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Friends of the Ionian answer a few questions that are asked again and again. |
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1. Are there ATM's on the islands, and how many?
2. Can I visit nearby islands by ferry?
3. How useful are my credit cards
4. Where can I change my travellers cheques
5. Where should I exchange my money?
6. How far will my money go?
7. Can I hire a car?
8. Is driving difficult?
9. Can I hire bicycles or should I take my own?
10. Can I hire a motorbike?
11. Can I get around the island easily on the bus?
12. How hot will it be?
13. What clothes should I pack?
14. What is the best time of the season to go?
15. How warm is the sea?
16. Is the water safe to drink?
17. Is it difficult to find vegetarian food?
18. How much is a meal out likely to cost?
19. How do I tell the waiter that I have a nut allergy?
20. Can I learn Greek?
21. So how do I learn Greek?
22. How does Greek sound?
23. Is there a language course I can follow?
24. Are there opportunities for walking?
25. Are there any campsites?
26. Can I go diving?
27. Are there any dangerous animals?
28. Will my mobile phone work?
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| Are there ATM's on the islands, and how many? | top |
| Check on the back of your card; if you have a Cirrus sign (most do) then you will be able to use it at Greek cash points. You can also take money out via the usual suspects of Visa and Mastercard.
There are limited cash machines on all of the Ionian islands but these are for the most part situated in the main towns of the islands, so check how far away from them you are before you go. FoI would not recommend solely relying on these as sometimes they are not working properly. Machines can be found in all the capitals of the islands and most of the bigger resorts. |
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| Can I visit nearby islands by ferry? | top |
| It's not as easy as you might think for some islands, although not impossible. Ferries do operate between the islands, but ports are not always close to resorts so the main difficulty is often getting to the port on time and without incurring large taxi costs. The easiest and most frequent ferry links go to the mainland. Check out our links pages for ferry operator web sites to check on times. There are numerous excursion boats that go to neighbouring islands, but you must return on the same boat as most of the operators are not licensed to work as ferries so they are not allowed to just take you one way.
Ferries to Corfu
Daily boats go from Corfu Town to Gaios on Paxos & to Igoumenitsa on the mainland. Day excursion boats to Paxos operate from other places on Corfu, such as Kavos.
International ferries also dock at Corfu Town coming from Brindisi and Ancona in Italy. You can sometimes catch ferries from Corfu Town to Kefalonia this way, although most are going on to Patras.
Corfu/Paxos Port police (harbour master) tel 0661 32655/30481
Ferries to Paxos
Daily boats from Corfu Town. Leaves from the new port. The ferry is one of those landing craft style ferries, known as a slipper - papoutsi in Greek - on account of its shape. The ferry might have to go via Igoumenitsa on the mainland. There are sometimes small ferries that go to Paxos that take only foot passengers. These sometimes leave from the Old port. Contact the port police for more up to date departure times.
Corfu/Paxos Port police (harbour master) tel 26610 32655/30481
Ferries to Lefkas
Most visitors to Lefkas arrive via the mainland. It was the Romans after all which cut the causeway to make Lefkas an island in the first place. Coming from the south you can get to Lefkas via Kefalonia and the port of Fiscardo and via Ithaca and the port of Frikes.
Boats travel from Fiscardo (Kefalonia) to the southern port of Vassiliki or the eastern port of Nidri on Lefkas. They also go from Frikes on Ithaca - on board the Captain Aristides - to the eastern port of Nidri. Nidri is the better served of the two ports and there is a frequent bus service from here into Lefkas Town.
Lefkas Port police (harbour master) tel 26450 22322
Ferries to Kefalonia
The Captain Aristides slipper boat operates daily, leaving Nidri on Lefkas in the early morning for Fiscardo in the north of Kefalonia via Frikes on Ithaca. It then returns on the same route.
To visit Kefalonia from Zakynthos you must travel either via the Peloponnese and the port of Kilini or Patras or by taking the small ferry from Agios Nikalaos (Skinari) from the very northern tip of the island.
Leaving early and late in the afternoon, catching the ferry from the port at Agios Nikalaos isn't that easy without your own transport. The ferry docks at Pessada in southern Kefalonia after a couple of hours. Again you will need transport to get out of Pessada and onto the rest of the island.
Kefalonia Port police (harbour master) tel 26740 2224
Ferries to Ithaca
Most of the boats to Ithaca leave from Sami on Kefalonia. The Penelope (slipper ferry) runs across to Piso Aetos on Ithaca. Difficult to get out of Piso Aetos unless you've got your own transport. Also leaving from Sami, the big ferry which docks at Vathy.
