What's the deal with George!?

Katie, "George" seems to be a very common name in Greece, so you'll likely find more than one Taxi driver with that name. You might check Matt Barrett's "Greece Travel" website to get contact information for the "real" George. Could you provide further information on what type of "warnings" you've received? Happy travels!

I'm talking about THEE George. The famous George taxi driver recommended on the site you mentioned. Someone just said that they would be wary of sites recommending him and I wondered why.

It may have been more of a warning about certain websites....but I just wanted to get opinions on Famous George. (yes I know that is a very common Greek name)

On our first trip to Greece in 2003 we did use George the taxi driver. I had hurt my knee just before we left, and could barely walk, so we booked transfers from airport>hotel, hotel>Pireaus the next day, Pireaus>hotel 3 weeks later, and hotel>airport. Although we booked through George, our taxi driver for the first two days was another man named John. He was absolutely prompt and courteous and a good driver. Our ferry was running a little late, so he waited at Pireaus to make sure it arrived and we got on safely. But we were most amazed (and grateful) when we arrived back at Pireaus 3 weeks later, at 9:30 pm (the ferry was 45 minutes late again). We heard other passengers talking about the taxis being on strike, so we really weren't expecting anyone. But there was another driver (named Christos), with a very discrete little sign, waiting with his personal car to drive us to the hotel. And the next day, when the taxis were still on strike, he came to the hotel and took us to the airport, again in his personal car. So I suspect George has a fleet of drivers to call on. I can't confirm that he's still giving that level of service, but we couldn't have been happier.

Katie - you still don't answer who told you (not actual name but friend, family, guy you met at a bar?...) and why they warned you. Did they personally have a bad experience? Or are they just guessing themselves. More information would be helpful. Also, any travel site, blogger or guidebook will have mistakes and duds. Writing off everything else because of an occasional dud or difference of opinion is pretty short-sighted.

Douglas- Wasn't aware that I needed to tell you exactly who said it.
? It was a random stranger on a travel site. I don't know their name. We were discussing Greece and I was asking for some recommendations and George's name came up just as an aside, and possibly also a joke. George's name also came up later on a RS post. I don't think they had any bad experience with him. No one is writing him off, no one is being short-sighted, you are reading way too much into my question. I was only asking out of curiosity and also because I looked up "Famous George" myself and am actually considering using him and wanted some opinions from RS folks who had used his service. No one is anti George

I know I sometimes flippantly refer to George. As a taxi service, I have heard many good things, certainly you pay well for the service, and I suppose you should expect such. I do chuckle though at the thought that many seem to promote that there is this one George that somehow shuttles everyone around. Many of the testimonials and the information presented on sites where he has pages work hard to promote this idea that you are getting "The George" the personal guide to Greece. In reality, you are getting a taxi service, (as I said, probably a good, higher cost one) George is a real person, and probably was a one man show back in 1983 when he started, but has grown to a fleet of taxis operated by family or other "Georges", and maybe rarely, now in his 50's or 60's, actually takes the call himself. If you look around on other BB as well as this one, a common comment is "We didn't get George, but a....Brother, Cousin, Son, Nephew, etc., or a "George" that did not look like the photo on the website. Added Note: In respect to the original question, the advertising practice of this taxi service...while clever...does often prompt the question of "What's the Deal?" since the high level of visibility and the apparent efforts of a single driver cause confusion as to what is reality.

Katie - it sounds like the random stranger on a travel site is anti-George. And that's fine if he had a specific reason or bad experience. No one gets 100% approval. The reason WE ask for more detail is to better answer your question and gain knowledge for ourselves. George the Taxi Driver service is often recommended and your posts suggested that not only is the recommendation not warranted but that anyone who does is not credible. We were curious as to the source - was it credible or not? Apparently it was not so in that case, just ask us what our experiences have been because you might want to use him.

