If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#31
|
|||
|
|||
Recommendations for car rental from Athens Airport
On 2011-06-25 06:42:11 -0500, Tom P said:
If Dan wants to rent a car at Athens airport, then let him rent a car at Athens airport for heaven's sake. I can't think of many things more mind-blowingly stupid than wasting half a day dragging my luggage through the strike-ridden mysteries of Greek public transport to get to a car rental depot somewhere on the other side of Greece when I could just walked into a car rental office at the airport. Not to mention doing the whole thing in reverse at the end of the trip. LOL -- Dan Stephenson http://web.mac.com/stepheda Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too) |
#32
|
|||
|
|||
iPhone 5 with GSM? Recommendations for car rental from Athens Airport
On 2011-06-25 07:57:44 -0500, Alexander Arnakis said:
BTW, having a mobile phone in Greece is a must, and is cheap. Just bring your own GSM phone and get a local prepaid SIM card from Vodafone or Wind. Mobile telephony is one of the few things that work really well in Greece. (The SIM cards can be "topped off" at any kiosk.) If you are a couple and have two phones, and get the SIM cards from the same company, calls between you are free. Also, all incoming calls are free. You get charged for air time only if *you* place the call. I have CDMA Verizon iPhone 4; I hear the iPhone 5 due in October will have both CDMA and GSM. If so, it might be worth getting for overseas use. The Google Translate app is JUST AMAZING. Now I have a chance at the locals understanding me when I inquire on the location of ancient ruins. I can pre-save a number of translations, but anything on-the-fly needs the network. -- Dan Stephenson http://web.mac.com/stepheda Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too) |
#33
|
|||
|
|||
Recommendations for car rental from Athens Airport
On 2011-06-23 12:36:15 -0500, Tom P said:
On 06/19/2011 03:24 AM, Dan Stephenson wrote: Hello, in the Fall I will travel to Greece, flying into Athens and heading to the Pelopponese by car, for maybe 10 days. There are several car rental places at the airport: Avis, Budget, Hertz, National/Alamo and Sixt. Can anyone recommend one more than the rest? I wouldn't be buying the high-dollar collision damage waiver. Thanks, I can't speak for Athens, but what you might want to consider are - does the company have an on-airport depot or do you have to wait for the courtesy bus and even worse, find the depot again when you return the car. Off-airport depots are a lot cheaper, but driving round at night in the back streets of some industry park looking for the depot while the time for your check-in ticks away is no fun. That is a good point. Sometimes "airport" car hire is something off-site, though somewhat nearby. Hey I just said "car hire" instead of "car rental", without thinking about that. I'm already getting in the travel mindset! whoo hoo! - do the airline and car rental company have a big fly&drive deal, in which case you may be standing in line for hours with all the other pax that booked fly&drive. What is fly&drive? and if I made a reservation -- I would expect the car to be there -- Dan Stephenson http://web.mac.com/stepheda Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too) |
#34
|
|||
|
|||
Recommendations for car rental from Athens Airport
On 2011-07-03 12:46:05 -0500, tim.... said:
"Dan Stephenson" wrote in message news:2011070312175065200-stephedanospam@maccom... I will have to look into this, thanks for the tip. I would also like to avoid the hassle of getting to and from Pieraeus from the airport, but the ferry time might be competitive with the drive time. Don't see how it can be. The drive to Argos is going to be a little over an hour. It will take you this long to get to Piraeus on the bus tim Hmm, that could well be true. I must say, I am impressed with the new motorway from Athens to Argos. It is just the American Interestate Highway System, but with tolls. The big problem came at Tripoli, when the motorway stopped and you had to crawl through the super-packed streets. I seem to recall building in-work, maybe for a bypass. Anyone know to what extent the motorway has been extended? I suppose Google Maps might tell me too... -- Dan Stephenson http://web.mac.com/stepheda Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too) |
#35
|
|||
|
|||
Recommendations for car rental from Athens Airport
Dan Stephenson wrote on Jul 3, 2011:
