# Off to Greece, advice needed



## merpb (May 10, 2005)

We are of to Greece at the end of the month and have 4 questions:
1, Given that we only have 1 month, we can't decide if we should go overland and return by ferry or whether to go by ferry both ways. Is a pleasant amble overland possible whilst still having enough time to explore Greece?
2, What gas bottles are available in Greece? someone told me camping gaz is widely available. Is that correct?
3, Will our standard CE connector + continental adaptor suffice? or is there another type required?
4, Our intention is to stay on sites. Are they A) numerous, B) easy to find C) likely to be open until late October?
Any other practical advice greatfully received.
Yours
Richard


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## Don_Madge (May 1, 2005)

Richard

As you are thinking of visiting Greece? Why not make a round trip, out through the Balkans and back on the Greece - Italy ferry route using the camper deck option. Sailing into Venice on a spring morning is a wonderful sight. With careful planning it can be a very rewarding and memorable trip.

Travel through the Balkans has been made easier in the last few years what with Hungary's entry into the EU and Romania and Bulgaria following shortly.

A straightforward overland route to Greece through the Balkans is via,
Luxembourg, Heidelberg, Regensburg, Vienna, Budapest, Szeged, Arad, Timisoara, Craiova, Sofia and entering into northern Greece from Bulgaria at the crossing at Promahonas which is about 145km north east Thessaloniki where the whole of Greece then awaits you. It's about 1710 miles from Calais to Thessaloniki using this route.

If you use this or a similar route please bear in mind you will need the
following vignettes. This is a very rough guide only.

Austria,
For vehicles up to 3500kg a vignette can be bought for Euros 7.80 for ten
consecutive days. For vehicles over 3500kg you will need to buy a "Go Box" that fits on the windscreen for a one off handling fee of Euros 5. Then for a two axle vehicle it will cost about 13 Euro cents +VAT per km. If you are close to the 3500kg mark it's advisable to carry a certificate issued by a weighbridge showing your weight. For full details see www.go-maut.at

Hungary.
You will need a vignette for the motorways. For vehicles up to 3500kg a four day vignette it will cost about £3 for vehicles over 3500kg it's about £4 for four days.

Bulgaria.
The Bulgarian motorway vignette costs between 5 - 69 Euros per vehicle and according to the validity period.

You will need a Green Card from your insurers to enter Romania and Bulgaria, third party (it's not cheap) insurance is available at most border crossings

Try and plan your route so you use the smaller out of the way border
crossings.
If you do have to use the main border crossing points try and avoid weekends especially in the high season.

On the return leg the two Greek ferry ports are Patras in the Peloponnese
and Igoumenitsa in the north west. Patras is the larger port and is very
congested most of the time. Patras has now got a by pass but the town is
still difficult to navigate due to the one way system. You will be hard
pushed to find somewhere to stay over night in the port area. It is also very difficult to find somewhere to park to purchase ferry tickets due to the complexity of the port lay out. Many of the ferries sailing to Italy call at Igoumenitsa.

Igoumenitsa is a much smaller port with plenty of overnight parking just
outside the new international terminal building. The international terminal
has a full range of facilities and ferry tickets can be purchased there.
All the ferry companies have an office in the terminal which is usually open about three hours before a sailing departs.

Over the years we have used the four Italian ferry ports from Greece. Venice

Ancona, Bari & Brindisi. Venice and Brindisi have the easiest access while
Ancona is very congested at all times and Bari can be difficult at times.

Between 1st April and 31st October it is possible to have the use of your
van on the camper deck on some of the Greece - Italy crossings. This year 2006 the option is limited to:-

Minoan Lines www.minoan.gr Patras - Igoumenitsa - Venice and Patras -
Igoumenitsa - Ancona.

Ventouris Lines www.ventouris.gr Igoumenitsa -Bari

ANEK Lines www.anek.gr Patras - Igoumenitsa -Ancona and Patras - Igoumenitsa - Venice.

MY WAY Ferries http://www.ferries.gr/myway/default.htm Patras - Igoumenitsa - Brindisi

Agoudimos Lines www.agoudimos-lines.com Igoumenitsa - Corfu - Brindisi..

For a list of other sailings available see http://www.ferries.gr/ ferries
can also be booked on this site. If you intend to use the camper deck option in the high season it would be worth booking in advance especially on the Patras - Venice sailing. The camper deck also gets very busy the weekends either side of Easter as many Germans/Dutch motorhomers head for the Peloponnese.

On Jan 11th this year we used the Agoudimos Lines day crossing from Brindisi to Igoumenitsa. We had full use of the van and were hooked up to the mains
for the crossing. Friends claim My Way ferries will also let you have use
of the camper during their crossing to Igoumenitsa and Patras. If you prefer a short sea crossing the Igoumenitsa - Brindisi crossing is the best. We
paid Euro 136 for a camper up to 7 metres and two persons on a single
crossing.
There is a discount if you book the return crossing at the same time as the
outbound one.

Be warned the Camper Deck option can have its drawbacks. It's the cheapest crossing from Greece to Italy but you could find yourself parked between or very close to some refrigerated trucks which also use this deck. We have been very lucky and have never had this problem yet but I know some who have Other friends have spent a crossing parked next to a truck full of sheep.

Greece is a marvelous country for touring with a motorhome, there is so much on offer from ancient ruins to the mountains and beaches. One of our favourite areas is the Peloponnese especially in the spring time.

