(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

That title might be pushing it a bit. We only visited Athens briefly, and then spent the rest of our trip on Crete. I cannot say if our experience on Crete would be similar to experiences in other parts of Greece. But here are some simple tips anyway!

You don’t need to worry too much about not speaking Greek. You will survive. Most signs were in both Greek and English. And basically everyone we encountered in the tourism sector spoke excellent English. However, we persisted with using a few simple Greek phrases…and I think it was very much appreciated. Learning a few words of another language is fun in its own right, but I think it also is a respectful approach to travel.

Take the time of day seriously! While the sun and heat wasn’t bad in early March, it can easily become oppressive in the warmest months of the year. Avoid the worst heat, and also the worst crowds, by visiting major sites (the Acropolis, the Palace of Knossos) first thing in the morning or in the late afternoon.

Another tip: embrace the mezes/mezedes, the Greek version of tapas! We had a lot of fun trying out multiple new dishes at our meals, instead of rolling the dice with just one. This is also a much better approach if you are vegetarian, as grilled meat makes frequent appearances on menus.

Speaking of food…go really local! Find out what the local specialities are, and give them a try! The locavore movement is strong here: we really enjoyed our meal at Peskesi in Heraklion, where everything on the menu was grown locally.

I’m sure you don’t need to be told this, but…please try to avoid restaurants that have pushy touts trying to drum up business. It’s not “authentic”…while we saw it in some touristy parts of Athens (just like we saw it in certain parts of Rome), we didn’t see it at all in Heraklion. If you find yourself in a neighbourhood where this regrettable practice dominates, do some research and find a different neighbourhood where local residents are more likely to eat.

We had only one sour experience over the entire trip. We arranged for a taxi to the Heraklion airport through a trusted contact, and were quoted a price (18 Euros) that we could stomach. However, upon arrival, the driver demanded 25 Euros. I refused, and gave him a 20 Euro note. I wanted my change, as I don’t tip con artists (and tipping isn’t really a common practice in Greece anyway). But he pretended not to have any, and took off. I relayed the story to our contact, who called the taxi company…and they apparently suspended the driver for a month. So, even though we took precautions, we still had a disappointing taxi experience (he also picked up another passenger before dropping us off). Be vigilant!

This, finally, marks the end of our Greek posts…and I managed to use some more previously unpublished photos from the Acropolis! Next up…something a lot closer to home!