Katakolon or Olympia?

[russ879]

I am torn between taking this day as a rest day and stay in the area or go to Olympia. CD of the Carnival Freedom said in one of his blogs that kids may not enjoy the excursion. It is going to be very hot and on the heel of intensive port days the few days before Any advice would be appreciated.

[sho]

If you like archeology, go. Olympia is a famous ancient site, where the Temple of Zues, one of the 7 wonders in the ancient world was located, and also where the Olympic Games in ancient times took place. However all in ruins now. You have to use your imagination to appreciate what it used to be like 2000 years ago. The site is not really huge, but will take about an hour to walk around.There is also a museum nearby with lots of statues on display.

 

I think it will be interesting for adolescents, particularly if they have studied Greek/classics. Greece is hot in the summer seasons. In fact there was a heat wave last month, with temperature up to 45C.

[russ879]

Thanks for the quick reply. We are a group of 7. Do you suggest the cruise tour or go by taxi? Thanks for all your advice

[Maryutah]

We visited Katakalon on our Carnival Freedom crusie in April, and did the excursion (from ship) that included the Olympic site, and then Katakalon lunch (traditional).

 

The drive to the ancient ruins is about 45 minutes, was pleasant, we had a fun guide (Helen) who was passionate about her job (interesting that she, some of the other guides and bus drivers all drove from Athens to do the back to back tours).

 

Some of our group chose to go shopping in the quaint town just outside the road to to the Olympic ruins (women, can't stop us from shopping!), while the rest of us walked on down and into the site - it was rather amazing, and I enjoyed it very much. Afterwards, back to Katakalon, the lunch was ok - nothing great, but the town was so fun, we grabbed a few bites, a restroom break and spent about 2 hours shopping and walking back to ship -

here are a few pictures: http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/254594/

[sunsetbeachgal]

We had previously been to Olympia on another cruise, so on our Greek Isles cruise last fall we chose to stay in Katakalon. It has some boutiques with souvenir type goods, jewelry stores, a few cafes, but it is quite small and not too memorable. If you have not been to Olympia it is enjoyable and the museum is very nice.

[russ879]

Thank you so much for the beautiful pictures. I am so excited about this trip. You sound like you had a wonderful day. Since there are 7 of us, do you think that it is safe to use the taxi service? Thanks again to everyone.

[russ879]

We are surely going to Olympia. You are right that it is something that should be experienced. I m not entirely on a shoestring budget, but being there with teenagers and shopping I want to budget when I can. The actual price for the tour from Carnival is not bad. I read some where in the threads that taxis run about 80 euro's. I'm not really sure if I should do the tour or take a couple of cabs. Thanks again for the advice.

[veronica10]

Is it nice to ancient olympia and it's better for to go first to olympia and after for swimming

[veronica10]

The most famous beach there is saint andreas but i thing skafidia it's more beautiful for the kid's

[Guest jxw7691]

We visited Katakalon on our Carnival Freedom crusie in April, and did the excursion (from ship) that included the Olympic site, and then Katakalon lunch (traditional).

 

here are a few pictures: http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/254594/

 

I have to thank you Maryutak, I've been through your pictures for the trip on Tabblo and they have been fantastic, we are on the 29th August sailing on Freedom and your fantastic photos have just helped build an already heightened sense of enthusiasm.

[BillnBobbi]

We visited Katakalon on our Carnival Freedom crusie in April, and did the excursion (from ship) that included the Olympic site, and then Katakalon lunch (traditional).

 

The drive to the ancient ruins is about 45 minutes, was pleasant, we had a fun guide (Helen) who was passionate about her job (interesting that she, some of the other guides and bus drivers all drove from Athens to do the back to back tours).

 

Some of our group chose to go shopping in the quaint town just outside the road to to the Olympic ruins (women, can't stop us from shopping!), while the rest of us walked on down and into the site - it was rather amazing, and I enjoyed it very much. Afterwards, back to Katakalon, the lunch was ok - nothing great, but the town was so fun, we grabbed a few bites, a restroom break and spent about 2 hours shopping and walking back to ship -

here are a few pictures: http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/254594/

 

 

Thank you so much for posting those pictures. We leave on the Freedom in three weeks. We decided not to book anything at Katakalon, since we felt that seeing ancient ruins in Ephesus, Athens and Rome would be more than enough ruins. Just didn't see the point in looking at any others which are not nearly as impressive.

