Photo by DanMcLean

Those gosh darn Greek airlines just keep spreading the love.

Case in point: Cyprus problem? What Cyprus problem?

Olympic Airlines is offering a roundtrip fare of €85 between Athens and Larnaca, good for travel through December 31 of this year, with no minimum or maximum stay required. Okay, you have to add taxes, fees, security charges, and a fuel surcharge to that price. Nevertheless, with fares like this one it would still be a foul not to check out Cyprus as a side trip from Greece.

Photo by Kaymaria Daskarolis

Nafplio, a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Athens, is hands-down one of Greece’s most charming towns. It is also home to Karonis Wine Shop (Amalias Street 5, Nafplio, +30-27520-24446.) The shop was established in 1882, although Karonis has actually been producing ouzo, brandy, wine, and other spirits since 1869. Recently, the family-owned company has taken a lead in developing innovative wine-tasting experiences for connoisseurs and amateurs alike.

Open Monday through Saturday from 8.30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and again from 6 p.m. through 9:30 p.m., Karonis also happens to produce our favorite ouzo, which even ouzo-skeptical visitors tend to find palatable. A .70 ml bottle of 80-proof ouzo goes for €5.75, while the .70 ml bottle of 88-proof “Special” ouzo costs €7. Souvenir-size .20 ml bottles can be had for as little as €1.95.

Photo by Jill Stowe

If there is one ancient site outside Athens you absolutely should not miss during your Athens sojourn, it’s the Temple of Poseidon (admission: €4; +30-22920-39363) at Cape Sounion.

You could make the approximately 90-minute drive on a bus as part of a €34 tour, but we recommend the less expensive and just as efficient public bus (+30-210-821-3203). If you travel by public bus, you won’t be restricted by a tour schedule. As an added benefit, you’ll have the option of stopping off in Vougliamenis, Voula, or Varkiza for a swim or drink by the beach. Alternatively, you can opt to climb down the hill in Cape Sounion and swim there, hiking back up to the café by the Temple of Poseidon to drink a coffee or fruit juice afterwards.

The bus to Cape Sounion departs from Mavromateon and Ioulianou Streets—you can also catch it at Klafthmonos Square or on Filellinon Street—in Athens every 60 minutes every day of the week, from 6.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. Buses return to Athens every 30 minutes, starting at 5:40 a.m. weekdays and 7:30 a.m. on Sundays and holidays, the last bus leaving Cape Sounion at 6 p.m. The fare is €4.90 each way.

Photo by LeszekZadlo

While in Athens, you want to visit nearby Delphi—the navel of the universe—but you don’t want to rent a car or embark on a €90 tour. Here’s our Cheapo solution to your dilemma.

Take an inter-city bus from Bus Terminal B in Athens (Liossion Street 260, +30-210-831-7096) and pay only €13 each way. You will need to pay admission fees (€6 for the archaeological site, €9 for both the site and its excellent museum) but by taking the bus you will save yourself a good €60.

For background information, read up on Delphi before you go or pick up one of the Greek National Tourism Organization’s handy dandy Delphi pamphlets for free (the office at Amalias Avenue 26 near Syntagma Square is open Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. through 6 p.m., and weekends and holidays from 11 a.m. through 4 p.m.; +30-210-331-0392.)

Today, Wednesday, April 18, is International Monuments Day, and admission to Delphi’s site is free for the day.

The bus takes three hours and leaves Bus Terminal B every day at 7:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., and 8 p.m. Unless you are planning to do an overnight trip or stop in Delphi on your way elsewhere, the last bus you should consider taking is the 1 p.m. bus, as the last return bus leaves Delphi at 6 p.m. Earlier return times include 5:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 4 p.m.

Photo by H&M

Lately, Madonna’s face has been splashed all over Athens’s billboards, bus stops, metro trains, and even wrapping the free newspapers. A new album, a new movie, a tour, . . . ? No, H&M has come to Athens and Madonna is the designer of their new “M by Madonna” line.

Located in the heart of the city (Stadiou 49, +30-210-3249-302, open 9 am-9 pm M-F and 9 am-6 pm Sat), the new store has whipped Athenians into frenzy. It opened on March 29 and its first week had thousands of shoppers lining up down the block awaiting their chance to look trendy for less.

What’s more, H&M is introducing Greeks to the nearly revolutionary idea of a 30-day return policy. Ironically, only English-speaking Greeks can get good customer service at H&M, as the company has brought in its own team from Sweden to open the store! The cashiers, however, speak Greek.

