When I first read about the free walking tours that SANDEMANs NewEurope offers, I was a little apprehensive.

My first thought was “How good could a FREE tour actually be?”. It was just one of those offers that simply sounded too good to be true. To our surprise, the SANDEMANs New Dublin tour was worth every minute of the almost four hours that we spent scouring through some of Dublin’s most famous sights.

Where it Starts:

Between Dublin Castle and City Hall on Dame Street [Map]. Just be sure to look out for the tour guides in the RED shirts.

Meeting Times:

11AM and 1PM

What you’ll see:

Dublin Castle, Dubh Linn, Dublin’s Medieval Walls, Viking Remains, Norman Dublin, Georgian Dublin, Christ Church Cathedral, Adam and Eve Church, The National Library, Famous Writers, Temple Bar, U2- Origins of the rock legend, Ha’Penny Bridge, Spire of Dublin, City Hall, Trinity College, Leinster House, Chester Beatty Library, St. Stephen’s Green, 1916 Easter Rising and more!

Cost:

FREE! Although, if you truly enjoyed this tour (which I guarantee you will), then be sure to tip your guide what ever you can afford to. These guides rely on their tips. In our personal experience, our guide was excellent and we loved the fact that he intertwined humor into the tour which made the history a bit more interesting.

The SANDEMANs New Dublin Tour is described as “A FREE 3 hour tour we wind down the quiet streets and bound through bustling boulevards, uncovering the hidden sites as well as the famous ones.” and in my opinion, it was that and more!

1. The Incredible Sunsets of Santorini, Greece.

2. Liz & I sitting on the white volcanic cliffs of Sarakiniko Beach on the island of Milos.

3. Taking a pitstop along the southern coast of Santorini.

4. “The Pigeon Girl” out front of the Parliament Building in Athens.

5. An old Honda scooter with a custom Greek paint job.

6. Kisses from Santorini!

7. Candelmas Cathedral Church in Fira.

8. The Greek Flag waves over the white washed homes of Oia.

9. A beautiful day at Perissa Beach.

10. The blue domes of Perissa.

11. The best food in Greece. In my opinion!

12. Liz and the Smiling Goat at the National Gardens in Athens

13. Pistachios for sale!

14. Slowsky the friendly turtle.

15.  A young man shaving fresh chicken at a Gyro stand in Athens.

If you enjoyed this pictorial, feel free to leave a comment below!

1. Always ask for the bill after your finished eating at a sit down restaurant. If you don’t ask, you’ll never get it and you’ll waste your day waiting to pay for your meal.

2. Learn how to haggle. Egypt is all about haggling, whether it’s for a water at the corner store, a souvenir at the market, or a non-metered taxi fare. We even haggled for the price of our hotel room in Dahab. Seriously, everything is negotiable!

3. BYOTP! (Bring Your Own Toilet Paper). You’ll be hard pressed to find toilet paper in most restrooms in Egypt. The toilets here have a built in bidet spray nozzle so if you don’t have toilet paper with you, prepare to walk out of the bathroom with a wet or dirty behind.

4. Accept that you’re a foreigner an you will be stared at all day, every day. Literally.

5. Be careful who you trust. You should be able to figure out who is genuine and whose not after the first two minutes of conversation. If the person starts mentioning “baksheesh”, tell them “shukran” (thank you) and simply walk away.

6. Ask the price before buying water, soda, candy, and anything else that you can buy at a convenience store. If you’re used to paying a lower price in other shops for your item, haggle with the shop owner a bit!

7. Use the Metro! It’s one of the most efficient metro systems that I’ve ever been on. Be aware, it’s extremely rare that you’ll run into other foreigners on the metro. We took the metro almost every day and not once did we see another tourist or foreigner. Considering you’ll be a minority, expect the train to go silent at times and when you look up, the entire car will be looking at you in awe.

8. Bring comfy shoes! Walking shoes or comfortable sneakers are best. You can wear flip flops or sandals but just realize you will be one of the only people wearing them and you’ll surely return with black feet from the dirt and pollution of Cairo.

