Going solo to Greece

Becky, Trainee Travel Consultant at our Eastbourne shop, recently enjoyed a small group holiday to Greece with solo travel experts Just You. She discovered that this type of holiday is just perfect, not only for solo travellers, but actually anyone who would enjoy having the logistics and planning of a trip taken care of, leaving them able to relax and enjoy the destination, and to combine structured activities with relaxing downtime…. and who wouldn’t enjoy that?!  

“Being new to the travel industry I wasn’t sure what to expect – being on a tour sounded like it may be a little too structured compared to what I was used to, but I quickly realised that I was completely wrong!  Our holiday director had carefully curated our itinerary, so that we had time to see the ‘big’ sights with amazing and informative local guides, as well as free time to explore or relax on our own.

Just You is a solo touring company, so I felt very safe and confident that I would have others around me in the same position and be able to make friends. Having someone with us every step of the way to answer any questions or give recommendations really helped me relax and feel able to enjoy the holiday, rather than stressing about tickets and times - that was all done for us, and we were able to fully appreciate the history and culture.

Our flights were operated by British Airways, and we met our tour director, Kirstie, at Heathrow - she guided us for the entire trip until we landed back in the UK. The flight was smooth and we all sat near each other, so anyone who was a little nervous about flying was with others in the group.

Our holiday was based around two different hotels, the Tierra Hotel in Athens and the Nafpaktos Hotel. Both were perfect for our needs - clean and comfortable, with friendly staff, and, being a solo holiday, we all had our own rooms, including views of the beach at Nafpaktos. Both had a lounge and bar area to relax in, and this was a nice place to be able to meet up with others on the trip, to discuss what we had seen and make plans as smaller groups to explore the local areas in our free time. The Nafpaktos Hotel is family run and put on a ‘Greek Night’ for us with amazing local dishes, live music and Greek dancing. You could tell how proud the staff were of sharing their culture and it was nice to see their passion. Both hotels were in great locations to visit all the sights in the area, and the Nafpaktos Hotel was close to both the beach for dips in the sea, as well as the main town for an afternoon stroll.

Most of our days consisted of a coach picking us up and taking us to the bigger sights, such as the Acropolis, Olympia, (the original site of the Olympic Games) and Delphi, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. We met local tour guides at each who took us around the sites and brought them to life for us. As someone who enjoys Greek mythologies, I found it fascinating when the tour guides explained the different myths & legends associated with the places we were visiting. Often in the afternoons we came back to the hotel and were able to explore for ourselves. A few of us would go to a bar to get a drink or dip in the sea to cool off. Having this time also meant that I could just relax in my room or on the balcony if we’d been up early or done a lot of steps that day.

One of the days we were taken to a family-run restaurant where we were taught to make traditional cheese dumplings, before being served a delicious meal that included our culinary efforts! My favorite activity was when we stopped at an olive oil farm and were greeted with a glass of their own wine and shown the process of making the oil. We sampled the different olive oils and talked through their profiles. After a tour of the farm were shown how they produce their own cosmetic range with the oil produced, and we were served a delicious local meal with more wine and a dedicated olive oil bar to help ourselves to during the meal.

We tried a lot of different local Greek dishes such as Souvlaki and Moussaka which were delicious! In many of the restaurants we had a ‘Greek salad’ with our starters, I really enjoyed seeing all the different variations of this, as they all put their own spin on them. I also enjoyed going for a stroll in the mornings before we were picked up by the coach to get a Freddo Cappuccino - a Greek iced coffee drink.

One top tip is to make sure to ask your holiday director for recommendations of restaurants or activities you can do in your spare time, as they are experts in the places you visit. We had a recommendation for a roof top bar in Athens that had the most amazing view of the Acropolis.

Greece is the perfect destination for many different types of traveller. With a relatively short flight time from the UK, it’s a great choice for those who are new to travelling solo, or travelling in general, as there is so much to see and enjoy within a few hours’ flight. Greece offers something for everyone with its beaches, amazing food, ancient history and rich culture, and being on a guided tour meant we could make the most out of our time - I would 100% recommend Just You and definitely consider a guided tour again in the future, as a stress-free way to enjoy any destination.”

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