Since there are only 3 "Fun days at Sea" over 12 days, we thought this would be a good place to add an extra one.

We thought we'd just walk into the village of Katakalon do a little shopping and maybe grab an ouzo and people watch.

Your pictures of Olympia confirm that we are doing what is right for us.

Nice pictures BTW.

 

BnB

[MVPinBoynton]

BnB,

You might enjoy checking out our recent Med cruise review on the Grand Princess. The review with lots of pics is at www.thepreismans.com . I am sure we went to some other ports you are going to also. Have a wonderful cruise.

[sho]

Katakalon is a small village town, and from what I remember, the cruise usually arrives early in the morning, and you may not find any taxis at the pier. I have been there 3 times and do not remember seeing any taxi stand. For a party of 7 people, you will need 2 taxis, and don't trust the taxi drivers to speak much English. The drive is long, about 45 minutes, hence not sure how much this will cost, plus the waiting time for the taxi to return (Olympia site is in a rather remote area, hence not many taxis waiting there either). You will also want to get a guide to show you around the site and the museum, and the taxi driver won't be able to do any of that.

[boone2]

Just returned yesterday from the Emerald 12 day cruise with this port on the list. We hummed and haahed about whether we should do it or take a day off, the day before, we were told the staff at the sites were on strike so the ruins wouldn't be open, so our minds were made up for us. Not sure if the strike is still going on and how you would find out about it. some of our CC roll call did the trip and just took pictures from a distance, we just enjoyed a ship day.

Terry

[Maryutah]

I have to thank you Maryutak, I've been through your pictures for the trip on Tabblo and they have been fantastic, we are on the 29th August sailing on Freedom and your fantastic photos have just helped build an already heightened sense of enthusiasm.

 

Glad you liked them, have a great time on the Carnival Freedom, we enjoyed it more than we could have imagined! Our service team at dinner was great, the ship was amazing, and the food! Amazing - have fun!!

[eh2zed]

Can't imagine getting off at Katakolan and not going to Olympia. Such history. Standing on the stadium grounds was a highlight of our recent trip. I think teenagers could identify with the Olympic games origins although it is a ruins site.:) :D :) :D

[tyme2care]

MVPinBoynton (Mike)

 

Hello & thank you for the great pictures of your European cruise on Princss. We will be in Europe in September on Celebrity and we'll be at many of the same ports you had in your link.

We also have booked with Nejat about 4 months ago for both Ephesus & 2 half days in Istanbul. Your review & comments of Nejat and the wonderful tour you had, has just made me appreciate more, my des\cision to book with Nejat. If it's ok with you I'd like to mention your web site on my roll call, so others can see all the great pics and information you've provided!

[DavidandPaula]

We went to Olympia on the excursion. It was very interesting but I was fortunate enough to have a book on Greece with a decent section on Olympia which filled in a lot of the gaps that were in the guided presentation. I think Vivienne the guide mentioned about a half of the ruins shown in the book and the info boards at the site only filled in information from the book on one occasion. The book is one of the DK series of books, I will post more details when I get home.

 

We went back to Katakolon after Olympia and had lunch while being entertained with the Greek Folkloric dancers. Then some people joined in Zorba's dance. We have been to far better presentations back here in Australia at Greek cafes and having lived next to Greek neighbours for many years have had exposure to far more greek dishes and dances covering many occasions in the year.

 

Then we went shopping on the way back to the ship but did not find anything exciting.

 

All in all I would suggest going to Olympia with a decent guide book.

 

David

[MVPinBoynton]

tyme2care,

I am so glad you enjoyed the review. Help yourself to sharing our website. We write these reviews to help fellow cruisers and the best way to do that is to share them. Say hi to Nejat for us and have a great cruise.

[DavidandPaula]

The Guide Book we used was the DK Eyewitness Travel for Greece, Athens and the Mainland as it covers both the acropolis and Olympia.

 

David