9. Carry hand sanitizer! You’ll constantly be touching doors, hand rails an money while you’re in the city. You’re not the only one touching those things, remember there’s an estimated 25 million people in Cairo. Think about it!

10. Watch where you’re walking while exploring the city. The sidewalks, and streets of Cairo are not maintained well. I was really lucky I didn’t break my ankle after I fell into a hole in the sidewalk while walking through the city. This was not your typical pot hole, this was a hole that engulfed my leg, all the way up to my knee! Dangerous isn’t even the word!

11. Buy bottled water, lots of it! You’ll need to brush your teeth, drink plenty of it during the day and maybe even pour some on yourself after being in the extreme heat all day.

FYI: As a foreigner you’ll be charged 4 to 10 EGP for a “big bottle” (1.5, 2 liter) of water depending on where you purchase it.  You can get these bottles for 2 EGP, trust me. Just haggle with the shop owner and you’ll get it for 2 EGP. If they say that it’s 4, or 5 EGP just tell them that you buy water down the street all the time for 2EGP and they’ll usually have no problem selling it to you. Just act like you’re aware of what the “Egyptian” price is and you’ll be fine.

12. Eat where the locals do! Not only will it be the cheapest food that you’ll encounter during your travels, but you’ll also most likely be eating traditional Egyptian food which is what you should be doing if you’re in Egypt anyway, right? Even as a picky eater, I have to say that traditional Egyptian food is great, and very filling to say the least!

13. Don’t be afraid to cross the streets. The driving and traffic will be shocking when you first arrive. Crossing the streets at first is quite intimidating but after you get used to it, you’ll be crossing the streets with ease. Don’t bother letting the “Tourist Police” assist you with crossing the roads, if you do they’ll most likely want a tip (baksheesh) after they assist you in crossing.

14. Cover up! If you’re a woman you’ll need to be sure to cover up while in Egypt. Yes, it’s hot but it’s part of life here. Liz got away with wearing capri pants, and tops that covered the tops of her arms. She didn’t wear a headscarf, but all local women do wear these. Liz also got away with wearing flip flops for most of the trip through Egypt without any issues.

15. If you’re confident with your haggling skills, take a black taxi to your next destination. The black taxi’s are considered private and never have running meters. Most people will tell you to avoid them and use a metered taxi while in Cairo, but we took many black taxi’s during our stay. All you need to do is ask a local how much it should cost to go from point A to B and use that number to haggle with the driver. Make sure you agree on a price BEFORE entering the taxi. Confirm the price 2 or 3 times before actually getting in to avoid any issues. By doing so, you may save yourself a few pounds. Once again, if you’re confident and aware of the true “Egyptian” prices (what Egyptians would pay for something), you’ll most likely have no issues with agreeing on a price and you’ll be able to avoid being ripped off.

Do you have any tips to offer from your travels to Egypt? If so, feel free to leave a comment below!

1. Waves crashing on my friend Crumb in Alexandria, Egypt.

2. The Alexandria Library (Bibliotheca Alexandrina)

3. Just another day on Egyptian Public Transportation.

4. Mmm, Egyptian Tea!

5. Spices for sale at Khan el Khalili Bazaar

6. The Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza.

7. What’s his name, we ask the tout? “Columbus. As in Christopher Columbus”, he says.

8. Egyptian Sufi dance in Islamic Cairo.

9. Dahab at Dusk.

10. Cycling the coastline of Dahab, Egypt.

11. Snorkeling in the Red Sea.

12. Carpooling in Siwa Oasis, Egypt.

13. A Siwan man heading into a mud brick mosque to pray.

14. A beautiful Siwan Sunset

15. A scary day in the Sahara Desert.

If you enjoyed this pictorial, feel free to leave a comment below!

Believe it or not, the island of Milos has more than 70 beaches! Yes, 70! It’s hard to believe considering the island measures only 14 miles from East to West and 8 miles from North to South.

