World Media on Greece - Travel in 2008

As part of its travel writing competition, telegraph.co.uk publishes the article of Fiona Collingwood on Metsovo.

Having visited Metsovo for a ski trip, the writer illustrates the traditional architecture of this Greek village, describing the 18th-centrury stone houses, as well as the hospitality of the villagers.

Moreover, she talks about the impressive “Katara” pass and the great traditional local food and drink of the region.

Read the article here…

On Friday November 7th, CBS News’ The Early Show had a live link to Greece.

News anchor Russ Mitchell reported on his trip to the cradle of democracy - Athens, Greece, as part of the series, "Destination Unknown."

Russ toured ruins and spoke with architect Cathy Paraschi and engineer Evi Papaconstantinou about the difficulties involved in restoring them. He visited The New Acropolis Museum and spoke with the director Prof. Dimitrios Pandermalis.

Alexia Alexiadou - chef, cookbook author, and publisher – showed Russ a few famous Greek recipes and a group of dancers from The Lyceum Club Of Greek Women danced traditional Greek dances.  

Russ Goes Where Democracy Began

Greek Food From Top Greek Chef, In Greece!

In this article in Financial Times, writer Akhil Sharma gives his personal experience on Greece and its archaeological treasures.

Visiting the Corinth Canal he shares his thoughts on the history of the canal, how the passage was used in ancient times and the attempts for its construction that date back to the Romans.

The writer’s favorite museum in Athens the Numismatic Museum, that used to be the house of archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, is featured next.

Finally he talks about his visit to Mycenae, the city of King Agamemnon, also mentioned in The Iliad – a visit that thrilled him.

Read the article here…

Shelley Emling reports that since the 2004 Olympics, Athens has been rejuvanated for the new millenium.

The Olympics helped modernize the air, sea, and road infrastructure as well as the telecommunications network and put Greece on the map, especially for Americans. The writer is fascinated with Athens cleanliness, it's new hotels and the New Acropolis Museum, which she believes would offer a suitable home for the marbles. Part of Athens' charm however is that it has kept some of it's gritty parts, like the Central Market, an example of the sophisticated mix of old and new Athens has to offer. Read more...

Donna Rosenathal and Joe Lurie visit the island of Karpathos, the second largest island in the Dodekanese, situated between Crete and Rhodes:

"Rich cultural traditions draw Greek folklorists and anthropologists to villages Diafani and Olympos to record music and interview elderly people. Olympos, which is perched high above the sea. With only 300 residents,is a living museum, where traditional clothing, crafts, music and a local dialect are preserved." Read more...

Jane Dunford and Sarah Turner select their favourite rural retreats in Britain and abroad.

The Milia retreat in Chania, Crete is featured in place 16:  “An agriturism pioneer, Milia was set up in the Chania region in 1991 by a group of locals who decided to renovate a collection of derelict farm buildings and start an organic farm”. Read more...

In this article, Simon Cadler of “The Independent” gives the autumn edition of “48 Hours in Athens”.

The city is ideal for an autumn visit, as it combines millennia of history together with a new welcoming, accessible and full of energy modern image.

Cadler gives information on flights to Athens, accommodation, cultural sightseeing as well as eating and shopping tips and suggestions for mingling with the locals. Read more…

Steve Keenan recommends places to stay and eat in the old capital of Crete, one of the best city breaks in the Mediterranean:

Hania boasts one of the best-preserved Old Towns in the Mediterranean. Thanks to an ever-growing international community restaurants are open all year-round , while Hania is also a lively university town, with means bars and nightclubs are abound.

Keenan notes that algthough there are no  direct flights from the UK to Chania, it's worth the effort getting there:"Hania is on the same latitude as Tunis and Cyprus - and is up there with Palma and Dubrovnik for an out-of-season break that bundles together the best elements of a break in the Mediterranean: sun, top food, architecture, history, culture and shopping. Give it a go this autumn - or winter." Read more...

