denise
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:05:55 GMT
My daughter and I have recently returned from a trip to Greece and Rome which I planned. We have done tours before but in this instance we decided to base ourselves in Athens, Heraklion and Rome and do our own thing, apart from a 3 day/2 night tour with GO Tours to Epidaurus, Olympia and Delphi.
We wanted to stay more than 2-3 days in Athens and Rome and we were mainly interested in archaeologoical sites and museums. We felt after using the metro in a few European cities that we could travel around by ourselves.
We booked our hotels,flights (including Aegean Airlines Athens-Heraklion-Rome) and 3 day tour through our travel agent. At all hotels we had breakfast included which makes a big difference.
So this is a travel tale with a difference!
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denise
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:12:20 GMT
ARRIVAL DAY
We arrived in Athens early afternoon and got the Metro from the airport to Monastiriki station which was only about 5-10 minutes walk from the Plaka hotel where we were staying. It was confusing when we exited the station into a square – we couldn’t initially see any street signs but after walking in the wrong direction eventually found our way to the hotel.
Unfortunately at check-in we had to wait over an hour to get into our room. After travelling for over 24 hours we were keen to have a shower and relax. Fortunately the breakfast room is open all day with help yourself tea, coffee, biscuits and iced water.
After check-in we walked around looking for somewhere to eat. Lots of restaurants all serving the same things. Very busy, lots of locals dining.
Apart from this 1 delay everything else about the hotel was great: it was situated in the Plaka area and we walked everywhere. Nothing fancy but very good breakfast, hot showers, helpful staff, plus I got a big bag of laundry done for 9 Euros (after our return from our 3 day tour). Also great views of the Acropolis from the rooftop terrace. Very cheap – only $105p.n. (for the 2 of us including breakfast).
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denise
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Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:21:09 GMT
DAY 1
In Athens on the first morning we were up early and went to the Acropolis at 8a.m. when it opened – we were the only ones wearing shorts, it was fresh initially but soon warmed up. We then made it to Syntagma Square to see the changing of the guard. There was a military marching band and a platoon of soldiers (all dressed in the national costume – very interesting fact that there are 400 folds in their skirt (fustanella) that represents the number of years that Greece was under Ottoman rule).
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denise
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:23:15 GMT
DAY 2-DAY 4
We left on our 3 day tour to Epidaurus (fabulous theatre with great acoustics), Mycenae, overnight in Olympia and Delphi. We also stopped for photos at the Corinth canal. A fair bit of driving but we enjoyed all the archaeological sites and the 2 museums at Olympia and Delphi. We had plenty of time to explore both the sites and the museums.
Lots of olive groves everywhere. Breakfast and dinner was included each day.
On the tour there were people from the US, UK, Sri Lanka and a French couple (who didn’t speak English). The tour guide gave us lots of information both on the bus and at all the different sites, so after talking to most of us in English she then had to repeat the same in French! I don’t know whether it was because I had already heard the English version or because the tour guide was speaking very clearly and maybe a bit slower but I was managing to understand a fair bit of the French commentary!
I liked Delphi the best, situated on a mountainside it was spectacular – lots of walking uphill, but worth it.
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denise
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:23:51 GMT
DAY 5-6
We had 2 more days in Athens upon our return. We visited the Acropolis Museum, The Benaki Museum (it was free on the Thursday when we went), the Archaeological Museum, The History Museum and The War Museum.
The Archaeological Museum was great – they had the mask of Agamemnon, lots of gold jewellery, statues and pottery.
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denise
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:25:01 GMT
DAY 7
Saturday we got the metro back to the airport and caught our flight to Heraklion with Aegean Airlines with no problems (we’d had to pre-pay for our baggage in Euro before we left Australia as our flights didn’t include checked luggage). Our hotel was opposite the Venetian fort – in fact our room faced the fort and with blue skies and sunshine it was very picturesque with the sailing/fishing boats in front.
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denise
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:30:26 GMT
DAY 8
Sunday morning we got the bus to Knossos which was very underwhelming – it was somewhere that my daughter had particularly wanted to visit. WE returned into town by bus and visited the wonderful Archaeological Museum (included in the combined ticket with Knossos). Renovation of the museum had been completed in 2014. It was really well done. We saw the Phaestus Disc (still yet to be translated), a fabulous small statuette of the snake lady, lots of gold and pottery again. Lots of information in English as well as Greek, displays well set out.
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denise
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:30:46 GMT
Day 9
We went to the History Museum which was well done and included a room on the Battle of Crete. In hindsight we could have spent 1 day less in Crete (it’s a bit hard planning from the other side of the world, we spent less time in museums than we had thought).
