Renting a car in Katakolon

[elin]

Hi,
Just wondering if anyone has rented a car in the port of Katakolon and driven to Olympia?
I found (via this site) a car rental company in the port of Katakolon.
Not sure if it's walking distance from where the ship docks.
Has anyone done this? I think it is about a 30-40 minute drive from the port ot Olympia.
If anyone has done this, who did you use and how did it work out?
I have read all these reports recommending taking a guide, but have found lots of material on Olympia, that we would like to self-tour. (The other option will be to take a taxi.)
Any help is greatly appreciated (I have also posted this on the Europe board).
Thanks.
Elin

[mike35]

We rented a car in Katakolon last year. Can't remember the name of the rental company, but it delivered the car to right where we docked, and we filled out the paperwork on the spot. I had researched the company using Google.

We drove to Olympia, and I only got lost once (pretty good for me). Actually, it's an easy drive, and it took us a bit over 1/2 hour. We toured the ruins and the museum on our own. We also followed an Oceania group, where we learned additional facts about this fascinating venue.

Hope this helps...

Mike

[elin]

Hi Mike,
Thanks for the fast reply.
Was it this company?
http://www.rent-a-car-in-greece.com/...port/index.htm (http://www.rent-a-car-in-greece.com/katakolon-port/index.htm)
Rent a Car in Greece?
They show on their website Katakolon port, but have no idea where it is.
Glad to hear that it was a fairly easy drive.
Elin

[shoshona2]

Hi Mike,

Was the navigation system in Greek? I was remembering our experience in Japan with you and Carol.

Sheila

[mike35]

No, Sheila - no GPS in our Katakolon rental car :confused: We still remember the constant "nagging" from our GPS in Okinawa. Usually it's Carol nagging me, so it was a welcome change;)

Mike

[Toranut97]

[QUOTE=mikebrill] We also followed an Oceania group, where we learned additional facts about this fascinating venue./QUOTE]

This cracks me up.

My husband and I used the ship based tours, which was our choice, and we basically liked them and found them a convenience. Since I have been on this board, though, I find that most of the folks here view the ship's tours as too expensive and slow, lacking in autonomy and including "tacky tourist shopping stops." Point taken -- although I never felt that Oceania's tours made tacky shopping stops. But that's just me.

I have no problem with the folks who like private tours. In fact we very much enjoyed sharing one with Benjzmom and her goddaughter -- it was great fun, and not something we would have enjoyed by bus.

I do have an issue with the folks who feel free to just tag along and enjoy the tour narration which they did not pay for. This isn't personal, Mike -- really, it just happened repeatedly on our trip. Whether the folks were Oceania travelers or not, what a pain! (On the Acropolis tour, it was absolute hell.) We had to crowd in and try to listen to our guides with strangers leaning in over our shoulders to hear what was being said. It began to irk me. (It also felt like a potential pickpocket situation, constantly.)

I guess my comment/musing is -- if going on your own is so great, why do you need to horn in on the bus tours to hear the details?

I truly love the system on Vantage River Cruises, where the local guide speaks into a headset/microphone, and the people in the group tune in through wireless receivers and listen on the correct channel to their own guide. It was so much easier to travel and listen to the guides with this system. We could move freely and individually, even wander a bit to take photos, and still hear the narration.

The system is expensive, but worth the investment by Vantage. It would be fabulous if Oceania would invest in this system, too. It is one reason we always look at Vantage trips first -- as much as we loved Oceania, and felt it was heaven on earth.

Donna

[mike35]

[quote=mikebrill] We also followed an Oceania group, where we learned additional facts about this fascinating venue./QUOTE]


I do have an issue with the folks who feel free to just tag along and enjoy the tour narration which they did not pay for. This isn't personal, Mike -- really, it just happened repeatedly on our trip.
Donna

Hi Donna

Point VERY well taken. I think this was the only time we have ever followed a formal tour. We were finished touring on our own, using a guidebook that we had purchased. We happened to overhear one of O's tour guides explain something we were interested in, and we stopped to listen - then discreetly followed at the back of the tour for awhile. But I agree - this is "freeloading", and I, too, would take issue with it.

As a matter of interest, we very seldom take ship tours - not because of the cost, but because we prefer to tailor our own tours with one or two other couples at most. Of course this doesn't give us license to tag along with a ship's tour, and I'll refrain from doing so in the future.

Happy cruising...

Mike

[shoshona2]

Dear Toranut,

We toured privately with Mike and Carol Brill in Okinawa and we four did not "tag along" with any group. Mike carries his own guide books and, I can see that if he did so, it was to pick up a little bit of info the book didn't supply.

My husband and I stopped taking ship's tours a long time ago because we had to always wait for late people and the guides were sometimes difficult to understand. We have had wonderful luck with our private guides. We can pick and chose what sights we want to see. We don't do it to save money, because it usually costs the same as the ship's tours, but we see so much more to our liking.

Loved your photos from your Oceania cruise.

Sheila

[Toranut97]

I certainly was not trying to impugn Mike's reputation. I apologize if it seemed that way. It just seemed ironic to me that, after all the posts that seem to put down those of us who take teh ship's bus tours (not posts from the two of you!) that someone touring privately would want to tag along at all during a bus tour.

Olympia was less a problem with this than the busiest sites -- the mosques and Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, the Acropolis, etc. I was ready to swat people away with my water bottle!!

Naturally, everyone tours in their own style. That's the fun of it! To each his/her own. And I still think it would be cool if Oceania invested in some of the headset systems I described. They are so cool!

(Thanks for your kind words about my photos... I appreciate it.)

Donna

[Benjzmom]

Hi Donna -- thanks for the kind words - the feelings are mutual. Rachel and I had an absolute blast with you and Larry on our day tour of the Argos - even with the thunder and lightening, as well as on the Oceania bus tour of Olympia (hot as it was!). I've just finished editing the more than 1000 pictures Rachel and I collectively took. And, the video I took (two mini-cassette tapes) was incredible - what a great memory! Just wish I had taken more of the people we spent time with. Now I have to figure out how to transfer them to a VHS tape.

I think the choice between the organized tours and "do-it-yourself" really depends on so many factors that this Board is useful in providing people with the pros and cons of both options. For purposes of Olympia -- we found it really useful to be with a guide for a better understanding of what all the ruins stand for and some of the history of the Olympic games, etc.

[aneka]

Hi Donna,
Just a question. When you toured Olympia on Oceania's tour did it include going to the Museum at the site? We would like to see the museum and it is not listed in the tour's description.
Thanks,
Annette

[Benjzmom]

Yes, the Oceania tour included a nice visit to the museum with our guide.

[elin]

Well, so much for good intentions!
I got a note from the car rental company, they are sold out of ALL categories of cars until September.
A taxi it is!
Thanks for everyone's help!
Elin