Day 13: Kefalonia, Melissani Cave, Fiskardo

Plan for the day

Our driving route would be from 

1. Poros to Sami to see the Melissani Cave  
2. Sami to Fiskardo for buy ferry tickets for the evening trip
3. Fiskardo to Mytros Beach for the most popular beach in Greece
4. Mytros Beach to Fiskardo for a ferry trip to the next island

driving route on Kefalonia

We intended to spend the whole day until 5 pm on Kefalonia, during this time frame we had a few destinations to explore. There was only one "must visit" attraction and that would be the Melissani Cave, the "most beautiful blue cave" in Greece or maybe in the world.

We planned to board the ferry with our car and travel from Fiskardo port to Vasiliki, a southern port on the next island. The plan was to leave Vasiliki port by 6.30pm and drive for about one to one and a half hour northward. Our accomodation for the night would be in either Levkas Town on Lefkada island or Preveza City on the mainland.

ferry route and driving route from Vasiliki to Preveza

We were off target by a great deal!

By the end of the day we had visited Melissani Cave, Sami and Fiskardo town. Fiskardo was a pleasant surprise. As for Myrtos Beach the visit was cancelled at the last moment. 

The ferry trip to Vasiliki went up in smoke and we ended up staying the night at Sami Port of Kefalonia some 100 km behind our planned end point of the day. 

From the experience over the last two days, I could definitely confirmed that Greek Ferry Lines were not reliable during low tourists season especially on less popular ferry routes. I had gotten the dates and schedules of the trips from the Ferry lines official website which were not updated to reflect cancellation.

Sami town

We checked out of our hotel, Dioni Apartment in Poros at about 9 am and it was when making our payment to the "workman" that we found out he was the owner of the hotel. October to the end of the year was a lull period for the hotel and it was a good time to carry out alternation, that was why the ground level of the hotel was in the midst of renovation.

We drove toward Poros in search of a place for breakfast. It was only 1 km from our hotel but when we reached Poros port we did not spot a cafe that was inviting enough to make us stop for breakfast so we continued to drive forward to the next town, Sami.

Sami Town was another port of Kefalonia island and it was rather quiet in mid October. It had a couple of streets and we drove a few rounds circulating the place looking for a good breakfast place. We parked the car by the roadside and came down for a walk, we walked past the town church, a bakery, a super market before we stopped at a second bakery.

Yummy!!

The breads on the shelves looked so inviting and smell so aromatic that we went in to have our breakfast. 

The owner was a very friendly middle age woman and she had an equally friendly big black dog. 

We ordered bread, pies, pastries and cafe lattes and ate our breakfast at a small table that was placed just at side door of the store with the black dog practically lying at our feet. 

Aptonoieio Bakery (Co-ordinates:38.252310, 20.648753)

The store was located at a huge intersection of five roads with the port just right in front. So sitting at our table we had a great time observing the town and the port. 

It was great that we had internet access 24/7 so while eating we got to read news, message with our families and update our social network. It was wonderful how modern technology had made travelling afar closer to the love ones at home. 

Melissani Cave

Melissani Cave (co-ordinates:38.257006, 20.623510) was about 3 km from Sami Port so in less than 10 minutes we reached the car park outside the cave.

Route from Sami Port to Melissani Cave

Beside the car park was a cafe and a souvenir store. We looked around to see how we could go uphill and see the Melissani Lake from the opening of the caved in roof. There was a hill but it was fenced off. The fencing stretched a long way and we could not see any opening at all. It looked like there was no way up the hill. The only entrance to the cave was just next to the cafe, it led into a tunnel that went underground into the cave.

Tunnel to Melissani Cave

The entrance fee was €8 per person and it included a short boat ride on the lake. Though tunnel sloped downward, it was rather easy to walk as it was well lighted, its floor was "carpeted" and it had hand railings on both sides. The tunnel opened into a cave lake. We stepped out of the tunnel into the cave onto a small platform built just above the water level. Four of us went into a boat and the boatman rowed the boat toward the middle of the lake. The cave had a huge opening in its roof.

