Even though many people are avid devotees of warm-weather vacations and refuse to visit Europe until the springtime, there’s something to be said about embracing the winter season.

 

Beyond Christmas and the holiday season, some cities are pleasantly crowd-free and inexpensive during winter time; they offer cosy and authentic experiences you won’t be able to enjoy during the Christmas hustle and bustle.

 

One thing is for sure, you'll be happy you're in one of these European destinations when the temperature drops.

 

Copenhagen, Denmark

Visit Copenhagen during wintertime, and your vacation is definitely going to be great. A cosy Scandinavian feeling can be found throughout Copenhagen, from pastry shops to inviting hotels. You don’t have to stay indoors to enjoy the season, though. Copenhagen’s Michelin-starred restaurants, Tivoli Gardens, and canal views are certainly worth bundling up for. Oh, and the buildings of Nyhavn look even more colorful against a snowy background.

 

Venice, Italy

Venice has become so overrun during peak season that recently there have been attempts to limit tourist overflow. But come wintertime, the city actually lives up to its La Serenissima nickname. The canals are quiet and shrouded in mist, hotels offer discounted rates, and you can actually visit St. Mark’s Basilica in peace and quiet.

 

Budapest, Hungary

Winter is, hands down, the best time to visit Budapest. Seeing the Hungarian Parliament surrounded by ice drifts on the Danube will definitely make you embrace the cold! Budapest’s grand cafes, museums, and thermal baths will seem so much more welcoming after spending some time outdoors, exploring the city.

 

 

To read the complete list of amazing European winter destinations, please visit: Condé Nast Traveler

 

 

 

More than a million different apps are available both on the Android and Apple app stores so sorting the good from the not so good can be a bit frustrating. The same applies to travel apps too. While some of them can really improve your vacation, many others aren't even worth the time they take to download!

 

Tripsavvy has put together a list of the most useful free travel apps that should definitely find a place on your smartphone or tablet before your next vacation.

 

When traveling to a foreign country, you’ll find Google’s free translation app very useful. Simply type the words you want to translate, pick a target language, and there you go. You can also download a language pack ahead of time so that you don’t even need to be connected to the Internet to translate your phrases and words!

 

By scanning your surroundings WiFi Map lets you know the location of the nearest wireless connection. The free version shows any networks within a little over a mile of your current or a searched location, while the paid version lets you download entire city Wi-fi maps ahead of time to use while offline.

 

3. Sit or Squat
Sometimes when you’re traveling, knowing where to find the nearest public toilet is vitally important. The aptly-named Sit or Squat app does exactly that, scanning a database of over 100,000 restrooms that have been rated “sit” (good) or “squat” (bad) by users to show those close to you.

There’s no doubt TripAdvisor is the biggest game in town when it comes to user reviews of hotels, restaurants, and attractions. The app provides almost all of the information available on the site, including access to the forums, and syncing of bookmarked pages between the web and app versions.

5. Tripit
Tripit is one of the most popular travel apps out there. With Tripit, you can track complex itineraries without having to manually type in the specifics of every flight, hotel, and transfer. For online bookings, all you need to do is forward the confirmation email, and, in most cases, Tripit will automatically recognize it and update your itinerary. Once you've dowloaded the latest updates of your itinerary, you can access it without an Internet connection.

To read this list in full, please visit: Tripsavvy.com

Ryanair the low-cost, Irish airline has announced the addition of 12 new routes to its Greek 2019 winter schedule. According to the announcement, Ryanair will be connecting Athens and Thessaloniki with major European cities and Israel. The airline’s 55 routes from Greece, will deliver 5.6 million travellers per year, and support more 4,200 jobs at Ryanair’s Greek airports.

 

More specifically, Ryanair’s Greek winter 2019 schedule includes new routes from Athens to Barcelona, Kyiv (two per week), Madrid, Nuremberg, and Tel Aviv. Furthermore, from Thessaloniki, Ryanair will be flying to Budapest, Copenhagen, Krakow, Manchester, Malta, Stockholm Skavsta, and Tel Aviv.

Article Source: Greek Travel Pages

 

 

"Oman has strong bilateral relations with Greece and the introduction of this new flight will certainly help strengthen relations even further," Abdulaziz Al Raisi, Oman Air's Chief Executive Officer, said. "Oman is turning into a very important regional logistics hub with world-class infrastructure and we are sure Greek investors and companies recognize the opportunities here," he added.