Richard Girling of The Sunday Times explores Alonnisos in September and discovers its nearly mythical perfection.

Without the hordes of tourists of the high season, the visitor can enjoy one of the greatest pleasures of the island, its network of footpaths. The routes go through vineyards, farms, vegetable plots, pine forests and clifftop churches.

Although the island has undergone many changes through the years, it preserves its feeling of isolation and remoteness. The visitor can enjoy the picturesque Chora, the wonderful beaches and the taverns offering the traditional food of the Sporades.  Read more…

Beverly Books reminisces about her Ithacan summer experience: "Unlike its more famous neighbour Cephalonia, Ithaca has not yet sold its soul to mass tourism and is still a genuine Greek island.

The view is timeless and the peace is overwhelming as I lie in the hammock outside the cottage and look up at the olives ripening from green to black. It's been a long, hot summer, the ground is parched and the hedges of herbs - sage, lavender, marjoram, rosemary - release their oils into the balmy air. This is aromatherapy au naturel, and I can feel this place casting its spell." Read more...

For those in search of sunshine before winter bites in the UK, Joanna Symons suggests a visit to the island of Zakynthos.

Also known as Zante, Zakynthos offers warm temperatures during September and beautiful landscape to enjoy.

With turquoise seas, the pine-forested Vasilikos peninsula and limestone caves and arches, Zakynthos is the perfect September break. Read more…

Rodney Bolt resists to the commercial pressure of the famous resorts on the northern coast of Crete and discovers a traditional farm.

Heading into the mountains the reporter passes through stone villages with little Byzantine churches and forests of cypress and plane to reach Adele.

In the organic farm situated there, one can taste traditional recipes like stuffed peppers, wild artichokes, chicken with okra etc. Moreover, original equipment remains operative in the farm – a water-powered flour mill, the olive press, a wood-fired still for making raki. Read more…

Danylo Hawaleshka visits the Kastriani monastery in the island of Kea (better known as Tzia), meets Father Lefteris and writes about the tranquillity that can be found there.

The island is the closest of the Cyclades to the Balkan mainland and is popular among Athenians.  It's a quiet island with thyme-scented breezes, sandy beaches and idyllic little coves.

The Panagia Kastriani monastery, which dates back to the early 1700s, is situated on a bare mountaintop in the northeastern corner of the island and can accommodate up to 30 guests in its 10 simple but tidy rooms. Read more…

The famous island of Mykonos is the subject of this New York Yimes’ travel story. Andrew Ferren suggests the best things to do on a 36 hour visit on the island, featuring beaches, restaurants, hotel, clubs, shopping venues.

A slideshow visualizes what is presented in the article. Read more…

View the slideshow  

According to Simon Calder Greece's islands - great and small - provide the most romantic, alluring and serene settings in Europe. Calder notes that although this summer hasn't brought the best of news, the long love affair between the British and the Greek islands has proved enduring.

In this comprehensive guide, Calder reports extensively on three clusters of Greek islands, namely the Ionian islands (pictured left: Corfu), the Argosaronikos islands and Cyclades, while also making mention of the Sporades and the Dodecanese. Read more...

Inspired by Mamma Mia!, this article presents the unspoilt beauty of Skopelos, the principal location for the movie.

Skopelos belongs to the Northern Sporades group and it is green rather than arid covered in dense pine forests. Its old town is a textbook island setting, with its half-moon harbor, labyrinthine streets, Byzantine churches and geranium-filled balconies.

On the island one can find many churches and monasteries like the breathtaking monastery Agios Ioannis, as well as magnificent beaches like Agnondas and Panormos. Read more…

The Tour de France inspires Paul Howard to get on his bike and look for the best cycling terrain in Europe, from car-free tracks in southern England to extreme rides in the French Alps, to the Acradian idyll of the Peloponnese:

" If you fancy heading further afield still from cycling's heartlands, the Peloponnese are well worth a visit. After all, where else can you cycle through a literal Arcadian idyll and end up at the home of the Olympic Games? Or perhaps you are a hardier soul and fancy a visit to the Spartans in their home city?" Read more...

