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This summer we travelled a fair bit around Greece, including trips to Kefalonia, Evia, Poros as well as many other places on the Peloponnese. The original plan was to take our caravan, but our experiences of a couple of years back with the weather getting so hot in June to the end of August demanded a rethink as it tends to be rather uncomfortable without air-conditioning. On top of this road tolls here in Greece tend to on average double if you are towing a caravan, as can ferry prices. Added to that the extra fuel costs of towing and after a brief search on the internet it was clear it was actually cheaper to book self catering apartments, again taking into account a nights stay at a caravan site would cost 20-25 euro.
To give you some example of what you can get if you search, a week on Kefalonia at Easter cost us just 87 euro !!!! (see apartments below)
Of course these islands become far more popular in the main holiday season, but are far more pleasant when not busy! The nearest airport to our home (Kalamata) according to local Greek newspapers had this year the second largest percentage increase in tourist arrivals in the country. Saying that, that only resulted in about 15 planes a week. However next year we are already hearing that more carriers are planning a longer season, good news for the tourist industry.
So are things picking up in Greece? Despite what many will say, I do believe they are. Yes times are still hard for locals in the village, yes unemployment is still appallingly high and there is a long way to go but locals here are no stranger to hardship and adapting, something perhaps we British find much harder to do.
To see more photographs of the places we have visited why not visit "Rosie's Blog" at http://greek-dog-rosie.blogspot.gr/ she has been far more active than me at keeping the blog up to date.
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