June, 2012

If you are looking to visit or indeed make your way across the incredible country that is Greece, you will need to know something about the transport. Amongst issues of a small number of service providers in various areas, translation and transliteration there are also relative disparities between the information provided and offered to those travelling across the country as a whole, or across selected regions.

The first thing to note is that prior to travel it is almost certainly advisable to brush up on a few characters of the Cyrillic alphabet. This is an excellent idea because it is only in heavily touristic areas that English translations are provided below the puristic Greek forms on timetables and maps. If you are familiar only with the Roman alphabet then there is the potential for confusion and without some prior knowledge navigation will be potentially very difficult, especially in areas such as Lamia or Levadea where they receive a relative low number or tourists and few people speak coherent English. Announcements are ticket names will become far easier to interpret and listen out for if you are familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet on a basic level, as often assumptions of visible phonetics are incorrect. For example, a lower case ‘N’ in the Cyrillic alphabet is a ‘v’ in phonetic terms and so will affect word pronunciation, resulting in unexpected sounds when listening out for boarding calls and potentially resulting in you missing your mode of transport/ or indeed getting the wrong train, for example.

The next issue is coverage. The Greek transport network is certainly extensive in terms of basic roads, but there are issues surrounding the relatively disjointed rail network and bus services. Often, a journey of maybe only a few tens of kilometres such as Lamia to Kalambaka will take over 3 hours with three changes in the most direct route available to travellers. Buses are perhaps more advisable but can often appear highly priced when placed against the time they are expected to take, until one realises that the time projections for certain bus and coach journeys are woefully inaccurate and can be up to four times as long. This makes it very difficult to plan around various journeys if you have not pre-booked and been assured of the duration, and thus, it is advisable to leave a reasonable amount of time relative to the distance you are covering.

The mountain road in some areas of Greece are long are long and winding, resulting in massively extended journey times which can cause severe delays in their cumulative effect. Be very careful when looking at a route planner/road map because often only the main roads are shown, and these are very often not the roads that will be used, and mountain roads are the reality, as the services are not specialist or direct, but instead council providers which act as a local as well as regional service. This results in long journeys and many changes between local buses to travel a regional distance – a real headache if you haven’t brushed up on your Greek!

The final issue is that of transliteration, which arguably is more related to linguistics than navigation, although the two are undoubtedly linked. The issue of transliteration stems from the two forms of Greek. The purist form is katharevousa and the popular, colloquial form is Dimotiki. Now, this is an issue in terms of translation and usage because often there are two Greek words for each English word, a Purist form and a colloquial form. Some of the differences are negligible such as Athina vs. Athens or Thebes vs. Thiva, but sometimes the differences are considerable and can therefore cause navigation and interpretation issues. For example Corfu which is Kerkrya in the colloquial form (issues when asking directions) or indeed fournos for bakery as the colloquial form but the store sign reading the purist form-word Artopoieion’.

Although the aforementioned highlight some potential issues that anyone could encounter when travelling across Greece, it is rather pejorative and does not account for the numerous excellent service providers and localised systems. However, at present it seems that without greater national interconnectivity, navigation will remain difficult in some areas.

To make your journey that little bit easier use providers such as LowCostHolidays and Thomson to book as much as you can in advance!

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When travelling clothing should not be an afterthought.

Instead it is essential that you take the best clothes that are suited to a wide range of conditions, all of which you may encounter on your travels.

Clearly, there are dos and don’ts which depend rather heavily upon your selected destination. For example, if you are visiting Spain in June, July or August, then it is logical that the majority of the clothes you pack will be suited to a hot climate, and the opposite serves for colder countries and/or cold seasons.

One of the best ways to check this is by looking at the average temperatures in conjunction with long range weather forecasts in order to ascertain the likelihood of clement or inclement weather. However, even if it’s predicted to be a record breaking hot-season, you should, in accordance with the universal travel saying, be prepared for anything. So what are the basics?

First off, you will need an outdoor thermal jumper and under layer top.

