Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My husband and I are planning a vacation for the end of may/beginning of June. We have narrowed it down to Greece (athens and santorini), Rome, or Ireland. I'm really leaning towards Greece, but know that there has been some issues in the last year. I've been looking online and haven't found too much current news, so am assuming things have calmed down? Has anyone been recently? Also, would it be warm enough then to enjoy the beaches? We haven't been to any of these places and are very excited! Any help is greatly appreciated! Side note: Are there a lot of things to do in Ireland? That's where he really wants to go. Thanks!
Yes. It is much easier to access them if you are willing to drive (on the left, if you drive on the right your visit will be short).
(I was about to say not much in the way of beaches. Then I remembered the surfing beach at Inch.)
Haven't been to Inch Strand in many years, but I remember it as a gorgeous place...maybe a trifle nippy for swimming. And it's right at the head of the Dingle peninsula too.
I would expect that Greece would be fine. It is tourist season by June and people will be anxious to make whatever money they can. I wouldn't expect anyone to organize anything unpleasant in the way of demonstrations at this time of year.
My husband and I are planning a vacation for the end of may/beginning of June. We have narrowed it down to Greece (athens and santorini), Rome, or Ireland. I'm really leaning towards Greece, but know that there has been some issues in the last year. I've been looking online and haven't found too much current news, so am assuming things have calmed down? Has anyone been recently? Also, would it be warm enough then to enjoy the beaches? We haven't been to any of these places and are very excited! Any help is greatly appreciated! Side note: Are there a lot of things to do in Ireland? That's where he really wants to go. Thanks!
Greece is always on some sort of strike. Nothing to worry about. It's incoherent business as usual for them.
It will be plenty warm in late May, hot even, but you may be dissapointed on the beaches as they are sort of rocky in Santorini. Forget about beaches in Athens. You don't travel 4,000 miles to lay on a beach anyways.
Thanks everyone!! I'm glad to hear it should be fine. Now we just need to decide where! We're not too worried about going to the beach, just thought it might be fun for a day. We won't be there that long anyways, so you're right we don't want to waste a day laying on the beach. Thanks again!
I was in Greece last summer. In fact I was in Athens the day of the second election. Things were closed that day, but otherwise no strikes or protests or problems of any sort. We found the Greek people to be thrilled that we weren't scared off by their political and financial woes and very welcoming.
There are no beaches in Athens, it's inland. There are a couple beaches on Santorini but they are rocky.
Santorini is a dream. That would be my pick. At the end of May/beginning of June it won't be horribly crowded (avoid July and August) and will be plenty warm enough. I would take the ferry rather than fly (flying out of Athens to the islands can be quite the test of patience at times anyways)...there is nothing like the approach to Santorini by boat, breathtaking!
Last edited by TXNGL; 03-27-2013 at 07:52 PM..
Reason: spelling
What are you talking about? There is a huge black sand beach on Santorini!
I vote for Greece. It is a very cheap, easy, and interesting travel destination. The only difficulty are the cyrilic letters making it difficult to remember names of roads or towns.
Athens is great, it's worth a few days. The metro system within town is efficient and the ruins are certainly worth a day. Be sure to check them out at night when they are all lit up.
You can easily take the light rail to the port city to pick up the ferry to Santorini. I would suggest stopping at Naxos or another less-touristy island for a day or two. In the off-season you might be able to get a great deal on a big villa. We rented the smallest room of a hillside villa, but since it was November and the off-season (in 2008 during the financial crisis) the owner put us in a huge apartment for no extra charge.
The ferrys are huge and comfortable and the sea is beautiful; there is no reason to fly. There's a city bus which will take you up to Fira from Santorini's harbor, and then it may be a bit of a schlep to your hotel. You can probably get a taxi, but they're never cheap. Be sure to get a hotel cliffside (almost all are) with a view of the Caldera. It may be pricy, but the views are AMAZING.
Santorini in the off-season is pretty shut-down. Good for a couple of days wandering around. Plan your sunsets (and maybe sunrises). There will be enough resturants open to keep you fed, but that's about it. I don't know what it's like in the high season, but it's very relaxing in the off-season. Rent a car for a day and tool around the island. The northern tip of the island is great for sunsets. Drive all the way down to the water, then follow the trail around the cliff to the left. The southern end is pretty as well. There's a nice big beach on the Eastern side. It mostly gets ignored because people go for the views from the West side's cliffs. There's also a cove surrounded by red cliffs on the south end that's okay for swimming (but it is rocky with a little sand strip). Drive to the church, park, then follow the path over the hill.
What are you talking about? There is a huge black sand beach on Santorini!
Yeah but, I don't remember that beach being particularly comfortable or attractive, that one on the east side. Yeah I checked it out. Now if you are a pasty white Brit that only has the cold rainy north sea to stare at all year, then yeah, go to Greece for the beach and cheap booze. Plenty do.
If you are an American and want a beach vacation, go to Hawaii or Florida or California.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
