A slide presentation of Paralio Astros, Greece

I hope I have documented well the photos of this place in Peloponnisos called Paralio Astros (normally about 2 hours and 15 minutes drive from Athens).  It is located east of Tripoli by the sea and is a family resort “town” over-crowded with Greeks during the summer, otherwise, a quiet fishing village.

It has many beaches ranging from sandy, small pebbles, to rocky ones.

There is a Medieval castle (not maintained, and if you know its history, please write me) on top of the hill Nisi (Greek word meaning island), but the Nisi is connected to the mainland Peloponnisos, therefore it is not an island.

The place is not an international tourist spot, however if you are into surfing or gliding, Paralio Astros usually has strong wind in the afternoon for this type of sports.  Nearby, there is a not-well-explored cave under the sea.

The hotel Alexandros near the platia (Greek word meaning center square) is quite clean and every room is equipped with a medium-sized fridge plus a small stove top so you can make your own breakfasts (my family had rented a room before).

There are two camp sites in the area, the Astros Camping (it is not far from the beach Vervena, this beach is very safe for little kids and non-swimmers) and the Camping Thirea (sandy to small pebbles beach and is near windsurfing equipment rentals).

You may take a day trip from Paralio Astros to the first capital of Greece, Nafplio, it’s only 30 minutes drive one way.  Another day trip you can take is to visit the museum at the Mycenae archaeological site.

If you prefer to see Paralio Astros from an aerial view, here is the best I found through an internet search, this one covers well the landscape and is quite up-to-date http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djiWftc6vTI&eurl=http://video.google.com/videosearch%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dparalio%2Bastros%26um%3D1%26ie%3DUTF-8%26ei%3D8un3ScvEJcWEsAb82qmBAg%26sa&feature=player_embedded; or another one with excellent music http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQzVbFFFXwU.

Photos links below:

Paralio Astros (55 images)

The Castle of Paralio Astros (31 images)

The sky and sea of Paralio Astros (13 images)

Tourism in Greece 希臘觀光旅遊

Some advice 小建言:

The best time to visit Greece is when Greeks themselves will not flood into their islands, otherwise you will be competing with local tourists for hotel space. Hotels are most expensive from about mid July to mid August, some hotels may have no price difference for the entire July and August. International tourists should try to avoid visiting Greek islands during the first 2 weeks of August. 來希臘觀光最好不要在八月第一、二星期去小島，因為希臘人那時也最喜歡去，所以這段時間旅館特別貴喔！

Tourism & travel sites 觀光旅遊指南網站:

Ministry of Tourism 觀光部 http://www.visitgreece.gr/
註:公家的網站實在比不上私家的好用
Matt Barrett's Travel Guides 最好了解的希臘指南http://www.greecetravel.com/index.html但網站內的中文資訊沒像英文那麼完整.
Windmills Travel & Tourism http://www.windmillstravel.com/index.php
More Info Travel Guide http://www.moreinfo.gr/index_2.htm
旅遊和其他資訊廣告聯結http://www.visitgreece.com/
Greek island specialist 希臘小島專家 http://www.greeka.com/index.htm
Conference & Tourism 會議活動和觀光 http://www.conferences.gr/homeconf.html
Ferry & cruise info 郵輪資訊 http://www.greek-islands-ferries.gr/, http://www.greece-ferries.com/index.asp

Images of Greece 風景照片特寫

Before you decide where to visit, visit here first 欣賞風景搶先看, 再決定去那兒遊玩 http://www.greeklandscapes.com/photoscapes/index.html you will find many pictures of the landscapes of Greece.

TREK EARTH photos of Greece http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Greece

Featured Islands 較有特徵性小島

Santorini 聖托里尼 http://www.santorini.net/home.html
因為是火山島又發音較近san-do-ree-nee我比較喜歡叫它《山多瑞尼》,最近一次爆發是在1950年,有很美麗的夕陽景觀.

Rhodes 羅德斯 http://www.rhodesguide.com/, http://www.rhodestravels.com/
希臘文是Rodos,有美麗而完整的城堡,靠近Lindos有風景如畫的海灣.整個Rodos島很多北歐女沙灘上半裸日光浴,看多了見怪不怪,但小心希臘帥哥,飽個眼福就好了!

Crete 克里特島 http://www.explorecrete.com/, //www.4crete.gr/index_en.asp,
http://www.interkriti.org/, http://www.cretetravel.com/index.html
是一平凡的希臘最大島嶼, 在Iraklio附近有Minoan Civilization是最早的歐洲文明(2600-1400 BC),但若不是考古學家,可能不會太有興趣. 向東Elounda以超高級hotel聞名,超過Agios Nikolaos之後路越來越難開, 有荒涼之美.最東棕櫚沙灘Vai是保護區. Iraklio向西有Chania 港 http://www.chaniacrete.gr/. 但是我認為Crete最美是Samaria Gorge http://www.west-crete.com/samaria-gorge.htm,峽谷要5到6小時走完16公里,之後再搭船回Hora Sfakion, 要空出14小時並有意志力和体力的人才能完成這種挑戰,春天較佳,夏天怕太熱.

註:奇怪沒提到Mykonos,如你喜歡夜生活、吵的音樂,和遇世界各式各樣的人,當然也可以去走一趟.

Highlight of the mainland

Most tourists tend to neglect the cultural heritage tour of the Greek mainland. Some of the sites that may interest you include the following trips that can be completed in 1 day:
Towards the east of Athens: The temple of Poseidon at cape Sounio, http://blog.pixnet.net/hsuenchin/post/18184356.
Towards the west of Athens: The Korithos' canal, the ancient Mycenae, the biggest ancient theater Epidauros, the first capital of Greece after Ottoman Empire, Nafplio.
Trips that are recommended for overnight stay or 2 to 3 days are: ancient Olympia, Delphi, Meteora.
Trip that requires that you fly to Thessaloniki: Virgina, the location of the ancient Macedonia tomb and museum of the king Phillips (father of the Alexander the Great).