The four of us decided to rent a car or the day and split the cost which made it very affordable at 35 Euro/day. Minutes after Nick signed his life away, we were on our way to see only three of the seventy plus beaches that saturate the quiet island of Milos.

Our first stop was one of Milos’ most famous beaches, Sarakiniko. When we arrived we realized exactly why it was one of the best beaches on the island.

Sarakiniko

Sarakiniko beach is the most photographed landscape in the Aegean Sea. This isn’t your typical beach back at home. Sarakiniko is made up of bright white volcanic rock that takes its form from being cut, and carved by the wind and the waves of the sea. There are many caves that line the edge of the sea and there is even a small natural bridge that can be crossed.

If you’re an adrenaline seeker, there are many cliff jumping opportunities here! As usual, make sure you swim out to the spot first to find out what the depth is before jumping!

Pahena

Pahena is a less known beach on the north side of the island located just down the street from the town of Pollonia. We originally had planned on visiting Papafragas but we ended up parking ourselves at Pahena for a few hours after we saw how nice of a beach it was. Plus, the waves were crashing and I couldn’t wait to go for a swim!

Pahena was a sandy beach with some big waves. Nick and I must have spent an hour or two riding the waves, and just enjoying swimming at this beautiful secluded beach as the girls laid out in the sun. There were only seven people on the beach at the time when we were there, including us four!

Paleochori

This cliff side beach was much different than any other beach that we had visited that morning. This beach seemed as if it was more suited for families. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t as secluded and private as the other beaches we had visited. I like to visit beaches that don’t offer sun chairs, and beaches that aren’t so commercialized. I’d rather find a gem of a beach hidden behind some cliffs. For families and tourists, Paleochori beach might be your best bet. There were umbrellas and sun chairs to rent here, and even cliff side cafes that offered full menus.

No matter where you go in Milos, you’ll surely run into a beach. I would highly recommend this island if you’re looking for a lesser known Greek island with an assortment of beaches. Since the island isn’t so “popular”, it doesn’t get half the tourism that Santorini, Ios, Mykonos, or any other famous Greek island gets which is good in my book.

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FYI: Renting scooters can be an issue here if you do not hold a motorcycle license in your respective home country. In Santorini, it’s no problem. No motorcycle license necessary. In Milos, the police have a problem with it and the rental agencies won’t rent to you unless you have a MC license because if you get pulled over it’s not only you that has to pay a fine, the rental agency does too!

If you have 2-4 people and you’d rather enjoy your day in a rental car, you can do so for around 35-45 Euro. Shop around, there are many places to rent from and the prices vary. The first shop we went to offered us a car for 45 Euro/day. The second shop which was 100 yards down the road offered us a car for 35 Euro/day. Deal!

Everyone wants to visit the Greek Islands at some point in their lives, right? I mean, how could you resist the famous sunsets of Santorini, the beautiful beaches of the somewhat undiscovered island of Milos, or the all night parties on Ios, and more.

Getting to Greece

As far as getting to Greece itself, I cannot give you too much advice other than to keep an eye out on Kayak.com in order to try to find a decent flight from your country to Greece. They’re generally pretty expensive if you’re traveling from outside of Europe. For us, we flew from Cairo to Athens for a mere $145 USD including all taxes and fees. You can actually find cheaper flights to Athens from Cairo from time to time.

Another idea would be to find a cheap flight to somewhere in Europe or Northern Africa (Egypt) like we did and then find a budget airline from that flies from there to Greece. If you have the time to layover for a few hours in between switching flights it can definitely save you a lot of money rather than going direct to your destination. As for finding budget airline carriers, check out this website called WhichBudget.

Getting to the Islands

It’s very easy to travel to the Greek islands from Athens. The main port in Athens is called Piraeus and is easily accessed by Metro/Train from almost anywhere in the city. The metro and trains are very efficient in Athens and they run from 6AM to 12AM which is pretty convenient if you ask me!