You can also make the journey to Ithaca via Fiscardo in the north and from Nidri on Lefkas. Sometimes ferries also travel to Ithaca from Vassiliki on Lefkas and Agia Efimia on Kefalonia. The best bet is to go via Sami.
Kefalonia Port police (harbour master) tel 26740 2224
Ferries to Zakynthos
Ferries ply largely to the mainland and the port of Kilini from Zante Town. A very frequent service, throughout the day in giant ferries. You could then take another ferry from Kilini to Kefalonia. This route would take the greater part of a day though.
The only other way to visit Zante from Kefalonia is from Pessada in the southern Livathos region. From here the ferry goes to Agios Nikalaos (Skinari), the port in the far north of Zakynthos. Difficult to get to without your own transport, and difficult to get to the populated part of Zakynthos when you get there. The ferry runs twice daily.
Zakynthos Port police (harbour master) tel 29650 22417
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| How useful are my credit cards | top |
| Cash talks louder than credit cards on these islands. Although you will be able to use credit cards at many gift shops, for pretty much everything else such as tavernas, travel etc, you really will need cash. If you get stuck with a credit card & nothing else, you will be able to get cash at banks, bureau de change and some mini markets. |
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| Where can I change my travellers cheques | top |
| You will be able to change travellers cheques at numerous places in all the main towns and resorts. If you are staying well off the beaten track, you may have to go to a town to do this. But you are likely to have a car if you are sting in the middle of nowhere.
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| Where should I exchange my money? | top |
| Generally speaking you will get a better rate of exchange in Greece, but there are now sometimes 'no commission' deals to be had in the UK. |
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| How far will my money go? | top |
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Greece is no longer a cheap place to take a holiday. Prices have undergone a sharp increase that has affected almost everything including food, drink, gift, taxis so that you will need to take cosiderable amounts more on holiday than once before. When in the Ionian at the end of last season, I made a general calculation of cost equivelants being about 1gbp to 1 Euro. ie where you might spend 20gbp on a meal here, the equivelant meal would cost about 20 Euro.
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| Can I hire a car? | top |
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You can hire a car in Greece, but you can also book one before you go with Friends of the Ionian. This way, you’ll save money, get a free information pack and help put something back into the region where you take your holiday. Check out our individual island pages as we find out the best deals for you.
Can I take a car off the island?
Not so easy. Companies operating only on one island won't let you do this because of the difficulties incurred in the event of a breakdown. If you do want to take a car off an island, it may be worth contacting some of the international car hire companies such as Avis, Eurocar, Budget or Hertz as they have centres on several islands so may allow you to do this. |
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| Is driving difficult? | top |
| The main difference for U.K. drivers is that Greece drives on the right hand side of the road. Main roads on the islands are, for the most part, good. We would urge you to be careful though, especially at night. Large areas of the islands are pitch black at night and roads can have sudden hairpin bends. Take a map with you. |
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| Can I hire bicycles or should I take my own? | top |
| There are certainly places on all the islands to hire bikes. In all major resorts there are numerous places. Be careful to check out the bike before you hire it. Check the steering and the braks and that the bike is the right height for you. They are, generally speaking, inexpensive and a fun, cool way to get around. You can take a bike over on the plane but there is usually an extra charge. |
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| Can I hire a motorbike? | top |
| There are lots of bike hire centres on the islands for the most part hiring out mopeds. To hire one of these you will need a normal driving licence. Anything bigger, you will need to show a proper motorcycle licence. Having seen the results of a few moped accidents, and experienced a few minor injuries of my own, I would have to recommend that if you have no experience of riding a motorcycle, that you don't hire one.
Just because you are holiday, doesn’t mean you are immune to accidents. Most people come off at some point and even if you don't sustain any serious injuries, losing a chunk of flesh out of your leg is not one of the ingredients for a great holiday. You just try going for a swim!
If you must hire a moped, do check your insurance if you are not properly licensed, any insurance offered by the hire company won't be valid! You should also ask for a helmet (you are unlikely to be offered one!) and wear long trousers, preferable jeans so if you have a minor accident it will be your jeans that get ripped rather than your legs! |
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| Can I get around the island easily on the bus? | top |
| Once described by an overzealous FoI writer as 'great green behemoths of the Greek road', the bus is a great, and relatively safe, way of getting around. Their usefulness is, however, quite dependent upon where you are staying. Most buses are heading to or from the main town of the island, so if you are staying a long way from the island's capital, you will easily be able to go there and a few places en route, but not much else.
