Greek holidays continue despite fires

Holidaymakers who cancel trips to Greece fearing forest fires cannot expect a refund and could risk losing all their money if they pull out just before they travel, tour operators and insurers warned today. Greece has been battling fires across the country for the past week as it labours under a blistering heatwave, with the regions of Ioannina, Kastoria, Florina , Pieria, Kozani and Salonika in the north, Messinia and Corinth in the south and the central region of Vioti on the mainland all affected, as well as the Peloponnese islands and Kelafonia.

Greek to Me

You won't find people smashing plates and dancing on tabletops at Maria's. It's not that kind of place. Rather this snug, 52-seat family-run eatery dishes home-cooked Greek taverna fare free of contemporary tweaking. And that's it. Maria Sotiriou's recipes are not likely to inspire Homeric verse, but they aren't meant to. Daughter Angela and her husband Kostas Albanis run the operation now

13 Days in Greece

ATB Travel is offering an 13-day Island Hopping Vacation in Greece which visits the Greek islands of Rhodes, Crete, Santorini and Mykonos. Depending on the Euro rate, this would be about US 1700 per person, excluding international airfare.

60 fires burn across country

More than 60 fires burned across Greece over the weekend as temperatures remained high, prompting authorities to issue another fire warning for today. Authorities said most of the fires had been contained or brought partially under control. There were no reports of homes being threatened.

British weather boosts bookings to Greece

The British weather has helped boost an otherwise weak year for Greece, with a last minute rush to book hotels and packages for tourists to lap up the sun and sea in the southern Mediterranean. London Greek News conducted a phone survey of all the capital's leading tour operators asking them if they had seen a rise in bookings in the last 21 days. Mario Demetriou MD at Euromed travel said "I have seen a positive move up in bookings; people wanting to book anywhere hot especially Greece".

European travel agencies have sent fewer tourists to Greece in the past five years

According to available data, the European travel agencies have sent fewer tourists to Greece in the past five years. The number of European tourists who spend summer holidays in Greece declined in five-year span. Greek Chamber of Hoteliers said the hoteliers' losses hit 10 percent, adding that there is no compensation for the loss.

Great Growth For Greece Traveling

Though long-haul destinations are increasing in popularity, Greece has become the most popular eleventh-hour Holiday location, according to lastminute.com.While tourists Travelled to tropical climes - bookings for the Maldives have grown by 34 per cent - Greece has knocked Egypt off the top perch as the website's top-selling destination.

Family trips in Greece

Greece is full of exotic destinations, good food, beautiful churches, ancient monuments. But what is a family to do? The more organized resorts and villages on Crete, Corfu, Zakynthos, are popular, while the Peloponese is over-run by Athenians.

Greece expects more than 16 million visitors this year

Greece plans to introduce a bill of rights that would allow inconvenienced ship passengers to demand compensation from ferry companies, the government said Wednesday.

2007 Greece Travel Tips: Chios

Greece 2007 is in the hands of enterprising young businesswomen and educators with a pro-American attitude. They are fluent in English. Their objective is to help the American tourist get the most from their currency so they will return. This is difficult with sixty-nine cents of the dollar equal to one euro.

Halkidiki: One of Greece's northern destinations

Contrary to heavily visited areas in Greece, Halkidiki is a calm, dreamy peninsula in northern Greece where art and nature become one. It is very close to Thessalonica. Mountain villages, fishing towns and religious centers bear the traces of the country’s culture more than say Santorini, Mytilene and Athens. One of Halkidiki’s three finger peninsulas projecting into the sea is a religious center; the next is a natural wealth and the third a popular entertainment center with golf courses, nightclubs and casinos. The mountains’ green and the sea’s blue are enchanting. Karolina Tagaris who is interning at the Turkish Daily News within the framework of Forum of European Journalists Students (FEJS) exchange program wrote about Halkidiki, which she visited last year.

Shipwreck Beach, Zakynthos, Greece Top 10 island beaches

NEW YORK, (Reuters) -- Ever wanted to feel like a castaway in a warm, secluded oasis of tranquility and beauty? Conde Nast Traveler has scoured the globe to find the best island beaches. Following is a list of their top 10 choices:
1. Shipwreck Beach, Zakynthos, Greece -- This is an idyllic, isolated beach scooped out of a vertical wall of white rock.

Cyprus travel abroad up by 9.6% Jan-May

The number of residents travelling abroad from Cyprus rose by 9.6% in the first five months of 2007 to reach 359,478 according to Financial Mirror calculations using monthly Statistical Service data.Greece, only an hour or so away and with frequent flights, remains the most popular destination, with trips up by 7.0% to 139,941 in January-May.

Dizzy in Greece

Acknowledgment of this phenomenon has come in reviews of concerts, composers, writers, record producers and just about anybody connected with the transformation of jazz into world music. Recently, I spent time in Greece with Makis Morakis—an outstanding jazz writer, producer and scholar. As a result of this visit, another chapter can be added to my already bulging European jazz diary.

Only In Ios

Perhaps the only way to acurately describe a place such as Ios would be to summarize. In a word, Ios is, well, Cancun. Although I've never been, and for good reason, I can now say I have visited Europe's very own Cancun. Now I know there are other places such as Ibiza (off the coast of Spain) and Corfu (another Greek Island) both of which will give Ios a run for its money. But I also know I have skipped these islands for the same reasons I skipped Cancun in highschool and college. Somehow I found myself, however, right in the thick of it. And so this is our story of Ios...be it ever so crazy and ridiculous...