You can book your tickets for the island of your choice by going down to one of the many ticket offices at the port of Piraeus. The most popular lines are Megajet, Blue Star, Anek, and a few others. Figure out where you want to go and what the ferry timetables are by going to (Greekferries.gr).

Once you figure out where you want to go and which ferry company you will need to take then either head down to the the port of Piraeus to purchase your tickets, or make it easier on yourself and purchase them online at your ferries official website. If you purchase online, you will receive a booking reservation number which you will have to provide at the ticket office before boarding your ferry. You’ll also receive your hard copy tickets at the ticket office on check-in.

FYI: Ferry Prices from Piraeus (Athens) to Santorini: 34 Euro. Prices vary when you travel from island to island. For example we paid 16.50 Euro for our ferry from Santorini to Milos.

Finding accommodation on the islands

There are many ways to find accommodation on the Greek island of your choice.

1. The first way is to search online by using Google, Hostelbookers, or travel forums like Thorn Tree, Tripadvisor, etc. If you decide to search the travel forums, head to the Greece forum and post your questions about accommodations. You’ll surely hear back from many locals, and people who have traveled to the island of your choice. They may also be able to give you great advice on where to eat, where to shop, tips on activities and excursions, and more!

2. The second way to find accommodations is to talk to someone who has been to the island of your choice. If you’re in Athens, just ask around when you’re in the cafes, shops, and restaurants. You’re likely to find someone who has been to or knows someone that has been to the island of your choice. Ask them where they stayed when they visited. You never know, they might even know someone that lives on the island that might be able to find you a great deal on your accommodation.

3. The third way is the way that we’ve been doing it. Just show up! Don’t book any accommodation before heading to the island of your choice. Show up and you’ll be amazed at how many apartment and hotel owners that are awaiting your arrival.
The best part about this is that you can often find the best deals by booking your accommodations this way. Picture this, there’s 25 or 30 hotel and apartment owners that all want your business. They’re pushing past each other trying to get you to glance at the brochure that they’re waving in your face. They are at your mercy! Think of it this way, they need YOU! You don’t need them.

By choosing to simply show up on the islands of our choice, we locked in the following prices.

Santorini: 30 Euro (approx. $36.00 USD/night) at a hotel called Katefiani Villas located in Perissa. The owner Jacob provided a free transfer from the port to the hotel/apartment (this is always included, but ask to be sure) and when we arrived we were ecstatic with the condition of our room. It was an extremely clean room with a queen sized bed, tv, refrigerator, air conditioning, private bathroom, beautiful balcony with table and chairs, and best of all it was a two minute walk from Perissa beach. There was a mini market three buildings down, restaurants all over and a supermarket within 10 minutes walk. The location was perfect, the beach was beautiful, the owners were very helpful, and the price was excellent. We highly recommend this place if you’re headed to Santorini.

Milos: 50 Euro (approx. $60.00 USD/night) for a beautiful two bedroom apartment with a fully equipped kitchen, full sized refrigerator, living room, dining room, and giant balcony that was located about 2 minutes walk from the main port of Milos (Adamas). We split this apartment with a couple from Colorado that we had met on our travels. Splitting the cost of this apartment meant that we had two nice private bedrooms in a spacious apartment with a full kitchen so that we could head to the supermarket and cook up a feast, and that we did!

The amazing thing is that you can actually find cheaper accommodations that we did, but you’ll have to be ready to really haggle if you want to get yourself a room for two for less than 25 Euro/night.

If you need a cheap place to stay in Santorini or Milos, please contact the following:

Katefiani Villas (Santorini – Perissa):  Jacob is the honest owner of the amazing Katefiani Villas located in Perissa. Feel free to contact him on his mobile number +30 6946 590351. You’ll also be able to find him at the port by asking around for Jacob of Katefiani Villas.

