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Maps
and Travel Information
Spiti
Ton Kendavron is located at the edge of the village of Anilio,
27 miles (40km) east of Volos, Greece's 6th largest city. Volos
itself is 5 hours by bus from Athens, 2.5 hours from Thessaloniki
and 80 minutes by “Flying Dolphin” hydrofoil from
the island of Skiathos.
The
preference is that travellers who do not hire their own vehicle
fly to Thessaloniki or Athens and to travel by coach to Volos
where they will be picked up, usually between 3 and 6.30, 7pm
at the latest, on fridays
BA
flights from london are currently around £180 and
for Euro travel trains prices can be http://seat61.com/
Thessaloniki
is about an hour and a half closer to Volos than Athens, and
its airport is smaller and closer to the city.
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Arriving
in Thessaloniki
A local bus (78) from
the airport departs every 20-30 minutes to the main intercity
Thessaloniki coach station (takes about an hour). Or, if you
are pressed for time to catch your Volos bus, take a taxi (€20).
The train from Thessaloniki is an alternative, but (1)
Seats are scarce in July and August and must be booked in person
at the station; (2) The journey is about twice as long (5 hr)
as the bus; and (3) You must change in Larissa for Volos and
if you miss the connection (which can happen) the journey will
take 6 hours. For comparison, the bus is 2 & a half hr direct
to Volos, is more frequent (every two hours from 0700 hr on the
odd hour up to 23:00) and you can often get a seat just by turning
up and taking the next bus out to Volos. Therefore we recommend
the bus if you want to reach the Centres from Athens or Thessaloniki
PLEASE PHONE +30 2310
595424 ONE DAY IN ADVANCE TO BOOK
THE THESSALONIKI —to
VOLOS BUS. (Your ticket will be held up to 30 min before
departure.)
Budget Hotels in Central Thessaloniki
near the train station
- Hotel
Acropol (€25) Tel. 2310 536
170 at 4 Tantalidou st off Egnatia
- Hotel Atlantis, Tel 2310 540 131, Egnatia
14
- Hotel Averof (€30) Tel. 2310 538
498, Leontos Sofou 24
For more upmarket hotels (around €40-55)
in the centre of Thessaloniki, try the Hotel
Orestias Kastorias, 14, Agnost. Stratiotou
street, Tel. +30 2310 276517 or 269815; or the Hotel Pella, 63 I.
Dragoumi street, Tel, +30 2310 524221 or 555550-3. Book through the
web if you can, as it is often cheaper.
Also highly recommended, Hotel Aegeon, (€45)
Egnatia Street 19, Tel.2 92 2310 522.
Arriving in Athens
From Athens airport, if you are staying overnight in Athens take
Bus X95 or the metro to Syntagma square or Omonia Square where there
are many budget hotels and hostels. If you are wanting to get to
Kalikalos as soon as possible on arrival at the airport, take Bus
X93 direct to Liossion Bus Station (journey 45 min) where you can
get a bus to Volos. If you manage to get the 13:30 (1:30 pm) bus
and are arriving on a Friday you would arrive in Volos at 18:00 (6
pm) the latest time to get a 10 euro pickup from us on those fridays
where we are able to make pickups. There are frequent buses all day
to Volos, as shown below. 
Intercity trains between Athens
and Thessaloniki depart every few hours from the Larissa station
(three metro stops from Syntagma Square) and stop at Larissa City,
where there is a connecting local service to Volos. The train provides
a pleasant relaxing journey through interesting moutainous landscape.
See the schedule below for trains to Volos via Larissa. The only
direct train from Athens to Volos departs at 15:53 and arrives in
Volos too late to reach our Centres that day, so you would need to
stay overnight in Volos and travel out by taxi (€40 if you take
a radio taxi that must use its meter—Tel. 24210 27777) or local
bus (€6.50) at 07:00, 13:30 or 15:30 the next day.
