We are used to think that greece is too far away for holidays with an old VW bus. But looking closer to it, it is not that impossible. With a reasonnable budget adn some tips, you can make it!
Yes, the travel can be nice and fun with the good tips :
- Boarding in Ancona (Italy) will allow you to spend a night on board, avoiding kilometers. You can even plan to board in Venisia, but the boat trip will be longer.
- With Superfast Ferries, you can even sleep in your bus on the open deck of the boat (camping on board), where you will find electric plugs, showers and toilets like in a camping. We can’t say the price is fair, about 450€ for a family of 4, but prices change according to dates and itineraries.
- if you are looking for a specific date which is not available anymore, do not hesitate calling every day the office. Why ? Because the system is weard…. people are used to book their trip during an entire week because they don’t really know the day they will choose, but they have 2 months to pay the desired day. Once it is payed, they don’t even free the other days, which are booked until the expiration date comes.
- You can disembark in 2 different place : Igoumenitsa in the north of the country, or in Patras, north of the peloponneese. You can even disembark in Igoumenitsa and return through Patras, allowing you to travel 2/3 of the country (Corfou, Dodone, Ioanina, the Zagorias, the Chalcidique, the Météores, the Pelion, Delphe, Evia, Corinthe, Epidaure, the Peloponneese and its jowals, etc… well, every itineraries are possible)
Does it worth it ?? Well, yes, as soon as you like :
- Nice and warm weather
- cheap campings (about 25€ per night for a family of 4)
- Warm sea always close from your road.
- Good and cheap food
- Amazing lanscapes and ancient ruins
- Very friendly people, mostly english speaking
- Wild camping tolerated
- Save my VW trip referenced many vintage VW specialists all over the country, but there used to be so many beetles that many garages still know the Type 1 engines
Bad side ? Ok, there are a few :
- Petrol is not cheap, but not that expensive compared to other european countries
- Highways are a bit expensive, but, well, you don’t want to run when you are in holiday, and are still a good option if you couldn’t leave on time from an amazing spot.
- Avoid mid-july to end of august (crowed and very hot). May-june and september-october being the best months.
- Be carefull not to overheat the engine with the high temperature, especially on highways which are far from being flat.
And if you decide to go there, you can be part of 2 nice annual meetings :
- Panhelenic VW meeting around mid-june qui change de lieu tous les ans (voir les rassemblements sur Save my VW trip)
- Le meeting de l’île de Kefalonia fin Août, à Argostoli.
Plenty of itineraries are possible in Greece, and you might need to come back to see all what must be seen. From the main land, you can also reach easily some close islands like Skopelos (where was made Mamma Mia movie), Elafonissos and its amazing beaches, Corfou, Ithaque, Kefalonia, and more. Of course, you can go farther if you have time, like we all dream of…
Have a great trip!
This post is also available in:
Français