Tourist Boats in Melissani Cave

It was already 12 noon and the sun rays shone strongly through the opening right into the water. The water looked cool and blue and I could see all the way down to the base of the lake. It was very quiet, very surreal and very beautiful.

Beautiful Blue Cave

Melissani Cave or Melissani Lake as it was sometimes called was a lake inside a cave that had trees and forests surrounding it. The cave had two chambers with an island in the center. The roof of one of the chambers caved in centuries ago.

The boatman rowed the boat to just directly under the opening of the caved in roof. Looking up we could see that the opening were surrounded by green trees, there were creepers hanging down into the cave from the edge of the opening. On top of the cave was the forest.

Caved-in roof of the 1st chamber

We asked the boatman how we could get to the top of the cave. He told us that outside the cave there were paths that led uphill, unfortunately all these paths were now barricaded and nobody was allowed to go up anymore. Viewing from the top was disallowed because of past incidence when daredevil tourists leaped through the opening into the cave lake. After going one round of the lake the boatman rowed the boat into a second chamber. Between the two chambers there was a small piece of land and a narrow water path.

Waterway connecting the two chambers

The further we entered into the second chamber the darker it got. This second chamber was smaller and not as interesting. So if there was no caved in of the roof in the first chamber it would be as dark and as uninteresting as the second chamber. This caved in transformed this Melissani cave into a famous tourist attraction. 

On the way back to the first chamber the boatman sang us a local song, and his voice resonated loudly inside the chamber. His voice must have frightened some birds or bats because I heard a flutter of wings and saw some small creatures flying into the air as we approached that tiny piece of land separately the two chambers. 

The boatman was a friendly man and insisted on helping us to take plenty of group photos. In just about 15 minutes our boat ride was over and the boat moved toward the platform. I tried my luck and requested the boatman to row another loop around the first chamber but lady luck was not with me.

Boat ride in Melisanni Lake/Cave

The only way to enjoyed Melissani Lake was on a boat, because beside the small platform where the boats were berthed there was not much space to stand. There was no walking path in the cave or around the edge of the lake. Regretfully, for  €8 per person we were allowed only one trip on the boat and when done we were left on the small platform. There was no place to linger, rest, sit, relax and to enjoy this uniquely beautiful blue cave but to walk back in the tunnel and leave.

Fiskardo

We drove about 38 km for about an hour from Melissani Cave to Fiskardo which was a port at the northern tip of Kefalonia and reached there by about 2 pm in the afternoon. We were at the port to get ferry tickets for four of us and our car to move on to the next Ioanian island, Lefkada. The plan was to board the 5.15 pm car ferry that would sail from Fiskardo to Vassiliki, a southern port of Lefkada.

Unfortunately for the second time in two days we were let down by another Greek Ferry Company. The shop, Nautilus Travel, that sold ferry tickets was closed and when I asked the neighbouring shop how could I get tickets on the car ferry to go from Fiskardo to Vassiliki, I was told that the ferry season had ended no more trips till next year. 

This was very upsetting as on the West Ferry website (www.westferry.gr) the ferry would only stop running in November and December and there were still two more weeks to go before November started. So again I had to activate Plan B which was to sail from Sami to Vassiliki.

two ferry routes to the next Lefkada

Apparently ferry cancellation especially by small ferry lines was a common occurrence during off peak tourist season. The advantages of touring Greece in mid October was that being on the fringe of peak tourist season it was much less crowded, prices were lower and weather was still not too cold. The disadvantages were some shops, hotels and shipping routes were closed and you might encounter ferry trip cancellation without notice. 

Even when I stood outside the closed Nautilus Travel shop unable to purchase our ferry tickets, the West Ferry website (West Ferry Maritime Company F/B Captain Aritidis) still stated that its car ferry would run till end of October! Luckily this was just a small hiccup and could be easily rectified. We would head back to Sami in the late afternoon but in the meantime we continued with our sightseeing. 

Fiskardo was different from our expectation. We thought that it was just a basic port like Agio Nikolaos in Zakynthos with nothing much to see. Fiskardo turned out to be a good surprise, it was a very scenic port town with an exceptionally beautiful harbour view.

