- We found that Greek roads were mostly in good condition, with just some exceptions. There are many new motorways [either only just opened or about to be opened] and these are excellent.
- Tolls are payable on Greek motorways at seemingly random toll booths. The toll payable for campervans and motorhomes is more than double the amount for cars and using motorways can get expensive.
- Greece has a high number of road traffic accidents [there are thousands of road side shrines to victims] and we did see some poor driving such as over-taking on bends, in fact double lines in the centre of the road were generally ignored, but the driving was no worse than other European countries.
- Campsites are clustered around the coast and tourist sites and there are huge areas of the country that have no campsites. Officially wild camping is not allowed but it is generally tolerated locally and the best advice is to be discreet.
- The standard of campsites does vary but we found them mostly good to very good. As in many other European countries, don’t expect toilet seats or toilet paper but we did enjoy lots of good hot showers.
- Much of Greece is hilly and steep and walking shoes and poles are useful if you want to be active.
- Some of the historic sites you might want to visit involve walking up hills too.
- Greek food tends to come as a meze style meal; that is individual dishes arrive when they are ready and are meant to be shared. Take care as it is easy to over-order in Greece as portions tend to be large.
- We never spent more than €30 on a meal for two in Greece. We are both vegetarian and this keeps the cost down but the main saving is with the wine, compared to other countries; 500 mls of the house red was generally just a few euros.
- Lots of people [but not everyone] is able to speak good English [they learn in school from a young age] but we found it useful to have a few words of Greek and it was appreciated when we used these to say good morning, please and thank you. We made our own flash cards to learn about 40 phrases.
- Road signs are mostly in the familiar English alphabet as well as the Greek alphabet and this makes them easier to read. But it is worth learning your Greek letters and how these are pronounced for the signs that are only in the Greek alphabet. By the end of our holiday it was becoming normal to read p as r and r as g!
- We took the Blue Guide to Mainland Greece and the Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness guide to Athens and the Mainland. The Blue Guide gave us comprehensive historical information and was complimented by the information and photographs in the Dorling Kindersley.
- We also took the Cicerone guide to the Mountains of Greece which was invaluable for walks and the Oxford Paperbacks Flowers of Greece and the Balkans: A Field Guide [currently out of print and only available second hand]. This was a fantastically useful guide for landscape and walking ideas, as well as for flower identification.
- Greece has few large out-of-town supermarkets and the most familiar name you will see is Lidl. Other supermarkets are smaller than you may be used to and generally don’t have a large car park, which can be problematic in a motorhome.
- Fresh bread and fantastic cakes are available from the many bakeries, these generally have space to park while you pop in and drool over the selection.
- Greece has more petrol stations per head of population than any other country [this isn’t an official figure but it must be true]. These petrol stations are generally family run and are often accompanied by a cafe. Even small villages can have two petrol stations so no excuse to run out of fuel.
- Greece is beautiful and it is worth taking the time to explore it.
Back on the road again 