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denise
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Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:31:43 GMT
Day 10
Tuesday afternoon we flew from Heraklion via Athens (only about 1 hour wait) to Rome. We got a city taxi with a fixed fare of 48Euro to our hotel as it was 6p.m. when we arrived. Our hotel in Rome was the Domus Australia (owned by the Archdiocese of Sydney), all the staff speak English and lots of Australians stay here. Plus there is a church attached to the hotel and it has a resident priest from Sydney that we met at breakfast one day.
We found a cheap, pretty good restaurant round the corner from the hotel where we ate at several times during our 9 night stay. We had a tasty 4 cheese risotto and a pepperoni pizza, plus ½ litre of house red wine, including service charge for under 20 Euro. Service was prompt, so it was very convenient for us to eat here after a big day out walking seeing the sites. Usually we’d arrive back at the hotel around 5p.m., have a rest and then go out and eat. Restaurants didn’t open until 6.30p.m.
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denise
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:32:11 GMT
Day 11
Our first day in Rome we went to the Colosseum, Forum and Palatine Hill. Lots of walking but it was a lovely day. We hadn’t booked skip the line tickets for the Colosseum and managed to get in straight away – no queue. This was about 10a.m.
Walking in Rome was very challenging due to the fact there were few sign posts for the major attractions and every piazza divided into a myriad of streets. It got to the stage that we took zoom photos of the street signs (high up and not always very clear) so that we could figure out where we were. Because there are so many tiny streets they weren’t all shown on the map that all tourists were using in Rome. Nearly all tourists either had the same map in hand or their phone using google maps! It was very easy to get turned around and get quite lost. Eventually of an evening in our hotel room I researched on our ipad directions on how to get from a to b and wrote them down in my notebook – this system worked really well thank goodness.
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denise
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:33:46 GMT
Day 12
We went to the Vatican museum by Metro. We had bought skip the line tickets but we would have been ok without it as we got there before 10 and there was no queue. My daughter was a but unwell and tired this day (maybe we had overdone the walking yesterday!) and has no interest in religious art so we really just walked thru to the Sistine Chapel and managed to sit down and have a rest.
We went back to the hotel so my daughter could rest and I went out walking by myself and discovered how to get to the Trevi Fountain (restoration had only just been completed in the last few weeks so was all clean and bright with no scaffolding), Pantheon and Piazza Navona as well as a great gelato shop –Frigidarium (2Euro for 2 scoops!) that we found on Trip Advisor.
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denise
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:34:30 GMT
DAY 13
Friday we decided to go to Ostia Antica – an archaeological site of an ancient Roman city dating back to AD42.
However, when we got to the metro station the soldier guarding it told us that there was a ½ day metro strike. It was very apparent in Greece and Rome how Anglo Saxon we both look as everyone speaking to us automatically spoke English.
So, change of plans. We went to a museum to see an Impressionist exhibition and then went to the Capitolini Museums (all situated near/behind the Vittorio Emmanuele II monument). The 2 Capitolini Museums were excellent; you walk underground from one to the other. Lots of statues of the Roman gods.
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denise
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:35:27 GMT
DAY 14
The next day we were able to go to Ostia Antica. We used a 1.50 Euro metro ticket to get there (so very cheap – it’s actually part of Rome which is why it’s included in the metro ticket). We got the metro to a station and then changed to a train for a ½ train trip to Ostia Antica. The site is walking distance from the train station.
We really enjoyed Ostia Antica, again it was a lovely day and the site was massive. There were a few other tourists. Little of the site was roped off so we could explore at will (in Greece the sites were either roped off in areas or there were staff with whistles keeping people from climbing/walking over ancient stones). There was a great theatre and quite a few mosaics and a few frescoes. It was really enjoyable walking along and unexpectedly coming across a statue or a mosaic.
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denise
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:36:14 GMT
DAY 15
The next day, as it was the first Sunday of the month a lot of museums/galleries/palaces were free of charge.
Firstly we went to Palazzo Barberini which had some lovely art (including a Hans Holbein portrait of Henry VIII).
Then we walked to Castel Sant Angelo, on the other side of the Tiber, not far from the Vatican. By this time, nearly mid day, it seemed that all of Rome was out strolling and taking advantage of free entry to their museums. We actually had to queue for ½ hour to get into the castle which is rather like a fort. Again the museum section wasn’t opened but it was great walking around the ramparts with spectacular views of the Vatican.
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denise
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:37:42 GMT
DAY 16
On Mondays most museums/attractions in Rome are closed (except for the Vatican museums and the Colosseum which we’d already done).
