12 Days of Greece Tour: Road Trip of 1900 km

It was hard for us to choose the destinations in Greece because of the limited number of days we had. While reviews of islands like Santorini and Crete were bewitching, the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Greece were equally alluring.

12 Days of Greece Tour

I succumbed to the captivating heritage sites most of which had crumbling ruins, almost fading away from the face of earth. The next problem was, there were 3 national holidays in the 12 days period, which meant the world heritage sites would be shut to tourists.

So, effectively we had just 9 days to tour the sites. Greece has 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites, of which I could make it to 8 sites, couple of them I had to skip even though they were well within our travel range as they were closed. You can see the route map of my travel in the pic.

A total 1900 km was done in these 9 days in these 12 Days of Greece Tour.

Google map for 12 Days of Greece Tour

Google map for 12 Days of Greece Tour

Essential Documents to Drive in Greece

We needed just 2 important documents for the road trip through Greece: International Driving Permit and Valid Driving Licence for India.

We hired from Avis car rentals in Athens which gave a better deal than Hertz and Europcar. They rent out snow chains too, but we trusted the weather forecast of light snow showers and didn’t take them. That saved a few Euros and thankfully the weather forecasts for the 12 Days of Greece Tour were quite accurate. We did experience a small scare though.

12 DAYS OF GREECE TOUR ROAD TRIP OF 1900 KM

Road Trip of 1900 km

Thessaloniki is the northernmost city of Greece that we visited and Sparti the southernmost town. I was a little disappointed in Thessaloniki, not finding any proper route map to the various Byzantine monuments. The Hotel guy at Hotel Amalia of Thessaloniki did the best he could.

We visited Aigai (Vergina) from Thessaloniki. The best I liked among these was Meteora. You cannot call it beautiful; it is out of the world kind of experience. If you are ever there, don’t rush through the 6 monasteries there, try and spend 2 days to soak it in completely, preferably under blue skies.

Sparti at south was again a sweet experience. Smaller cities and towns like Larissa, Lamia, Navplion, Korinthos and Sparti made great places to halt and interact with locals a bit, and also enabled us to taste authentic Greek dishes.

Athens charmed us with its mix of modern and ancient structures. The taverns’ experiences here are unforgettable for me. Plaka here is a window shoppers’ paradise.

Check these Road Trips in Greece:
Athens to Thessaloniki
Vergina to Larissa

Winter Driving in Greece

Kids and I experienced snowfall for the first time in our lives in Delphi and Epidaurus. Thankfully it was just 2 to 3 cm snowfall. Without snow chains on wheels we managed to drive on at slow speed with no noteworthy incidents.

I will admit the weather was frightening and we soon realized it could be dangerous if we are not cautious. Driving on snow covered road can be a tricky affair. We had none of the cold weather gear in our car.

We were equipped with just food and water and warm clothing, hoping that should help us sail through in case of any incident or accident. No snow chains for the tires, no glass scraper or medications for frost bite just in case.

Snow covered Trees near Delphi

Snow covered Trees near Delphi

Tips for Driving in the Snow

  • Drive very slowly when the road is covered with sheet of ice or snow.
  • Always accelerate and decelerate slowly. Any sudden application of brakes can lead to skidding on the road.
  • Increase the margin of following distance. This is to cater for any eventuality or sudden reaction by the driver ahead.
  • Be extremely cautious when you climb up or down the hill. Pick up inertia before you actually start the climb. And as you go downhill reduce speed and try avoiding the use of brakes.
  • Check more: Winter Driving Tips

 

Traditional Greek Food

Food of Greece is amazing, divine! Such abundance of delightfully tasty dishes, all made with fresh ingredients; make sure that you sample some of them if not all.

Start from the simplest of simple like Greek Yogurt, Olives and Olive oil, Greek Salad with slabs of Feta cheese, continue to variety of breads and rich juicy lamb meat and end with traditional Greek Desserts. Vegetarian food in Greece too has plenty of choices.

More elaborate blogposts on what was seen, eaten, and experienced soon.

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