| | Holiday in Stoupa and Tolon - June 2002 We arranged this holiday through our local travel agent. The Holiday operator was "First Choice" and the Airline was "Air 2000". We flew from Manchester to Kalamata and both flights took off and landed during daylight (but only just). This is important to us as it doesn't make for a good start to a holiday if we land at 3am. This was a two-centre holiday and we arranged a hire car in advance. With hindsight this was a bad move and I'll tell you why: | | The only car we could get was a Renault Twingo. This was a fine little vehicle - economical, easy to drive and ideal for the *very* narrow roads of Stoupa and the surrounding area. Unfortunately, I'm used to a high-powered automatic so trying to operate a gear lever with the wrong hand while driving on the wrong side of the road was quite tricky. In addition, the Twingo did not have air conditioning and you *really* need this in summer! Laughingly, it was equipped with a canvas sun-roof - as if any sane person would want to open that when the sun is beating down and it's over 30'C in the shade! We didn't use the car *every* day. | 
| | The final drawback was that we had to drive from the airport in darkness when we arrived. In addition, we had to make a very long drive back again on the final day. So, with hindsight, it would be better to use the free coach to get between the hotel and airport and hire a car as needed. The choice of car would be better and the overall cost probably lower. I'd get a Hyundai Accent automatic but note that an auto may be double the cost of a manual gearbox car! At the time of writing, the average cost of unleaded petrol is 0.70 Euros per litre - a LOT lower than in the UK! The picture (right) is the "road" to our "Costas" apartment! | 
| | We did not attempt to get the car down the narrow road to our apartment. Instead we parked it 100 yards away in the hotel car park (a dirt field with shady trees). The nice thing about having an apartment instead of an hotel room is that it had a fridge (for keeping bottled water cool) and cooking facilities. A washing machine was all we missed! Note that, as is usual everywhere in Greece, we were not allowed to put paper down the toilet. It has to be put in a pedal bin instead. This takes a bit of getting used to but the bin is emptied every day (and the bedding is changed, too - just like an hotel). | 
| | The picture (above right) shows part of the "Costas" or "Kostas" apartment complex. Our room was at the rear, overlooking a barbeque area and an olive grove. The only noises we ever heard were insects - especially the "titziki" bugs which make a continual, loud, "grrrk, grrrk" noise during the daytime. Drinking water direct from the mountains is available from a tap 200 yards uphill on the main road. We refilled our bottles and put them in the 'fridge. This water is crystal clear, perfectly safe and tastes lovely. | 
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