Conde Nast Traveler has published a lengthy special on the Greek Isles. Contributor Bob Payne shares his 20 years of  experinece travelling around Greece, in order to help readers plan their trip to the Greeks Isles.

He focuses on 20 Greek Islands (covering Crete, Ydra, the Cyclades, the Sporades, the Ionian and Dodecanese Islands) and gives away tips on finding the best beaches, the most charming harbors, the hottest party scenes and the particularly pictoresque villages. Read more...

Greece was voted second best European country in Sunday Times Travel Magazine Reader Awards 2008.

In recent issues, the Sunday Times Travel Magazine invited readers to share their best (and worst) travel experiences from the last 12 months and vote in several categories.

Greece, with its ‘white-hot sands’ and ‘laid-back vibe’ got second place in the category “Best European Country”. See all the winners here…

Lord Owen loves the Peloponnese. He’s been going there, in south-west Greece, since he was 18, and he loves it so much that he has built a house there.

In this article he writes about his favourite sights and suggests the things-not-to-miss when visiting the Peloponnese, as well as his favourite restaurants and local delights. Read more...

Late May and June is a good time to visit Athens, says Cathy Packe. Temperatures are already as hot as the average English summer and it’s the beginning of the Athens Epidaurus Festival, which runs throughout the summer.

Besides the glorious ancient sights and the modern side of the city, visitors can enjoy a variety of cultural events taking place in venues around the city. The reporter also gives information on how to get to and around Athens, accommodation, dining, shopping and strolling around the Greek capital. Read more...

Jane Foster offers a complete cruiser's guide to Athens. The reporter gives the essential information on how to get to and around the Greek capital and suggests the best sites, like the Acropolis and the National Archaeological Museum, restaurants and shops in the city. She also selects five fascinating excursions to nearby sights and towns.

Athens: introduction and basics
Athens: top five attractions
Athens: top five excursions
Athens: restaurants and shopping

Thanks to frequent ferries Alexandra Ferguson visits three Cycladic islands in a week of Greek Island hopping:

Tinos with the crowd of pilgrims to the pink-and-white marble church, where the holy icon of the Annunciation is, Naxos with its glorious beaches and the lush, mountainous interior and Mykonos with the labyrinthine old town and the famous archaeological site on the uninhabited isle of Delos. Read more...

John Gimlette, reluctant at first because of Mykonos' gaudy reputation, visits the island and discovers its uniqueness.  

Looking beyond the crowd and the wild nightlife, he enjoys the island's Mediterranean character, the beautiful landscape and beaches, along with the hospitality of the Mykonians, the facilities offered by the luxury hotels and the great food made of fresh local products. Read more...

TinosTinos is not like other Greek islands: Sandy bays, seaside tavernas, and 50-odd villages lodged in the folds of thyme-scented hills are blissfully crowd-free. Chapels and churches speckle the landscape, their bell towers easily mistaken for the island's trademark dovecotes.

These white towers (pictured left) carved with geometric patterns are a legacy of the Venetians, who occupied the island from 1204 until 1715. Another vestige of Venetian rule is the island's Catholic community, centred around Exobourgo, a hunk of rock that overshadows the island's fertile interior. Read more...

Smart or simple? Cultural or clubby? You can have it both ways on this Greek-Island classic

Crooked Venetian alleyways, architecture as grand and chiselled as that you’d find in central Paris, neon-bright bougainvillea and simple villages daubed blinding Greek-island white and blue… there are two ways to squeeze all this into a single trip.

Unlike faster-moving mainland Greece, heritage, tradition and family are palpable forces here, which is why young people happily leave the towns’ buzz to return to their hillside villages for religious festivals and a visit to Grandma. After all, you can afford to be magnanimous when you’ve got the best of all worlds. Read more...

