Popular Greek tourist resort labelled 'the ultimate rip-off' for drinks
The first sundowner of the evening is always a holiday highlight - but not if you're paying through the nose for it.
One of Greece 's prettiest spots, the ancient Old Town of Rhodes, has been highlighted as a hotspot for overcharging tourists, according to reviews on Google and TripAdvisor.
The area's narrow network streets are filled with places to imbibe everything from local Dodecanese beer to shots of ouzo, but according to some disgruntled tourists, the Old Town also leaves visitors vulnerable to inflated prices.
Reviews of the Chevalier Shisha & Cocktail Lounge Bar, which is in the main square of Rhodes' Old Town and enjoys the attention of tourist crowds all summer long, has been on the receiving end of some particularly scathing reviews.
One person, who visited in April, criticised the 'very poor service' and 'shocking attitude', as well as claiming they were given a second menu when they paid their bill at the bar - with different prices.
While there are plenty of positive reviews, another unhappy customer claimed the bar charged them 32 euros for two small cocktails, despite advertising the price at 20 euros.
A similar post from last summer also flagged the lack of clear pricing, saying: 'There are no menus and they don't tell you prices of drinks until you're paying the bill.
'They don't tell you that if you order a large cocktail you will get a fish bowl, which is £35 and a large beer is a 2 litre boot, which cost £18.'
It seems to be a similar story at The Gate, another venue in Rhodes' Old Town, where drinkers also reported being unhappy at the lack of transparency when it comes to prices.
Just two weeks ago, four tourists said they paid 60 euros for a medium beer, cider, and two medium frozen daiquiris, and called the cocktails 'the worst I have ever come across', claiming they 'didn't taste any alcohol'.
Another declared the venue a 'tourist trap', writing: 'There is a reason why the drinks menu has no prices. I thought it was safe enough to order a sparkling water. It cost 5€.'
The bar earned just two stars out of five from 154 reviews on Google - with the food described as 'standard' but the drink prices never clear.
Elsewhere, a bar named Rendez View currently has just 1.9 stars on TripAdvisor, with ambiguous prices again behind the low score.
One holidaymaker on the island just two weeks ago said Rendez Vous had 'horrible prices' and urged people to 'ask or check them before ordering anything'.
Another revealed they'd paid 15 euros for two soft drinks, writing: 'A shame. The staff was cold and unpleasant, and the prices are a real scam. Two Coke charged at 15 euros?'
Some of the reviews on Google and TripAdvisor don't hold back when it comes to naming and shaming venues in Rhodes Old Town that they claim inflate prices
Over in Italy, tourists were warned this week about a potential scam involving one of the country's most famous foods - gelato.
Tourists have been urged to take care when ordering ice cream in Italian destinations this summer as they could be being duped.
Italian gelato is world famous for its creamy texture with tourists often flocking to purchase iconic flavours such as pistachio and stracciatella.
But they might not be getting the real thing. The Express reports that many tourists are actually buying a cheap copy of gelato with the cheeky scam particularly prevalent in Rome.
Foodies at TheKitchn.com explain that classic gelato is 'churned at a much slower rate, incorporating less air and leaving the gelato denser than ice cream'.
And there's also an easier way for tourists to spot inauthentic gelato. If the ice cream colours are particularly bright, it's generally a sign that you're not buying a real gelato.
Classic gelato is usually pale in colour as makers don't use artificial food colouring during the process.
Tourists can also check reviews on Google and Tripadvisor to find gelato cafes with particularly high ratings.
One popular spot is Vivoli, a historic ice cream shop in Florence which is home to an iconic new treat.
A €6 coffee dessert has become the latest Tuscan viral sensation, drawing crowds of tourists and creating hour-long lines outside the city's oldest gelateria.