On 2011-06-23 02:54:25 -0500, Mike Lane said: Dan Stephenson wrote on Jun 19, 2011: Hello, in the Fall I will travel to Greece, flying into Athens and heading to the Pelopponese by car, for maybe 10 days. There are several car rental places at the airport: Avis, Budget, Hertz, National/Alamo and Sixt. Can anyone recommend one more than the rest? I wouldn't be buying the high-dollar collision damage waiver. Thanks, Wouldn't you be better off travelling to the Peloponnese by public transport and renting a car from there? That's what I did a few years ago. You would save yourself the trouble and expense of driving through Athens which is a place to be avoided these days as far as possible. Well, the rental would not be from Athens per se, but from the airport, which is outside the city and near the big motor. I would avoid Athens by circuiting it on the motorway, over to Corinth, then south to Argos. I took a ferry from Piraeus to Porto Heli - a small place on the east coast of the Peloponnese near Spetses - and hired a car there for a week. It was a very relaxed experience compared to the hassle of Athens. I will have to look into this, thanks for the tip. I would also like to avoid the hassle of getting to and from Pieraeus from the airport, but the ferry time might be competitive with the drive time. To me the time taken is not important - I actually enjoy the travelling. What I don't enjoy is driving through the surroundings of airports and large towns like Athens. Getting to Piraeus is no hassle. You get on a bus at the airport and get off at the harbour -- Mike Lane UK North Yorkshire mike_lane at mac dot com |
#36
|
|||
|
|||
London Thames waterline sights Recommendations for car rental from Athens Airport
"Dan Stephenson" wrote in message news:2011070312452797074-stephedanospam@maccom... On 2011-06-24 16:39:16 -0500, Martin said: ATM skyscanner is showing flights from London to Kalamata Again you assume somebody is flying from London. Actually I will travel through London, as I intend to spend a few days there, to visit the British Museum again, and to visit more out-of-the-way places. I hear the Mayor is going to create a tourist scheme where you can visit along the Thames waterline to see some historical sights that have been blocked off from normal access. Anyone know more about this? But on the original suggestion: going through Athens has cost and logistical advantages.... I will into Kalamata, indeed, but the hardest part of the driving is about the same, since until Tripoli the driving is super-easy on the motorway. I don't suppose anybody knows if the bypass is finished yet? Both my maps show the by-pass as completed, but only one shows the road through the mountains to Kalamata as complete. But if you're going to Sparta you won't need that bit tim |
#37
|
|||
|
|||
iPhone 5 with GSM? Recommendations for car rental from Athens Airport
In article 2011070312581922832-stephedanospam@maccom,
Dan Stephenson wrote: On 2011-06-25 07:57:44 -0500, Alexander Arnakis said: BTW, having a mobile phone in Greece is a must, and is cheap. Just bring your own GSM phone and get a local prepaid SIM card from Vodafone or Wind. Mobile telephony is one of the few things that work really well in Greece. (The SIM cards can be "topped off" at any kiosk.) If you are a couple and have two phones, and get the SIM cards from the same company, calls between you are free. Also, all incoming calls are free. You get charged for air time only if *you* place the call. I have CDMA Verizon iPhone 4; I hear the iPhone 5 due in October will have both CDMA and GSM. If so, it might be worth getting for overseas use. The Google Translate app is JUST AMAZING. Now I have a chance at the locals understanding me when I inquire on the location of ancient ruins. I can pre-save a number of translations, but anything on-the-fly needs the network. Unless you plan to use mobile data, you can just use the iPhone 4 in Wifi mode. How will Google Translate handle the Greek alphabet? Or are you talking about letting it speak the translation for you? |
#38
|
|||
|
|||
Recommendations for car rental from Athens Airport
Martin wrote on Jul 3, 2011:
On Sun, 3 Jul 2011 22:48:13 +0100, Mike Lane wrote: Dan Stephenson wrote on Jul 3, 2011: On 2011-06-23 02:54:25 -0500, Mike Lane said: Dan Stephenson wrote on Jun 19, 2011: Hello, in the Fall I will travel to Greece, flying into Athens and heading to the Pelopponese by car, for maybe 10 days. There are several car rental places at the airport: Avis, Budget, Hertz, National/Alamo and Sixt. Can anyone recommend one more than the rest? I wouldn't be buying the high-dollar collision damage waiver. Thanks, Wouldn't you be better off travelling to the Peloponnese by public transport and renting a car from there? That's what I did a few years ago. You would save yourself the trouble and expense of driving through Athens which is a place to be avoided these days as far as possible. Well, the rental would not be from Athens per se, but from the airport, which is outside the city and near the big motor. I would avoid Athens by circuiting it on the motorway, over to Corinth, then south to Argos. I took a ferry from Piraeus to Porto Heli - a small place on the east coast of the Peloponnese near Spetses - and hired a car there for a week. It was a very relaxed experience compared to the hassle of Athens. I will have to look into this, thanks for the tip. I would also like to avoid the hassle of getting to and from Pieraeus from the airport, but the ferry time might be competitive with the drive time. To me the time taken is not important - I actually enjoy the travelling. What I don't enjoy is driving through the surroundings of airports and large towns like Athens. Getting to Piraeus is no hassle. You get on a bus at the airport and get off at the harbour What happened to the old airport? I believe it still remains largely undeveloped. It seems to be the usual story in Greece - several opposing groups all see the opportunity to make a considerable amount of money from a prime site, so the bickering continues and nothing is done. The latest I heard is that a Qatari group of companies are interested: http://tinyurl.com/692lhm4 -- Mike Lane UK North Yorkshire mike_lane at mac dot com |
