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The air holidays and flights shown are ATOL protected by the Civil Aviation Authority.Our ATOL number is ATOL 6075.
ATOL Protection extends primarily to customers who book and pay in the United Kingdom.
Click on the ATOL logo at the left if you want to know more. |
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| As a member of the Association of Bonded travel Organisers Trust Limited (ABTOT),
an Association approved by the Department of Trade and Industry, this company has provided a Bond to meet the requirements
of the Package Travel,
Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations of 1992. These regulations apply to packages sold in the UK and this Bond provides
security for
money paid to its UK customers and for their repatriation to the UK in the event of this company's insolvency. |
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| All our Holiday Houses are required to be registered with the local tourism authority,
although not all have been assigned official categories. |
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HOUSES OF PELION:
Who We Are, And What We Can Do For You.
INTRODUCTION
As you read through the brochure you will learn a little about Pelion, about the villages where our accommodation is situated,
and you will find that we describe our Houses in some detail. But what of our Company, and our approach to your holiday?
Ours is very much a family-run business, with my wife Aphroula and
myself living permanently in Milina and so being available throughout your
stay in Pelion. And it is this arrangement that makes us, we believe, unique;
we are here on the spot if any problems arise, and you are never left to the
tender mercies of an agent, representative, or company employee. You are OUR
guests, and we treat you as such. Our office is very close to the Milina
waterfront, and you are always welcome to call in and ask for any information
you may need, to book tickets or excursions, or to make arrangements for car
or boat hire. In addition, various maps of Pelion and books of local interest are available for sale at our office.
But you do
not have to wait until you get to Greece before experiencing our way of doing
things. When you dial the number given in our advertisements, and on the back
flap of this Information Folder, your call will be diverted to our office here
in Milina. You will therefore be talking direct to Aphroula or myself; we do
know the area, the Houses and the answers to your questions better than anybody
else, and we feel sure that this will enable us to offer you the highest possible standard of service.
Please note that you will only be charged for a UK national call rate; we pay for the international leg from
the U.K. to Greece.
Once your booking is confirmed,
we can help you with insurance, car hire or alternative travel arrangements
from the airport to your House. You will receive a map of the Pelion
peninsula, and a copy of our 'General Information' can either be downloaded from our website, or will be mailed to you.
This gives details of
local amenities, shops, restaurants and tavernas, business hours and where the
nearest phone is, and tell you
where the best beaches are. We give details of the various activities
available to you, including
water
sports, riding, and rambling. Finally the 'Information'
contains full details of your House and a glossary explaining the Greek names
of most of the dishes you are likely to encounter while in
Pelion.
If you are hiring a car and driving down
from the airport, we will send or email you full details of the route, both to Pelion
and back again.
For families travelling with small
children, we can advise you on what is and is not
available.
What you should bring and what you can
safely leave behind.
When you arrive at your House, you will find
everything you need to have a snack and recover from your journey. We will
provide fresh bread, butter, honey, juice, fresh fruit,
vegetables, coffee, tea, milk and a bottle of the excellent local
wine.
Whenever possible either Aphroula or I will visit you after your
arrival to make sure you have settled in. If you are staying in Milina, we can
introduce you to our butcher, grocer and greengrocer. But wherever you are, we
can always be contacted for help and advice.
Finally, if you need medical help there is
a 24-hour service at the Health Centre in Arghalasti, which is the 'head village' and administrative centre in South Pelion.
This gives you some idea of the type of holiday we are offering and the services
you can expect.
We pride ourselves on giving you the
best of both worlds. Being English, I know what the British traveller wants
and expects from a holiday. And Aphroula, being Greek, is in the perfect
position to translate this into reality.
GETTING TO GREECE.
Houses of Pelion Ltd. is the holder of an Air Transport Organisers' Licence (ATOL), number 6075 granted by the Civil Aviation
Authority (CAA),and so we are able to offer you seats on our allocation on the Friday flight from Gatwick to Volos. This is
the quickest and easiest way of getting to Pelion from the UK. Please click here for flight prices. Charter flights are also available from Manchester and other regional airports to Skiathos, while there is a considerable
choice of flights, both charter and scheduled, into Athens and Thessaloniki.
TRANSFERS: Between the Airport and your House.
By far the easiest way to get to Pelion is to fly into Volos airport;
from there it is just an hour and a half in your private taxi to South Pelion, or if you are driving,
you can pick up your car at the airport.
If you are flying into Skiathos, there are regular catamaran departures to Volos, a journey of only 1 hour 25 minutes. From
Volos you can pick up your car, or be driven straight to your House. All the arrangements
will be made in advance and your prepaid tickets will be waiting for you at
the offices of the hydrofoil company. A car can also be delivered to you at the
bus or railway station in Volos, and you can, of course, collect and
return a car at both Athens and Thessaloniki airports.
If you are flying into either Athens or Thessaloniki, an alternative to hiring a car is to take one of the frequent public
buses to Volos. You will then be met at the bus station in Volos, and driven straight to your House, or you can pick up your
car at the bus station. Should you decide to use the public bus service, we will send you full details of the times and schedules
and a note (in Greek) asking the airport taxi-driver to take you to the appropriate bus station. Finally, we will be very
happy to arrange to meet you from your flight and drive you direct to your House.
In all the above transfer arrangements, delays are rare, but not unknown. We do have contingency plans covering such eventualities,
but some delays and changes are possible.
