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Family vacation: Athens & Crete
For a family with kids old enough to appreciate history and spectacular landscapes, combined with outdoor activities, a trip to Greece can be a source of memories that last a lifetime.
Landing in Athens spend two days and then two more days on the mainland. Then move for the islands. On this itinerary idea we’ll focus on the island of Crete, large enough and lansdcape to be considered a country on its own.
General Travel Info
Some quick statistics about Greece
Mainland Greece is located at the tip of the Balkan Peninsula in South Eastern Europe, bordering the Ionian Sea on the west, the Aegean Sea on the east and the sea of Crete on the south.
It has a total area of 50,949 sq mi and land boundaries with Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey. Of the country’s total territory, 83.33% or 42,663 sq mi is mainland territory and the rest 16.67% or 8,286 sq mi is island territory. Greece’s coastline measures at least 8,498 mi.
Lodging Type
Hotels in Greece are ranked based on over 247 standardized criteria created by the Hotelstars Union (HSU) using 1 – 5 star system. This an official rating awarded by the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels based on strict, audited criteria. It’s not related to online reviews on Booking, Tripadvisor, Google etc.
The HSU hotel star system is largely adopted by most all countries in Europe. Notable exceptions are Spain, France and Italy where they use independent, official government-regulated ratings.
Driving in Greece
Greece has a extensive limited access highway system on the mainland, similar to the interstate highways in America. Most are toll roads, will toll stations with bars. Once you are off the “Interstate” system most roads are two lanes with no divider.
Traffic signs are the same as in most European countries; there is a link in the “READ MORE” with a full list. Few signs have words and the majority use symbols, which are basically self-expalnatory.
When using Google maps outside the major cities make sure it takes you through main routes.
Entry-Exit System
The Entry/Exit System (EES) will be deployed gradually across the external borders of the 29 European countries over a period of 6 months. These European countries will introduce the different elements of the EES in phases, including the collection of biometric data, such as facial image and fingerprints. This means that travellers’ biometric data (facial image and fingerprints) might not be collected at every border crossing point right away, and their personal information may not be registered in the system. Passports will continue to be stamped as usual.
This progressive implementation will last until 9 April 2026. From 10 April 2026, the EES is supposed to be be fully operational at all external border crossing points of the European countries using the system. As of late there are implementation issues.