#39
|
|||
|
|||
Recommendations for car rental from Athens Airport
tim.... wrote on Jul 3, 2011:
"Dan Stephenson" wrote in message news:2011070312452797074-stephedanospam@maccom... On 2011-06-24 16:39:16 -0500, Martin said: ATM skyscanner is showing flights from London to Kalamata Again you assume somebody is flying from London. Actually I will travel through London, as I intend to spend a few days there, to visit the British Museum again, and to visit more out-of-the-way places. I hear the Mayor is going to create a tourist scheme where you can visit along the Thames waterline to see some historical sights that have been blocked off from normal access. Anyone know more about this? But on the original suggestion: going through Athens has cost and logistical advantages.... I will into Kalamata, indeed, but the hardest part of the driving is about the same, since until Tripoli the driving is super-easy on the motorway. I don't suppose anybody knows if the bypass is finished yet? Both my maps show the by-pass as completed, but only one shows the road through the mountains to Kalamata as complete. But if you're going to Sparta you won't need that bit There's no particular reason to visit Sparta itself. It's a small modern town with very little (apart from the name) to connect it to the ancient city-state. The Spartans didn't go in for building much, it seems - too busy war-mongering I suppose. I stayed there after visiting Mystra which isn't far away. -- Mike Lane UK North Yorkshire mike_lane at mac dot com |
#40
|
|||
|
|||
Recommendations for car rental from Athens Airport
Martin wrote on Jul 4, 2011:
On Mon, 4 Jul 2011 09:00:17 +0100, Mike Lane wrote: Martin wrote on Jul 3, 2011: On Sun, 3 Jul 2011 22:48:13 +0100, Mike Lane wrote: Dan Stephenson wrote on Jul 3, 2011: On 2011-06-23 02:54:25 -0500, Mike Lane said: Dan Stephenson wrote on Jun 19, 2011: Hello, in the Fall I will travel to Greece, flying into Athens and heading to the Pelopponese by car, for maybe 10 days. There are several car rental places at the airport: Avis, Budget, Hertz, National/Alamo and Sixt. Can anyone recommend one more than the rest? I wouldn't be buying the high-dollar collision damage waiver. Thanks, Wouldn't you be better off travelling to the Peloponnese by public transport and renting a car from there? That's what I did a few years ago. You would save yourself the trouble and expense of driving through Athens which is a place to be avoided these days as far as possible. Well, the rental would not be from Athens per se, but from the airport, which is outside the city and near the big motor. I would avoid Athens by circuiting it on the motorway, over to Corinth, then south to Argos. I took a ferry from Piraeus to Porto Heli - a small place on the east coast of the Peloponnese near Spetses - and hired a car there for a week. It was a very relaxed experience compared to the hassle of Athens. I will have to look into this, thanks for the tip. I would also like to avoid the hassle of getting to and from Pieraeus from the airport, but the ferry time might be competitive with the drive time. To me the time taken is not important - I actually enjoy the travelling. What I don't enjoy is driving through the surroundings of airports and large towns like Athens. Getting to Piraeus is no hassle. You get on a bus at the airport and get off at the harbour What happened to the old airport? I believe it still remains largely undeveloped. It seems to be the usual story in Greece - several opposing groups all see the opportunity to make a considerable amount of money from a prime site, so the bickering continues and nothing is done. The latest I heard is that a Qatari group of companies are interested: http://tinyurl.com/692lhm4 Ten years already. It was very convenient for Piraeus. Yes, indeed - I greatly regretted its passing. The new airport must be one of the worst designed ever. There's no attempt to separate internal from international flights, and a chronic shortage of toilets, seats, hotels - everything necessary for a modern airport. -- Mike Lane UK North Yorkshire mike_lane at mac dot com |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Hotel at or near Athens airport | Alfred Molon[_4_] | Europe | 4 | May 21st, 2007 09:59 PM |
Best way to get from the Athens Airport to my hotel | carlosjm | Europe | 1 | May 19th, 2006 08:43 AM |
Hotel recommendations Naples, Rome, Athens, Cairo | Brendon | Europe | 0 | March 8th, 2005 07:29 PM |
Hotels For Athens Airport | Dwight | Europe | 4 | December 11th, 2004 08:11 AM |
Athens Airport and Hotels | kaimanu | Europe | 7 | March 21st, 2004 06:30 PM |