Hi, my name is Dave, and I live in and write about Greece. This is my latest newsletter sent to subscribers of Dave's Travel Pages.
I send out a newsletter once a week to Dave's Travel Pages subscribers. This page is a copy of the newsletter to be sent on Sunday 26th November 2023. Sign up to the weekly newsletter here: Latest from Dave's Travel Pages
Alternatively, sign up to a Greek travel info blast (more frequent emails – perfect for planning a trip to Greece). You'll get these first, and then you'll get the once a week newsletter when the sequence is complete: Greece Travel Info
Sunday 26th November 2023 Dave's Travel Pages Newsletter
Hi,
First I'd like to say a massive THANK YOU (in big letters!) for everyone who filled out the Greece travel survey last week.
At the last count, 245 of you had filled it out, which is way more people than I thought ever would.
It really means a lot to me, and there's a lot of information in there which will be valuable in creating better travel guides to Greece.
For example, one of the things that people mention as a thing to know before going to Greece is the ‘toilet paper' protocol!
I guess I've taken it for granted now having lived here a while 😀
If you don't know what I'm talking about, Vanessa has written a lovely post (well, as lovely a post as can be written about toilet paper) over on the Real Greek Experiences blog (kind of appropriate!) here: Why you shouldn't flush the toilet paper in Greece
Another thing that people mention is bank card issues. I didn't design the survey particularly well, so I don't know what the main issues were exactly.
For the main part though, letting your bank know you are traveling overseas so they don't block your cards should solve a lot of the problems.
Finding out what their policy on exchange rates and foreign spending and withdrawals is also essential.
Personally, I have both Wise and Revolut multi-currency accounts. Once you get your head around how flexible these can be it's a bit of a game changer when traveling overseas.
On a not so positive note, 4 people in the survey responses mention pick-pocketers in Athens. Two specifically mentioned they had been pick-pocketed, while two others mentioned it in a way that didn't 100% clarify if they had or not.
The metro seems to be the place where this is happening the most, specifically from Piraeus Port into Athens center, and also the Athens airport metro line.
For these two transport lines in particular, I'm leaning more and more to recommending people take a pre-booked taxi over the metro (even though the metro is much cheaper). I'll be updating guides accordingly over the next months.
And finally, on a lighter note, it seems that a lot of readers use YouTube as part of their research into planning a trip to Greece.
I suppose this means that despite having a face for radio and a voice for silent movies, I need to think about getting some guides on YouTube next year 🙂
Cheers for now,
Dave
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