We are baaaack from our lovely trip and I'm already having withdrawals. Traveling in new countries where neither of you speak the language is such a cool experience. We did our research beforehand, but nothing truly prepares you for an experience in an unfamiliar place. We are happy with everything we did but learned some things while traveling. I've had a lot of people ask me questions on what do see/do and I will do more posts on each city, but here are some travel tips on Italy and Greece. (But first a few pics)
1. Take trains, buses, and walk: We did this most of the time, but also took some taxis. Taxis are usually faster, but WAY more expensive. The bus from the airport to the city in Italy was about 4-5 Euros per person. A taxi is around 50-65 Euros.
2. Ask taxi drivers about pricing before: First off Athens is a little sketchy, but I'll save that for another post. We got a taxi from the airport to our hotel since our flight got in around midnight and the trains weren't running. Our taxi driver definitely drove around a little more than he should and it ended up costing about $65 when it probably should have been $50-55. After that, we always asked the taxi driver how much it would cost and there were no questions.
3. Buses usually don't check tickets, trains do: We took the bus and always bought a ticket, but they NEVER checked. Not saying you shouldn't buy one, but you could get away with it if you're in a rush. Trains traveling from city to city will check though so have them ready!
4. Bring hand sanitizer: Not all bathrooms have soap (gross) so always be prepared!
5. Stay in airbnb's: They're more fun and you really get to see how people live in these countries. They were also all cheaper than the hotels we stayed at. And all of them had an adapter for our phones/computer, washer/driers, and a kitchen. Hotels don't have these perks!
6. Go to dinner before 7 to avoid crowds: Self-explanatory. If you want to eat somewhere (especially a place from TripAdvisor), go early or make a reservation!
7. Ask for the check: Waiters are very hands-off at restaurants and will not come to you with the bill. You have to ask or even sometimes go up to them (multiple times if you're in a rush) to pay.
8. No tipping: Most restaurants have a cover charge of around $4-5 and it essentially acts as a tip. You CAN tip, but it's not necessary.
9. Water: Restaurants charge you for water ($3-4 for a liter). ASK FOR DISTILLED (unless you like sparkling)
9. Restaurants closing: Most restaurants are closed from 3-6. Plan accordingly.
10. Ask the server: We would always ask the waiters for recommendations for food and it was always a great choice because they were so honest! Most servers here in the US will just mention the most popular item or most expensive, but that was not the case in both countries. They would genuinely choose their favorite foods and it was never a disappointment!
11. Worst food: The worst food experiences we had were near tourist attractions. It is SO worth it to walk 5-10 min away and find a quieter area. We had about 3 bad meals the whole time and they were always in tourist areas.
12. Gelato: We did 2 food tours and learned how to choose good gelato. 1) make sure the gelato is flat in the tubs. If the gelato are in mountains, they are using something artificial to give it more volume 2) if the color is not natural, it's not natural flavors 3) get as much as you can :)
13. Buy skip-the-line tickets: We did 5 different tours and they were so worth it. At the very least though, get skip-the-line tickets for any tourist attraction. We didn't buy any tickets in advance for the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and ended up waiting almost 2 hours in line. Every single tourist spot will have at least a 2 hour line. Make sure to buy a couple weeks in advance, maybe more depending what time of the year you visit.
14. Do a tour: We bought our tours a couple of weeks in advance, but we weren't there during high season (summer). The tours were so worth it to skip the line and to learn in detail and depth about what we were seeing. I'm not that big into history, so it was a huge help to me and I fell in love with the Vatican for this reason. The tour guides go at a pretty good pace and are very intriguing. ALSO. DO A FOOD TOUR!! It was so much fun. I'll go into more detail about which food tours we did in another post.
Hope these tips help! If anyone has other questions, please ask! There's probably a lot I'm forgetting. Have fun if you are visiting!
xoxo,
kay
13. Buy skip-the-line tickets: We did 5 different tours and they were so worth it. At the very least though, get skip-the-line tickets for any tourist attraction. We didn't buy any tickets in advance for the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and ended up waiting almost 2 hours in line. Every single tourist spot will have at least a 2 hour line. Make sure to buy a couple weeks in advance, maybe more depending what time of the year you visit.
14. Do a tour: We bought our tours a couple of weeks in advance, but we weren't there during high season (summer). The tours were so worth it to skip the line and to learn in detail and depth about what we were seeing. I'm not that big into history, so it was a huge help to me and I fell in love with the Vatican for this reason. The tour guides go at a pretty good pace and are very intriguing. ALSO. DO A FOOD TOUR!! It was so much fun. I'll go into more detail about which food tours we did in another post.
Hope these tips help! If anyone has other questions, please ask! There's probably a lot I'm forgetting. Have fun if you are visiting!
xoxo,
kay
