Greece Dreams Profile [2024] - 1 reviews, 0 trips
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Local operator

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standard

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5 — 65

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Greece Dreams Reviews & Ratings

5/5  Excellent
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Eleftheria

Jun 2019

Provided byGreece Dreams

One of the most beautiful country in the world with rich history and culture

One of the most beautiful country in the world with rich history and culture. People are hospitable and companionate. When you go once you will want to go again and ...

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Editoral Review of Greece Dreams

New company, Greece Dreams, strives to show you the real Greece through in depth cultural tours.

What Makes Them Stand Out?

Greece Dreams is run by a couple passionate about and dedicated to sharing their love of Greece, its history and people. You have the opportunity to design an itinerary catered specifically to your interests or choose from among their pre-created itineraries.

Who Travels With Them?

History and culture buffs looking for a local immersive experience. They have some trips specifically designed for families as well.

Where Do They Operate?

They are focused solely in Greece. Most tours begin in Athens and visit the surrounding area, including the Peloponnese.

Why Travel With Them?

If you’re looking for a unique local perspective on Greek history and culture, they are the perfect choice.

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More Details

Solo friendly

  • No single supplement

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About the company

Greece Dreams Small Group Tours is run by my husband an I as a team. We spent time in Greece living in a little fishing village on the coast of Messini in the history rich Peloponnese, twenty minutes from famed Kalamata, the leading olive producing area. The Peloponnese is a plethora of ancient and medieval ruins steeped in history, which includes ancient Corinth, Mycenae, Epidaurus and ancient Olympia to name a few.


Our story begins when I was in college studying art and had the opportunity to go to Greece in 1997. Larry went with me and we dubbed our adventure: “our second honeymoon”. The class lasted 15 days where we were based on the Island of Aegina and took boat trips to Hydra, Poros and back to the mainland. We stayed in Athens upon arrival and visited such places as Delphi, Corinth, Mycenae, and Epidaurus. On the Island of Aegina we visited the temple of Aphaia. We lived like locals in a wonderful charming hotel and explored the town enjoying the atmosphere, food and taking photographs along with doing our art. The hospitality of the Greeks was fantastic and everybody wanted to get to know us. One Greek invited everyone to his house for food and drinks, but our guides (our instructors, one Greek) ruled it out. But despite that we had a wonderful time eating in local tavernas and dancing the night night away to Greek music.


After the class ended. Larry and I stayed on for the remaining month and did some island hopping to Santorini and Mykonos and from Mykonos we visited Delos. Delos is most intriguing with the entire island being an archeological site. It so fascinated me that I took a photo of ancient pots sticking out of the ground!


From the first moment I experienced Greece I was passionately in love with the people, the language, music, ancient history and art and the glorious weather that enhances its scenic beauty. I had acquired a taste of Greece and wanted to savor more. I wanted to immerse myself in the culture. While I sat in a little airport waiting to be transported to another island I watched tour guides with their charges and thought that would be a great job. From then on I thought it would be exciting to conduct tours with small groups and give them the opportunity to have an amazing experience like I did in Greece. As I boarded the plane, in the early morning dawn, to leave Greece my gaze was drawn to the mountains silhouetted against the grey-blue sky and I vowed I would return… somehow… someway.


After graduating from college with a BA in Art History I was still determined to return to Greece. I decided I wanted to stay longer or even permanently. I could teach English there, which at the time was in great demand. On the internet I found a month long class in Corinth and signed up. This time I had to leave Larry behind and go on my own. I was already taking Greek language lessons here at our local Greek Orthodox Church and made friends with a woman whose daughter finished her college there and stayed. She took me in and let me stay with her when I wasn’t in Corinth. I spent six weeks there and four of those weeks living with other girls in the home of the teacher and his wife and kids. Living like a local. I loved it, getting to know Greece on the local level. The class was a lot of hard work, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the camaraderie we girls shared. After my experience in the class I returned to Athens and started looking for a school to teach in. Unfortunately it was May and soon the schools would be getting out for summer. While my friend’s daughter taught in the local public school I spent day after day going around Athens and suburbs filling out applications and interviewing. With my “timing” off I didn’t land a job, but I had a wonderful time hanging out in the center of Athens and meeting all kinds of people. When I returned home after 6 weeks I was so enthused about teaching there I figured the best way to do it was to go start a new life there.


We sold everything we owned, except the clothes on our backs, rented out our house, all within a month, and flew to Greece. I’d been in contact with a guy from the UK who got us a beautiful new apartment across from the sea in the little fishing village of Petalidi, 20 minutes from Kalamata. He and his wife helped us get oriented to our new location. The village people were curious about us since we were the first Americans to stay in their village so we were a bit of a novelty. Everyone was so kind and welcomed us into the fabric of their community. We made so many friends. Our landlady was there to great us with food when we arrived and when I mentioned I liked something, even though she spoke no English, it would end up on our doorstep or personally in our hands. We communicated through her daughter-in-law. Sometimes we didn’t even have to ask. She gave us a large bottle of olive oil from her supply no questions asked. They brought us food from a neighborhood wedding and a friend of mine would come over and drink coffee. We were invited into their homes and shared their food and their hospitality. I loved market day. Every Friday we would go to the market in town, on the harbor front, and venders would be there to sell everything from fruit and vegetables, fish and live chickens to housewares and clothes. We would buy our veggies and fruit there, go to the local family owned bakery and buy the most scrumptious home made bread and other baked goods. Go to the grocery store and buy the English language paper and sit down in the cool shade of the trees in the square and drink our Frappes from our favorite taverna and read the paper. We’d chat with friends and just soak up the atmosphere. We met a local widower who was so friendly he always waved at us when we walked by his balcony or we would greet him on the quay while walking to town. He was always walking along the harbor and one day I asked him his name. He told me and started talking in Greek. I told him in Greek that I only understood a little. Didn’t matter to him he talked on anyway and we enjoyed his company. If only I had been fluent in Greek I would have liked to hear his story. I know it would be a good one!


Living day to day in the village, embraced by the community, despite our language barriers and different traditions never left us. Even when we had to return home, due to financial circumstances, involving the renters who were not paying rent, I was still determined to return to my beloved Petalidi. The economy was on a downward spiral and we had to sell our house and rent. At one point we were both unemployed and struggling like many were at that time. We managed to get part time jobs then eventually my husband landed a full time job and then I landed one. Slowly we rose up the ladder again and through all the setbacks I never gave up my dream of returning to Greece.

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