If you are staying close to the main town, you've got it fairly easy. Watch out though, most Greeks siesta in the afternoon so there aren't many then. For more details of bus times and routes, see FoI's At a Glance Guides or check out KTEL (the local bus company) on our links page.
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| How hot will it be? | top |
| Check out our link for today's weather. The box below will tell you how hot it is today. For a more detailed forecast, you can visit Wunderland at the address below.
http://www.wunderground.com/global/GR.html
You can expect the temperature to be somewhere in the region of;
- April; 68 degrees Fahrenheit
- May; 75 degrees Fahrenheit
- June; 80 degrees Fahrenheit
- July; 90 degrees Fahrenheit
- August; 90 degrees Fahrenheit
- September; 83 degrees Fahrenheit
- October; 78 degrees Fahrenheit
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| What clothes should I pack? | top |
| Take a light jacket & jumper for the evenings in spring & autumn. In the summer the temperature can still drop quite low. If you visit the mountains it'll also be handy to have something extra to wear. It is always a good idea to take a cool pair of trousers and long sleved top, to cover your ankles and wrists in the early evening - it stops those mozzies making too much of an attack!
At the beginning or end of season, there can sometimes be rain, in the Autumn this can be thunderstorms as the summer breaks. A jacket is therefore advisable, unless you want to get wet that is.
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| What is the best time of the season to go? | top |
| It all depends on what you're after. At the beginning and end of season you generally get better prices, less congested beaches and more chilled locals. The temperatures are also more amenable, there are less mosquitoes in some places and you get better displays of flowers and other plants. After all the summer is for most plants in the Mediterranean, their winter.
The high summer has all the downsides, including the factory closures which propel huge numbers of tourists to the resorts from across Europe. But if that's when you have to go on holiday, the secret is in picking the right resort or location where you can escape. At least its going to be hot!
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| How warm is the sea? | top |
| If you're going in May, the sea will still be quite cold but it generally pleasant by June for the summer months. Looking a bit dodgy again by the end of October as the Autumn storms begin to roll in.
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| Is the water safe to drink? | top |
| Theoretically tap water is safe to drink but it's not recommended if for no other reason than it doesn't taste that good. Since bottled water costs practically nothing, it's better to be safe than sorry. |
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| Is it difficult to find vegetarian food? | top |
| Most main meals do involve meat or fish but most of the time there a very good range of vegetable dishes on the starters menu so the best thing to do is pick a few of those. These are known as orektika or meze. This is also a great way to test out a lot of dishes! The exception to this is if you go to a Psitaria, or grill house, where meat is the staple fare. Here veggies will probably have to make do with salad and chips.
Try Yigantes (giant butter beans), Kolo-ki-thakia (fried courgettes), Melit-zana (fried aubergines) or Melit-zana-salata (aubergine salad), Saga-naki (fried cheese), Horta (wild 'greens') and many more. The easiest way to ask for vegetarian food is by saying 'horas kreas' (lit. 'without meat') or vegetarian which is 'horto-fagos' (lit. vegetable-eater). Watch out though; a one time vegetarian visiting Corfu, I was served 'vegetarian' ham pizza and a couple of cheese and ham toasties 'horas kreas'(without meat)! |
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| How much is a meal out likely to cost? | top |
| This, of course, varies but the cost of food has certainly risen since the introduction of the Euro. Whilst in Greece at the end of last year, we worked out a general rule of thumb that we were spending about the same figures in Euros as we would in pounds at home. Greece is still approximately a third cheaper than the UK but it is no longer a cheap place to visit. If you are eating at a fish taverna, it is recommended that you check out the price of the fish, before you eat it as these restaurants can be very expensive! Local wine is usually pretty cheap, but if you are drinking bottled varieties, particularly imported varieties, it is also recommended that you check the price. If you are visiting Kefalonia, why not join Friends of the Ionian. Your membership card will get you a 10 percent discount at 50 tavernas across the island. |
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| How do I tell the waiter that I have a nut allergy? | top |
| Click here to download a pdf file (Adobe Acrobat) stating that you have a nut allergy and cannot eat any products containing nuts in Greek, to show to anyone preparing food for you. |
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| Can I learn Greek? | top |
| As Greek is the National language, it's hardly surprising if you hear it being spoken around you. With its own alphabet, you might feel a little intimidated but you need not worry. Almost any Greek under the age of 40 will have impressive English! So maybe you're thinking to yourself that there’s no need to learn to learn a word of Greek after all. Wrong!