Here's the story on George the Famous Taxi Driver. Trip Advisor Greece Forum has had many threads about him. He is recommended by Matt Barrett's website for years, and thru this promotion his business has grown to a fleet of drivers all claiming to be George's uncle, cousin, nephew etc. All speak good English, Americans feel comfortable, good service etc. But you notice, when they recommend, these tourists never say what "George" cost them Objections (1) Many feel that Barrett has an interest in the many services he recommends and (2) these well-promoted taxi services can be very costly. They drive u around to Athens sights, but can't guide u through them, and can charge up to €400 per day. If u just want a taxi from airport to a Central Athens hotel, the official flat rate BY LAW is 35€. If you wish to book a taxi in advance online, it will cost you about €50; there are many online service which can do this and if you arrange in advance they will have a baby car seat for you. Here is one website that provides good information as a start: http://www.athens-taxi-driver.gr/en-gb/Default.aspx?ElementName=Rates For others, google "Athens Taxi Transfers". If you just say Athens Taxi Hire, you will get a lot of "Taxi Tours" which is not what you want, I think. For sightseeing, best to use a very central hotel (ask us), and walk to sites,using a stroller.

The "George taxi" service you are talking about is more than just a "taxi", but instead a real guide around the city that taylors the touring around your personal preferences and amount of time you have available to sight see. We ( a group of 4 - 2 of which are seniors) booked for a 9 hr layover in Athens on our way to Santorini for €250. www.taxigreece.com . Spiros was our guide & he was absolutely wonderful. He picked us up from the airport ( stowed our bags in his taxi trunk), talked about everything we will be seeing in detail the whole time in the car ( good for the 3 of us that didn't actually read up ) which checked out to what I researched, took us to all the highlights (including time to walk around Acropolis, the Agoras, the Plaka, the old Olympic Stadium, etc), pointed us to a great place to eat, and drove us back to the airport to catch our flight. He also knew how to avoid the worst traffic (Athens marathon and a protest march going on that Sunday which he knew where the routes where) - which was a big help in seeing as much as we could in a little amount of time. It was absolutely worth the price and I would recommend it to anyone.

Yes, we have had experience with "him." We got George's contact info from the Matt Barrett website and used his services last October. We arranged for two day tripsDelphi,etc. and Nafplio,etc.from Athens. Adonis/Tony was our drive and he never claimed a relationship with George. He was on time, willing to serve our wants and needs, and very informative, but, as stated earlier, could not provide guide service within a site. We felt that the price was fair.

Thanks for the replies everyone!

We've used his service 3 times this week. John, who is from New Jersey, picked us up in Athens and took us to Nafplio. George, the George, picked us up in Nafplio going back to Athens. He also took us to Delfi on Thurs. It was close to a 12 hour day for 300 euro. George knows his Greek history and mythology and stopped for many sights on the way to Delfi. George did not take us into Delfi for a guided tour though. Legally, I believe, he would have to be a licensed tour guide for that. The service is a little pricey but I figure it would've cost me close to the same for a rental, gas, tolls and never mind the hassle of finding your way in a new area. I would recommend him. both John and George were friendly and proffesional.
If you use him and get George ask him how many legs a centipede has.

It's unlikely I'll ever meet him. What's the answer?

Well, the story is this:
On the way back from Delfi we somehow got on the subject of bugs that are in Greece. George kept telling me about one that had 40 legs but couldn't remember the name in English (and only partly in Greek). The only thing I could think of was a centipede or millepede. I really didn't care and thought we had moved on but after a few minutes he started talking about it again and then handed me a dictionary to look it up. Since I really didn't know what he was talking about and the dictionary was Greek/English and I don't speak Greek I had no success there. For about 40 minutes I kept thinking that we had moved on but he kept talking about it. It was really bothering him. So finally when we reached the hotel the first thing he did was grab the dictionary and looked it up. It was a centipede. I could tell he wasn't satisfied with that answer though.

As you can tell, Katie, from the happy reports, many people are very pleased to book a "taxi tour" company like George the Taxi Driver. even if (as several note) these drivers are not licensed to enter ancient sites or museums with you, and you'll have to guide yourselves using guidebooks (Rick's book is good re the Acropolis) or pay a licensed guide. The "Taxi Tour" guys speak good English, know the streets, will get you back to your ship or to the airport on time & save u the trouble of consulting maps or finding the airport bus. These services are very useful, for people who have not prepped beforehand, who have only 1 day or 2, and want to go into a couple of sites and do a "drive by" of the rest and who can afford the $250-$400 per day. Me,I'm a budgeteer by necessity; last May I did Delphi (28 hrs - o'night) took bus @noon, arrive 4:30 pm, saw museum & grounds, stayed at great budget hotel, saw the site in next AM, took 1 pm bus back. Cost, a bit over €100 for bus, hotel, admission, meals. But it takes advance planning & homework, and using a "George" certainly removes the hassle, if you have the funds.