Greece?

[floridadream]

Hi All- we're looking at the Greece ABD for this summer to celebrate my son's high school graduation. Has anyone done this trip recently? We did the Italy ABD in 2017 and it was awesome. I'm wondering if it's on par with that? Any feedback is appreciated!

 

[jwatts64]

Hi All- we're looking at the Greece ABD for this summer to celebrate my son's high school graduation. Has anyone done this trip recently? We did the Italy ABD in 2017 and it was awesome. I'm wondering if it's on par with that? Any feedback is appreciated!

We literally just returned yesterday, but it was an adults-only adventure. Still, I'm happy to answer any questions. We've been to Italy but not with ABD, so I can't directly compare the two. We enjoyed the Greece trip very much, and it's a place we always wanted to see. If your son likes learning about history and mythology, and has the patience for spending a couple hours at a time doing so, he will like the trip. Our son is 19 and I think he would have been bored some of the days, had he gone with us. Everybody's different, of course.

 

[Marthasor]

We did Greece, independently, in 2018 after considering the ABD trip. I would just make sure the ABD trip covers the areas of Greece you really want to see. Not going to Delphi and other parts of the mainland (and even other parts of Athens) were a deal-breaker for us.

 

[jwatts64]

We did Greece, independently, in 2018 after considering the ABD trip. I would just make sure the ABD trip covers the areas of Greece you really want to see. Not going to Delphi and other parts of the mainland (and even other parts of Athens) were a deal-breaker for us.

Great point about Delphi. We flew in a day early and did a private tour there from Athens. Totally worth it. I understand why ABD no longer goes there, though - it would be about 3 hours each way on a bus, which is a lot to ask.

 

[Marthasor]

Great point about Delphi. We flew in a day early and did a private tour there from Athens. Totally worth it. I understand why ABD no longer goes there, though - it would be about 3 hours each way on a bus, which is a lot to ask.

Though I understand Delphi was a day trip when it was included on the ABD tour, there are hotels there that cater to tour groups (we saw them when we stayed there), so not exactly sure why they needed to use Athens as a base to tour the area and create a 6-hour round-trip bus ride.

I'm sure the way this ABD tour is set up is due to logistics and vendors (and ABD profit margins), however, these trips are expensive and, as I said in my initial post, I think anyone considering the investment in an ABD (and we've done several) may want to make sure they are seeing the parts of the countries or states they are visiting that are most important to them. This tour spends more time in Crete than even Athens, plus it foregoes places like Corinth, Epidaurus, Mycenae, Olympia and Delphi for a Venetian fortress/leper colony and Knossos (which is an archaeological crime, IMHO). That may be appealing to many and certainly having someone else take care of all of the planning and logistics is appealing, but anyone interested in seeing highlights on the mainland (or even more of Athens) may be sorely disappointed.

 

[sayhello]

I did the Greece trip several years ago, but the itinerary has not changed a whole lot since then (except the loss of the day trip to Delphi, which I agree is sad and the addition of the trip to Cape Sounion, which is amazing!) I've done 12 ABDs so far, and Greece is still my #2 favorite after Japan. FABULOUS trip. I also did an Adults only, so the youngest on our trip was a young woman 21 or 22, who was there with her parents for her college graduation. As far as I know, everyone on the trip had an amazing time. If you think this is the sort of thing your son would enjoy, I would HIGHLY recommend it!

Sayhello

 

[AddictedtoTravel]

We've done the Greece and Italy trips and loved them both. Greece is in the top three of our 12 ABDs. We flew into Athens early and spent time in the city and surrounding areas. It was easy to plan and we saw everything we wanted to and we were looking forward to getting out of the city after. We travel quite a bit on our own. I view ABD as a good overview of a country/region, seeing the highlights and wetting the appetites' for further exploration. We've gone back to several of the destinations to explore deeper on subsequent independent trips.

We loved everything about this ABD! We loved Crete so much and have wanted to take a trip back to travel around the island and explore more. I just found out that my neighbor will be living there for a year, so jealous!

 

[rebeccam31]

Hi All- we're looking at the Greece ABD for this summer to celebrate my son's high school graduation. Has anyone done this trip recently? We did the Italy ABD in 2017 and it was awesome. I'm wondering if it's on par with that? Any feedback is appreciated!

We did Greece this past May, and I have to say we adored it. Our guides had fabulous chemistry, and our other guests were the most cohesive I’ve had, so that probably played into my positive impression, but we all also loved the itinerary. I think I’d move to Crete tomorrow. I’ve been to Delphi in the past, and I really loved it. It’s a loss to the itinerary for sure, but Cape Sounian was really beautiful and interesting. It was a wonderful trip—up there with my favorites (for perspective, I’ve done 10 over the years).

