German Press: Holidays cheaper in Mexico than in Greece

For the first year this year, after the years of the pandemic, German bookings are reaching pre-pandemic levels, with one difference: in the traditionally favorite destinations of Germans in the Mediterranean, “prices have skyrocketed”. This is the result of a survey by the travel portal Holiday-Check on behalf of the show Ard-Plusminus, on the first channel of the public television ARD.

As the tagesschau.de website of the first program of German television observes, “travel packages for Spain, Greece or Portugal have become more expensive by approximately 20-30% compared to the summer of 2019. Prices for destinations such as Turkey, Tunisia or Egypt,  have also registered a significant increasewhich used to be considered rather cheap. The prices of holiday packages for these destinations have increased by 35-50% compared to the pre-pandemic period.

However, the price increases also concern air flights. “Summer flights to Greece or Croatia appear 16% more expensive this year than in 2022. Flights to Spain, either the mainland or its islands, are 25% more expensive.” According to the report, the increases in ticket prices are mainly due to increased costs for staff but also to the increased price of jet fuel. At the same time, the tourism industry as a whole has changed compared to the image it displayed before the coronavirus.

But where can German travelers travel cheaply this year? tagesschau.de observes: “If you want to travel on a budget this year, you should purposefully seek out unusual travel destinations that lie beyond fashion trends. Holidays in faraway Zanzibar, Mexico or Cuba can currently be cheaper than holidays in the classic Mediterranean destinations.’

German trip to the enchanting Poros and the Argosaronic Gulf

Extensive travel report on the unique experience of a sailing trip to the islands of the Argo-Saronic Gulf, the “blue lake of Athens”, is presented by the Hamburg newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt. It follows the journey on the boat “Fani” of Bert Junge, a German sailor from the small German town of Bad Schwartau in northern Germany, who together with his family sets off from the marina of Alimos for a trip to the nearby islands, with the first stop in Poros, 30 nautical miles from Attica.

“Even Hollywood stars like Greta Garbo or the American writer Henry Miller, who spent almost nine months here, were enchanted by the island. Like most islands of the Argosaronic Sea, Poros is of volcanic origin. On the neighboring peninsula of Methana one can visit the verdant volcanic crater,” the report states. “Poros is by no means a ‘secret’ tourist destination. However, both Poros and the rest of the Argosaronic Islands are not as crowded as Crete, Rhodes, Santorini or Mykonos. And that’s because they are difficult to reach without a ship or boat.”

The report also states that the area is ideal for sailing enthusiasts because it is “well protected from strong winds, both by mainland Greece and the mountains of the Peloponnese. When the Aegean winds blow in the summer months, the Argosaronic islands are mostly quiet”.

From there, Bird Junge passes the beautiful but cosmopolitan Hydra and chooses as his next stop the also quiet Agistri with its “emerald waters” and the “smell of pine coming from the coast”. And the idyllic journey continues two days later, setting sail for Old Epidaurus on the Peloponnese coast, where ten kilometers from the port is one of the most important ancient Greek places of worship, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.