Recommended travel book for Greece in 2025

I just wanted to say that I used the Lonely Planet Crete book in 2022 and it was a mixed bag. We followed suggested route in the Amari Valley and it was quite out of date. I think the pandemic had wrecked havoc on that area. In other places in Crete, I found it did a good job.

All to say is if you can find a book published in last couple years you will be better off.

Some of the best guide books are put out by Blue Guides.

They cover specific areas of Greece like the Aegean area, Crete, the Mainland, etc.

I use them as my "go-to" guide.

https://www.blueguides.com/destinations/greece/

Lonely Planet is also good.

If you want the best guide for the Peloponnese then the Cadogan Guide is the best. Packed with more info and details than any other guide. Can be purchased from abebooks or ebay as a used book.

Blue Guide Crete sounds great but the most recent edition appears to be from 2010. Amazon lists nothing published sooner than 2010. Do you still so highly recommend a guide that is 14 years old? Is this more of a historical/monument resource?

I don’t need a guide with hotel or restaurant recommendations, but I do need one with updates about towns to visit and ways to navigate historic sites.

There is no travel guide that is 100% renewed every year, even every 3 years.

Go to a bookstore to consult the guides and look at the Acropolis visiting section. If this website is not mentioned for visiting the Acropolis: https://hhticket.gr .This means that the guide is at least 2 years old.

It’s been at least 10 years since I got a paper guide.
When I look at the travel guides for Greece in a specialized bookstore, I see that even the most recent editions are not up to date with website references, prices and access conditions for sites and museums..

The Web is the only up-to-date reference for this type of information.

The only “paper” travel accessories I use are maps, usually bought locally, where I can write notes and use a highlighter.

You will find a free map of central Athens at the airport, in all languages, in the baggage claim hall.

On the other hand, a guide essentially based on history and archeology can make sense

Darlene:

Yes, the last publication for the Cadogan Guide was 2010.

However, it's still very relevant as far as archeological/historic sites, villages, out of the way locations, history and lots more..

I still use it for research when I'm going to the Peloponnese.

There's also the Bradt Guide to the Peloponnese which is recent. It has more color photos but lacks the details, information and little tidbits of info for the Peloponnese that the Cadogan Guide has.

It may be less expensive on abe books or ebay where I got a used copy (abe books) in excellent condition many years ago at a rock bottom price.

Be very cautious about recent Lonely Planet guides. The company has reformatted them recently, apparently including much less detailed information, and the new books are being roundly panned. You will see the results on Amazon.com, where the newest editions have much, much lower ratings than older versions.

Do you have specific plans that have led you to plan so much time in Athens? From my perspective it doesn't have as much to see and do as many other European capitals--basically fewer charming historical neighborhoods where I'd want to walk around repeatedly. Most of the city is fairly modern; the population didn't reach 5000 until the 1830s.

You can see historical population levels here:

Wikipedia--History of Athens

You'll need to scroll more than halfway down the page.