For the first time this year, after several years of the pandemic, the number of bookings Germans reach pre-pandemic levels, with one difference: in the Mediterranean places traditionally favored by the Germans, “prices have risen sharply.”

These are the results of a study by the tourist portal Holiday-Check commissioned by the Ard-Plusminus program on the First Channel of the public television of the ARD.

According to tagesschau.de, the first German television program, “Tour packages to Spain, Greece or Portugal have become about 20-30% more expensive compared to the summer of 2019. Prices for destinations such as Turkey, Tunisia or Egypt, which used to be considered quite cheap. Prices for tour packages in these areas have increased by 35-50% compared to the pre-pandemic period.”

However, the price increase also applies to air travel. “Summer flights to Greece or Croatia seem to be 16% more expensive this year than in 2022. Flights to Spain, to the mainland or to its islands, are 25% more expensive.”

According to the report, the increase in ticket prices is mainly due to an increase in staff costs, as well as an increase in the price of kerosene. At the same time, the tourism industry as a whole has changed from the way it showed before the coronavirus.

But where can German travelers travel cheap this year? tagesschau.de notes: “If you want to travel on a budget this year, you should purposefully look for unusual travel destinations that are out of fashion. Holidays in distant Zanzibar, Mexico or Cuba can currently be cheaper than holidays in classic Mediterranean destinations.”

German tribute to Argosaronicus

An extensive travel report on the unique experience of sailing to the islands of the Argo-Aronic Gulf, the “blue lake of Athens”, is presented by the Hamburg newspaper “Hamburger Abendblatt”.

Bert Junge, a sailor from the small town of Bad Schwartau in northern Germany, set out with his family from the Alimos wharf on the Fani boat for a trip to the nearby islands, with the first stop at Poros, 30 nautical miles from Attica.

“Even Hollywood stars such as Greta Garbo or the American writer Henry Miller, who spent almost nine months here, were fascinated by the island. Like most of the islands of the Argosaronic Sea, Poros is of volcanic origin. On the neighboring peninsula of Metanas, you can visit the green volcanic crater.

“Poros is by no means a ‘secret’ tourist destination. However, Poros and the rest of the Argosaronic Islands are not as crowded as Crete, Rhodes, Santorini or Mykonos. And that’s because it’s hard to get to them without a ship or a boat.”

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

From there, Bird Yunge passes the beautiful but cosmopolitan Hydra and chooses the equally quiet Angistri, with its “emerald waters” and “the smell of pines wafting from the coast”, as the next stop. And the idyllic journey continues two days later, departing for Old Epidaurus on the coast of the Peloponnese, 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.

Source: Deutsche Welle.