 

[AquaDame]

Of those of you who went to Greece, were any of you there early July..?

 

[Marthasor]

Of those of you who went to Greece, were any of you there early July..?

Not on an ABD, but I've been to Greece in late June/early July (left July 5).

 

[abdgeek]

Hi All- we're looking at the Greece ABD for this summer to celebrate my son's high school graduation. Has anyone done this trip recently? We did the Italy ABD in 2017 and it was awesome. I'm wondering if it's on par with that? Any feedback is appreciated!

While I didn‘t do the Greece ABD recently (2012), it was the first land ABD that I did and still remains my favorite to date (I’ve done 7 so far). I’ve also done the Italy ABD and love Italy so much I’ve been back a couple of times with ABDs and DCL. As @sayhello said, the Greece tour itinerary hasn’t changed much over the years. From what I can tell, the main differences now are no Delphi and a different Athens hotel. Some other items are done in a slightly different order.

With any ABD, Disney will include most of the major sites on the tour. If there are other sites you want to see that aren’t included, schedule pre and post days during which to visit those sites or use the provided OYO time. With Greece, my main focus was on visiting the museums in Athens and seeing some of the historic sites ABD didn’t visit. I came in two days early to sightsee before the tour started and then flew back to Athens from Crete to do the final things on my list. Most flights from Crete have a layover in Athens, so you’re have to decide how you feel about that. Good luck with your decision.

 

[abdgeek]

Of those of you who went to Greece, were any of you there early July..?

I went to Greece in mid to late July

 

[AquaDame]

Not on an ABD, but I've been to Greece in late June/early July (left July 5).

I went to Greece in mid to late July

This is when we're thinking of going next year; July 2-8th or so. I know it will be hot, but comparitively how bad are we talking? Back in the hotel every afternoon like prisoners, basking in AC, or doable with bottles of water and light clothing? Would you return in the same time of year?

We've been to Florida in July, and to various resorts and the Amazon when it has been hot and sweltering but I've yet to try running around a city/concrete jungle with little shade before. Still a toss up between Athens/Mykonos and Sicily.

 

[abdgeek]

This is when we're thinking of going next year; July 2-8th or so. I know it will be hot, but comparitively how bad are we talking? Back in the hotel every afternoon like prisoners, basking in AC, or doable with bottles of water and light clothing? Would you return in the same time of year?

We've been to Florida in July, and to various resorts and the Amazon when it has been hot and sweltering but I've yet to try running around a city/concrete jungle with little shade before. Still a toss up between Athens/Mykonos and Sicily.

I’m from the south and typically travel during the summer. To me, being in Greece in July was on par with being at home, just less humid. I believe the temperature was in the 80s during the day, but I don’t remember the humidity being oppressive. Definitely doable with light clothing and a bottle of water. Athens is a very walkable city, but you can also take the subway if you’re headed outside of the downtown (Acropolis/ Syntagma Square) area. I wouldn’t hesitate to go there again in July. If you can handle Orlando in July, you can definitely handle Greece. The AC won’t be as cold as we keep it here in the states, but it does the trick.

 

[Marthasor]

This is when we're thinking of going next year; July 2-8th or so. I know it will be hot, but comparitively how bad are we talking? Back in the hotel every afternoon like prisoners, basking in AC, or doable with bottles of water and light clothing? Would you return in the same time of year?

We've been to Florida in July, and to various resorts and the Amazon when it has been hot and sweltering but I've yet to try running around a city/concrete jungle with little shade before. Still a toss up between Athens/Mykonos and Sicily.

It was hot, but not oppressively so and really only noticeable when we were touring ruins and temples that had no shade (this was particularly true in Corinth). I would rather be in Greece than Orlando in July, honestly. I would just recommend trying to get your sightseeing in as early as possible. IMHO, what was worse than the heat was the crowds. If I were to go again, I would probably try for May or September.

 

[AquaDame]

Awesome, thank you both! I'd definitely pick a different time of year normally, but we are tied to the dates to do the Arctic ABD the following week already. 80s as the high is doable... though it WILL make the following cold air much more biting!

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

We're doing the Greece ABD this summer with 3 of our kids. Then there's about a week between the ABD and our Greek isles cruise with the rest of the family (the cruise stops in Split, Mykonos, Santorini, and Olympia). The kids and I can arrive in Athens at any time pre-ABD, so we have both pre-days and the week in the middle to plan. I have no idea what to try to see/do (sounds like a side trip to Delphi is in order!), so we're open to any suggestions!