Ina helped me plan a 3 week Greece trip Oct 2...
Greece
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Oct 4 - Nov 6, 2023
Ina helped me plan a 3 week Greece trip Oct 2023. While I was in Crete (one week into my trip) the Israel war broke out. I was headed there with friends after my Greece trip. In the end my friends never left California and I texted Ina and she extended my Greece trip for another 3 weeks. It was fabulous. Greece was clean, it was gorgeous, my hiking and sunset cruise captains and chefs were top notch and knowledgeable and friendly. I felt as I’d made true friends. Those guides I would never have found without Ina and it made the day trips very special. Greece is safe and I was impressed with the safety as I am a solo traveler. I chose an excursion every 3 days or so, most of them I was picked up and they were half day hikes or all day cruises. I rented cars on 4 islands and Ina had the rental agency deliver the car to my hotel and 3-4 days later they arrived for me to return it. I had 4 flights and ?? FastJets maybe 5? And each time there was the driver waiting to take me to the hotel and take me to the port or airport. I have never used a travel agency before but I wanted to move around Greece for 6 weeks and a lot of flights or boats I read about in the Lonely Planet were no longer available or had changed. Plus I traveled in the shoulder season and early winter season some tours stop due to change of currents or winds. Ina knew this and everything went so very smooth for me. Yes, now that I’ve been there for 6 weeks I learned how things work but for my first trip and moving around as I did (to 8-9 islands and mainland) I would have been frustrated and lost a lot of time. Plus as we all know there is nothing worse than showing up somewhere and being disappointed. My weather was outstanding. High 70s to high 80s in Oct!! I would not have been happy with hotter summer weather and more cruise boats and crowds. It was simply wonderful. My favorite islands were Tinos for the village hike, Naxos for the beaches and Naplios 2 hours south of Athens for the high climbs and 5-10 mile ocean walkways. Next time I would skip Mykonos. I could have stayed another month easy as there is so much to see. I recommend using Kim Kim without hesitation especially if you want to see more than one or two places. Thanks also for their 24/7 text line as my very first plane from Seattle to Athens changed the day I left and I was going to arrive 3 hours earlier. I texted that line from the airplane on WhatsApp and The driver was right there waiting for me. I was thrilled as it was a 20 .5 hour flight and the ease of it all was non stressful. Thanks KimKim for a wonderful peek into Greece.
Activity Reviews
Kim Kim put me in VIP and as this was a 12 hour 3 island trip it was much more comfortable than the chairs up front with the crowds. I probably wouldn’t have known this signing up on my own.
This is an all day trip from Chiana. My guide/driver Antonio was on time and very easy to talk to. We had 5 in our car plus the driver. We were all fast friends within an hour. Balos beach was a bumpy pot hole drive. We got out, fed the goats and took pics of the beach. It’s a very long steep climb down there which we did not do. We drove on to Falassarna where we had (included) comfortable lounge chairs and the swimming was divine. Shallow with sand bars and gorgeous clean ocean. Our guide ordered us a ridiculous large Greek lunch with varieties of Greek specialties which we all shared at a table under umbrella. We were from 3 different countries and we had a roaring chat which I adored as I was the only single. Then we all got dropped off at our hotels and I was last. Within minutes I realized I left my cell phone in the car and I was desperate but I knew Antonio knew it was mine. I couldn’t call anyone because all the information was in my phone. Within 30 min he made the extra trip back and delivered my phone to the hotel desk. That’s Greek hospitality!!
Ok. I went on this Santorini Sunset cruise mid October 2023. My boat was a catamaran with 6 passengers and captain and one crew. The captain was also a certified chef. The boat he had was HORIZON. HE SAID WE HAD 50 sunset cruises on our night. In the summer there are 150 boats. KimKim set this trip up for me and I loved it so much. I saw other boats that reminded me of Mexican booze cruises. Some had 100 drunks and barking dogs. Anyway we went swimming in 2 areas even though it was cold water. The boat was clean and we all became friends easily. The food he prepared fresh was one of my best meals in Greece. Of course Santorini was in the back ground and it was a gorgeous day. As we were returning to port I realized we were in one of the best boats. If you want alcohol and chips take a cheap boat. We had plenty of alcohol with a fabulous fresh prepared meal with bbq meat goat and chicken kabobs , mussels, 3 salads, shrimps, Greek goat cheeses, rice and I can’t remember the rest. We all felt fortunate we got our boat and our captain. I would not have known the difference if I was booking on my own. Thank you KimKim.
