Greece Tours and Trips

This is a wonderful tour. It goes to a few less visited islands, and provides a great small group experience. We loved Savvas, out tour manager. He is organized, knowledgeable, and kind. There are a lot of included experiences, as well as free time to do your own thing.

The Gems of Greece tour was absolutely amazing. Probably one of the best vacations I have ever been on. Our tour manager, Savvas, was a great guy and always knew where to find the best food and/or coffee spots. And considering the main reason I choose vacations is for the food, that was a major plus for me. Savvas was also very good at telling our group about the lives and culture in Greece and was always ready to answer any questions you might have. The tour was pretty packed with things to do, but also gave you enough free time that you weren’t overwhelmed. Even the days that were packed full of things to do always seemed to have two to three hours of free time at the hotel in the middle of the day to get refreshed and/or take a power nap. They also gave us a good amount of free afternoons to explore and enjoy the different places we went on our own. And of course, you were always free to opt out on any of the trips as long as it wasn’t when we were leaving to the next island. I didn’t opt out on anything and I’m glad for that because I thought everything we saw was super neat but a few people in our group did and it was never a problem. The hotels included on this tour were all very nice. Most of the ones we went to had nice sized balconies and the showers were mostly rainfall showers with decent water pressure. The hotel in Athens had a bidet, I don’t think any of the other ones did. And the view at breakfast in the Athens hotel was breathtaking. The hotel in Naxos was by far my favorite. It had a big pool and was basically right on the beach. And the balconies were surprisingly big. It fully felt like a fancy beach resort rather than just a hotel. I also really appreciated that Savvas made sure when we were in Athens that between the Acropolis Museum and going to the Acropolis, which were on two different days, we got the same tour guide. We weren’t getting the same repeated history two days in a row because our tour guide knew what she said to us the day before. She was able to build off of that, and that way we got more in depth information instead of rehashing the same stuff over and over again. Also for those tours, our local guide was Yota and she was my favorite guide we had the whole trip. She explained things in a way that kept you interested and spoke very clearly the whole time. I know this particular trip isn’t one people going to Greece, especially for the first time (like me), would think to choose because it doesn’t have Santorini or Mykonos included, but on the ferry we passed both of those islands and you would not believe the amount of people and giant cruise ships unloading onto those tiny islands. I honestly can’t imagine how crowded it is there. Naxos is in the Cyclades. It has the white concrete houses and the churches with the blue roofs and it is just as instagram worthy, only with way less people. I don’t feel like I missed out at all by not going to Santorini and Mykonos. Honestly if I go back to Greece, I think I would just stay in Naxos again, so don’t let you not knowing the names of the islands put you off of this tour. Plus Savvas always knows where to take you to get coffee and a view. And Crete is also insanely beautiful. It’s not in the Cyclades so it doesn’t have the white houses and all that, but the landscapes are breathtaking. I wholeheartedly recommend this trip. Especially because of Savvas. I cannot stress how great of a tour manager he was enough. And again, for anyone who loves food as much as I do, you will not go hungry. Every restaurant we went to was delicious and the portions are insane.

This trip encapsulates all of the amazing beauty of the Greek islands!! Amazing experiences and great friends made on the way. Amazing knowledge and experiences offered to us as well! Organisation and planning made our trip effortless.

Excellent tour leader, driver and local guides. Very good coverage of ancient archaeological sites and history. Interesting included free activities such as the bee farm and olive farm with typical Greek food and dancing. Welcome and farewell dinners were included. Hotels were very good.

We like Explore! because of the small group mode of all the tours we've done with Explore! (5, so far). The Greek Island Wanderer was 5 guests and a guide, and we had 3 in our party. So, it was the smallest group ever for us. But it was like friends taking a tour and one of them happened to be a local expert. Panajotis was a brilliant tour guide who is passionate about his adopted country. I can't say enough about the tour guide, Pan. The calm nature he presented while the gears were turning in his head to find us the best places for history, the views, the coffee shops and restaurants plus the people of the places we visited. He figured out how to accommodate me and my need for MORE and my wife who's a marathoner but a shopper too. Plus, our cousin Gary with a physical limitation and a lady fresh out of an April surgery who was a total Champ. Folks could dial into all they wanted or chill out with the options Pan offered for 2 weeks. Just brilliant. Overall, the tour was fantastic, so my inputs are really only the stand-out goods or bads. Starting in Athens, the Evripides Hotel was a great choice. The location and the facility offered everything we needed. Initially, it seemed to be in a bad part of town, but it turns out that Athens just looks like that all over and its just fine. The location is unbeatable. We loved the long walks through Athens despite the heat. My wife would have added a few more water or refreshment stops. We absolutely loved the ferries. That's something new for Americans. The schedule was nice between islands allowing just enough time to really see the top spots. We also loved taking the night ferry to Paros. The Mykonos option was fun because of the Super Express Ferry, and we skipped the ruins stop. I’d have been happier staying on Naxos for that day but, indeed, Mykonos is a must-see on most folks list, so I’d do it again. I’d call it marginal. The Francois Hotel on Syros was a low spot. Its very small and the shower stall was ridiculous. We were glad to move on. Each island had its own charm, and the accommodation was just right in all the other places. On Santorini, Pan took us into an art Gallery where he knows the proprietors. I'm a rather-be-hiking guy but my wife and our cousin thoroughly enjoyed that visit. They both suggested more museum and gallery stops. Again, Panajotis made the trip what it was. I’m glad we had him almost all to ourselves even though we usually consider that the other guests and their experiences and conversation to easily be 50% of the reason for traveling in the first place. We’ll be perusing the Explore! Website soon for our next adventure.

Loved the trip, it was everything I hoped for and more! The trip followed the itinerary and had lots of exciting things to do. I loved the hiking, the group/leader, and itinerary.