Fiskardo Harbour

This harbour was very different from all the other harbours that we had seen so far, it looked like a harbour where the "rich and famous" would sail in on their yachts. We chose a nice outdoor cafe with a good view and sat down for lunch. Lunch was delicious and the prices was reasonable.

Lunch with a view

After lunch we took a walk around the harbour. The buildings were mainly cafes, souvenir shops, bakeries, boat rental shops, travel shops, etc all catering to tourists. We passed many yachts and occasionally saw people living (reading, eating, sleeping) in the yachts. Sailing from island to island seemed to be a good form of touring Greece too.

Fiskardo port

Boats, Yachts everywhere

Myrtos Beach

Myrtos Beach was frequently voted as the most popular beach in Greece so it was on our destination list in Kefalonia. From my research we could view the beach from the top just like Shipwreck Cove in Zakynthos but besides that we could also drive down to the beach as there was a road that led down to the beach. I used google map on my handphone to plot the route to Myrtos beach. What I could not understand was it kept plotting a long round about route to Myrtos beach. But from my map I could see a shorter and direct road so we decided to ignore google map recommended route and took the shorter and direct road.

Long and short routes to Myrtos Beach

The entire journey was about 25 km and it was a long boring and sleepy drive. There was not much nice scenery to be seen on the road and we were all falling asleep because of our heavy lunch. We couldn't wait to reach our destination and get out to stretch our legs. When we were just a mere 5 km from Myrtos beach our drive came to an abrupt end. There was a "No entry" sign in the middle of the road and more indication of road construction ahead. OMG, now I knew why google map kept plotting the long round about route. We were so disappointed and the idea of turning back to make the big loop to Myrtos Beach was just too difficult to accept. So we voted to skip Myrtos Beach totally and return to Sami port. It was a decision that I later regretted, we should have made a loop even though it would take 45 minutes more. Now I would never know why Myrtos Beach was frequently voted as the most popular beach in Greece! 

On hindsight I vowed that I should never make hasty decision when I was sleepy and too full from heavy lunch. 

Ferry tickets from Sami to Vasiliki

We were back to Sami at about 5pm and walked into one of the ferry lines shop to buy our tickets. We were told that there was only one ferry trip a day to Vasiliki and the next ride would be at 10 am the next day. We bought our tickets and the next thing would be to find an accommodation for the night on Kelafonia instead of Lekfada.

Dimitris Studios

We found Dimitris Studios online and immediate made the booking online for two twin rooms. We chose Dimitris Studios because it was near Sami Port, price wise pretty good at €36 per room with ensuite toilet and no breakfast. Shortly I got a call from a London office to confirm my time of arrival.

Dimitris Studios

From the port we needed only drove about 2.5km to Dimitris Studios. We found the place but it looked closed. For a while we thought we got the wrong Dimitris Studio. I called the local phone number of the hotel stated in the confirmation email and a man told me to wait and he would be arriving soon to meet us.

Dimitris, the owner came on a motorbike and opened the place for us. He brought us up to inspect two rooms on the second level, these rooms faced the sea. The rooms were clean, nice and comfortable. We did our usual checks to make sure that the attached toilets had hot water and once we confirmed that we were happy with the rooms, Dimitris brought us downstairs to pick up our supply of towels and toiletries from his storage cupboard. 

Dimitris could hardly speak any English but we still got to understood each other with a few English words and lots of gesturing. I would describe Dimitris as a friendly host, a short and chubby man in his late sixties. 

Dinner at Contessina 

We drove back into Sami port in search for a restaurant for dinner. Dimitris had strongly recommended Contessina Restaurant, a place owned by his good friend that he said we must go. We parked our car and walked along the promenade moving from one restaurant to another reading the foods offering on their menu displayed outside the restaurants.

Contessina in Sami, Kefalonia

We did not even had a chance to decide which restaurant to go in when we saw Dimitris walking toward us in the opposite direction. He came to usher us into Contessina restaurant. So we ended up eating pizza at Contessina restaurant. We were not sure if Dimitris was being a considerate host helping us or a great friend helping the restaurant owner to bring in customers. To us it did not matter as there was only a 50% chance that the restaurant we picked may be nicer than Contessina.

