For those who love to travel alone

butterbarter

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Whether 1 day is enough depends on how many monasteries you wanna see, much time you spend in each monastery, and how you get from one to the other. If you ride a bike or drive, then the monasteries are just a few minutes apart. If you walk, then it could be a long walk. Check Google maps for a gauge of how far apart they are.

You'll spend maybe 5-15 mins climbing the stairs of each(most have some stairs except the St Stephen), and 30-60 mins at the top.

From this info, you can agar agar how much time you need.

If you are there for the archeological sites, then one of the more important sites in Greece is actually Delphi. It should take you maybe 3-4 hours or so to see the main site and the museum, and just a few minutes for the satellite site. Delphi is on the way to Meteora, and you can also drop by Thermopylae, which is the site of the battle between the 300 Spartans led by Leonidas and the Persian Army (remember the movie "300"?). There's a memorial there.

I didn't go Napflio, but I went to Corinth. Since you only have such a short time, it may not be a good idea to go Napflio, since it is in the opposite direction of Meteora and you'll waste a few hours going there and coming back.

Keep in mind that Nov is the start of the winter season, so many sites and attractions will close earlier (eg, the monasteries), so you may need to spend an extra day to see some of the sites, so you have to be mindful of the time you waste.

How are you traveling around? Are you renting a car? Do you have a driving licence? Car rental is rather cheap. I rented a small car for 7 days and only paid 25 Euro per day. If you rent for a shorter time, you'll probably pay 30-35 Euro/day or so, which is still cheap and can save you alot of time for travel outside Athens. Parking in most places is free and traffic outside Athens is very light and so the drive is very easy.


Is one full day enough? Right now my plan is Athens 2 nights, nafplio 2 nights and meteora 2 nights. I'm thinking whether I should cut out nafplio and do 3 - 3 Athens and meteora, so 2 full days in meteora.
 
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magpierobin

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Oh dear. What was your itinerary like?

Sorry to hear about this. How much money did you lose? So they took your entire wallet?

Thanks for the links and sharing your experience! I guess I have to split my money into different places and keep those with me in the waist bag underneath my clothes.

Did you spend one full day at meteora or more?

I spend 2 nights at Meteora, one night i think is too rush...athens to meteora already took about 5 hrs to reach...
 

butterbarter

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Yes, agreed. 2 nights is better. Then you'll have a full day to visit 4-5 monasteries, enjoy the sunset, and come back for the remaining monasteries the next morning, and buzz off in the afternoon.


I spend 2 nights at Meteora, one night i think is too rush...athens to meteora already took about 5 hrs to reach...
 

magpierobin

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Yes, agreed. 2 nights is better. Then you'll have a full day to visit 4-5 monasteries, enjoy the sunset, and come back for the remaining monasteries the next morning, and buzz off in the afternoon.

Ya, distance is like singapore to kl (5-6 hrs), 3d2n is just right. First day half-day is gone if you took the morning train, furthermore, winter time, sunset very early, you only have 2nd full time to explore the place, 3rd day you can still maybe have half morning day to roam around if you take afternoon bus back to Athens. For me, i took morning bus back to Athens as i don't want to reach Athens late at night...
 
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tempestuous-

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Ya, distance is like singapore to kl (5-6 hrs), 3d2n is just right. First day half-day is gone if you took the morning train, furthermore, winter time, sunset very early, you only have 2nd full time to explore the place, 3rd day you can still maybe have half morning day to roam around if you take afternoon bus back to Athens. For me, i took morning bus back to Athens as i don't want to reach Athens at night...

Thanks both for your sharing. I have already paid for non refundable accomadation in Athens, nafplio and meteora. Would have to forgo the payment if I decide to make changes to the itinerary. Only got myself to blame for the poor and last minute planning. 😔
 

magpierobin

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Thanks both for your sharing. I have already paid for non refundable accomadation in Athens, nafplio and meteora. Would have to forgo the payment if I decide to make changes to the itinerary. Only got myself to blame for the poor and last minute planning. 😔

I think at least 3d2n for each place is min stay, for places that took longer time to reach, more than 7-8 hrs of travel time, maybe you can spend 4d3n, depend on the number of attractions also, provided if you have more days to spare, for athens, i think 3d2n is enough.
 

butterbarter

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Unless you have very specific accommodation requirements or you are booking many rooms, you can book hotels at the very last minute for max flexibility, since this is now the off-peak season.

I book my hotels (and ferry/domestic plane tickets) at the last minute, literally, on my phone. I book hotel rooms on the day I arrive, sometimes after I arrive. My typical pattern is to arrive in town, google (or trip advisor) to find a decent place for makan, and book my hotel while having dinner. Sometimes I book hotels just an hour or so before arriving, while getting gas or at a rest point.

This way, I have total freedom on where to go without being limited by my hotel bookings. With mobile data and thousands of rooms on Agoda/AirBnB, there's almost no way to not get a room, unless it is a festive holiday or peak season. If you are uncomfortable booking so late, you can book 1 or 2 days beforehand.

Lastly, it might be worthwhile forgoing your booking (ie, losing money) if the alternative is a better option. Eg, if you give up the booking for Nafplio and go to Delphi, and the result is a more relaxed, productive trip, then it is worth losing the hotel money over. You are spending thousands of dollars on the trip. Don't spoil it over a hundred bucks or so.

