Travel Tips

Millions of people visit Greece every year. If you are planning a Greece vacation, here is some information that will help plan your trip.

The peak season for tourists coming to Greece is between June and September. This means that getting a plane ticket especially from the US is very expensive especially during weekends. You can save money by comparing the rates of the various airlines and see if there are any special offers. Another option will be to take charters as these are much cheaper than regular flights.

Greece has 15 international airports. If you have made reservations to stay in one of the Greek islands, you will have transfer from the international airport to the local airport. The only way to do that is to land in Athens.

You should know that Greece is apart of the European Union so their currency is now the Euro not the Drachmas. You better convert your dollars once you get there because there are some places that do not have ATM machines or banks.

There is a possibility that you could get robbed while on vacation so instead of carrying cash, bring along some travelers cheques because it is useless should someone get it. If you need to change this to cash, go to a ticket agency.

Greece is a big place and the different sights are scattered all over the 2000 islands. This means that you wont be able to see all of them by riding a bus or driving a car. There are times that you will have to travel by boat which shouldnt be a problem since you can join a group or charter a shipping company.

There are different types of lodging arrangements in Greece. You can stay in a luxury hotel, in a villa, in a campsite, caravan or in a room near the village or port. This makes it ideal for anyone to enjoy their time here regardless of how much they have in their wallets.

You can also try staying in a boat because there are charter companies that will allow you to rent a yacht for several days.

Most of the local speak English so you wont have a hard time communicating with them. If you want to speak in their dialect, do some research online so you know some basic words like how much? and thank you.

The local transport system in Greece is excellent. You can rent a car the minute you land from the airport, travel around the island by taxi or go with the group in a bus. If you want to explore things on your own, you can even rent a bike.

Greece is a great place to visit any time of the year. You can come in during the lean or the peak months so it depends on your schedule. You can come here alone or with your family and friends. With the different attractions both on land and at sea, no one will ever get bored.

Now that you know have vital information about a possible Greece vacation in the coming months, you wont have a hard time planning your itinerary. All you have to do is make the travel arrangements by yourself or through your travel agent.

Cheap Summer Vacations: Do Travel Packages Save You Money?

If you are like many other Americans, the poor state of the economy may leave you wondering about your summer vacation. Should you still travel? Can you afford it? Many Americans are completely foregoing their summer vacations this year, but you dont have to. There are many ways to save money and reduce travel costs. One of those ways is with summer vacation travel packages.

When it comes to travel packages, one of the first questions new deal seekers ask is do they really save you money? Unfortunately, the answer might not be what you wanted to hear. Honestly, it all depends. You should consider many factors. Continue reading on for tips on how you can tell if a summer vacation travel package will save you money or end up costing you more.

What types of travel arrangements are needed? This is an important question. Luckily, travel packages can be customized. Many online travel websites allow you to book packages for your airline tickets, hotel, and car rental. On the other hand, you can get a hotel and a car rental, or just a plane ticket and a car rental, and so forth. The key to choosing a cheap travel package is only buying what you need. Can you stay with friends and family nearby? If so, do not waste money on a hotel. Find a package that only includes your airline tickets and a car rental. Paying for things you dont need is nothing more than a waste of money.

Are you traveling with children? This is another important question to ask yourself. Did you know that hotels and airlines occasionally offer discounts for small children? Children under the age of two should not need their own seat on a flight. Let them sit on your lap and save hundreds of dollars. If you want to get your young child his or her own seat, but do not want to pay full price, contact the airline and try to arrange a discount. If these discounts are offered, they are usually offered directly through the airlines, not on travel websites. At the very least, look for travel packages that specifically ask about children and their ages.

Is it cheaper to book your reservations independently? This question is also important, but it isnt as easy to get an answer. Online travel websites and travel packages are designed for convenience. You get many travel and booking options all within a matter of minutes. Unfortunately, you do not always get the best deal. When requesting a free quote on an online travel website, they should provide you with the name of the airline, hotel, or car rental company. Visit each of these company websites and request another quote for the same travel dates. Tally up their costs and compare the two. Only buy a summer vacation travel package if you are getting a discount. It shouldnt cost more.

In short, online travel websites and the summer vacation travel packages they offer are nice. However, there are no guarantees you will save money. Luckily, you can tell by dissecting your travel package and comparing the cost. Yes, they are convenient to buy, but dont buy a travel package unless you save money. Your goal is to plan a cheap summer vacation, make sure you get one.

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If saving money while you vacation is your concern then don’t worry, it can be done without sacrificing your comfort and good time. You should know that the off season is referred to as the Green Season and this last September to December. The Christmas season would be the time that they come out of the Green Season. I don’t know if this means their rainy and hurricane season has ended but Christmas is a time when some families decide to go on vacation.

The first consideration is trying to get a good deal with the airlines to get you into Costa Rica. There are 2 airports, Liberia airport and San Jose International Airport. Liberia is located on the coast and San Jose International is inland outside of San Jose. If you purchase your plane ticket scheduled during the green season you can save up to $150 per person on airfare. It is possible to fly standby as well.

The 2 main airlines into Costa Rica from the U.S. are Continental and Delta. Another possibility for saving money on airfare has just surfaced. Costa Rica has given the official okay for 3 other airlines to land on their airstrips. One of them is an American airline and it is the economy company of Frontier Airlines. I don’t know if rates are available yet but you might want to check with them. If you are going to Costa Rica during the Green Season you are a person that likes rain. It might just be worth the extra money to go during the High Season when it is dry and sunny.

The most affordable lodging I have found is the Bed & Breakfast trade. One way of searching is to go to Pamela Lanier’s Bed & Breakfast website www.lanierbb.com. When I navigated her website and put Costa Rica in her search window I pulled up nothing. So I clicked on the map that is to the side of the search window and I got Latin America. Click near Central America and you have a list of Costa Rican cities that you can search for a B&B from.

As an example I clicked on a B&B in Monteverde. I found La Colina, which is located in the Cloud forest and surrounded by the local Quaker community. The rates run from $38 – $40 per night and they have quite a few amenities. This facility also offers showers and baths to campers, although I am not sure I would want to camp in the jungle. Give me 4 walls please.

The most inexpensive lodging I found was the Kalexma. This B&B is owned by a woman that is an English teacher. She first started this rooming house to offer lodging to her students. She believes in immersion as a way of learning the language and offers low cost rooms as bridge to that end. These rates are as low as $15 per night. This is a bare bones arrangement and you have a bed and a bathroom. The site can be found at www.Kelexma.com.

Villa Mango located in Nosara, Costa Rica, has the most moderate of prices. A room will cost you approximately $59.00 per night, and $385.00 for a week. This B&B is a 10-minute walk from the beach.
The Villa Decary has rates that run about $85 a night and it is located about 10 miles from the Arenal volcano. The hotel sits on the shore of Lake Arenal with a view of the lake from you window.

If you are a woman traveling on your own I would check our Bed & Breakfast rooming, as it is easier to meet people in this type of environment. A good travel resource for women is journeywoman.com. This site gives great info for the single woman traveler.

My final advice is on eating. The water is good in Costa Rica, you don’t have the problems that the Mexicans do with Montezuma’s Revenge. There are plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables to eat that are very cheap to buy. Also there are many Mom & Pop restaurants that cost much less than the big fancy restaurants. My advice is to pick a meal a day to eat big, then, keep on hand snacks for the rest of the day. You don’t want to go home heavier than you arrived do you?