Day 12: Zakynthos & Shipwreck Cove

Plan for the Day

In the morning we would drive to Agio Nikolaos to purchase 8 pm ferry tickets to the next island Kefalonia. After that we would explore Zakynthos till the evening.  Near 8pm we would return to Agio Nikolaos to board the car ferry to sail to Kefalonia.

There was only one must visit place in Zakynthos and that was the Navagio (Shipwretch Cove). After the must visit attraction then we would visit probably other towns in Zakynthos.

Map of Zakynthos

Morning Photo shoot at the Jetty again

We shot some photos at the port/jetty last evening when the sky had already turned dark. The night scene photo shoots of the town by the port was stunning. We decided then that we would return to the same place again to shoot a morning scene.

Sunrise was 6.55 am at Zakynthos on 15th October so we woke up at 6.15 am, hopped into our car at 6.25 am, reached the jetty at 6.30 am, set up our cameras and tripods and got ready for the morning photo shoot of Zakynthos Port. 

The night before at the jetty we were able to have an unobstructed view of the town and the church St Dionysios. Unfortunately overnight a number of fishing boats had docked at the jetty and they were there in the morning blocking us from getting a good shot.

Jetty before sunrise

It was so early in the morning and there was not a soul at the jetty. There was only one inquisitive dog that came close sniffing at us but did not gave us any trouble, I wondered if the dog belonged to the fishermen and was left at the jetty to guard the fishing boats.

We waited patiently for the sun to rise and the sky to brighten. The fishermen started coming in at about 7 am and threw us some curious glances. None of them bothered us, they just went into the fishing boats and one by one the boats throttled out of the jetty. By about 7.15 am the sky had brightened, it was blue and the water was blue and we had an unobstructed view of the church and town.

Zakynthos Port at about 7.10 am

Unfortunately we did not get the expected photo shoot that we wanted. The water was too choppy so we could not get a clear reflection of the church and town on the water. The only reflection we managed to get was when we came upon a puddle of still water at the jetty. It was not the ideal shoot but something was better than nothing.

At the jetty

By about 7.30 am we packed up and drove back to the hotel. We parked our car just along the roadside directly opposite Dali Hotel. Though it was still early we could already see a ferry coming into port.

Ferry coming into Zakynthos Port

Breakfast at INTRO cafe

The stay in Dali Hotel included a free breakfast at iNTRO cafe that was just at the first level of the hotel. I asked the hotel owner if he owned the cafe too and he said no. So I guessed they had probably some sorts of a business arrangement to have all the hotel customers eat breakfast at the cafe. 

Unfortunately iNTRO cafe opened at 9am so we had to stick around until then for breakfast. Breakfast was okay, nothing fantastic. By the time we were done with breakfast, checked out of the hotel and set out for our sightseeing it was close to 10 am which was a bit late for our liking.

iNTRO cafe at the ground floor of Dali

Missing Ferry (Agios Nickolas to Kefalonia)

We drove for an hour to Agios Nikolaos which was at the northern end of Zakynthos to buy ferry tickets for four of us and our car for this evening 8 pm ferry trip. This ferry ride would be from Port Agios Nikolaos of Zakynthos to Port Pessada of Kefalonia, the next Ioanian island.

The trip from Dali Hotel to Agios Nikolaos was about 30km. When we drove up to Agios Nikolaos we only saw small boats and glass bottom boats that offered rides to Blue Caves and Shipwreck Cove. There was no sign of a car ferry. We asked around and nobody could tell us anything about a car ferry from Agios Nikolaos to Pessada.

route from Dali Hotel to Agios Nikolaos (port)

I had read on the internet that Ionion P. Line offered inter island ferry trips and the last day for October was to be on 15th of October. I also read that these inter island ferry trips were unreliable and were usually cancelled when demand dropped. I called up the agent office and was told that there would be no more trip between Agios Nikolaos and Pessada as the season had ended. 

