Review Fall 2019 - 3 Days, 2 nights Delphi - Meteora “tour”

Posted by LF on 10/18/19 03:09 PM

Below you will find a bit of a long winded review of my trip with G.O Tours 3 days 2 nights Delphi - Meteora. In short, I would not recommend the 3 day tour and after careful consideration possibly yes to the 2 day tour of Delphi and Meteora.

I booked this trip through a local Greek travel agent and picked the tourist class. I think G.O. Tours works with all Greek travel agency and is a monopoly in this type of tour. I would not use the term tour as there was no one guide from point A to B. There were other people from other countries who were on the same group who also thought this tour was going to be run by one person and not so much waiting.

We were very happy we got to see Delphi and Meteora. This was the only option for us as renting a car and a private tour were not options for us. These two places are memories I will never forget but wish things were handled better.

Day 1

We were told as we boarded the bus that we would be brought to another location and board another bus. This bus would be our group. We made some stops along the way. We board the next bus and no explanation of how things were to proceed was given. No hand outs or anything. Then we picked up more people at hotels and travel agencies. We then passed the exact spot the first bus had picked us up. Odd.

We were on the bus for a bit and the tour leader stated her name. I felt bad for this woman all I could think of is this woman needs a vacation. She spoke in a deadpan voice and felt like we were an inconvenience. We were told no drinks or food were allowed on the bus (most likely as there is no bathroom on the coach buses). She spoke about Delphi and few things along the way. We were pleasantly surprised that WIFI was available on the bus. We expected the trip to be around 2 hours.

We had a stop at a tourist trap coffee shop. One soda was 3.50 Euros. There was no other choice in the area to walk to. We arrived at Delphi and we started with the site first. We went up and she talked about the site. We had some free time and we were to meet her at the museum. She gave a tour of the museum and told us we had to be at the bus by 2:20.

While waiting for the museum tour part to start we were talking to other people in the group. We came to learn that a 1 day group, 2 day group and my 3 day group where all lumped together. When I boarded the bus, I asked her about the rest of the trip logistics.

I was told that she was not going to be with us the entire trip. That we had an option to go to lunch with the group (not included as expected) or be dropped off near the hotel. All other information on the included dinner, pick up time for the next part of the trip would be given at the hotel lobby by the hotel staff. One nice thing was that our luggage was waiting for us at the hotel already.

Hermes Hotel was clean,comfortable and beautiful views. Please note that the only bathroom in the entire hotel is your hotel room. When we arrived we were asked to give a time for dinner and things were arranged. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Delphi.

At dinner time, we were brought to a restaurant the hotel partners with. The meal was less than what we expected
Spaghetti noodles
Rice
Coleslaw?
Small Meat Patties
Chunks of meat that where fatty with some type of dressing
Dessert consisted of Jello with a can of Whip Cream

There was another large group that had arrived before us. Personally I think this meal was prepared cheaply in order to feed a large quantity of people in the most cost saving manner.

Please see second post

Posted by LF OP

10/18/19 03:10 PM

248 posts

Day 2

Breakfast at the hotel was adequate. We were supposed to be picked up at 1:30 and was not picked up until 2. As stated before there is no bathroom at the hotel but your hotel room. Check out time is by noon so if you had to go to the bathroom you had to use a hotel room that the cleaning ladies hadn't been cleaned yet. Yes weird.

A pleasant tour operator from Go Tours greeted us, gave her name, bus driver name and when we board the bus she gave us the itinerary for the rest of our trip. We sincerely appreciated having this clear and concise directions on what was going to happen. We would be with her through the rest of the trip and same bus.

Basically we were joining a 2 day Delphi - Meteora group.

She stated that we would be brought to a place where the group was having lunch (they already had been to Delphi site). We could join them for cost (which was expected) or could walk the grounds. All of us sitting in the lobby waiting for the trip to start where not really hungry and just wanted to get on the road because it was a long trip. We got on the road and had one stop. This one stop had a bunch of businesses that where closed; so if you wanted anything this was your only chance. When we stopped there were 8 other coach buses there as well. Everything was overpriced and very crowded.

We had spent 24 hours in Delphi and did not see any of Kalampaka. By the time we got to Kalampaka and the hotel (Hotel Orfeas) it was close to dinner. The trip was something like 3 hours. Dinner was included and they provided a buffet selection with Greek selections. I was not crazy with the hotel room but could put up with it for one night. You had to ask for the hotel to turn on the AC as this time of year they shut it off. The other group of people staying at the higher class hotel had no AC. We found this out the next day.

Day 3

We started off early which was fine and a large buffet breakfast was included. We were brought to a store that was going to teach us how they make the Greek Orthodox icons. Basically it was a show and tell of what they have to sell you. In addition a last bathroom stop before the monasteries. I felt this was a waist and rather spend my money on the actual monasteries because they could use it.

The monasteries were breathtaking and beautiful. The first monastery we went to was easier to access and the other one took some hiking to get to. After the two monasteries we were brought to a large cafeteria? were several other coach buses where. They were serving spaghetti, meat and other things. We had a stop on the way back at the same coffee stop. A yogurt was 4 euros and drink cost 3.50 Euros. The drive back was long(over four hours) but couldn't be helped. We arrived back around 7 and people were dropped off at their hotels.