Retreat FAQs

 

Flights

  • It’s worth checking kayak.com but we like Google travel also. The Google site seems to find the best flights without the ads. And it now shows the CO2 carbon footprint for your flight

  • But – once you do that, then go to the airline website and do a search. It should be the same price and it can show you if you can use credit card points, plus you can choose your seats

  • Currently there are direct flights from the East Coast to Athens. We find it best to take the evening flight from the East Coast and arriving in Athens around 8 or 10 AM. You can drop your luggage at the hotel and have the whole day to explore Athens. Typically the rooms are ready in the afternoon and we usually take a short nap to catch up. That seems to avoid jet lag for us

  • Some of the direct flights are

    • Delta - BOS to ATH, JFK to ATH

    • American - PHL to ATH, JFK to ATH

    • United - Dulles to ATH, Newark to ATH

    • Emirates - Newark to ATH

    • It’s worth checking Norse for direct budget flights from JFK to ATH

    • Play airlines - not direct but usually cheaper - east coast cities to Reykjavik, Iceland and 1-2 hour wait for direct flight into ATH - cheaper, budget

    • NOTE - most airlines now offer budget fares which on the surface look ok but they charge for seat selection and luggage and often you end with with a similar price as the major airlines’ regular coach pricing

  • in the past we have flown

    • Delta BWI to JFK and then JFK to ATH

    • Driven to PHL for direct American to ATH

    • Air Canada BWI to Toronto and then direct Toronto to ATH

    • British Airways BWI to Heathrow and then Heathrow to ATH

 Usually they arrive in ATH in the morning and then head back to the US in the early afternoon for return flights, arriving back in the US around late afternoon.

Arriving in Athens from the US

  1. Luggage retrieval is near Customs. In just about every case, there is minimal/no customs check.

  2. Money - at the airport there are many booths for changing dollars to Euros. But you will most likely be using an ATM to withdraw Euros. Note - use the regular bank ATMs and NOT the Euronet ATMs, which often charge very large add-on fees. Also note that it is often a good idea to get some Euros in the US before your trip

  3. Downtown Athens and our hotel is about an hour from the airport

  4. Bus - the #95 bus is easy to get (it is in front of the airport, to the right outside of Customs) and takes you to Syntagma (Constitution) Square in the heart of Athens. Then you walk about 4 blocks to the hotel. The bus is about 6 Euro

  5. Cab - most people take the taxi cab. It is a fixed rate of about 50 Euro. After midnight it’s about 65 Euro. Just tell them “Central Athens Hotel on Apollonos Street”. Some taxis take credit cards and some don’t, so keep Euros available. They might charge extra for luggage. We usually give a 5 Euro tip

Athens Hotel

  1. We are staying at the Central Athens Hotel on Apollonos Street. We have stayed here for many years. It’s comfortable and the staff is very helpful. It is located in the Plaka, the original old town. There are many restaurants and museums within blocks. The entrance to the Acropolis is a 20 minute walk.

  2. We usually are able to arrange to have everyone’s room facing the Acropolis.

  3. There is a nice rooftop restaurant with dramatic views of the Acropolis. Be sure to go up there at night, even if just to view the Acropolis

  4. Breakfast is included and it’s always a nice meal

  5. If you want to stay for extra days before or after, we will give you a code and you can make your reservation by emailing the hotel with the code and they will know that you are part of our group

Itinerary

  1. Sunday

    1. Check-in to Central Athens Hotel

    2. Optional activities - nearby museums - all in walking distance - Benaki Museum of Greek Culture, Jewish Museum, Greek Folk Art Museum, Museum of Greek Folk Musical Instruments, Byzantine and Christian Museum, Museum of Cycladic Art, the new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (this is not walking distance) and many others

    3. Afternoon - light yoga

    4. Meet-and-greet - 4:00 PM

  2. Monday

    1. Morning yoga

    2. Walk to Acropolis - 20 minute walk - explore the Parthenon and other ruins

    3. Acropolis Museum - late morning

    4. National Archeological Museum - afternoon

    5. Olive oil tasting - unique introduction to high-polyphenol olive oil

    6. Welcome to Athens dinner

  3. Tuesday

    1. Morning yoga

    2. Walking tour to Ancient Agora

    3. Shuttle to Athens airport

    4. Flight to Kythera island - 40 minutes

    5. Check in to our hotel in the charming beach town of Agia Pelagia

    6. Walk to restaurant for Welcome to Kythera dinner

  4. Wednesday to Sunday

    1. Daily yoga at the hotel - there is a grassy area overlooking the sea and there is also a shaded area

    2. Daily explorations around Kythera - Byzantine ruins, monasteries, artisans, Venetian castle ruins, sunset meditation overlooking the Ionian Sea

