Has anyone taken the Greek Island Day tour from Fantasy Travel? They travel to three Islands from Athens, Any comments are helpful. We have two days prior to departing on a tour and wanted to take a look at islands which are not on the tour. Thanks.
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Philadelphia, PA, USA
3397 posts
It would help if you said WHAT tour? A R Steves Tour? He usually includes Hydra, apparently the only island he visited in past few years. Also, it matters what days of the week these 2 days are??
Anybody who takes that 1 day-3 islands tour invariably recommends AGAINST it on forums. Because it's really a day spent 80% on a ferry, punctuated by brief stops at Aegina Poros (?) and Hydra for an hour, just enough to walkaround the harbar and buy some souvenirs then ... back on the darn boat!! You never really get to "have a look" at an island. It isn't run by Fantasy Travel -- they just refer you to the company that does excursion & pockets commission for the referall
If you want a good one-day visit, go to Aegina alone. Here's a fab photo report on such a day
https://www.flickr.com/photos/36264706@N03/sets/72157621604646139/detail/
... You can either take the GREEN line Metro from Monastiraki (30 minutes, 1.6E fare) to Piraeus, OR a daytime taxi from Central Athens should be about €20 (have hotel person flag the taxi, and he tell the driver where to go, and say the fare should be € -- ... in case a driver should decide to "take the long way" there).
... Go to ticket office (all along the seafront) and buy ticket on soonest available REGULAR ferry -- NOT hydrofoil. The latter are a little bit quicker, but you're stuck inside, NO deck, no view. Regular ferries have open deck seating for delightful views of the whole seacape -- huge liners, tiny sailboats, speedboats, ferries ... gulls, even a dolphin if you are super-lucky!
... On Aegina, you can take bus to central-island hilltop with gorgeous temple ruin, then walk downhill shortcut path to seaside Ag. Marina beach (or hail a taxi, have it stop at temple ruin, then take you onward to a beach). From any beach or village you can get a bus back to port town for late-day cocktail at a taverna, then a sunset ferry back to Piraeus.
You could even do an overnight in Aegina, since you have 2 days you say ... Marathona beach is the best one, and here's a place thathas a cafe AND a small pension with rooms. http://www.aeginagreece.com/aegina-island/directory/aegina-listing/aegina-island-spots/beaches/la-palma-marathonas NOTE: Any visit in Summertime to Aegina-Hydra-Poros should be midweek == because these are so handy to Athens that on weekends the Athenians flock there & they crowd up. THAT is why it's important for you to actually state the DATES you are talking about. Otherwise, we're just having to guess whether our advice is appropriate.