You will find brief details of the transfer options and their prices
here, but when you phone us we will be pleased to give you further information. When you have decided how you would like to travel,
please complete the relevant section of the Booking Form.
OVERNIGHT AT GATWICK.
If you have a long journey to the airport you may like to consider staying overnight close to Gatwick. We have made arrangements
with the owners of an excellent Guest House in Horley where you can be sure of having a comfortable and relaxing night before
you travel. You will be taken to the airport in good time for check-in and you can leave you car in the grounds of the Guest
House itself; this is both cheaper and offers better security than the public car parks at the airport. Click for further details, and then complete the relevant section of the Booking Form.
GETTING AROUND
Car Hire. Because there is so much to see and do in Pelion,
we suggest that you hire a car for the duration of your holiday. If you are staying at one of our more out-of-the-way Houses
(Cleopatra, Lena, Angeliki or Eleni), we strongly recommend that you hire a car.
We will therefore be very pleased to book a car on your behalf: it will be waiting at the airport or port on your arrival
and can be left there on your return. We will invoice you for the rental fee, to be paid at the same time as you pay for your
accommodation, and will make all necessary arrangements.
Please use the following links for prices and full details of cars available at
Athens, Thessaloniki and in Volos, and the conditions which apply to the use of a hire car in Greece. If you would like a car for a shorter period, we can
arrange this through a local car hire company.
Please complete the relevant section of the Booking Form to book your car.
Buses and Taxis. If you are staying in Horton or Milina, it is quite possible to manage without a car. From here there are daily bus connections
to Volos, and to Lafkos, Promiri and Platania. There are two taxis available in Milina, and we will be pleased to make any
bookings for you, as and when required.
Riding. If you ride, or even if you have never done so before, Nikos of Kentavros Farm in Arghalasti will be delighted to show you
the local countryside from the saddle of one of his friendly, well-mannered horses. Rides can take from a couple of hours
up to a full day, and on all but the shortest beginners routes you will ride down to one of the beautiful, nearby beaches
where you can, if you wish, swim with your horse.
Boat Hire and Watersports. By far the best way of exploring the islands and the coastline up and down from
Milina is by boat, and if you are staying at a house like Cleopatra's or Lena's in Lefokastron, or at Eleni's outside Milina
a
boat is a very convenient way of getting about. Milina Nautic offers motorboats for hire and we will be happy to make reservations for you.
Note, however, that a boat can only be delivered for a minimum rental period of one week. Sailing dinghy and kayak hire is
available from Pelion Sail & Cycle; please call for details.
Excursions by Taxi. We have arranged with Achilleas, our village taxi driver, a number of excursions so that, depending on your interests, you
can visit some of the mountain villages to see the traditional architecture, or you can simply visit some of the spectacular
beaches on the east coast of the peninsula. These trips are for either a half, or a full day, and we can also arrange excursions
further afield to Meteora and Delphi.
INSURANCE
Most travellers are anxious to insure against any possible upset to their arrangements, and so we have
arranged a group scheme which offers you comprehensive cover at a very reasonable cost. This cover is mandatory,
unless you already have a policy giving you protection equal to or better than our own.
Click here for full details and note the relevant section on the Booking Form.
WINTER HOLIDAYS
Out of season, Pelion is wonderfully quiet and relaxing... and now we have a number of Houses which are
suitable for visits during winter and early spring. Thus
Aphroula's House in Milina,
Tassoula's in Horton and
Cleopatra's House
in Lefokastron all have central heating, and are normally available out of season. For availibility, and the cost, including
central heating, of stays between 15 December and 30 April
please call us.
AIR CONDITIONING
A number of our properties are now fitted with air conditioners,
covering either the whole house, or just the bedrooms. Because
not all guests wish to use the A/C, in some properties the cost is not included in
the basic accommodation price. If you wish to use the A/C, please
tell your owner, who will give you the remote control, and will
tell you the extra cost, on a daily basis. Please then settle up
direct with the owner before you leave the accommodation. Houses
where the A/C costs extra are shown are marked with an asterisk in the Price Tables.
AND FINALLY...
We are delighted to confirm that Pelion is still remote, rural and unspoilt. Some of our Houses are new with modern facilities,
but others are old, traditional buildings which have been converted by their owners to varying degrees of modernisation.
We, and most of you who come to Pelion, believe that this adds very much to the charm of the holiday. It does mean, however,
that facilities can vary. For example, cooking facilities can range from the fully-equipped kitchen, to two small gas-rings
which, while perfectly adequate for basic cooking, cannot be recommended for the preparation of elaborate meals. All kitchens
have a fridge, and water is heated either by immersion heater, or solar panels backed up by electric heating. An exception
is Eleni's, where there is no electric back-up. Bear in mind, too, that the old houses all have small windows, designed to
keep out the cold in winter and the heat and sunlight in summer.
Because we have decided against asking our guests for a damage deposit of any sort, we do ask that you should report any breakages
or damage that may occur, so that you can pay for any replacements or repairs before you leave the House.
As you will see from the brochure, some of our Houses are situated within a village, while others are more remote. We have
always tried to choose properties in quiet areas but life in the villages and out in the olive groves must go on, and may
lead to noise from building work, farming activity, animals and motor vehicles. We are sorry if you should be affected but
such matters are outside our control and we cannot accept liability. When you come to Pelion you come to the real Greece and
live amongst its people so, if you hear your neighbours' voices or music, be assured that it means that, like you, your hosts
are enjoying themselves.
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