So we took a train (1 ¼ hours) to an Umbrian hill town – Orvieto. It was only 15Euro return which is about what we were paying to get into museums so it was very affordable. The train went through lots of tunnels which made our ears pop a lot and was sometimes quite painful. On arrival at Orvieto we then travelled on the funicular to get to the old town, perched high on a hill. Very picturesque and quite a touristy town.
There is a large gothic cathedral (so quite different to the churches in Rome). Lots of Italian tourists were there that day. We did a walk through underground caves with an Italian guide (no English tour available that day). So we didn’t understand much if anything but it was something different to do. Afterwards we had an enjoyable lunch at a lovely restaurant with very good service. We had wild boar with polenta and pappardelle with wild boar ragu. On the walk back to the funicular we passed a chocolate shop and had a lovely hot chocolate each – perfect way to finish off our visit.
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denise
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:38:44 GMT
DAY 17
Tuesday, we had pre-booked tickets for Borghese Gallery (you can only book tickets on line and the visits are restricted to a maximum of 2 hours). This was in a different direction to where we’d walked previously but we managed to find our way there (thanks to my note taking).Some beautiful Bernini statues and art by Caravaggio, Raphael and Titian. There is a huge park and gardens as part of the Borghese estate so it was nice walking thru the park on the way into the main area of Rome.
We then went to the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj which is a privately run gallery with art by Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio and Velazquez. We recognised a Tintoretto (from a similar painting of his that we’d see in the Prado in Madrid). Included in the ticket price is an English audio guide by the current owner providing an excellent commentary of the family history and some of the rooms and their treasures.
About 4.30p.m. we had bought our hot chips and were looking at stopping at our usual spot to eat them on the steps outside a museum – Palazzo delle Esposizioni, when we discovered the intersection blocked by police. Not knowing what was happening we were able to cross to the other side of the street and sit down on a bench. Shortly afterwards we were very surprised to see the Pope drive by. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time and on the right side of the street. If we hadn’t crossed over we wouldn’t have seen him. The crowd applauded as he drove past – quite an unexpected highlight!
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denise
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:39:14 GMT
DAY 18
Wednesday was our last day in Rome. In hindsight we actually had 1 day too long in both Rome and Heraklion. So we went to yet another museum – the National Museum of Rome which has 4 different sites in Rome. We managed to go to 3 of them, one of which had a Henry Moore exhibition.
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denise
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:39:51 GMT
DEPARTURE DAY
Leisurely morning having a late breakfast and packing, checked out of the hotel at 11a.m. Left our suitcases at the hotel and then went to the 3rd museum included in our tickets from the day before. A last gelati and Queen’s Chips before returning to the hotel around 4p.m.
After collecting our suitcases we walked about 15 minutes from the hotel to Termini (the main station) to get the airport train. It was quite hard work wheeling our suitcases over cobble stones and very uneven streets. We weren’t in any rush and had plenty of time to get there, it was just rather tricky manoeuvring.
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denise
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 3, 2016 5:40:53 GMT
SUMMARY
Trip Advisor has been a great research tool when planning this trip from Australia as well as using it when we were actually in Athens and Rome. We have also submitted reviews of the hotels and museums that we visited.
We didn’t see any unrest; no protesters or refugees in either Greece or Italy. In fact, I was surprised in Greece that I didn’t see anything regarding their dire economic woes. The only thing was that in some museums half the rooms were closed due to “staff shortages” – presumably because they can’t afford to pay for the staff during the winter months. This was the same in Rome.
We were very lucky with the weather. In Greece maximum of 20C, blue skies and very sunny. Rome was maximum of 16C, blue skies, mostly sunny.
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Post by chech on Jan 3, 2016 13:31:13 GMT
Wow, Denise, that's quite the adventure! I was looking at the optional to Ostia on my Italy tour in Italy. By the sounds of it, it's well worth it. I've been to Rome before so that sounds like a great optional on my free day.  |
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denise
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Posts: 86
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Post by denise on Jan 4, 2016 8:21:43 GMT
Definitely recommend the optional to Ostia Antica (especially as you've been to Rome before). It's quite a different site and great to wander around and discover bits and pieces. Some areas are not well preserved, you can come across a mosiac amongst an overgrown patch of grass - it adds to the feeling of exploring something by yourself.
We spent 3 1/2 hours there.
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Post by chech on Jan 4, 2016 12:07:53 GMT
Ah, I wouldn't get that much time there. The optional is 4 hours long and that likely includes the train ride there. At least my pre-days in Sorrento mean I can spend an entire day wandering Pompeii. Last time I was there, we barely had two hours there.  |
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