I was prepared for this situation and had planned another alternative ferry route to Kefalonia. This alternative route would require two ferry trips. One from Zakynthos to Kyllini and the second one from Kyllini to Poros port in Kefalonia. Based on the time schedule that I had collected we would arrive at Kyllini by 9.00 pm. I was not too sure if we would be in time to rush for another ferry that would leave Kyllini at 9.30pm and reach Poros at 11 pm. So my plan would be to stay a night at Kyllini and leave on the earliest ferry at 11.15 am to Poros the next morning. 

This alternative route involved two ferry trips which would take twice as long and cost twice as much as compared to the direct trip from Agios Nikolaos to Pessada a souther port at Kefalonia.

two possible routes from Zakynthos to Kefalonia

Northern Tips of Zakynthos

At Agio Nikolaos we had decided not to go on a 3 hours boat trip at €15 per person that covered Blue Caves and Shipwreck Cove as firstly we were not keen on swimming and secondly we wanted to view the Shipwreck Cove from the top of a cliff and not at beach level. 

We continued driving north after Agios Nikolaos to the northern tip of the Zakynthos where on the map we saw a lighthouse and the Blue Caves. 

Near the northern tip of the island, the road branched out to four roads. We drove up all four roads and all of them ended on top of a cliff. None of the roads brought us closer to seeing the blue caves. All we could see were boats going into small caverns which from our viewpoint on the road did not seem very blue. The blueness would probably be more brilliant when seen from inside the caves.

Map of the Northern tip of Zakynthos

At the end of innermost road there was a boat operator offering Blue Caves boat rides too, but we still decided not to take up the ride as we had already in our plan to visit a "fantastic" blue cave the next day on another island.

The second branch of the road took us to Skinari Lighthouse, a small and not very tall lighthouse. This lighthouse was built in 1897. It is 9.5 metre high and is located 67 metres above the sea. 

Skinari Lighthouse

At the end of another road sat a tavern, Botamitisbro Cafe which had two windmills. It must be a rest day because the tavern was not opened for business. Anyway we still came out of our car to explore the place as it looked interesting. 

Windmills at BotamitisBro Cafe

Behind one of the stone windmills we saw a winding stairs that went down to the water edge so we walked down the steps to explore.

Stairs to the water level 

The stone steps went down quite a long way. Midway down was a wooden deck with a couple of sunbeds so we sat down and relaxed. The breeze was good, the view was fantastic and best of all the place felt so private so like our own piece of heaven. 

Our personal piece of Heaven

After resting for a short while we continued walking down the rest of the steps, till they ended just before the water level. This looked like a place for people to get on and off a boat.

Shipwreck Cove

We drove from Botamitisbro Cafe in Skinari to Shipwreck Cove viewpoint in Navagio which was about 30 minutes for a distance of 15 km distance. Navagio Beach or Shipwreck Cove or Smugglers' Cove whatever you called it was the primary reason for my visit to Zakynthos. I had seen so many pictures of the beach and every time when I saw a picture I told myself that I must visit this beach one day. We were on our way to the beach and I was feeling apprehensive, I wanted the place to be as beautiful as those pictures I had seen. 

Route to shipwreck Cove ViewPoint

In those pictures of the Shipwreck Cove the views were always a top view of the beach, so our target destination would be some points high up on the cliff where we could have a top down view. 

From my online research I had already obtained the co-ordinates of the viewpoint on the cliff so it was very easy for us to drive straight to our destination. At the viewpoint was a narrow concrete ledge with a 1.2 metre high railing all round it. The ledge projected about 2 metres outside the edge of the cliff. Standing at the end of the ledge we could have an clear view of the Shipwreck Beach below. 

Shipwretch Cove (co-ordinates: 37.861814, 20.625642)

The view was awesome, so unbelievably beautiful. The water was so turquoise and transparent, the sand and the cliff were so white. It was a sight that caused my heart to palpitate, the scene was so much better than all the pictures that I had seen. In front of me was no longer a two dimensional picture, it was 3D, 4D or 5D. Being at the actual place, feeling the breeze, breathing in the salty air, standing at the top of the high cliff absolutely heightened the beauty of the scene. 

