Greece Travel : An Easy Country To Get Around
July 12, 2009 by David Walton
Filed under Destinations
This part of our guide to holidays in Greece sees us covering transportation…
Renting a car or moped in Greece is easy and inexpensive; do so and you’ll have the freedom to travel anywhere you want. Most roads are in good condition but if driving in the countryside or on the islands you’ll need to exercise extra care as some can be narrow and ill maintained. Prices start at around $40 per day for a car and $15 per day for a moped (make sure that the price you’re quoted includes all taxes and insurance) and all that you require is a passport and an internationally recognized driving license.
Greece’s superb ‘KTEL’ (intercity) bus system lets you travel easily anywhere on the mainland. It’s great value for money and lets you visit parts of Greece that you would otherwise never get to see. But the system was designed for locals, not tourists, so you might run into some language problems. However, most young Greeks have a little English and you will probably find one is willing to assist you.
Taxis are abundant and inexpensive. Meters are mandatory and tips are not required. In Greece, taxis often keep picking up passengers until they’re full, so even if a taxi already has some passengers you can still try to hail it providing it is heading in the direction you want to go. (But you also must be prepared to share your cab with strangers). Most, but not all, drivers in the cities and on the islands will have a smattering of English.
Getting to the islands requires traveling by boat or by plane. Flying is the most convenient transport to the more far-flung islands with many of these destinations having with regular flights from Athens or Thessaloniki. As Greece is relatively small, flying to even the more distant islands takes less than an hour.
When travelling to islands close to the mainland, ferries – which run regularly throughout the day – are the best option. But these trips can be more time-consuming than you first expect as the ferries will make multiple stops on various islands.
