Greece

Director seemed to do a lot of extra trips that cost money. Some of the sites should of been included. He would inform the group if all did not go than no one would go. The sites were great but the drector was there to make as much money as he could. Some hotels were out of town so you needed them to drive you into town. All the hotels were great the food was good but the same. A lot of stops were appeared to be comission stops for the driver and the director. Waisted a lot of time on restroom stops that had cheap items for sale. Greece is a great country and the ancient sites were breath taking.

Absolutely Awesome

The Athens adn ancient Greece trip was truly spectacular. The heat made it exceptionally challenging, but we made it through. The three day extended cruise was so worth it. The islands were beautiful. For those of us who had never taken a cruise before, it would have been nice to have been told an average of what the cruise options could possibly cost. I believe this was a rude awakening for many of us on the tour. A special thank you to Michael, our tour guide, who put forth the extra effort to make our tour great. The only suggestion I would have for future travelers is go during a time of the year when it is much cooler in Greece. This is a very fast paced tour with alot of walking, so definitely get into shape before taking this tour.

Beautiful Country

Greece is absolutely breathtaking! The trip back to ancient times via our tour director and local guides was amazing! I definitely recommend taking the extension cruise around the Greek Isles---the beauty of the islands and the visit to Patmos and the grotto where John received Revelations are not to be missed! I am a country girl so the bustling city of Athens was a little too fast-paced for my liking but it is a must to see the Parthenon and all the historical sites the city has to offer. It was fun to try and recall all the mythology I learned in middle school when I viisted the ancient ruins---I realized that I definitely needed a refresher and the local guides did an awesome job! Our tour director, Michael Zolotas, was very informative and helpful!

First Tour in my life

Well organized - experienced tour guide. Lots of hidden charges related to unadvertised excursions - novice traveler wasn't expecting. Will be traveling with GoAhead next year.

Fantastic trip

Great tour guide and bus driver

GOOD TRIP BUT TOO HURRIED

Trip was good. Tour guide and bus driver were wonderful caring people who made our tour informative and creative. Greece is a truly magnificant country!

Athens & Ancient Greece

The Tour Director and Bus Driver really made the trip.

Excellent itinerary for Greece in Depth

This was still a good tour even though it could not be compared with the Barcelona and Northern Spain tour we took in Dec of 2011. The included meals were good and the itinerary uniquely includes Island of Corfu. However almost all of the hotels used were out of the way from the city centers, although two of the hotels gave us panoramic sea view. The hotel in Itea is located centrally but the ones who did the Prophet Elias optional tour could not benefit from the location. The Metropolitan Hotel in Athens is not close to any bus or metro stations. The hotel does provide a free hourly shuttle bus to city center. The rooms at Metropolitan are very small and air conditioning did not work. Our non smoking room as well as our room next to us smelled heavy cigarette smoking. Our tour director, Michael in addition to the four optional excursions offered by Goahead, offers 4 excursions of his own. We don't know why Goahead did not incorporate these excursions into the regular itinerary if they are good. The first tour director excursion is a visit to a thousand year old village located on an island. We were charged 15 Euros and the ferry ride cost 0.80 Euros per trip. Upon arriving the island, the tour director walked with us and gave a short talk for about 15 minutes and then he left us to wonder on our own. The village was old but not thousand years old. Other than the souvenir shops targeting tourists, the island had nothing to offer. Every single member of the tour group had to participate in this excursion or else the tour would not operate . Hence everybody participated and paid the 15 Euro. The excursion took away three to four hours of free time which we could otherwise use to enjoy seaside Itea where we stayed overnight in center of town. Other TD offering included Ancient Corinth and a fortress for 15 Euro. The fortress was really stoney but luckily no one tripped and fell. Ancient Corinth was worth the visit but our 15 Euro did not cover admission or local guide. Another 15 Euro offering was a visit to a winery located in Patra, 15 minutes away from our hotel. The winery did offer us a lot of wine to taste and buy and members seem to enjoyed the visit, We did not participate in the 4th TD excursion which has a price tag of 40 Euros. The excursion included a dinner and visit to a cave church in a fishing village 30 minutes away. Tours members who took the excursion seemed pleased with the trip. Some of us who did not participate either had to stay in the remotely located hotel or take a taxi to town. As to the 4 excursions offered by Goahead, the Sounion was a visit to Temple of Poseidon located over an hour away from hotel. The location is beautiful ( supposingly the sunset is gorgeous ) but we can can only see the dozen or so columns that are still standing. The Covent of Prophet Elias excursion took us to a working convent and a dinner for $79 US, although the group was scheduled to visit two other monastaries the next day at Meteora. The dinner was excellent but the $79 price tag seem very high. The third excursion was the Tripa Tavern Evening which TD called this as the best excursion on the trip and it cost $65. The tavern was supposedly visited by many dignitaries. The excursion was however, awful ! The food was OK but not bountiful, the wine was terrible, the place was so cramped and uncomfortable . The entertainment was the very ordinary folk dancing (only two dancers ) in a very very limited space of the little tavern. Our TD did not recommend the 4th excursion, Greek Folklore Evening and no one signed up. After the visit to the Mycenae, the bus took the group to a remotely located restaurants for lunch which was not included. Some members objected and walked 15 minutes to eat at another restaurant at a lower price. After lunch we were taken to a "workshop" for a 5 minute demonstration of pottery making and then to visit the large sales showroom. After returning to Athens, the TD helped us to visit the Acropolis Museum as well as took us for a walk in an area not frequently visited by tourist. The comprehensive itinerarry of this tours covers many area not visited by other tour group such as ancient Corinth, Corfu, Itea, and many other costal towns..

greece trip

The trip and tour dircector and tour guides were great. The food and places they took us to eat were not so great. I was very dissapointed with the food places selected for us to eat. Too touristy and food did not seem authentic. When we were on our own to eat the food was great. The hotels were nice and clean, a little dissapointed in the beds and pillows but oh well. Our director Michael as soo good. He had some difficult people and he handled them with a smile and the best he could do.

A View of the Past

Amazing how the past has been and is being preserved through the archeological sites. We especially loved the Meteora Region.