If you are spending the night
in Athens, here are some hotel suggestions:
Hotel Exarheion (+30 210
380 0731 or +30 210 380 1256) in Athens can accomodate a group
of 15 or more in shared accomodation for about £25-35 per
person per night.
Other budget hotels near Syntagma Square (where
the airport bus E95) lets you off in central Athens:
John's Place, Guest House,
5 Patrou (off Metropoulis [Cathedral] street), Tel. 210 322 9719, €35
single, €45 double, €55 triple. Basic
Hotel Kimon, 27 Apollonos street, €35 single (air
con) also near the Cathedral.Tel 210 331 4658, fax 210 321 4203
The Hotel Athos, 3 Patrou, Athens
105-57 tel 210 322 0080, fax 210 321 0548, email athoshtl@otenet.gr,
right next door to John's Place is more upmarket at €95
singles and doubles and €115 for triples.
Backpackers.gr is
an Aussie-run upmarket hostel that, aside from 15 euro dorms,
and 25 euro singles, also has 3 person apartments for 80 euros.
Metro: Akropoli.
These hotels and hostels are all a 15-20
min. taxi ride (about £5/€7.50) from the 260 Liossion
street bus station from where you catch a bus to Volos (buses
currently depart approximately every two hours starting at 7:00
am, and arrive in Volos about 4 1/2 hours later—see the
schedule above.)
Arriving in Volos
If you have spent the night in Volos, you can catch the Volos to
Kissos bus which takes about 2 hours and costs €6.50. If you
are coming from Athens or Thessaloniki by bus, you must leave Athens
by 8 am (or 10 am) and Thessaloniki by 10 am (or 12 noon) in time
to catch the connecting local buses to Kissos which currently leave
Volos at 1:30 pm or 3:30 pm. This local €6.50 bus goes all
around the peninsula before finally arriving at Kissos 2 ½ hours
later. Unless you are in the mood for sightseeing, you'll probably
prefer to take the €40-50 taxi, (Tel: 24210-27777, Volos Radio
Taxis which are obliged to use their meter) which takes 1 hour.
We are currently making a limited
number of pickups on Tuesdays and Fridays from the Volos
airport, from the railway station, from the port and from the
bus station. PLEASE RING US (+30) 24260 32176 48 hr IN ADVANCE
TO VERIFY AND BOOK YOUR PICKUP (€10-15).
If we are unable to make the pickup we can assist you in arranging
a shared taxi from Volos with other guests arriving on Friday.
If you arrive in Volos on any other days than Tuesday or Friday
you will be obliged to take a taxi to Kissos or one of the local
buses.
 Shared
Taxi from Volos bus station to Kissos square (Platia) currently
costs €45, although taxi drivers will often ask more. BE
FIRM. If they still refuse to take you for €45, then call
Volos Radio Taxis (Tel. 24210 27777) who are obliged to use their
meter.
If your workshop/retreat is here at the
Anilio Spiti Ton Kendavron, your taxi will drop you on the lower
paved road about 500m along from the Anilio village square (Platia).
Have the driver phone +30 24260 32176 if he does not know precisely
where to drop you.
Please arrive during daylight hours, i.e.,
before 8:30 pm, as the staff at both campuses finish their work
at dinner time, and there is therefore no one on duty to register
you, give you a tour, go over the Centres' guidelines and show
you to your room. In order to reach us before dark you must
catch your taxi from Volos at the latest by 7:30 pm.
If you are
obliged to stay the night in Volos there are several budget hotels
less than a mile from the bus or train station. Try Hotel Kipseli
(Tel. 24210 24420), Hotel Galaxy, near seafront at Ag. Nikolau
3, (Tel. 24210 20750) €42, or Jason Hotel, corner of Mela
and Argonafton streets, near the port: (Tel.24210 26075) €30. A
mile and a half from the port is the inexpensive (€25/night)
Hotel Roussa near the Hospital, Iatrou Tzarou street 1, Tel 24210
21732. Friendly, clean and inexpensive; we recommend it. |
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