    3. Afternoon meditation

    4. We cover 3 dinners on Kythera - Sunday night welcome dinner, mid-week and last night dinner - all in interesting places

  5. Monday

    1. Hike through lush waterfall

    2. Tour of bakery inside of converted family olive oil factory

    3. Flight back to Athens - arriving into Athens airport at 4:20 PM

Hotel on Kythera

We are staying in the wonderfully quaint village of Agia Pelagia (also spelt Ayia Pelayia). It is on the Aegean Sea and has 6 beaches

  1. Our hotel is the Pelagia Aphrodite. It is run by a wonderful Australian-Kytherian family and we have stayed with them for over 20 years.

  2. Each room faces the Aegean

  3. Their breakfast includes much of their own produce - eggs, honey, chamomile, fruits, honey, pastries, etc

  4. We do our morning yoga on the grass in the front, by the sea, weather permitting.

Optional Side Trips - near Athens and the Islands

  1. There is a wide variety of side trips either before or after the retreat that you might consider.

  2. Delphi

    1. Tours can be booked which will pick you up at or near your hotel. The tour includes the two hour bus ride north to Delphi, exploring the site and museum and then return back to the hotel at dinner time

  3. Mycenae and Epidaurus

    1. Tours typically are 1-3 days

  4. Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon

    1. One-half and one day tours

  5. The islands

    1. Greece has 200+ populated islands, each with their own unique flavor

    2. The main island groups are:

      1. Cyclades - in the central Aegean and form a circle

        1. These are the archtypical Greek islands and each has its own unique character

        2. Paros, Naxos, Santorini, Mykonos, Syros, Milos, etc. It is easy to get short ferries between the islands

      2. Dodecanese - “12 islands” - Rhodes, Ios, etc

      3. Northern Aegean - Lesvos, Ikaria (the Blue Zone island), Samos, Patmos (where St. John wrote Revelations)

      4. Ionian - on the west side - Corfu, Zakynthos, etc

        1. Kythera, though farther south, is considered an Ionian island

      5. Crete - the largest and has everything - beaches, cities, Minoan ruins and palaces, hiking trails, great food - 50 minute flight from Athens to Iraklion (4th largest city in Greece)

      6. Nearby islands from Athens - Aegina, Poros (not Paros), Idra (or Hydra - no cars allowed on the island - where Leonard Cohen lived with Marianne) - there are day packages from Athens that visit several of these

    3. Ferries from Athens to the islands are fun and popular, but take time (3-10 hours or more)

    4. Many islands have airports and are short flights from Athens (40-60 minutes)

    5. Often people will fly to Paros or Naxos and use that as a base, and then take short ferries to other Cycladic islands, including Santorini and Mykonos (we stayed on Naxos one year and took a one day ferry to Santorini - left in the morning, back by dinner. This was a good way to see the beauty of Santorini without having to stay longer with the immense crowds)

    6. Note that on previous retreats, several people wanted to go to Paros immediately after. On Monday the last day of the retreat, the return flight arrives into Athens at 4:20 PM. You can often get a flight out to other islands at 6 and 7 PM, get settled into your AirBNB or hotel, and have a great seaside dinner!

    7. Corinth - ancient site and important place of St. Paul's address - 2 hours from Athens

    8. You can make your own flight, ferry reservations and find wonderful AirBNBs usually run by wonderfully friendly families

  6. As we've mentioned it is worth checking Matt's Greek Travel website - full of info - www.greektravel.com

  7. Fantasy Travel - Matt recommends them - very helpful - worth using them if you have an itinerary that might have one or more side trips. They find the best deals and if anything goes wrong - delayed flight, etc - they will find alternatives. They are highly regarded and put together economical packages.  https://www.fantasytravelofgreece.com/