Ioanna Kakissis writes that although for years, Athens was little more than a one-night stand on the way to the Greek isles,  it is now reinventing itself as a city where antiquity meets edginess.

In her article she proposes a 36 hour tour of Athens, abound with walks in parks, hikes in nearby mountains, visits to museums and of course outings to night clubs, restaurants and cafes. Read more...

In this New York Times feature about Europe’s late-night pleasures, Ioanna Kakissis writes about Athens: Named after the wolves that allegedly roamed here, Lycabettus hill is now a sunset hangout for tourists photographing the whitewashed 19th-century Chapel of St. George and the urban panorama below.

But late night is what really electrifies that view, with the Parthenon glowing like a crown jewel. Read more...

Popular magazine Conde Naste Traveler has announced it's 65 Top Hotels Hot List for 2008. Three of the 65 most "luxurious, innovative and stylish" hotels are in Greece:

The Baby Grand Hotel in Athens, Greece (Rank 7)
The Mykonos Grace in Mykonos, Greece (Rank 43)
The Mystique in Santorini, Greece (Rank 44)

Read the entire list here.

Eleni N. Cage reports on a back-to-the-land movement among the younger generations, who are returning to their villages in Crete to develop agritourism ventures: "Crete’s agritourism boom isn’t only about nostalgia and individuals coming home; big business such as Boutari (Fantaxometocho Winery and Grecotel (Agreco Farm) have also become involved.

The greater challenge of agritourism is finding a way to incorporate visitors into daily life without intruding: Integration and interaction, not just between tourists and nature but also between visitors and locals, is a goal of agritourism here, according to Yiannis Papadakis, who runs the Enagron inn in the foothills of Mount Psiloritis." Read more...

Ancient myths, modern style – if you want the real Greece, make for the mainland

Dana Facaros advices the readers to forget the islands: "fly into Athens, hire a car and swing around the Saronic Gulf into the Peloponnese, the three-pronged peninsula south of mainland Greece. In an hour, you cross the Corinth Canal into another world. The arid light of Attica softens; barren rock gives way to cypresses, olives, vines and oranges. And in spring, everything is luxuriant; even the cracks in the walls are filled with flowers." Read more...

Few English-speaking tourists reach the Villages of Zagoria, one of Europe's best-kept secrets. This mountainous area is the Greece of quaint mountain villages and stunning scenery.

In Zagoria you can visit the Vikos-Aoos National Park, which covers an area of 126 square kilometres and boasts the Vikos Gorge, the deepest gorge in the world -in proportion to its width,- according to the Guinness Book of Records. Read more...

Natacha Du Pont De Bie discovers Mani, a blissfully uncluttered and pristine corner of Greece:

"Olive groves opaque with pollen, meadows carpeted with wild flowers, melting snow water gushing down mountain-sides before sinking into underground streams to reform as icy tendrils that curl about one's feet on early morning swims from empty beaches. This is springtime in the Mani, the far-flung central peninsula of the Peloponnese." Read more...

Howard Shapiro travels to Athens to discover that the city still has some ancient secrets the tourists do not know about. One is Kerameikos, the ancient graveyard of the classical Athenians, and the other is the ancient Greek agora, the market (pictured left).

The ancient Greek agora was the civic, political and commercial center of Athens, "the cradle of democracy", as Elena Korka, director of antiquities at the Ministry of Culture explains. Read more...

Richard Fleury writes about the modern sport of freediving, as he experienced it in Kalymnos, where divers use skandalopetra, the centuries-old Greek sponge-diver's weight, essentially a square slab of marble on the end of a long rope.

Freediving has its roots in the ancient Greek sponge trade, and Kalymnos, once the wealthiest island in the Dodecanese, was the centre of Greece's sponge industry. This rich diving culture is still alive in Kalymnos, where leisure divers flock each year the Kalymnos International Freediving Festival. Read more...

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