Boats at Shipwretch Cove

The ledge being very narrow, itcould only take three persons at its front, and everyone wanted to stand at the left most corner to view the cove below. We could only stand there for a couple of minutes each time before we had to give way to others. I felt so disappointed to have traveled half way round the globe to only spend a few minutes on the ledge. Luckily we met a local who told us to take the path on the right, walked for about 10 minutes and we would come to another point where we would have a better view of the cove.

We were not sure if we could believe him because we could not see the second view point from where we stood. Anyway we decided to explore. The path on the right was not a good path, there were plenty of rocks and wild plants and they made walking quite difficult. After 10 minutes we still had not come upon any good viewpoint, in fact we could not even see the Shipwretch Cove at all. We still proceeded to walk on and after another 15 minutes of walking we were nearer the edge of the cliff and then we saw the Shipwreck Cove again. 

The space here was definitely much larger than the ledge and there was no crowd, I could take as many photos as I like without having to give way to others. I could even have a picture of myself with the Shipwreck Cove as my background taken. Hurray!!! 

Shipwretch Cove

The beach was called Shipwreck Cove when the alleged smuggler ship Panagiotis was wrecked on the beach in 1983 while transporting cigarettes. From the top we could see the wreck lying on the sand all rusty and broken up. There were several people sunbathing on the beach and swimming in the cove. These people got to the beach by boats as there was no path to get down to the beach from the cliff on top. 

Wretch on the beach

Given the choice of only seeing the cove from the cliff or from the beach level we chose the cliff. Because it was only from the high level that we could see the whole big picture of the cove, the wreck, the white sand, the water, the cliff and the sky. I left this place absolutely contented. 

Ferry from Zakynthos to Kefalonia

With our visit to Shipwreck Cove completed, we were ready to rest, relax and do nothing for the rest of the day. We decided not to explore the other parts of Zakynthos island and drove back to Zakynthos Port. At the port we brought out tickets at Ioanian Ferries which had a shop right at the port facing the water. 

Ferry Company at Zakynthos Port

It was great that the lady at the shop could speak English so she was able to advise us on how to get to Kefalonia in one go. She explained that when we drove onto the ferry we must tell the staff that our final destination was Kefalonia and would be directed to the the appropriate parking location on the ferry. When the ferry reached Kyllini we must not disembark. The ferry would remain at Kyllini port for 30 minutes before sailing to Kefalonia. The ferry would depart from Zakynthos at 8pm, reach Kyllini at 9pm, leave Kyllin at 9.30pm and reach Kefalonia by 11.00pm. The ferry tickets were €16.20 per person and €77 for the car. 

We liked this new arrangement as it meant we would be in Kefalonia tonight which would give us plenty of time to explore Kefalonia the next day. 

Knowing that we would reach Kefalonia late, I took up my handphone and searched for a accommodation as near as possible to the Kefalonia port, Poros. I found Dioni Apartment and immediately booked two rooms online and indicated that my time of arrival was 11 pm at nite. Two hours later I got a call from London to confirm my arrival time at Dioni Apartment. I guessed hotel booking website was managed by a London office that was why the call came from London which was good because we could communicate in English. If it was the Hotel owner that called up I would not be able to converse in Greek. 

Lunch and Dinner at Thymalos restaurant (Zakynthos Port)

We ate lunch at Thymalos restaurant serving seafood and local cuisine. The restaurant was highly recommended by Dali Hotel owner where we stayed the night before. In fact we ate three meals at this restaurant. Dinner the night before, lunch and dinner today.

One of my friends liked the seafood served at the restaurant very much so as per her request we came back to the same restaurant three times in a row. The food tasted fine to me, nothing fantastic though. Anyway my husband and I were not so into seafood. I actually enjoyed the decoration of the restaurant more than the food. 