Flights to/from the US

  1. Typically take off around 5pm, land in Athens 9am

    1. Greece is Eastern European Time (EET) and is 7 hours ahead of east coast time

    2. So you'll be arriving at what is about 2 AM eastern time for us

    3. Typically you would take a cab to the hotel, leave your luggage, explore and take a short nap in the afternoon

    4. All during flight - stay hydrated to minimize jet lag

    5. Long flight - keep blood moving - walk around the plane

    6. Remember to download movies and songs for flight

    7. We *love* our noise-cancelling headphones for long flights

    8. Meals - you typically get dinner soon after take off, (try to) sleep and then have breakfast before landing

    9. Meals - notify airlines of special meals

    Global Entry

    1. Coming into the US with Global Entry can save you time - you go into a sort of pre-approved line which (sometimes) expedites things

    2. You need to make an appointment online and go to an airport for verification of your identity

    3. There are usually very long delays trying to get an appointment - but apparently you can shorten this by going to a Staples

    4. If you have Global Entry be sure to enter that info with your airline reservation and keep the GE card with your passport for return to the US

    5. GE also automatically gives you TSA Pre-Check for 5 years - make sure to enter it on your domestic flight profiles

    Airport lounges

    1. We love the lounges - great places to wait for a connecting flight

    2. But they are so popular that they often are overcrowded

    3. Example - when flying back to the US, waiting for your flight, there are nice lounges in Athens airport near your departure gates

    4. Great to relax, nap, eat buffet food

    5. However Athens airport has great food concessions - food sometimes better than the lounges

    6. Make sure you get food for your flight - bottled water, etc

    7. Many credit cards can get you access to lounges

    8. Sometimes it's worth getting a new credit card for the bonus points and lounge access

    9. Check out thepointsguy.com for best offers

Medications

  1. Make sure to bring enough with you

  2. Greece is very modern and part of the EU and medical care is good but medications might be different there

  3. Make sure to keep your medicines on your carry on bag - not in checked luggage

Luggage

  1. We are flying on Aegean Air to Kythera from Athens, and return.

  2. Aegean Air limits -

    1. One cabin bag carry on - up to 8 kg (17 lbs)

    2. One checked - up to 23 kg (50 lbs)

Packing

  1. Live light, travel light, be the light - it's probably true that no one has returned from a trip wishing they had packed more

  2. While we usually only take carry-on luggage, for an international flight we check luggage and just carry on a backpack or travel pack and a small

  3. We love the newer inexpensive travel packs which can hold several days of clothes, accessories, laptop, etc - Amazon has a bunch of them for $30-50 - we carry this on and also check a rolling suitcase

  4. Packing cubes - these really help keep things organized and somehow allow you to fit more in luggage

  5. Tip - we take a bar of Dr Bronners soap (not liquid) - useful for washing things out and hanging in hotel room - things dry quickly in Greece

Cannabis

  1. No

  2. Hemp derivatives - CBD, CBN - many places don’t distinguish - don’t risk it

  3. THC - pot, weed - most of us live in states where it's ok - but not most of Europe - don’t risk it

Climate and Carbon Offset

  1. Climate change (a number of scientists want to update the term and call it 'climate collapse' but let's just stick with 'change'). Yeah, it's more obvious than ever that something is frighteningly wrong. Kythera has not had fires this past summer - yet - but it's been over 110 F and people are keeping tanks of water in their trucks to be ready to collectively jump on any outbreak. As we mentioned before, there are ways to mitigate and offset the significant carbon output from our transcontinental flights.

  2. There are many carbon offset programs that are of dubious effectiveness. One of the best approaches, we feel, is how Rick Steves' organization approaches things by supporting organizations that directly impact people globally. This includes a lot of support for local farming and reforestation groups. (An acre of soil on an organic farm sequesters 8 tons of carbon - one reason rich soil is black)

  3. Based on this, we donate the sugtgested $30 for each of us on our retreats. This, plus all of our support for local businesses on the island, help to offset much of the impact of our travel. Note that this is automatically buil this into our retreats.

Travel Insurance

There are a variety of explanations for the different types of travel insurance. One of the best that we’ve seen is the explanation that Rick Steves has on his website. He explains things well.

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/travel-insurance

 A website that provides information and quotes from a variety of companies is

https://www.squaremouth.com

At this site you can put in your info and it finds quotes from many travel insurance companies and shows various details about each policy. It seems that they cover everything – medical, trip interruption, medical evacuation, etc. Also note from Rick Steves’ article that often your credit card covers flights, luggage, etc. Note - medical coverage and medical evacuation are covered by most plans, but some offer secondary and some offer primary coverage. Medicare and other US insurance plans often do not cover medical expenses outside of the US, and that would be when primary coverage would be needed.