Our trip to Athens/Delphi is coming up Feb. 10 - Feb 17. Yesterday and today there was a general strike involving 40,000 people in the Athens area - serious stuff. We may not be able to cancel, but I'm interested in hearing from those of you who may have experience or insight. We had planned on possibly taking a day flight to one of the islands, but we don't want to get stranded. We also were planning on taking a bus to Delphi and staying one night, then taking a bus to a hotel by the Athens airport for our flight out early the next morning. Of course we want to visit the archaeological sites and museums in Athens. So are we in danger of getting stuck? It's possible we could really change things around and just land in Frankfurt and cancel our flight to Greece. Should we?
I know that I should really be asking the Oracle at Delphi, but we're not there yet. Any thoughts?
Posted by
S.F. Bay Area, CA, United States
1878 posts
My wife and I took a RT cruise out of Athens in 2011, and the constant threat of strikes caused a lot of stress (in me at least). We took our chances on the way in because we had a couple of days before we had to board the cruise. Theoretically we could have walked to the cruise port (several miles) or otherwise figured out a way for top Euro to get to the airport on the day of departure. For our departure we booked a private car which we were able to cancel on short notice and switch to a taxi when it became clear that there would not be strike the next day. The key was we were staying on points at a major hotel chain and the front desk people knew the scoop and were able to help us with that. We had several Greek ports on our cruise as well and enjoyed the country a lot. Not up to speed on the latest news there, but if strikes are still a big issue I advise planning for the worst and don't try anything too complicated on the transportation connections.
Posted by
Brighton, UK
1419 posts
You're right that nobody can be absolutely sure there won't be some disruption. On the other hand
a) the general strike this week was timed to coincide with the opening of a new set of negotiations with Greece's creditors
b) these strikes were announced over a week ago. Looking at the Greek press there doesn't seem to be anything on the same scale planned in the near future.
Given that, while there are no guarantees, I'd be surprised if there was another general strike in the next couple of weeks. There will though be specific things happening: for example farmers are planning to block some road junctions in protests.
Whether you are likely to be effected by see one offs is a matter of luck. If it were me I'd cross my fingers and go.
There are a couple of news sources in English it might be worth keeping an eye on
http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/category/1-news/3-society/
Good luck.
Alan