My 2 cents.


Thanks both for your sharing. I have already paid for non refundable accomadation in Athens, nafplio and meteora. Would have to forgo the payment if I decide to make changes to the itinerary. Only got myself to blame for the poor and last minute planning. ******************
 
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Fooney

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Solo backpacking to India during mid November to end of December. Anybody travelling there during this period? Will be fun to meet some sg peeps
 

allan_nalla

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In general, is it relatively easy to extend a stay (at Dorms) while staying there?

I'm backpacking Europe with no fixed plan/itinerary and I have a fear of not being able to extend my stay and I'll have to find a new accomodation if I decide to stay longer.
 

Gian_Png

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solo traveller to taiwan, 4th - 18th dec, hit me up! looking at taipei, hsinchu, taitung, green island
 

magpierobin

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In general, is it relatively easy to extend a stay (at Dorms) while staying there?

I'm backpacking Europe with no fixed plan/itinerary and I have a fear of not being able to extend my stay and I'll have to find a new accomodation if I decide to stay longer.

In my opinion, solo travel is more flexible in last min planning / change of plan and room booking. The only thing I don't like is if you last min extend/change, sometime hostel has no more places/fully booked, and you need to find another place which is further away from the ideal location (close to public transport/convenient store/eatery)...finding a place to stay of course is no problem but finding the ideal location and sometime within the budget is another thing...

For me i will try to stay in hostel near public transport.
 
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Din0saurus

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In general, is it relatively easy to extend a stay (at Dorms) while staying there?

I'm backpacking Europe with no fixed plan/itinerary and I have a fear of not being able to extend my stay and I'll have to find a new accomodation if I decide to stay longer.

So far, I’ve only had to change rooms because a group of 4/6 make a booking.

Obviously, it will depend on demand and you can mitigate the risk by avoiding peak season and top rated hotels. Otherwise, it’s really no trouble finding another place if you’re traveling light.
 

dave13

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hostel yea depend if there have enough bed if you intend to extend in the future.

In general, is it relatively easy to extend a stay (at Dorms) while staying there?

I'm backpacking Europe with no fixed plan/itinerary and I have a fear of not being able to extend my stay and I'll have to find a new accomodation if I decide to stay longer.
 

allan_nalla

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hostel yea depend if there have enough bed if you intend to extend in the future.

So far, I’ve only had to change rooms because a group of 4/6 make a booking.

Obviously, it will depend on demand and you can mitigate the risk by avoiding peak season and top rated hotels. Otherwise, it’s really no trouble finding another place if you’re traveling light.

In my opinion, solo travel is more flexible in last min planning / change of plan and room booking. The only thing I don't like is if you last min extend/change, sometime hostel has no more places/fully booked, and you need to find another place which is further away from the ideal location (close to public transport/convenient store/eatery)...finding a place to stay of course is no problem but finding the ideal location and sometime within the budget is another thing...

For me i will try to stay in hostel near public transport.

Ahh thanks guys, it seems my fear is relatively irrational afterall. Thanks! :s12:
 

butterbarter

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If you have access to the internet (data SIM card) to book hotels, you don't have to worry as long as it is not a peak period or special events. Booking sites like Agoda.com and Airbnb basically puts thousands of rooms at your disposal.

At worse, last minute rooms may not be as nice or may be more expensive, but you should still be able to get a room. Just increase your budget. If you kiasu, book 1 or 2 days before hand, and do your search after checkout time when more rooms are available.


Ahh thanks guys, it seems my fear is relatively irrational afterall. Thanks! :s12:
 

xonix

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Does anybody know whether mid April 15 to 25 will be super crowded compared to mid November in Osaka-Tokyo?
 

allan_nalla

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If you have access to the internet (data SIM card) to book hotels, you don't have to worry as long as it is not a peak period or special events. Booking sites like Agoda.com and Airbnb basically puts thousands of rooms at your disposal.

At worse, last minute rooms may not be as nice or may be more expensive, but you should still be able to get a room. Just increase your budget. If you kiasu, book 1 or 2 days before hand, and do your search after checkout time when more rooms are available.

Yea that's a good point. Still was curious how easy (or not) it was for solo backpackers to extend their dorm stays while visiting. Thanks again for your inputs!
 

butterbarter

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This really easy to test. Just goto Agoda or any hotel booking site/app, and do a search for the hotels in your favorite city for the same day or next day, and see how many results you get.

This will tell you how hard or easy it is to get a room at the last minute. With everything on the web, you don't have to wait till you get to the city to test out your idea. You can do it from your armchair.

I've been doing last minute booking for the past few years, and rarely had an issue. The only time I had a problem was when I was in Ipoh and booked a room rather late, around 8pm for the same night, and I could only find a crappy hotel. Apparently, hotels are in short supply in Ipoh, but I could have avoided this by booking a few hours earlier. Even so, I still got a room. But no other places had this issue, so far.



Yea that's a good point. Still was curious how easy (or not) it was for solo backpackers to extend their dorm stays while visiting. Thanks again for your inputs!
 
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