This was another unfortunate first for this trip – the first time a trip has been interrupted due to a local strike. We learned of the strike from a notice posted in the hotel elevator that we happened to see on our way back to our room after dinner. We had been taking the stairs, not the elevator, and could have easily missed it.
The strike, announced the day before, kept all ferries in port for the 4 following days and included the stoppage of local bus and metro transportation to the airport. We therefore had to cancel our weekend plans to visit the nearby island of Hydra. We were lucky that we weren’t stuck on Hydra or we would have missed our flight to Jordan in two days’ time.
After weighing our options for a half a day we decided to move up our scheduled flight to Amman, Jordan from Sunday afternoon to Saturday. With the transportation closures along with sympathetic shops and some government run sites closed, our time was better spent at our next destination. This turned out to be a plus as we added a walking tour of Amman that we hadn’t originally planned for.
When planning a trip to Greece these days it’s prudent to keep in mind that your trip could be interrupted by a strike. While some are planned in advance others pop up without much notice. It pays to keep your options open, watch the news and bulletins and don’t make your itinerary too tight, especially before an international flight. We found this English language bulletin helpful for information on upcoming strikes.
One final note, consider a driving trip through Greece instead of one that relies on public transportation. The next series of posts documents our road trip through the Peloponnese. Less visited than the islands, the region offers great seaside landscapes to explore.
May 7, 2016
For links to all the posts in this series see the Greece page.
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