An alternative to Greece

Amp34

Amp34

Amp34

Caporegime
Joined
25 Jul 2005
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Myself and a friend are thinking of going on holiday during the second week of July. We were wondering about Greece as it seems a good holiday destination for us:

Resonably cheap to get to and stay in
Not too touristy in some areas
Lots of history and culture
Hot and in the med
Nice countryside

The problem is flights to Athens (by ryanair and easyjet) are pretty expensive so can anyone suggest any alternatve destinations? We have both been to Italy before so are not too interested in northern Italy at least and we are going to spain for a week already so that a no really, somewhere like Malta maybe or another island that fits the criteria?

Thanks. :)
 
It sucks that we have just one airport in Athens, the two old airports that where replaced by the big shiny new one are turned into Europe's biggest park. Of course, to force people to pay the stupid taxes of E. Venizelos airport.

If you feel adventurous, you can get a flight from London to Ancona, and then travel by ferry (it takes a whole day, but it's quite fun) to Patras. From Patras you take the train to Athens. I paid £30 for the ferry and another £8ish for the train, I met a crazy Yankee in the ferry, we bought a bottle of vodka and where wondering around the ship nicking stuff :D

Of course, most people will not bother, but just the ferry is a nice experience by itself. If you are not feeling that adventurous, you can try and look at travel agencies for cheap flights to an island, get a charter flight the same them yobs take to go to Faliraki and when you arrive to Rhodes you can take the ferry and visit other islands.

Troop said:
Watch the film Midnight express, that will put you off Turkey :D
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Only if he is planning to transport loads of yummy marijuana with him!
 
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Troop said:
Watch the film Midnight express, that will put you off Turkey :D
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Not that its a good idea to form an opinion of a country based on Hollywood films, but the protagonist in midnight express was actually a drug smuggler, so as long as you don't do any of that, you'll be alright ;)
 
scorza said:
Not that its a good idea to form an opinion of a country based on Hollywood films, but the protagonist in midnight express was actually a drug smuggler, so as long as you don't do any of that, you'll be alright ;)
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How dare you question the un-biased view point of the glorious Hollywood :p
 
I would highly recommend Malta. I have been there twice; once on holiday and another on a study visit for a built heritage class at university. This diversity speaks volumes on what the country has to offer. As well as good food, friendly people, a unique culture and (perhaps surprisingly to some) a good night-life, amongst other qualities :).

It is a very busy place in peak season though, for that reason I would avoid it then. In spring and autumn it would be perfect to explore the not-so-touristy areas of the Island; such as the Three Cities and rural Malta and Gozo.

One thing you may struggle upon is cheap flights however. Air Malta have, or at least had, a virtual monopoly on air travel to the islands. A quick Google shows that late booking deals offer a few bargains though:

XL.com

I haven't used that site before, so can't couch for it. I'm sure similar sites would show similar, if not better, results. Where ever you chose, have fun :).
 
Romania is supposed to be a decent place to visit, although I can't comment personally as I haven't been myself.
 
Azagoth said:
Romania is supposed to be a decent place to visit, although I can't comment personally as I haven't been myself.
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It has changed a lot, but I would go to Romania in the winter, to the mountains for skiing, I'd rather spend the summer in the Med.
 
The reason I chose malta as an example was that ryanair has £5 (before taxes obv. :rolleyes: ) there which in my eyes is rather good. :p Its a shame about it being a bit busy in summer though. :(

As for romania and croatia i'm not sure about that, they are a possibility but to me maybe a little to eastern block. ( I dunno though so will have a look.)

Pyro, good suggestion but I would need to get a cheap flight to that airport to begin with unfortunatlely. The two options with Easyjet are Athens and Thessaloniki, Ryanair do none.
 
Amp34 said:
Pyro, good suggestion but I would need to get a cheap flight to that airport to begin with unfortunatlely. The two options with Easyjet are Athens and Thessaloniki, Ryanair do none.
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But you can get a cheap flight to Ancona, it's about a tenner before taxes each way, Ryanair do not fly to Greece but do fly to Italy! :)
 
pyro said:
But you can get a cheap flight to Ancona, it's about a tenner before taxes each way, Ryanair do not fly to Greece but do fly to Italy! :)
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Ah sorry dude, I see what you mean now, I just assumed Ancona was in Greece and so assumed Easyjet and Ryanair wouldn't fly to it. :o

Only issue with that is we will probably only be going for 5 days so two days to get there and back may be an issue, but I will still have a look into that. :)
 
That's the only catch, if you had a few more days, say, 12 days, you could even have a look at Marche, the general area around Ancona :)
 
Anyone been to Sicily or Sardinia? What are they like? After a cursory glance they seem to fill most of the requirements.
 
You will find the cheapest way to get to greece is a package holiday with flight and accommodation. Choose a nice area and rent a car. I recommend Elounda on Crete. Nice and quite, some bars but not too many drunken British
 
Second tunisia.
Me and the gf went last year, was lovely :)
Lots of history and the like (roman etc)
Dirt cheap!
And you can go visit starwars film locations like the lars family residence :D
 
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