Thymalos Restaurant at the Port

Tea break with a view 

After lunch we drove up Bochali hill again in search of the elusive cafe that was beside a church which overlooked the port of Zakynthos. This cafe was so much easier to find in the day time. Latas Cafe Bistrot was part of a small Greek village up Bochali Hill that had a panorama view of the port below. 

Tea at Latas Cafe Bistrot

Wow! I loved the view. It was such a shame that we could not find this cafe last evening because the night view would be absolute fantastic. 

The Dali Hotel owner who told us about this place also said we must taste Zakynthos most savoury dessert at this cafe. So we ordered Frigania a local dessert. It was too sweet for me, luckily I did not have to finish the whole thing because I was sharing my dessert with my hubby. 

Cafe latte and Frigania (local dessert)

The weather was cool and my cup of hot cafe latte tasted even better when enjoyed together with a great view of the port. We positioned our chairs nearer to a one foot high ledge that was just in front of us and used it to prop up our legs as we slouched low in our chairs. It was such a wonderful and lazy afternoon, cool air, warm sunshine, sweet dessert, aromatic cafe latte and beautiful view, great companies....life was great!

Zakynthos Port as viewed from Bochali Hill

Accommodation for the Night

Our ferry finally docked at Poros, one of the ports in Kefalonia Island at 11 pm. By the time we drove out of the port it was already 11.20 pm and we headed straight to Dioni Apartments about 1 km away. Though it was late at night we did not have any problem finding the hotel as we had both google map and the hotel co-ordinates. It was dark but we could see the hotel clearly and it looked pleasant.

Day view of Dioni Apartments

The hotel door was opened by a middle age man in workman clothes. I was rather surprised and when we entered the hotel we saw that the whole ground level was under renovation. The receptionist counter was partially dismantled, the dining room wall was half hacked down and there were construction equipment lying around at the sides of the room. 

Wow! we did not expect this. Anyway it was too late to move onto another hotel, besides the "workman" told us he was expecting us. He led us to the 2nd level and show us one room. The room looked fine and clean so we decided to stay on. He brought us up the 3rd level for the second room. It looked like we were the only four customers in the entire hotel and I did not feel comfortable to have our rooms on different floors so I requested for the 2nd room to be on the 2nd level too. He said something which I could not hear clearly and then he shrugged his shoulders and said something like it was okay. He brought us to another room beside the first room on the 2nd level. 

The second room was actually an apartment with bedroom, bathroom, balcony, small hall and kitchenette. He was probably trying to tell us that he did not have two double rooms on the same level. We could have the apartment as our second room with no extra charge. 

The apartment was clean, nice and comfortable, the furnishing was homely and basic. The cost for both rooms was €35 per room with no breakfast.

Greece DIY in 21 days

 

We have only 21 days for Greece, so I had planned my tour itinerary to be completed  in 21 days. At the beginning 21 days seemed more than enough, but once I researched into Greece I found that I would need another 21 days to cover this beautiful country.

I had made a list of beautiful destinations and regretfully I had to discard one after another so that the rest could fit into my 21 days. My final list of destinations was a mixture of ancient ruins, islands, world heritage sites, mountain villages, gorges and cities. At each of the destination we planned to have the time to enjoy its sights at a enjoyable pace and not to speed by them.

Now that I have a plan drawn up  I hope to achieve the targets that are set for each day.

Come and travel with me by clicking on the 'Day' listed below.

List of Destinations
(A)  Athens Day 1 Day 2	(B) Mykonos Day 3 Day 4 Day 5	(C)Santorini Day 6 Day 7 Day 8	(D) Corinth Day 9	(E)Mycenae Day 9
(F) Nafplion Day 9 Day 10	(G) Mystra Day 10	(H) Olympia Day 11	(I) Zakynthos Day 12	(J) Kefalonia Day 13
(K) Corfu Day 14 Day 15	(L) Ioannina Lake Day 15	(M) Plaka Bridge Day 16	(N) Papigo Day 16	(O) Oxya Lookout Day 17
(P) Vardeto Steps Day 17	(Q) Kipoi Day 17	(R) Meteora Day 18	(S) Lake Plastira Day 19	(T) Delphi  Day 20