Now although this may sound ridiculous and contradictory for a hot region, you never know what to expect . Often, hot weather can be followed or indeed punctuated by periods of heavy downpours and oceanic or mountainous winds, which combined can be conducive to hypothermia, especially at higher elevations. Companies such as Berghaus stock these goods and they are often very light as well as reasonably priced, and therefore very affordable.

The next item of clothing to recommend is a good pair of sunglasses.

Although viewed as more of an accessory, a good pair of polarised sunglasses such as Ray Bans can protect your eyes from the often very strong UV rays and direct sunlight, ensuring that they are not damaged. Areas of high risk are simply those which receive a lot of sun and have little cloud cover, but of course mountainous areas present the extremes of these characteristics and combined with large areas of snow cover threaten to damage your eyes.

Another essential item is a hat.

In these countries it goes as common knowledge to say that firstly, if you can avoid being outside and active during peak sunlight (e.g. midday) then do, but secondly that if you are travelling and outside during these intensive hours, it is best to wear a good quality hat of a light colour, so as to reflect most of the sunlight’s energy. If possible it is also important to cover the back of the neck and together these two clothing tips will prevent sunstroke and heat exhaustion, which can be very dangerous indeed.

As a final point, it is highly advisable to take several vests with you (exactly how many depending on then intended duration of your stay), as they are highly practical and easy to wear in hot weather.

This is a great idea simply because although t-shirts are great, the problem is that they can be harder to wash on the go as they are often made of thicker material. Vests reduce the extent of tan lines (moving them up to your shoulders) and are very easy to hand wash in places such as hotel or hostel sinks and baths.

Although not an extensive list, these simple tips can surely ameliorate your travelling experience, ensuring that you stay as safe and as cool as possible in hot regions. There are of course many other items such as underwear, shorts, trousers, and comfortable shoes etc, which have been omitted but are a good idea for any form of travel.

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There is more to Sweden than Ikea or Abba, and the capital, Stockholm, provides a pleasant change from the usual city break of Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona or Rome.

British Airways and Sweden’s national airline, SAS, run frequent flights from London to Stockholm’s main airport, Arlanda, and Ryanair flies from Gatwick and Stansted.

Alternatively, if you fancy approaching the city by sea, Stockholm is one of the main ports of call on the Baltic Sea cruise itinerary, which is run by most of the main cruise operators – ranging from the glitz and glamour of the giant ships of Royal Caribbean, to the smaller, luxurious and more intimate boats operated by Silversea or Seabourn. If your budget doesn’t run to that, then DFDS operates ferries from Harwich to Copenhagen in Denmark, and then from there it’s across land by train.

Built over 14 islands – forming part of the Stockholm Archipelago – Stockholm is a beautiful city to see on foot – providing you visit at the right time. Avoid the winter months when the temperature frequently dips well below zero degrees – unless you are heading to one of the Christmas markets. Make sure you dress up warmly and try a glass of ‘Glőgg’ (mulled wine) to take the edge off the cold. Also make good use of the city’s metro. It’s clean, fast and reliable, but like the rest of your visit, you will find it expensive. Take plenty of Krona – the local currency – although the euro is widely accepted.

The best time to visit is the summer, when you can meander through the city’s many parks and open spaces. Swedes love their coffee culture, and you will find many open air cafes to sit and watch the locals go about their daily lives. If you get the chance, try something much stronger than coffee; the local speciality ‘Akvavit’ is distilled from grain (like vodka) – its distinctive taste derives from the added herbs and spices, the most common dill or caraway. Try it with ‘inlagd sill’ (pickled herring) or ‘gravad lax’ (gravlax).

There is a wide choice of hotels, from youth hostels for those on a budget, to the luxurious Grand Hotel. The Swedes love to shop, and you will recognise immediately one of their biggest exports, H&M, which has numerous outlets throughout city – although at distinctly cheaper prices than in the UK. Like other cities, covered malls have sprung up throughout the capital – the largest, ‘Gallerian’. Look out for local home stores where you can pick up accessories to give you the fresh, clean Scandinavian look – there is more to Sweden than Ikea. If you need inspiration, the National Museum is an exemplary showcase for 20th century design.

If you’ve got any Swedish travel tips for the What’s Hot readers, share them below…

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