Where can I get more information concerning Island Strolling in Greece?

Norsk utgave (Norwegian edition)

Secondly, you can find information through getting yourself travelling guides. The selection of guidebooks is so large that we have our own site: "Omtale av reiseguider om Greske øyer på et skandinavisk språk" and "English language travel guides to the Greek Islands and mainland Greece" .

A third way to obtain information is to get in touch with different Greek National Tourist Organization office around the world. The Greek National Tourist Organization office in Norway is unfortunately closed up (Summer 1998), but you can still dial a Norwegian phone number, - and then you are connected to the Greek Tourist bureau in Sweden. From this bureau you can receive brochures and other information concerning a lot of the Greek islands (usually in English, sometimes in Swedish). One little tip: I have written to many of the bureaus myself , but I always write to all the Nordic bureaus. I do this because I have experienced that the information I receive from them is somewhat scanty. By contacting both the bureaus in Sweden and in Denmark I usually get enough information on the topic I have interests in.

A fourth way to get more information is to read the catalogues from various tour operators. Here you can actually obtain the information on the different destinations which each tour operator offers. Here we will recommend the catalogues from the tour operators Gulliver and Apollos. And probably the best Norwegian catalogue with the most objective and practical information; the catalogue from Lilleput Reiser. See the list with adresses and telephone numbers/faxnumbers to the Norwegian tour operators. Order these catalogues!

In addition to this, there are travelling magazines. The magazine Vagabond has had many thrilling articles about isle hopping in Greece. This magazine has also published its own guide books on Greece.

Books are another good source of even more information. Below you will find examples of some Norwegian books. Try to find similar books on your own language.

Ferdinand Finne is a high-ranking isle collector. During a period of 12 years, he has visited about 35 islands. In this book he describes experiences from about the half of them. The book is easy to read for a person who loves Greece. It is illustrated with simple pen drawings from the author himself. In the introduction to the book he asks the following question – which also could have been mine: "Why did I return to The Cyclades year after year? Ah, if I only could give a gratifying answer!" Read the book and find some of the answers Ferdinand Finne gives!

This is a book with many stories from the whole Mediterranen area, and also some stories from the Greek islands. This book also contents many beautiful impressions from many of the work of art by Ferdinand Finne. Here you can find "everything", from simple drawings via silk impressions to sculptures. Many of his work of art have motives from Greece. This is really a jewel of a book!

This is really an exciting book! The author travels both south to different Greek islands and also to the mainland Greece. The book describes very well all the problems a tourist could experience back in 1859. You can definetively state the fact that Greece was not adjusted for tourism in 1859. It says, among other things, that in the whole Greece there was only 100 kilometres with roads which could be used by horse and wagon. This book has changed much of my comprehension of Greece and tourism in Greece. It is so much of the Greek tourism which actually is cultural rooted. For instance, nowadays, as tourists we are annoyed by taxidrivers who charge 3 to 5 times the usual price from us, especially in Athens. Well, the same happened in 1859. Back then, it was of course horse taxies, but tourists were someone possible to squeeze some extra money from. Another point is this thing about the classification system of seats at the ferries. Back in 1859, as today, there were 3 classes, with the seats on deck as the low-price alternative. Here most of the Greeks travelled, and still travel, carrying food to eat and equipment to sleep on deck. I will recommend this book til all who really loves Greece!

The last and maybe also the best way to obtain information, is nevertheless to speak with your friends, collegues and acquaintances, who have been on isle hopping themselves. They all have lots of useful information and knowledge!

My last tip is simply to get in touch with some of the persons who have written a message in our Guestbook or in our Question/Tip-coloumn, if they have written something that you find especially interesting. My impression is that most of them willingly will help you with information, that is, if they happend to know the answers to your questions.