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

 

German airline Condor has added new Greek destinations to its summer 2020 program.

 

The German airline has announced that as of May 1, 2020, it will offer non-stop flights from Germany’s main airports to the Greek islands of Samos, Santorini, and Mykonos. Next summer season, travelers will be able to fly directly to Santorini and Mykonos, from Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, and Munich. Furthermore, Condor announced a new flight from Stuttgart to Samos, which can also be approached from Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Munich, and Hanover.

 

In total for summer 2020, Condor has scheduled services to 17 Greek destinations from seven German departure airports.

To read this article in full, please visit: GTP

The Romanian flight carrier Blue Air will be adding Athens to its new summer flight program for 2020. As part of this new program the Bucharest-based company, will introduce eight new routes departing from Bucharest, Bacau, and Iasi.

 

As of June 15th, Blue Air will provide flights from George Enescu International Airport in Bucharest to Athens International Airport. It is reported that the prices of Blue Air’s new destinations will be starting from as little as €19,99 and may include other discounts through the airline’s yearly subscription program.

 

So, for those seeking to travel to Athens from Romania, or the other way around, it may be worth looking into the largest Romanian airline.

 

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

Amidst the travel chaos that has been caused throughout the world by the Covid-19 outbreak, Air Canada is the first airline to announce it will resume flights to Athens from Toronto and Montreal.

 

The easing of travel restrictions on Canadian citizens led to Air Canada’s decision to resume its service— something US airlines s still can’t do.

 

Incoming flights from Toronto are scheduled for every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday and from Montreal every Thursday and Sunday. Since the lockdown in mid-March, these will be the first non-stop flights from North America to Greece.

To read this article in full, please visit: pappaspost.com

As of June 3, American Airlines will launch a new service between Athens and New York, JFK airport, for the 2021 summer season.

Flights will be conducted on a Boeing 777-200, and tickets have been available for purchase since January 25.

“We are looking forward to launching our new route between New York and Athens, which will offer enhanced connectivity between these two great cities,” said Tom Lattig, vice president EMEA sales and distribution, American Airlines.

The new route to Athens is a significant milestone of the new strategic alliance between JetBlue and American Airlines. The alliance offers travelers improved connectivity and access to the biggest network in the Northeast.

To read this article in full, please visit: gtp.gr

Transavia Airlines will increase the number of flights they operate between France and Greece for the summer of 2021, according to the company’s CEO.

The airline is planning to increase the number of their 2021 flights between the two locations to equal all those they operated in 2019, a banner year for tourism in Greece.

Greece has long been an extremely popular destination for French tourists, with many frequenting a number of Greek islands. Transavia is hoping to capitalize on the increased interest in travel between the two nations as the coronavirus situation begins to improve.

It is perhaps surprising that sales this year are surpassing the number of tickets sold in 2019, as the world is still fighting a global pandemic with new challenges in beating the virus cropping up often.

However, it is clear that people all over the globe are tired of shielding in their homes and need to relax and make memories now that the epidemiological picture is beginning to look better in both countries.

More direct transatlantic flights to Greece than ever before

With many millions of Americans being fully vaccinated, the interest in traveling to Greece is increasing all the time.

As a result, major tour operators and airlines have added a record-high number of new direct flights to the country to meet the burgeoning demand.

Airlines including American, Delta, and United have announced direct flights to Greece from a number of major US cities, making the two nations more connected than ever before.

To read this article in full, please visit: greekreporter.com

US airline companies in 2022 will start direct flights to Greece earlier than in any other year, Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias announced.

Following a meeting with US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt at the ministry in Athens, Kikilias said that American airline companies this summer will operate 14 direct flights every week between eight large US airports and Athens International Airport (AIA).

According to the minister, direct flights from the US to Athens will start on March 7.

Greece recently lifted the mandatory Covid-19 testing before travel requirement for fully vaccinated travelers coming from the United States.

During his meeting with Ambassador Pyatt, Kikilias said he expects Greece to attract more Americans this year after the Greek authorities scrapped the rule.

The Greek tourism minister also said that bookings from the US to Greece this year were up compared to the same period in 2019. He also informed that the ministry is exploring ways to attract more tourist flows from America to Greece.

According to Bank of Greece data, the number of travelers from the US to Greece during January-November 2021 rose by 266 percent (to 382,000) year-on-year and their spending was up by 603.4 percent to 598 million euros.

In 2019, Greece saw over 1.1 million arrivals from the US.

Originally published on: news.gtp.gr