olympic bookings

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olympic bookings

Postby plee » 30 Dec 2016, 00:57

I have just been looking at booking my holiday from Newcastle to Symi with Olympic in September. Last year I paid £450 for 2 weeks and 2017 for the same price it is over £800. I am wondering why? At over £800 it would be cheaper to get an easyjet flight and book my own studio.
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Re: olympic bookings

Postby Gemma1 » 30 Dec 2016, 09:19

Wow, that is a huge increase. Are they using a different airline? When I was looking for September I noticed the price had increased quite a lot, I think you needed to book as soon as the brochure came out to get a reasonable price. Olympic had an offer for Symi over the Christmas period, I think it was on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as they were offering an additional £50 discount. I could have had a week on Symi on 13 May for £235 which is amazing :shock: I was very tempted to book but as I'm going to Ithaca at the beginning of June sadly it's just not possible.
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Re: olympic bookings

Postby plee » 30 Dec 2016, 23:27

I am not sure about the airline. I have could get a holiday for a week to Plakias in Crete for a week at the end of April from Manchester for £200.00 which is great value. But would have to stay in a hotel for a night as I know nobody in the area. It really bumps the price up. I have never been to Plakias, but for a week break just to relax it looks nice. I think Symi really needs 2 weeks.
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Re: olympic bookings

Postby Gemma1 » 31 Dec 2016, 09:52

plee wrote:I am not sure about the airline. I have could get a holiday for a week to Plakias in Crete for a week at the end of April from Manchester for £200.00 which is great value. But would have to stay in a hotel for a night as I know nobody in the area. It really bumps the price up. I have never been to Plakias, but for a week break just to relax it looks nice. I think Symi really needs 2 weeks.


I really like Plakias, I've been there 3 times with Olympic, once was a solo trip. I agree about Symi really needing 2 weeks. The last two times I've been to Symi I travelled on the evening flight because it was easier (and cheaper) though it meant I only had 6 nights on Symi. It's the same if you travel on the Saturday flight which is more convenient for work but means having to spend the last night on Rhodes. I plan to return to Symi in 2018 for 2 weeks and do a lot of chilling rather than rushing around fitting everything in. I was considering Plakias again for next year as it's cheaper to get to than Symi, and cheaper once you are there too, but then got some reasonably priced flights to Chania with Ryan Air on the Saturday flight from LBA which is much more convenient for me and a lot less travelling. I'm splitting the week between Hora Sfakia and Kalyves and looking forward to visiting parts of Crete I haven't been to before :) Of course I will miss Symi but sometimes it's nice to see somewhere new.
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Re: olympic bookings

Postby JeanW » 09 Jan 2017, 13:26

That sure is a big hike in price, I just wonder where on Symi you must be staying for 2 wks at £800 plus. although I know it works out more expensive for solo travellers. I looked into 2 wks at Pedi Beach with Olympic for September 2017 and prices were much the same as this year. However,I do love Symi but by way of a change I have booked to go to Plakias in September another favourite of mine, and it does work out cheaper than Symi for comparable accommodation and less hassle travelwise.
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Re: olympic bookings

Postby Kojak » 11 Jan 2017, 21:59

I did a check yesterday for mid September and all the rooms available similar to and including the Anastasoula where I stay came to over £800. I always book mine early and online and my holiday for September was about £480, a big difference. I can only assume that Symi is filling up. Good news for Symi but bad for anyone booking the few available places.
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Re: olympic bookings

Postby plee » 13 Jan 2017, 23:15

I normally stay at the Irini. Very simple and good exercise! I also looked at Plakis in Crete. Interestingly you have to pay extra for transfers which I hadn't noticed before. £120 ish which is a lot. I am not sure if this is just from Newcastle. So I have decided for the moment to leave September and have booked a week on the 25th of April to Crete. Its a lovely time of the year to walk and I have wanted to return to the Archaeological museum in Heraklion for about 15 years.

I will book very early for next year.
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Re: olympic bookings

Postby Gemma1 » 14 Jan 2017, 09:58

plee wrote:I normally stay at the Irini. Very simple and good exercise! I also looked at Plakis in Crete. Interestingly you have to pay extra for transfers which I hadn't noticed before. £120 ish which is a lot. I am not sure if this is just from Newcastle. So I have decided for the moment to leave September and have booked a week on the 25th of April to Crete. Its a lovely time of the year to walk and I have wanted to return to the Archaeological museum in Heraklion for about 15 years.

