Viking Classic Greece Extension

[LindaS272]

48 minutes ago, UWDawg said:

 

 

Cape Sounion 
(Temple of Poseidon)
 

We visited the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion in April during the 21/22 World Cruise.  Beautiful drive away from the hub-bub of Athens.

 

Yes, I thought this one was the one @longtermwas referring to—but must be an Apollo temple as well…

Edited November 14, 2022 by LindaS272

[longterm]

20 hours ago, UWDawg said:

 

 

Cape Sounion 
(Temple of Poseidon)
 

We visited the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion in April during the 21/22 World Cruise.  Beautiful drive away from the hub-bub of Athens.

 

That's it--I misnamed it.

 

My bad.

[longterm]

19 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

Yes, I thought this one was the one @longtermwas referring to—but must be an Apollo temple as well…

No, that's it; I got the name wrong.

[OneSixtyToOne]

On 11/8/2022 at 12:05 PM, OneSixtyToOne said:

We are booked on the Classic Greece pre cruise extension in Athens. Does anyone know what hotel is being used? The website and the invoice state the Athens Hilton but when you do a Google search it states that the hotel is closed until 2024 for major renovations. The property is being rebranded "Conrad" and partly converted into residences.

Just got an update from Viking. Our January pre-cruise extension hotel will be the Athenaeum InterContinental Athens. Is anyone familiar with this hotel?

[miami mama]

Longterm speaks about this hotel in post #14. Frankly, I am hoping that my extension will be changed over to this hotel from the NJV Athens. I don't like extremely noisy hotels and the NJV is practically surrounded by highways. Noise seems to be a concern for many of the rooms. 

Would love to hear how you find the Intercontinental. 

Edited December 23, 2022 by miami mama
Correct name of hotel and spelling on a word

[Hazel52]

11 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Just got an update from Viking. Our January pre-cruise extension hotel will be the Athenaeum InterContinental Athens. Is anyone familiar with this hotel?

We got the same message. Read a post on FB. They loved this hotel as well as a near by small restaurant called Vassilas Grill.

[Sailor Sam 407]

We stayed at the Athenaeum InterContinental in October. Vassilas Grill is a 5 minute walk, with good food and reasonable prices. You will often see the Viking tour guides there.
The Plaka District and Parliament are a very straightforward 20 minute walk. 

[longterm]

19 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Just got an update from Viking. Our January pre-cruise extension hotel will be the Athenaeum InterContinental Athens. Is anyone familiar with this hotel?

Yes, we stayed there; the hotel is very nice, the rooms are nice, the breakfast buffet is very nice, but...

 

the restaurant is overpriced and its menu is pretty meager. We ate there a couple of times out of desperation, but I wouldn't recommend it.
 

The little Greek restaurant less than a block away (the Vassilas Grill) is a great place to eat; the prices are excellent, the women who run it are very nice, and I highly recommend it. Although there aren't a lot of places to visit nearby, you can jump in a cab and get to the Plaza district in a 5-10 minute cab ride. 

 

I can't list this as one of my favorite hotels, but it's a very nice place--I just wish the restaurant were better. 

 

 

[longterm]

21 hours ago, longterm said:

Yes, we stayed there; the hotel is very nice, the rooms are nice, the breakfast buffet is very nice, but...

 

the restaurant is overpriced and its menu is pretty meager. We ate there a couple of times out of desperation, but I wouldn't recommend it.
 

The little Greek restaurant less than a block away (the Vassilas Grill) is a great place to eat; the prices are excellent, the women who run it are very nice, and I highly recommend it. Although there aren't a lot of places to visit nearby, you can jump in a cab and get to the Plaza district in a 5-10 minute cab ride. 

 

I can't list this as one of my favorite hotels, but it's a very nice place--I just wish the restaurant were better. 

 

 

Not Plaza, Plaka... autocorrect. 🙂

[longterm]

On 11/13/2022 at 8:05 AM, Hazel52 said:

Thanks longterm for your posting. I took notes on your previous post as well. They’ve changed the schedule a bit so our 2nd full day is on our own. I’m thinking of a visit to Corinth. Did you do any independent tours in or from Athens and if so, who did you use? I’ve heard many suggest George the taxi driver. Thanks!

Yes, I had arranged a private tour guide before we got there; as it turned out, most of what she wanted to show us was already scheduled on our Viking excursions, but she came up with some good ideas. On the night of our arrival, she drove us to the Temple of Poseidon, where we saw two other people, so we had the site to ourselves (photo below). We had dinner at an excellent Greek restaurant on the way back. On another day, she guided us through the Plaka district; the highlight of it was our walk through the meat and fish market, which was fascinating. It wasn't crowded on the streets, and we had a nice time. Then finally, she took us to her house, where we met her family, and she cooked us a Greek meal.

 

We didn't make it to the archaeological museum in Athens, and I was told after that it was really nice. The museum near the Acropolis is fantastic though. 

Edited August 12, 2023 by longterm