Greece 2006
- We took our first trip to Greece in May 2006.
- Flew into Athens and stayed for three nights. We took in all the main sites, and spent a full day in the National Archaeological Museum. What a treasure trove that is.
- Flew south to Rhodes for five nights as the starting point of an island-hop through the Dodecanese. Rhodes is a popular place, but we quickly learnt that mass tourism in Greece is quite concentrated and with a bit of effort you can largely avoid it.
- Caught the ferry to the island of Tilos for another five night stay. It’s a great place for walking and the food was especially fine. We hadn’t planned to stay on the island of Symi but it looked so gorgeous as we passed through from Rhodes to Tilos that we backtracked for a night. It was well worth the effort.
- A week spent on the small island of Lipsi was the centrepiece of this trip. Many of the Hobart Greek community come from Lipsi and we were interested to visit. The welcome was very warm. From here we took a day trip to the impressive island of Patmos. Caught the ferry from Lipsi to Samos as base for getting back to Athens.
- Spent a few more nights in Athens at the end of the trip, enabling us to visit Cape Sounion and a few of the Saronic Gulf islands.
- We flew home with a strong desire to visit Greece again.
Athens 2006
First ever long haul flight for Julie, and first one I'd done for ten years. So that was a 'novelty'. We got to our hotel in Athens about 15:00 local time. It was on Mitropoleos square opposite the cathedral. One of the attractions was a rooftop terrace with uninterrupted views of...
Rhodes
We flew from Athens to the island of Rhodes, staying in the old part of Rhodes Town for five nights. The World Heritage medieval city was a main attraction. It became the headquarters of a catholic military order known as the Knights Hopitaller in 1310, and remained so until 1522...
Tilos and Symi
Rhodes was our first stop in an island-hop through the Dodecanese. We'd planned stays on Tilos and Lipsi with a bit of flexibility around the edges. Caught the 'Dodecanese Express' ferry from Rhodes to the island of Tilos where we spent four nights in the port town of Livadia. We...
Lipsi, Patmos and Samos
A week on the island of Lipsi was a centrepiece of this trip. We wanted to slow down and experience life on a small Greek island. Lipsi (population 700) is the home island of many in the Hobart Greek community so it seemed like a good choice. By way of perspective, Lipsi is only 8km...
Sounion, Saronic Gulf, Athens
We had three nights back in Athens at the end of the trip and took the opportunity to do a couple of day trips. About 50 kms south of Athens is Cape Sounion, site of the ancient Temple of Poseidon. It's an impressive ruin in a stunning location, and the bus trip there and back (1...