Safe travelling

Don


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## max123 (May 9, 2005)

Hi Richard
We went to Greece for a month during July and August. We took the ferry from Venice to Patras and return and it gave us 3 weeks to tour the Pelopenese which to be honest wasn't enough. The ferry was extremely relaxing and gave us time to chill out with someone else at the helm. Used Minoan lines camping on board and the views departing Venice, Corfu, mainland Greece were fantastic.

Gas - we took a 6kg gas and it's still over half full, albeit that we didn't cook that much as eating out was so cheap. We did have the fridge on gas for over a week though. As we didn't run out of gas we never really went looking although we did see camping gaz available at supermarkets. 

All the sites we stopped on (11 in total) used the continental type adaptor (2 pin)
We didn't book any sites in advance.
We used Rough Guide to Greece and nealrly all the sites we stopped at were in the guide. I also did quite alot of research on the internet try the GNTO site and ASCI they were very useful. There are also some sites mentioned on the campsite database on this site. We went last 2 weeks of July and 1st 2 in August and had no trouble findind a pitch. And even when we were too long (7.35m) for one site they managed to pitch us on their drive! 

The roads are pretty horrific - mainly large potholes and their motorway consists of 1 lane and the hard shoulder which you are expected to drive on to allow people to overtake. 

We had a wonderful time and would like 3 months next time, if possible. If you want any further info. would be only to glad to help. Helen & Max


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## merpb (May 10, 2005)

Don,
Thanks for this. I must admit that your piece (in an earlier post) was the spur for the trip.
How long do you reakon the outward leg will take ? allowing for reasonable stops at Vienna, Budapest etc?
Any help on the practical points?
Yours
Richard


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## merpb (May 10, 2005)

Helen/Max,
We thought that the ferry might be the best option given the short time we have and you have confirmed that.
Thanks for the other advice. 
Yours
Richard


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## Don_Madge (May 1, 2005)

merpb said:


> Don,
> Thanks for this. I must admit that your piece (in an earlier post) was the spur for the trip.
> How long do you reakon the outward leg will take ? allowing for reasonable stops at Vienna, Budapest etc?
> Any help on the practical points?
> ...


Richard,

Don't try and cover too much ground, we like at least four/five days in places like Vienna and Budapest. If you combine those cities with visits to Prague, Graz and Venice you would see some fantastic sights.

On the other hand if you decide to go to Greece I would ferry both ways and tour the Peloponnese. As Max & Helen have already stated one month is hardly long enough to do the tour without rushing about.

Greece has the highest fatal accident rate in Europe, the driving at best is very poor.

It will be quieter in September so crowds should not be a problem. Free parking on the Peloponnese should also be OK.

The following is a trip we did a few years ago.

Leaving Corinth we did a clockwise tour following the eastern coastline. I
have listed the places we stayed, many are free camping spots as most sites on the Peloponnese do not open until mid/late April except in the popular tourist spots like Olympia.

Korfos:- Free camp. Small village on coast beautiful scenery.

Epidaurus:- Ancient Theatre site. Usually OK to stay overnight in car park.

Methana:- Free camp. Water/showers & toilets in Yacht Marina.

Ferry from Methana to Poros. Free camp on Neorion Beach.

Ferry from Poros to Galatas.

Ermioni Harbour:- Free camp.

Portoheli Harbour:- Free camp large yacht harbour.

Parlia Tirou:- Free camp water & parking at harbour.

Pyrgouthi (Deserted village at 700 metres altitude) Free camp.

Monemvassia Rock:- (Greece's Gibraltar) Free camp.

Neapoli:- Free camp on ferry quay.

Gytho Harbour:- Free camp on Quay water available.

Gerolimenas:- Small fishing village. Free camp on harbour.

Kotronas:-Free camp on harbour. Water available in cemetery.

Neo Itilo:- Free camping in beach area.

Kardamili:- Free camp on sea front (out of season only). Water in village.

Kalamata:- Possible free camp near harbour - could be noisy.
There is a gas filling plant in the town that will refill
Calor bottles. Get directions from Tourist Police (office
at the harbour).
Be very careful the gas plant is close to Kalamata Military
Airfield.

Petaldi:- Free camp on sea front

Koroni:- Free camp sea front/harbour.

Methoni:-Free camp on beach or Venetian Fortress car park.
Water available

Pylos: Free camp in waterfront area.

Tholo: Free camp in sand dunes (follow signs for camp site).

Olympia:- Camping Diana

Kalogria:- Free camp on beach.

Out of the main season the Peloponnes make a great touring holiday.

We find the Lonely Planet guide book a great help.

Don


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## merpb (May 10, 2005)

Don,
Thanks for the great reply.
You and Max have convinced us that the ferry both ways is the best option.
Thanks again
Richard


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## JimW (May 1, 2005)

Hi Richard, 

I see that you have had lots of good advice about travel to Greece. Don't think anyone mentioned a useful booklet available from the Greek Tourist Office - Camping in Greece. It has a good selection of campsites with facilities and opening dates. Most are open until the end of Oct, but some close at the end of Sep.

Recommend the Venice/Greece route. We went to Brindisi on the outbound leg and left some of our valuables with some of the more enterprising locals!. We had no problems in Greece and have not heard any horror stories.

Take note of the elec connection already mentioned. Most are continental 2 pin.

Have a great trip, but you will be pushed to get around the Peloponnese in the time available - places I particularly enjoyed were Mycenae, Epidavros, Nafplio (which has an impressive 17Century fort overlooking the town), Monemvassia (a bit out of the way though), Mistras and the Mani peninsula. If you have not seen it, take a moment to look into the Corinth Canal.

Jim


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