I will book very early for next year.


I stayed at the Irini on my first 2 visits to Symi. I loved the views and the steps do give you plenty of exercise but I didn't dare have more than 2 glasses of wine on an evening knowing I had that climb ahead of me. My main problem was getting my suitcase up and down the steps as I'm not very good at travelling light :oops: Suitcases with wheels are fine on slopes or the flat but not steep steps like those up to the Irini and as it was raining when I left the last time I stayed there it was a real challenge getting my suitcase down the wet slippy steps.

The Manchester flight I was looking at to Plakias included transfers so I think it depends where you are travelling from and on which flight. I don't think the LBA flight includes transfers, though I refuse to pay the inflated prices for travelling from LBA with Olympic - it's usually about £200 dearer than flying from Manchester which I can put towards another holiday ;)

Hope you enjoy your week on Crete, you haven't got too long to wait :)
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Re: olympic bookings

Postby Kojak » 16 Jan 2017, 21:26

Just booked a 2 week holiday for a friend in September with Olympic Holidays. For some reason the prices are now down to a reasonable £575 aprox!
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Re: olympic bookings

Postby Irene » 10 Feb 2017, 19:08

Well I couldn't resist, I enjoyed my first visit to Symi in September 2016 so much that I have booked a return trip for June this year! I originally booked a week in Anastasia but when I found out that there is currently no evening boat from Rhodes I could not risk the prospect of only spending 5 nights in Symi. I contacted Olympic and managed to get my holiday extended to 10 days staying at Sevasti. Many thanks to Andy for giving me the travel info and for all the good reviews I found on this forum for the Sevastopol apartments.
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Re: olympic bookings

Postby Irene » 10 Feb 2017, 19:30

Well that was some typo! Clearly was meant to be Sevasti.
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Re: olympic bookings

Postby Kojak » 12 Feb 2017, 09:24

:)
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Re: olympic bookings

Postby plee » 08 May 2017, 00:03

Hi Gemma, I have just got back from a really enjoyable week in Crete. We ended up in a hill village above Hersonisos. It was fine as a base. We travelled a lot on the buses going over to the west coast. I am planning to go back with a friend at the end of September for 2 weeks. We are visiting another friend who is living in a Greek monastery near to Channia. So with a very low budget we are looking for a base and flying from Birmingham. Have you been to Bali? I know you said you are going to Kalives - is that independently? We want somewhere small with still a sense of Greek tradition. Any thoughts? thanks.
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Re: olympic bookings

Postby Gemma1 » 08 May 2017, 07:34

Hi plee

Glad you enjoyed your week on Crete, it does have a very good bus service and I will be using it quite a lot when I'm there in September. No I've never been to Bali, I've been to Plakias 3 times (all with Olympic), Sissi once and Malia once - many years ago when I was still young ;) and stayed in Malia old town which was surprisingly nice.

I'm travelling to Kalyves independently. I've booked flights to Chania with Ryan Air from my local airport and am spending the first night in Chania, close to the bus station, followed by 3 nights in Chora Sfakion and 3 nights in Kalyves. I booked all the accommodation through booking.com. It's working out about the same price as my usual week in Symi would do, taking into consideration the transfer cost to Manchester Airport. I'm looking forward to seeing some new parts of Crete that I've not visited before :) I hope you manage to find something suitable for your stay.
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Re: olympic bookings

Postby Allan » 08 May 2017, 10:36

Hi Plee

I had a week in Kalyves in October last year (travelling by Ryanair from LBA like Gemma) and loved it.
It's a rather scruffy large village/small town and is still traditionally Greek. There is plenty of tourist infrastructure but it's not a resort and we like that a lot.
The bus to/from Chania passes through the town several times a day and Chania bus station is only about 45 minutes away on that bus so it is a good base to explore the west of the island. The National Road passes close by and there are stops where you can get buses heading east towards Rethymnon and beyond without having to go via Chania.

Last year was our first visit to Kalyves. We're going back again this year. We enjoyed it so much. :)
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Re: olympic bookings

Postby plee » 08 May 2017, 13:50

Thanks Gemma and Allan, Really helpful information. Kalyves sounds the kind of place I would like. I will be back to Symi next year - the break has been good.
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