Those few word of horrifying Greek which issue from your mouth next time you're too drunk to contain your self-control will be gratefully received. Most people just don’t make any effort at all and many Greeks end up speaking a different language all summer. Would you be prepared to learn Greek for foreign visitors to the UK? If you make just a little effort, you'll be rewarded with better service, more smiles and a better holiday - that is guaranteed. |
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| So how do I learn Greek? | top |
| It all seems rather intimidating and difficult for a two week holiday. Our suggestion at FoI is to be realistic about it. Getting a 25,000 word dictionary is next to useless for you. Get a Greek phrase book and mark the words you want to learn in it.
Selected between 5 and 10 words a day
Make a real effort to learn them by saying them over and over again (out loud) until you can do it without referring to the book. Keep doing this for a fortnight and you'll have nearly a hundred words under your belt. Test your words on your friends and family so you get over your embarrassment of speaking Greek before you do it for real. |
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| How does Greek sound? | top |
| The easiest way to find out is to log on to FoI's web site and visit the Speak Greek pages where there are lots of word s and phrases with real audio files. You can listen to the words and learn how to pronounce them. |
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| Is there a language course I can follow? | top |
| For full members of FoI we will be launching a 10 Days to Go special language course soon. This will be a structured language course for you to follow and will make it easy-peasy for you to quote Homer in original text. Well almost! |
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| Are there opportunities for walking? | top |
| Yes there lots of opportunities for walking and exploring. FoI has never been against lounging around on beaches it's just that lounging around on beaches can get boring. And besides what happens when its too cold to go on the beach, it's rainy or windy? The secret is knowing where to start. Check out FoI's self-guided trails pages - there is one on each island page - which are available to download straight to your computer. Or simply go out and explore - go on, get lost in Greece! |
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| Are there any campsites? | top |
| Yes there are a few places with camping facilities on some of the islands. Generally speaking there are not many as cheap apartments and rooms are the preferred residences. Anyway, here are the locations of a few that we know of...
Corfu
Numerous opportunities for camping on Corfu. There are several sites along the northern coast between Sidari and Roda, one close to Paleokastritsa and one by Ermones on the west coast. There are also several on the east coast between Ipsos, Dassia and Gouvia.
Paxos
As far as we are aware, there are no official campsites on Paxos.
Lefkas
There are several campsites on Lefkas. Two are situated just off the road that runs between Lefkas Town and Nidri; one about 3km south of Lefkas Town, just before the village of Kariotes and the other about 3km south of that. There is also a campsite in the south of the island, in the region of Poros, just along the coast form Mikros Gialos.
Kefalonia
The island has at least two campsites; one at Lassi and one at Sami.
Ithaca
As far as we are aware, there is no official campsite on Ithaca.
Zakynthos
Numerous sites offer camping facilities on Zakynthos. There are several along the coast between Tsilivi and Alikes, one close to Porto Roma on the Vasilikos peninsula and one at Porto Koukla, just south of Laganas.
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| Can I go diving? | top |
There are dive centres on most of the Ionian of the islands and there are plenty of places where diving is allowed. There are also plenty of restricted areas as well. The Greek government is concerned that their ancient underwater treasures might be taken from Greek waters. Check out the links page for diving centre's sites. There are also dive centres at the following places who either have no web site or it could not readily be found.
Gaios on Paxos
Nidri on Lefkas
Fiscardo and Agia Efimia and Poros on Kefalonia
Vasilikos and Agios Nicholaos on Zakynthos
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| Are there any dangerous animals? | top |
| The only really dangerous animal is the Horn-nosed viper but there are so few left that you are almost as likely to see the Yeti. Oriental hornets can give you a bit of a shock and a sting would be nasty but they generally keep themselves to themselves. If you are stung by one of these anywhere in the region of your head or neck, FoI would recommend finding a doctor or hospital as soon as possible.
Mosquitoes can immensely irritating so take some repellent or long trousers for the evening and get a plug in repeller to switch on before you go to bed. I am told that the liquid form plug-ins are less toxic than the heat-up pads but I don't leave them in for too long; just enough to clear the room. Some islands suffer much more than others from mosquitoes. The wetter islands, such as Zakynthos and particularly Corfu suffer more than islands with little water - Paxos, Kefalonia and Ithaca. |
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| Will my mobile phone work? | top |
| Mobile phones are quite widely used on the islands now with several networks available so you shouldn't have any problems, except perhaps in the most remote or mountainous of places. Do watch out though, it is easy to run up a huge bill. You will get charged in the region of 0.70 gbp just to connect and you are likely to be charged for incoming calls, voice messages and anything your supplier can think to charge you for. |
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