Nicki (Milos – Adamas):  Nicki is a woman who owns a scooter rental shop, a hotel and many apartments in Adamas. We stayed at one of her places for 25 Euro/night and it was top notch. We highly recommend that you contact her if staying in Milos. Mobile #: 6936 942724

Getting around the islands

Scooters and Rental car shops are readily available and plentiful on the islands. We rented a scooter for the day in Santorini for 10 Euro. In Milos the four of us rented a small car for 35 Euro/day.

There are also public buses that will bring you to different areas of the islands but these buses are slow and it might not be worth it. I cannot give advice on this as I either walked or rented a vehicle on both of the islands that we visited.
Saving money on the islands

Depending on where you’re staying or where you’re heading to on the islands, it can be pretty pricey to shop, eat out, etc.

1. My advice is to find yourself a room or apartment that has a stove top or fully equipped kitchen like we did. You can save tons of money by simply taking a trip to the grocery store with a meal in mind and within an hour you’ll have a feast of food cooked. Save the left overs for later or pack them for lunch before you head to the beaches! At the least, make sure you get a room with a refrigerator so you can keep your drinks cold and maybe even throw some fruit in there for the morning.

2. Talk to the owners of shops and get to know them. After a few minutes chatting with the shop owners you may be lucky enough to catch a discount on an item you’re interested in purchasing. Either way it’s good to be social, and you may even learn something interesting about the island from your new friend.

3. Rent a scooter or car to make the most of your stay. Be sure to ask your hotel, apartment owner which place they recommend when it comes to renting vehicles. Sometimes they work with different car rental shops or have a friend that owns one that may be able to give you a deal on your rental.

To see more photos of our trip to the Greek Islands be sure to check out the following photo albums: Santorini & Milos

If you found this post to be helpful, feel free to leave a comment below!

We pull up to the port of Santorini with no reservations. We’re hoping that we’ll find a better deal on accommodations by simply just showing up at the port and haggling a little bit with the hundreds of hotel and apartment owners. As we step off of the ferry we’re bombarded by these hotel hawkers yelling at us asking “Where do you want to stay?”. “Fira, Oia, Perissa”, they call out excitedly.

I step up to talk to a guy trying to advertise his hotel in the capital of Fira. He explains that his hotel is just two streets back from the famous “caldera” view. “Only 40 Euro per person” he says. I tell him to take a hike and all of a sudden a man steps into our circle and says “Why not try Perissa?”. I take a quick look at his brochure and after talking with him for a few minutes I feel that he’s somewhat trustworthy so we decide to spend the night at his place which is supposedly a two minute walk from the black volcanic sand beach known as “Perissa Beach”. I’m also thinking that we’ll check out the rooms first and get the free ride from the port to Perissa. If we don’t like the rooms, we walk down the road and find something else!

Once we arrived at Katefiani Villas we were very surprised to find that everything that he advertised was true and it was even better than we expected for the price. The price was only 30 Euro ($36 USD) per night for a double room with private bathroom, air conditioning, TV, refrigerator, and a nice private balcony with some pretty nice views.We came to Santorini hoping to find something less than 50/Euro per night, so 30 Euro to us was a great deal!

The next morning our new friends Nick and Jess from Colorado showed up in Santorini, but only for one day before they take off to the island of Milos. Since they only had one day to explore Santorini, our plan was to  explore as much of Santorini as we could by scooter and that’s exactly what we did.

We rented scooters from a shop nearby our hotel called Moto Manos. The owner wanted 15 Euro per day for the scooters but I talked him down to 10 Euro (about $12 USD). My bargaining skills are pretty good after spending a month in Egypt. After some small paperwork the bikes were ready to go.

First stop; Fira, the cliff side capital of Santorini with views that look over the caldera. It’s filled with all sorts of shops, restaurants and hotels that range from 35 Euro to 1000 Euro per night depending on the location.

We made a quick pitstop in a small shop that was offering free wine tasting and ended up trying a few wines along with a vicious shot of Absynthe. Let me tell you, there’s nothing like a shot of Absynthe at noon time to wake you up.

Next stop, Oia! We drove the entire southern coast of Santorini on our way to Oia and it was one of the coolest rides I’ve ever been on. We tore through the twists and turns along the coastline until we reached the home of the most beautiful sunsets in the world!

