I recently spent a week in Methana on a writing holiday. It is an idyllic spot with the unbelievably blue Aegean sea washing its rocky shores, a climate to die for, superb Tavernas and very few tourists. This is an undiscovered gem so Shh! - Keep it to yourself.
If you want English bars, ... Read review
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...recently spent a week in Methana on a writing holiday. It is an idyllic spot with the unbelievably blue Aegean sea washing its rocky shores, a climate to die for, superb Tavernas and very few tourists. This is an undiscovered gem so Shh! - Keep it to yourself.
If you want English bars, night clubs, fish and chips and, in the words of Monty Python, Bleedin' Watneys Red Barrel forget it, this is real Greece.
We travelled ... ...the two hour trip to Methana Town, via the Island of Aegina. Methana is almost an island, there is a narrow ithsmus that joins it to the Peleponese mainland and it is mostly volcanic rocky countryside covered with olive groves, fig trees growing wild and one of the highlights for me were the incredibly cheap, huge watermelons. Unlike the melons you buy in the UK these had a great flavour.
We ate as the Greeks ate, a light breakfast ... more
I recently spent a week in Methana on a writing holiday. It is an idyllic spot with the unbelievably blue Aegean sea washing its rocky shores, a climate to die for, superb Tavernas and very few tourists. This is an undiscovered gem so Shh! - Keep it to yourself.
If you want English bars, night clubs, fish and chips and, in the words of Monty Python, Bleedin' Watneys Red Barrel forget it, this is real Greece.
We travelled there from Heathrow, landing at Athens, took a bus to Piraeous, where we boarded a ferry for the two hour trip to Methana Town, via the Island of Aegina. Methana is almost an island, there is a narrow ithsmus that joins it to the Peleponese mainland and it is mostly volcanic rocky countryside covered with olive groves, fig trees growing wild and one of the highlights for me were the incredibly cheap, huge watermelons. Unlike the melons you buy in the UK these had a great flavour.
We ate as the Greeks ate, a light breakfast of fruit and bread, with creamy Greek yoghurt, at lunch a simple salad amd more fruit and traditional Greek fare in the evening, Dinner started at 8.30pm and went on late into the night.
The weather was brilliant, most days the temperatures were well into the 30s centigrade, peaking at 43 degrees on the last day but it was a manageable heat, not muggy as it would be at home.
The local red wine is excellent and the Greek beer a great cooler in the middle of the day. Being off the normal tourist trail there wasn't a lot of foreign beer available apart from Amstel, which seems to be a local favourite. Most afternoons we swam. The sea was warm and my decision to sacrifice packing space for my flippers, snorkel and mask was one I was pleased with, we saw a lot of marine life in a wonderful array of colours. The heat of the afternoon made swimming a sensible choice and I must have swum more in a week than I had for years.
The currency is the Euro, I took enough to get me started, planning to get more from ATMs in the middle of the week. Instead of this I had enough left for a spend up at the airport and still have 16 Euros ready for my next trip to Greece.
Sight seeing is well taken care of too, there are ancient Greek temples, Acropolises and extinct Volcanoes to look at, Tavernas where the whole family can spend a pleasant evening and NO DRUNKEN ENGLISH TWATS spewing up in the gutter.
The people were amazing, I had no Greek, they had very little English but we had a great time getting by in sign language. Greek is a hard language, once you get over the different alphabet and the fact that few Greek words seem to have any common root with other European languages and the fact that they spoke incredibly fast, it was amazing how we communicated.
Our group noticed that, what sounded like a fierce argument was in fact a normal conversation.
Prices
For a taxi ride of about 15 miles we paid 12 Euros between four of us.
For a five course dinner with wine and beer we paid less than 15 Euros each.
The ferry from Piraeous to Methana cost 10.20 Euros,
The bus from Athens Airport to Piraeous (About an hour's run) was 3.20 Euros.
Cigarettes, a way of life in Greece, 2.30 Euros
An 11 kilo watermelon - 9 Euros
I am definitely going there again. For the first time in years I actually got a tan and I avoided the sun.
The downside? If you go make sure you pack some Mozzy repellent.
The little darlings had a bit of a feast on me but with the right precautions they can be held at bay.
Advantages: lovely location, fantastic theathre, interesting ruins, beautiful views on the way Disadvantages: it will be hot and crowded in the high season but then all ancient sites of note are
park. There is also an official souvenir shop; and in season a post office and a tourist police booth. Most people visit as a day trip, but there is actually a hotel very near and this has a ‘proper’ café/restaurant.
*****And now for the bonus track…***
On the returning bus we learn that we have missed the last connection to Methana where we are staying at the moment and on the spur of madness we decide to get off at the crossroads and walk the remaining 12 kilometres – which wouldn’t be so bad as it’s after four and the sun is down, but we got up at 6 and spend hours traipsing round Epidavros, and Katie is decidedly unwilling to walk much and has to be carried.
But the walking isn’t too bad, the road although bendy is not unbearably steep and a detailed map I wisely purchased few days ...
magdadh 09.08.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Epidaurus
Advantages: Quite a nice island, close to Athens, good temple, pistachios Disadvantages: Touristy and overall nothing particularly special
**** NOTE: this review concerns only Aegina and not the other Saronic Gulf islands and would be of more interest to day trippers than resort-dwellers****
Aegina is one of the islands of the Saronic Gulf and possibly the one island which is closest to Athens (apart from rather industrial/military Salamis). It takes only about an hour from Piraeus to get here (half of the time if taking a hydrofoil) and thus it's a prime weekend and holiday spot for Athenians, as well as being a package tour destination.
We have visited Aegina on a Sunday which is perhaps not the best day to choose, though it was mitigated by the fact that it was only May. We didn't come from Athens but from Methana (on the other side of the gulf), on an almost empty morning ferry, accompanied only by a few families dressed in their Sunday best, obviously going ...
Advantages: marvelous small island, yet do not overflow Disadvantages: the journey is perhaps somewhat lengthy
Yassas, Ladies and Gentlemen and Greece friends!
Today I would like to tell you something about a greek island, which I know already for a very long time and feel always very well. I love this island! - It concerns the island Poros!
Poros? Where lies?
Poros lies in the Saronic gulf, together with the islands Salamina, Aegina, Angistri and the peninsula Methana in the north and the islands Hydra, Dokos and Spetses in the west.
The five islands in the northern saronic gulf are appropriate for Athens next, whereby salamis a suburb of the capital is nearly already. Aegina, Hydra, Spetses and Poros differ surprisingly strongly in its architecture and landscape.
The journey - or.... How does you come there?
It is perhaps somewhat pedantic to arrive Poros but it is worthwhile itself in any case!
Best you fly to Athens ...
