Diane and Neil Constable

This is a brief update on our successful trip to Greece.

The journey was trouble-free, all the more so for your advice and support - thank you.

We followed the Begium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy route. We made good use of our newly acquired Snooper Sat Nav for locating nearby 'Kamper stops' when we felt we needed to stop for the night.

The ferry to Greece was interesting: about 2 or 3 hours late both ways.

The journey down from Patras to Gialova (north of Pylos) took a lot longer than we anticipated from the map, as the main road really became more of a back road (after Kyparissia) but we loved it. We did as you suggested and stopped off at Carrefour in Kyparissia.

Camping Navarino Bay (in Gialova) was perfect for us. We were right on the beach with the most wonderful (sunset) views and the entertainment of watching wind and kite surfing. The staff were so friendly and accommodating, especially at the on-site Taverna which served as good a traditional Greek food as we have eaten anywhere in our last 12 years of visiting Greek Islands - it made the food at the Ionion Beach Campsite (at Glyfa) seem rather inferior and expensive.

We visited the campsite at Finikes (in Finikounda) and it certainly is 'grander' than Navarino Bay, but the sea views were what Diane really wanted and at Finikes they didn't match the ease and spectacle of those we had. Again, the campsite at Ionion Beach was first class in most respects - the wash block would put 5 star hotels to shame - but, again, we preferred the views from Nav Bay.

I enquired at Ancona about not pre-booking for camping on board but they said that without pre-booking I would be unlikely to get on-board camping as it is limited and, had I chosen that method for this journey, we would not have been successful. Next year we will be travelling back again in early May (a month earlier) so we may consider your approach then (ie to arrive at the Ancona Ferry Terminal without booking and see what is on offer).