If you’re headed to Oia for sunset, you need to make sure to get there early. I mean at least 1.5 hours early. If you can imagine, most people travel to Santorini just for the sunsets alone so be ready to experience crowds of people coming from all over the island to see this spectacle. We set ourselves up with a nice spot on a rocky ledge and enjoyed a bottle of wine and a loaf of bread with olive oil as we waited to experience what everyone had been talking about.

The sunset at around 8:50PM and it was as amazing as you’d expect it to be. It was a great moment for us on our trip and I don’t think it’s something we’ll ever forget. To share the experience together with our new friends made the day that much better.

For more photos of our travels to Santorini, check out the Santorini Photo Album

It’s just after midnight in Athens and we’re just arriving. We spent the last sixteen hours sitting at the Cairo International Airport and then we hopped on a very short two hour flight from Cairo to Athens. We’re exhausted!

We pass through immigration, snatch our bags from the luggage belt and find our way to the public bus which will bring us to Dafni. Dafni is bus station and also a metro station that is very near to where we’re staying tonight. The last time I spoke with our soon to be Couchsurfing host, she said she would meet us at the Dafni bus stop. Fifty minutes later we find ourselves at an empty bus stop. There’s not a soul in sight. It’s 1:00 AM and my mobile has no credit left on it. We’re two foreigners with oversized backpacks full of gear, and no backup plan. Plus, right about now we’re looking like the perfect targets for a robbery, something that happens quite often in Athens. Especially at night.

A car pulls up and two men jump out. I cross the street and ask one of them if I can borrow his mobile to make a quick call. Within 15 minutes our our host Roxani shows up and we begin our walk to her flat which is located about 10 minutes walk from Dafni station.
When we finally arrive and drop our bags, our host quickly offers up her bed to us and she says that she will sleep on the couch. We try to decline but she is persistent. We’re not in the mood to argue right now and getting to sleep in an actual bed tonight is pretty hard to pass up.

The next morning Roxani cooked us up a delicious Romanian Omelet and before we know it we’re on our way to explore Athens!

Roxani took us to the Parliament to see the guards, through Syntagma Square and all of it’s shops and then to a traditional Greek cafe where we spent two hours drinking coffee in amongst the locals.

Marios, a friend of Roxani picks us up from the cafe and takes us to a mountain that offers a three hundred and sixty degree views over the city. The views were incredible to say the least.

From the top you could see the port of Piraeus, the original stadium where the first ever Olympics were held, The Acropolis, the American Embassy, and more.

We stayed with our CS host Roxani for three nights before departing to Santorini and it was hard to leave her. She was one of the best hosts we’ve encountered as of yet. If you’re heading to Athens as a couple, don’t hesitate to look her up on Couchsurfing. We were Roxani’s first CouchSurfers and we hope to cross paths again in the future. Thanks Roxani!

For more photos from Athens, check out our Athens Photo Album

Greetings from Sham’s Restaurant here in Dahab!

We loved Sham’s so much that we ended up spending a lot of our days here. It’s okay though, because we have nothing else to do! Sham’s is a relaxing sea side restaurant with bedouin style seating with hundreds of big puffy pillows, colorful rugs, and small sit down coffee tables.

The staff make this place a fun atmosphere to hang out at, and one of the most important services that Sham’s offers is the free Wi-Fi internet. As far as food goes, Sham’s has the best value for the money. The food quality is excellent and tended to taste much better than the other restaurants that we tried during our visit to Dahab. The prices are on point and are much cheaper than our hotel’s restaurant (Penguin Restaurant).

We’re known here on a first name basis now. As I walk up to Sham’s each and every morning I hear one of the owners yell “Hey, my brother from another mother!”. They treat us very well here, and usually bring out desserts on the house, give us discounts on meals, and more. If you’re in Dahab and you’re looking for a chilled out spot with good food and good prices, head to Sham’s.