April 2015 Archives

April 30, 2015April 30, 2015

Athens Yesterday and Today

It’s great traveling in Greece during the shoulder season — the days are lovely and warm (not hot) and the crowds are few. I’m here in historic, bustling Athens, home of the world’s top ancient site: the Acropolis. Athens, like Rome, went from being a major city in ancient times to nearly a ghost town, and then (partly because of its Classical heritage) grew into a major city again with a population of several million.

As a tour guide, it’s hard to describe Athens at the dawn of the modern age. This 19th-century Romantic etching does it well. Back then, the city was little more than a small town (today’s Plaka) built around its ancient ruins.

In the city of Athens, even with its booming tourist trade, must-see sights, and cruise-ship crowds, there is only one sight where lines are a concern — and that’s the Acropolis. The good news: The Acropolis ticket is a combo-ticket that you can pick up at a number of other sights in town. Buy the ticket elsewhere and then use it to walk straight into the Acropolis. The cruise-ship groups get there first thing, but when I arrived around noon, the cruise-crowd rush hour was heading in the opposite direction.

The Acropolis experience is complete with a visit to the amazing Acropolis Museum. It basically takes all the surviving bits of carved marble (that didn’t end up in London) and sorts them out in a setting that is the size of the Parthenon. You look out the window and see the remains of the actual temple above and then, with great comfort, lighting, and information, you enjoy the art — quasi in situ.

Our challenge as travelers is to actually talk with the art.

April 30, 2015

Dining Discovery in Athens Dishes Up a Positive Vibe

Stepping out of my hotel during my first hour in Athens, I stumbled onto a great restaurant. This video clip illustrates perfectly how Athens is regaining some positive energy. Here’s my guidebook write-up:

Karamanlidika by Fanis, close to the Psyrri neighborhood and near the Central Market, is my favorite in the area. It’s a quality meat and cheese shop that doubles as a restaurant. Delivering authentic Byzantine and Cappadocian tastes, aged cheese, and cured meats, it’s a tasty testament to the many Greek Turks expelled from Turkey in the 1920s who settled in Athens — bringing their Anatolian cuisine with them. With friendly service by Maria and her gang, you’ll enjoy delicious plates for €5-7 (Mon-Sat 12:00-23:00, closed Sun, a block off Athinas at Evripidou 52, tel. 210-325-4184).

Stay tuned for a new and much-improved edition of my Rick Steves Greece guidebook. (Every year we invest literally hundreds of days lovingly researching our guidebooks to ensure that they are the most accurate and up-to-date guides available.)

April 29, 2015April 29, 2015

Monemvasia’s Cliff-Top View Would Make Even Butterflies Nervous

Monemvasia is a Gibraltar-sized rock on the Peloponnesian coast of Greece. It’s connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway, has a town at its base, and the scant remains of a town and mighty fortress across the summit. As the wind howled on top (pardon that buffeting), we walked to the very edge of a cliff next to an old Byzantine church. From there it’s a sheer drop of what seems like a couple thousand feet — and no railing. You know that feeling you get when peering tentatively over a cliff — worried that a freak gust will end your trip? (Or do you? Share your most memorable cliff-top stir-the-butterflies-in-your-belly perch.)

April 28, 2015

This Greek Welcome Really Packs a Punch

When in Greece, hospitality comes with ouzo. And when in remote corners and hardscrabble villages (like here on the Mani Peninsula), where historically hospitality is a matter of life and death, the welcome drink is tsipouro — a brandy-like firewater that’s about 40 percent alcohol and makes ouzo seem like kid stuff. In this clip, I have a hard time holding the camera steady as I take “going local” with my guides to a very tasty extreme. Gia mas!

April 28, 2015January 4, 2018

Good Guidebooks Provide Creative Solutions: Shared Minibus Tours of the Amalfi Coast

We recently had our annual meeting with our publisher, Avalon Travel, and enjoyed celebrating the fact that our guidebooks are the USA’s best-selling books in each category. We’re just a little company, and I often ponder why the larger corporations struggle to keep up with us. I think a big part of our success is our creative and generous passion for making travel affordable, experiential, and meaningful.

Here’s a good example: I’ve long been frustrated by how costly and difficult it is for a budget traveler to enjoy Italy’s super-scenic Amalfi Coast efficiently. The public buses are cramped and stressful, and hiring your own driver — while a good-value splurge — is beyond many travelers’ budgets.

The Amalfi Coast (Photo: Cameron Hewitt)

Two years ago, while updating my guidebook in Naples, I got to know a local tour company called Mondo Guide. And I proposed a creative solution for my readers: Why not let them split the cost of a private minibus tour along the Amalfi Coast with other Rick Steves readers?

If Italian businessmen make me wary, Neapolitan businessmen make me paranoid. I needed to be sure that Mondo wouldn’t abuse the trust of our readers. I insisted on making no money from this arrangement — I just wanted to be the conduit between our travelers and their guides. And Mondo agreed to offer their guiding and minibus services to our readers at the wholesale, insider price (for the best possible value). In addition to the Amalfi Coast drive, we also created shared walking tours of Naples and the ancient ruins of Pompeii.

Mondo Guide created a custom website to gather the groups, and we announced the tours in our guidebooks. My editorial staff partnered with Mondo to monitor the debut season and ensure that everything was on the up and up. And today, two years and 6,000 happy travelers later (yes, 6,000!), we’ve got a wonderful system established.

Just last week my lead researcher, Cameron Hewitt, took one of the Amalfi Coast minibus tours incognito as a final check and reported that it worked just as hoped. So, I’m happy to share this with you. This cooperation embodies the spirit of our teaching and writing, and we’re thankful for our readers’ support in keeping idealistic initiatives like this viable. If you’re heading to the Bay of Naples, check out Mondo Guide, and consider this unique way to save money, avoid frustrations, and maximize your experience.