Hidden Greece. Spring 2026
We are doing the first of the year. Anyone else? What do you think? We are looking forward to walk in the footsteps of Paul and Titus in Crete as well as Alexander's forbearers. What should we do in free time?
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We are doing the first of the year. Anyone else? What do you think? We are looking forward to walk in the footsteps of Paul and Titus in Crete as well as Alexander's forbearers. What should we do in free time?
Comments
Look up Matt Barrett’s Greece. He has an amazing website filled with information about Greece. He does have a separate page on Thessaloniki. Perhaps hire a private guide specifically towards historical characters from the New Testament. Matt does recommend a private guide who lives there.
I’m taking this trip mid October and am going in early to Thessaloniki. While the guide Matt recommended is busy the day I’m there, he did recommend a colleague that I’ve hired. He’s taking me to areas not included in the itinerary.
Have a great time and post a review please!
Thanks and will leave a review. We are using Matt Barrett's Greece as a guide. Great suggestion. Will get serious about booking something when we get our final itinerary from Tauck next week.
I am looking forward to your feedback on the tour. It looks very interesting. Enjoy!
We can only do one-Pylos or Olympia-which would you do?
Got good information from many people on Tauck Facebook page. We will make final decision while on the tour. Either one will be great.
Follow-up post tour. The Pylos option went away. See my part 1 of the tour review below.
Update from Filip, our tour director:
• Packing: Bring sturdy, comfortable footwear for uneven terrain, a jacket for windy conditions, & entertainment for long drives.
• Anticipate significant walking on uneven surfaces, & extensive interactions with local experts.
• Stay vigilant against pickpockets in crowded areas
• Embrace local coffee culture
• Carry personal hygiene items like hand sanitizer and tissues for public restrooms
Here part 1 of a review of the trip.
Overall Impression
• Great country and people! Visit if you are able.
• We were the first tour to do Hidden Greece. Tauck had things planned and ready per the expected Tauch way.
• Tour director, Filip, is a planner and gave us good pre-tour info via maps, and booklets. He is knowledgeable and an experienced TD. He was training others on the tour, so we didn't get to interact with him as much as we did with TDs on other tours we did previously.
Less coach – more folk:
Less coach: Too much time on the coach, e.g., we spent six hours between two days going back and forth between The Romanos resort Costa Navarino near Pylos and Olympia. If we had stayed in Olympia, we would have saved at least four hours and had time to see Pylos. However, due to bus (coach) time we didn’t get to see Pylos as planned. We thought it amazing how our drivers maneuvered those full size coaches through the narrow streets of the old towns and cities.
More Folk: We had a wonderful tour, lunch and wine tasting, and Greek folk entertainment (traditional Greek dancing accompanied by local musicians). More of experiencing the culture would have been great. We saw wonderful archaeological sites but not much of the Greek culture.
Check the holiday calendar
We were there prior to and through the Orthodox Easter holidays, the biggest holiday in Greece, and similar to our spring breaks in the US. Thus, many Greeks were on holiday making sites and restaurants more crowded, and we faced some closures of sites as well.
Local Guides
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Overall great with one that not only knew the facts but brought the stories alive and made us feel like we were part of history. I got to play the Spartan with the six-pack abs
No problems with pick-pockets.
Did embrace the Greek coffee culture. The frozen instant coffee drink was different and good.
Thank you. I am looking forward to reading the rest of your trip report.
Me too! I depart in October and eager to hear the rest of your impressions.
Part 2 Review (Dates April 10-21, 2026)
Hotels
Four of the five hotels were Marriot brands. Our take:
Don’t forget your washcloths since some hotels (even 5-star) did not have them.
• Electra Palace Thessaloniki – Five star. Small rooms but expected and worth it for the service, food and location. Wonderful hotel. Most of Tauck folks were on 5th and 6th floors. Great breakfast buffet. Wonderful meal (Tauck provided) for a romantic evening alone in the rooftop restaurant. Rooftop restaurant with view of Aristotle square and the bay was our favorite place in the hotel. Our welcome dinner was there. The lounge in the atrium was a smoking facility. Food and service (as everywhere in the hotel) was 5-star, but we didn’t return because of the tobacco smoke.
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• Santa Marina Arachova Resort – Five star. They were open only because of the Tauck tour. Staff was wonderful as was the one dinner we had there. Amazing view of the mountains. Good breakfast buffet.
• The Romanos Resort (Costa Navarino) – a Marriot luxury collection. Nice room, good view of the ocean and property. Special meal and restaurant, The Flame, had a limited Tauck menu. What we had was good but would have liked more choices. Dinner and breakfast buffets were good.
Here’s the rub – we didn’t see any sites or culture there. We wanted to see Pylos but the long drive to and from Olympia took too long. Our guide canceled the sight seeing trip that would have been too late for some of us to make dinner. Also, the next morning was a very early departure.
• Hotel Grande Bretagne (Athens) – Five stars. Impeccable service. The location was perfect. Rooftop restaurant with view of the Acropolis was our favorite place in the hotel (similar to Electra Palace). Room was small, well furnished and quiet.
However, we and many of the others on the tour were in the very back of the hotel and didn’t have any view at all. Tauck purposefully put us in rooms that did not face the streets due to the noise, but they said we would see the atrium/courtyard which many of us didn’t see. We saw HVAC units.
• Domes of Elounda (Crete) – another Marriott luxury collection. This hotel was billed on its website as the “best family resort” in Crete. Well it was family with lots of children and thus a very loud dining experience in the buffet. Kids and parents were not considerate of other guests. The restaurant did have a nice view of the bay and property. Our farewell dinner was in there best restaurant and met the standard we expect on Tauck tours. It was billed as Michelin-like, but it wasn’t Michelin rated.
The room was weird. Walk-in shower that sprayed into the other parts of the bathroom, and there were not any shelves to put soap, shampoo, etc. The bathroom only had one out of the way towel rack. The few free items at the minibar were nice. The view was a good view of the mountains. The room was located on the highest point of the resort and away from most of the loud families. The room was spartan
I just returned from France and a couple of the hotels did not offer washclothes. I used a hand towel as a substitute.
I’ve said this before, the use of wash cloths is an American thing. I’ve heard Tauck say in the past when they had more clout in hotels that they especially ask for washcloths when Tauck are there. Most of us in Europe use our hands as wash cloths. Wash cloths are insanitary after one use as they take too long to dry out before another use.
Yes, Europeans have no need or use for washcloths. As I say, you are a guest in their country. Respect their norms and culture; don’t expect them to conform to American “standards.”
Nice review Texasseean. Thank you.
A considerate host attempts to meet the needs of the guests.