A total of 21.9 million passengers, up by 10.3 percent, compared to the same period in 2016 at 19.9 million, have gone through Greek airports in the first six months of the year, according to data released recently by the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA).

The number of travelers going through Greek airports in June rose by 14.1 percent at 7.3 million – a 8.7 percent increase in domestic travelers and a 15.8 percent rise in international visitors.

In June, the largest passenger traffic was recorded at Athens, Heraklion, Rhodes, Thessaloniki and Corfu airports with 2.168.155, 1.080.803, 784,484, 649,589 and 471,668 passengers respectively.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

Summer is just another reason to travel, especially to places with plenty of sea, sun, and sand! Recently, Travel + Leisure published their list of Top 10 Islands in Europe and the 10 World’s Best Islands and not surprisingly, a few of Greece’s islands made the list!

 

Coming in at number 4, 5 and 6, on the Top 10 Islands in Europe were Crete, Paros, and Rhodes and the Dodecanese. Listed among some of the most beautiful islands in the world, the popular travel site featured Santorini as number 5.

 

Please visit Travel + Leisure to read both articles in full:

• The Top 10 Islands In Europe
  
  
• The World's Top 10 Islands

 

While many establishments in Athens remain friendly to smoking, others have started taking the initiative to ban smoking altogether or designate smoking and non-smoking sections for their patrons. Instead of scouring the city for these non-smoking places, Athens Coast and No Smoke have rounded up a list for non-smoking dining for us, all in the areas of Glyfada, Palaio Faliro, Varkiza, Voula, and Vouliagmeni!

Click HERE to see Athens Coast and No Smoke's list of Non-Smoking Restaurants!

Want to explore further? Click HERE for more Athenian Smoke-Free Hangouts!

In an effort to increase tourism flows to Evia, the island’s hoteliers association recently signed an agreement with the local KTEL Intercity Bus service for the transfer of visitors straight from the Athens International Airport.

Located northeast of Athens, Evia is the second largest island of Greece. Its coastline is 48 km long and includes numerous beaches, while it is also known for its thermal springs.

The program will operate on a pilot scheme from July 17, 2017 to October 16, 2017 and include four daily round trips between the Athens International Airport and the cities of Halkida and Eretria. The cost of a one-way ticket is 15-17 euros/person.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

Photo Source: Greek Travel Pages

The Telegraph’s guide to the best places to eat in Athens, including where to find delicious seafood, Michelin starred dining and views of the Acropolis.

Widely acknowledged as the finest seafood restaurant in Athens, Lefteris Lazarou’s Michelin-starred Varoulko has long been a magnet for foodies. In summer 2014 it relocated to Piraeus, Mr Lazarou’s home ground, and is now named Varoulko Seaside. The emphasis remains on seafood, so you can look forward to delights such as Grilled squid with black eyed beans and marjoram, flavoured with cumin, followed by Red mullet fillets with a light lemon sauce.

In up-and-coming Metaxourgio, Aleria occupies a neoclassical building with an old tile floor and a romantic leafy courtyard out back. The menu includes delights such as crayfish with sorrel and pink grapefruit, or duck with wild berries, celeriac puree, caramelized shallots and roast turnip.

Address: Megalou Alexandrou 57, Metaxourgio

Telephone: 30 210 522 2633
Website

To read this article in full, please visit: The Telegraph

Greek Economy Minister Dimitris Papadimitriou recently signed the ministerial decision that includes the areas in the regions of Attica and Central Macedonia that shops can voluntarily operate on 32 Sundays a year from May to October.

Shops located in the following areas in Attica and Central Macedonia are allowed to operate on Sundays:

1. The section of Poseidonos Avenue, which is included in the municipalities of Kallithea, Palaio Faliro, Alimou, Argyroupoli-Elliniko and Glyfada.

2. The area of ​​the Municipality of Piraeus that is surrounded by the streets: Gr. Lambraki, Akti Moutsopoulou, 2as Merarchias, Akti Miaouli, Akti Poseidonos, Akti Kallimasioti, Alipedou, Kekropos and Karaoli and Demetriou.

3. The area of ​​the Municipality of Kallithea, which is surrounded by the streets of Egeos, Euripidou, Zervou, Agias Lavras, Kremou, Harokopou, Dimosthenous, Skra, Aristidou, Olympias, Iatridou, Platonos, Spartis, Eleftherios Venizelos Avenue, Pericleous, Metamorfosis, Praxitelouss, Isminis, Thali, Peisistratou and from Heron Polytechniou Square to Poseidonos Avenue.