Photo by Jaci Daskarolis

Greeks have just finished celebrating Easter, their biggest holiday of the year. Perhaps the most unusual celebration of this holiday takes place in Kalamata, which experiences its largest annual traffic jams during the Easter weekend as Athenians make the three-hour drive to celebrate with their relatives there.

Easter in Greece pairs the serenity and sobriety of a midnight church service with the setting off of fireworks outside churches. An enormous meal with family follows the midnight church service, with young people partying and arriving home in the wee hours of Easter morning just as the older family members are rising to prepare the goat or lamb for the an all-out gluttonous day-long eating session on Easter itself.

Men in Kalamata—traditionally young men, although it is not unusual to see grandfathers participating these days—do something else, too. They make “sa-ee-tes” by taking pipes and filling them with gunpowder. They cover one end of the pipes and then meet in a stadium, taking turns spinning in circles and flinging the flaming “sa-ee-tes” away from them. Nearly every year someone winds up in the hospital.

As crazy as this behavior may sound, it actually has an historical reference point. When the Turks imposed their rule on Greece, young men were trained in the use of gunpowder. These trainings took place during Easter time; during this period, trainings could be disguised as celebratory activities.

Forget the Trojan horse. Beware a Kalamata man with fireworks.

Photo by Gerry1605

The absolutely wonderful thing about Greece’s state-subsidized health care system is that just about any cream you could possibly need while traveling—from anti-histamine cream for easing the itch to yeast infection cream for, well, easing the itch—is available at every pharmacy throughout the country, and very likely at a much lower cost than whatever you’re accustomed to paying at home.

Don’t believe us? Check out this pharmacy mini-index. Anti-histamine creams cost €2.80. Yeast infection creams are remarkably inexpensive, at €3.30.

So if you’re headed to Greece, don’t load yourself down with heavy creams and medications that you might not need while you’re traveling. And rest assured that if you do need them, you’ll be able to find them—and for far less than you’ll pay for them at home.

Photo by Jaci Daskarolis

Remember your travel assistant Zac? He’s the guy who hipped us to this great news:

If you are 19 or under, you can enjoy free admission to all Ministry of Culture sites in Greece. This basically means that more than 1000 archaeological sites, museums, and other cultural places of interest managed by the Greek state are free to enter. You also receive this benefit if you are a student attending an EU university over the age of 19, provided that you have proof of your student status.

If you are over 19, in possession of an international student identification card (ISIC), and attend a non-EU university, you pay 50% admission to all Ministry of Culture sites.

Do it up, Cheapos.

This week in Athens, we found gorgeous strawberries being sold for €2.50 per kilo at a fruit stand. At the supermarket, less inviting strawberries are currently being sold for €4.30 per kilo.

Low fruit stand prices are a great way to gauge what’s local, fresh, and in season; they also provide a wonderful excuse to interact with locals. And because buyers can purchase fruit in small amounts from fruit stands, there’s no need to stress out about refrigeration. Eat up!

Photo by Kaymaria Daskarolis

You probably thought that retaining a travel assistant was out of the Cheapo question. We thought so, too, until we met Athens-based Chris “Zac” Zachariou (tel: +30-210-935-4129, +30-6942-879-783, cdzac@yahoo.com).

Hiring Zac to help you plan your travel in Greece can save you money and time. The man works in mysterious, efficacious ways. Listen up.

Exhibit A. You can give Zac the least expensive rate you’ve been able to find on a rental car, hotel room, or other product or service in Greece. If he can find you something less expensive, he’ll obtain it for you and you’ll pay him half of what you’ve just saved.

Exhibit B. Tell Zac what you’d like to do and where you’d like to go in Greece and he’ll create an itinerary for you. He’ll book your hotel rooms and car rentals, tell you when various sites are open to the public, and even provide you with road maps. He’ll even meet you at the airport and see you off.

Exhibit C. If you’d like to splurge a bit, Zac can be hired as a personal tour guide. You will pay him a flat fee, cover his expenses (food, gas, etc.), and he will drive you safely and efficiently everywhere you want to go, providing you with history and humor along the way.

Having lived half his life in Greece and half in the U.S., Zac is fluent in both Greek and English. He can help you read menus, negotiate, avoid getting scammed, and, best of all, save you time and money.

In short: Highly recommended.