly to the main airport of your destination city. eg Ryan Air flies to Malmo for Copenhagen. Malmo isn't even in Denmark! It's in Sweden (but a very convenient train ride from Copenhagen). So if you are lucky you may be able to get a flight for $50. However, bear in mind
1)transport time to far-out airports
2)transport cost to far out airports
3)additional taxes on top of flight price (£12-15 in the UK)
4)You get what you pay for. None of these companies are exactly renowned for their customer service.
5)Low luggage weight limits. usually 25kg
6)On some of these you have to pay money for each bag you check in (Flybe for sure. I paid £6 10 days ago)

Despite some people having horror stories, I have never had a problem with these companies and basically it's cheaper to fly long distance with Europe than go by bus or train.

Hope this helps. i've never been to greece so i can't help with specifics.

[embrassezla]

Thanks, Orca! I did find a flight from Gatwick to Athens for $75 on EZJet. I have flown them before with no problem. I'm actually staying in Bath Spa, England. I looked for a flight to Athens out of Bristol, but nothing came up. I'll take a look on the other airlines you mentioned. Thanks!

[Orca]

Thanks, Orca! I did find a flight from Gatwick to Athens for $75 on EZJet. I have flown them before with no problem. I'm actually staying in Bath Spa, England. I looked for a flight to Athens out of Bristol, but nothing came up. I'll take a look on the other airlines you mentioned. Thanks!

Then you should definitely go and have a swim in the actual spa as I did last Sunday. It costs £20 for 2 hours but it's sooooo worth it! Only re-opened in the summer. There is an open air pool on the roof which was fine to use, even in January, because the water is bubbling hot (and the view from this pool is amazing too). The second floor has 4 steam rooms, each one with a different scent. There are foot spas round the edge and in the centre of the room is a shower like a waterfall. The 1st floor contains massage and treatment parlors which you have to pay extra for, and the cafe. The ground floor has a big (still hot) pool surrounded by sun longers with a jacuzzi bit in the middle. It was SO GOOD! The water is uniformly 5ft deep though so if you're short, like my friend, you can borrow a float. This was followed up by a chocolate fondue in the Cocoa House (a cafe which sells only cadburys products! Can't miss it).

http://www.thermaebathspa.com/

You might want to look at flights from Southampton airport too. This is about 1.5 hours from Bath on the train, but not as far as London. I use this airport all the time as it is Flybe's main centre. Or possibly Cardiff airport, but I don't know what transport from Bath to Cardiff is like. Maybe even Exeter too?

Don't want to put a jinx on Bristol but this week Easyjet refused to land there because they said the runway was unsafe, then eventually all the other airlines went on strike about it too. Major disruption ensured and the runway was re-tarmaced overnight.

[mishl982]

I don't have any advice but have fun and good luck with all the planning :)

[coll214]

Aww have fun... I may have to start my own thread about my upcoming trip now :)... and how far is Bath Spa from London?? LOL.

[Orca]

and how far is Bath Spa from London?? LOL.
About 100 miles, so about 2 hours driving (but in the holidays behind a string of caravans and a dozen tourist buses going to Stonehenge, a good 3 hours). Train 1.5 hours if non-stopping. But bear in mind none of the "London" airports are actually all that close to London and getting to them can take a lot of time due to traffic/crowding. If you wanted to get from Bath to Heathrow for example, on public transport I would allow at least 5 hours because you would have to travel into central London and out again. If this coincided with rush hour, it could take a VERY long time. If you had to cross London and come out the other side (eg going to Stansted) I would allow even longer. (Heathrow is out near Windsor. Visiting the castle is an unnerving experience as every 30 seconds a boeing 747 just about scrapes the battlements as it comes in to land. Look from your window if you land at terminal 4).

[embrassezla]

Yes I've been meaning to do the actual Bath! I've done the tour twice and really liked it, but haven't experienced the actual bath yet, will definitely do that this trip.