4. The area of ​​the Municipality of Paleo Faliro, which extends from Amphitheas Avenue to Poseidonos Avenue.

To read this article in full and for more areas where shops will be open, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

Meet Ahmad Alssaleh from Palmyra, Syria. Although he is only 31 and the youngest of ten children, he is not only unstoppable, he is about to celebrate the first anniversary of one of the most imaginative and best restaurants Culinary Backstreets has ever been to anywhere – not just Athens. His restaurant is called A Little Taste Of Home.

It all started back in 2009 when Alssaleh met Magda, a Greek girl who’d gone to Syria as a tourist. In those days he had been working in tourism himself, organizing “camping safaris” into the desert around the ruins of Palmyra on camelback and horseback and cooking traditional food for his groups. He was extremely successful and is even mentioned in foreign blogs about those happier days.

But happy as they were to be together, finding a job proved impossible in those early years of the “crisis,” and it took 18 months to get a residence permit.

“By now I had a little money, and I went to Poland, where a friend had a hostel for sale, but that didn’t work out. So instead I bought a five-room apartment near Omonia and rented it to refugees. This was when the border with Macedonia closed, and there was a housing shortage. All this time I wanted to open a café with Syrian snacks. Monastiraki was too expensive, but this place [in Gazi] was empty and affordable. Again it took many months to get the permit, and I needed more money to fix it up. My brother had an idea. He was among the refugees stuck at Idomeni, and he said, ‘Why don’t you bring up some bread from Athens? We can’t eat what they give us.’

To read the rest of Alssaleh’s inspiring story, please visit: Culinary Backstreets

Photo Credit: Manteau Stam for Culinary Backstreets

The gastronomy of Pelion and Volos will be featured on “The Cooking Odyssey”, an American TV culinary series that showcases the wondrous sights, sounds and tastes of Greece! Broadcast on PBS and Create TV, “The Cooking Odyssey” reaches millions of viewers across the U.S.

Filming for the episode dedicated to Pelion and Volos took place this past April 2017 at various locations throughout the area. The TV show also focused on the various cultural and religious monuments in the areas, including old churches and contemporary museums and the numerous outdoor activities available, such as hiking and horse riding.

The episode of “The Cooking Odyssey” highlighting Pelion and Volos will be broadcast in 2017 and repeated many times in the next three years on PBS and Create TV.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

For Greeks, any form of alcohol is meant to be enjoyed with friends and family and to not be overdone. As Greece Is says, ‘an enviable hallmark of Mediterranean culture is the civilized role of alcohol.’

People drink in joy in Greece. They drink, not to escape but, as they chime their glasses together, to engage more fully in the moment with one another. Even the occasional excess is usually a product of happy exuberance; drunken fighting and regrettable behavior are virtually non-existent.

(Consider also that as famously rich as the Greek language is, there is no specific word for hangover.)

• Whatever the drink, you never just start drinking. After everyone’s glass has been filled, there will be a general “ya-mas!” (“our health!”)to start things off. Thereafter, sip from your glass as you like.
  
  
• When glasses are refilled, it’s not uncommon to toast with the fresh drink. This happens a lot – glasses are generally small (perhaps this very purpose). You can fill your own glass, but fill the glasses of your neighbors first. (Who fills whose glass? Just as you wish, but it much follows the pattern of society in general – men often fill women’s glasses, and you fill the glass of your great aunt.)
  
  
• Whenever anyone new joins the party, all will toast afresh when their glass is filled for the first time.
  
  
• Nicest of all, from time to time someone will simply be seized with the impulse to toast. This is particularly the case at a large table – spontaneous toasts periodically reunite the group. People will sometimes even rise from their chairs to chime glasses with friends at a distance.
  
  
• Is there a happy event coming up? Look forward to even more toasting (“kala stefana!” = “happy wreaths!”= happy wedding).
  
  
• Do join in each toast – if all these sips are going to your head, just barely wet your lips, and drink lots of water in between.
  

You may find that Greek drinking practices, for all their complexity, are adopted with such ease that the art of drinking with style and grace is one of the best souvenirs you’ll bring home.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greece Is

The expansion and modernization project of the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutzos Museum (EPMAS) in Athens is expected to be completed in early 2019, with a grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), totaling 13 million euros.

The new grant will lead to the completion of the gallery’s building B, which will be named “Stavros Niarchos Foundation Wing of the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutzos Museum” and will host permanent painting collections.

“We are happy to collaborate with the Ministry of Culture, EPMAS and the Region of Attica to complete the expansion of the National Gallery, a project which is expected to place it on a prominent position, on the map of international cultural organizations,” said the co-president of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Andreas Dracopoulos.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

Photo Credit: Greek Travel Pages