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The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Simon Calder on all your passport questions – from expiration dates to Brexit red tape
Q We are due to fly to Greece on 1 July for a week. To my horror I have realised that my son's passport expires on 9 August 2024. I am caught by the 'three-month rule'. My son does not have enough unexpired time on his passport to enable me to travel to Greece with him for our much-needed holiday. Worse, he is now 16 so must apply for a new adult passport in order to travel. While a renewed adult passport can be obtained in two days, so far as I can see there is a minimum of a week in obtaining a brand new adult passport. This would take us past the date of our flight and would mean we could not take our holiday. Is there any way to obtain a passport for my son before Sunday 30 June? Name supplied A I am so sorry: eight years after the vote to leave the European Union, thousands of British travellers are certain to lose their summer holidays due to inadvertent breaches of the post- Brexit passport rules: Under 10 years old since issue date on the day you go in At least 3 months before expiry date on the day you plan to leave Please apply immediately, online, for a renewal of the passport. Send off the old passport, special delivery, to the address given at the end of the application. Then cross your fingers. Straightforward online renewals are often completed within a week. Alternatively, the holiday company may be prepared to let you shift the date a week or two later. If this does not work, then all you can do is pass on the holiday to someone else. Assuming it is a package (flights and accommodation bought in a single transaction) you can transfer it for a payment of £50 or so. In your position, I would be sounding out family and friends in case this becomes necessary. Q I have a query about the benefits of an Irish passport. When you live and work in Northern Ireland but have an Irish passport, you can't get a European Health Insurance Card (Ehic). So when travelling within Europe, you need your British passport and UK Global Health Insurance Card (Ghic) to receive the free health treatment. Please correct me if I am wrong. Alison McQ A As I have written previously, in terms of documentation and ease of travel, the people who are in the strongest post-Brexit position are those with the good fortune to have Irish passports. Thanks to being EU citizens they can speed through Schengen area formalities just as the British once did. And by 2 April they will comprise the only group of foreign people who don't need an Electronic Travel Authorisation for the United Kingdom, due to the age-old Common Travel Agreement. It is quite possible to be a UK citizen and an Irish passport holder at the same time. That is why I have said that I can understand why British citizens who have the good fortune to possess an Irish passport might choose to dispense with the UK version: it offers precious little extra benefit. Having said all that, for the issue of healthcare in the European Union, the key consideration is your country of residence. If you live in Northern Ireland you qualify for a Ghic, which offers free or very heavily subsidised treatment at public hospitals across the EU. The fact that you might also have an Irish passport is not relevant. Indeed, while it is always a good idea for a UK traveller to have a Ghic when travelling to Europe, it is not strictly essential to possess one in order to qualify for treatment on the same basis as local people. The hospital can make contact with the section of the UK NHS Business Services Authority that handles overseas medical care, and verify a patient's status. But best to carry the card. Q I am lucky enough to be a dual passport holder, UK and Irish. I believe that an Irish passport holder exiting the UK and entering the European Union will avoid the forthcoming biometric passport control issue. Coming back, however, how does this apply? For example: can I use my EU passport to enter the EU and when returning use my UK passport to enter the UK? And what happens if I book flights just using the EU passport? Paul Connolly A Once the European Union entry-exit system is running, the value of an EU passport for British travellers will increase still further. The wretched fingerprinting and facial biometric rules – to which we asked to become subject – are currently slated for introduction in November. Once the extra red tape becomes a reality, I predict a surge in applications for Irish passports for those fortunate enough to qualify. Those of us with only a UK passport will have to line up for fingerprints to be taken (on first entry to the Schengen Area) and to have facial biometrics checked (on every arrival and departure). In contrast, EU passport holders will be able to breeze through a fast-track channel. The only check border officials can make is that the document is valid, and that it is yours. Anyone like you who can swerve the system should do so. You will enjoy much smoother progress, and also reduce the queues for us single-passport unfortunates. You could happily enter and leave the EU and wider Schengen Area on your Irish passport and return to the UK on your British passport (there are no formal checks outbound). But I am not sure why you would want to do that: you can speed through the UK Border just as fast with an Irish passport as with a British document. In your position I would leave the UK passport behind, and check in for every flight, ferry or train using your Irish one. Simple and effective. Q I am lucky enough to have a big year of travel planned. It currently looks like this: South Korea in April, Antwerp in September and Japan in November. I'd also like to squeeze in a possible trip to either Florence or Berlin. My problem is: my passport was issued on 23 December 2015 and expires on 23 March 2026. I'm worried about the trip to Japan as I will have less than six months left by the time I go. What is your advice? Olivia C A Lots of people – including some in the travel industry – seem to believe there is some kind of globally ordained rule that your passport should be valid for six months longer than you intend to remain in a foreign country. Fortunately, there is no such edict. Each nation – or, in the case of the European Union, a group of states – decides its own policy. Many countries, including South Korea and Japan, allow tourists to use their passports up to the expiry dates. To run through each of your targets, starting with South Korea: you may read that it is obligatory to obtain a K-ETA (Korea Electronic Travel Authorisation). It isn't. For the whole of 2025, British visitors are exempt, during what the authorities say is a bid 'to stimulate tourism'. That will save you some bureaucracy and 10,000 won (about £5.50). For Antwerp, Berlin or Florence: you can be anywhere in the European Union (and wider Schengen Area) up to 23 December 2025. That is both your passport's 10th birthday, beyond which is not valid for entering the EU, and three months before it expires – the last day you can be in the zone. For Japan, you will just need a blank page for your visa stamp. So make the most of the remaining life of your passport – and make a note in your calendar to renew it perhaps a year from now. One caveat: if there is any likelihood that you may need to travel for work, or family reasons, to a country with a 'six-month rule', look at renewing after your Antwerp trip in September. Egypt, for example, wants six months until expiry on the day you enter. Q I have two passports, French and British. At present, I always travel between the two countries on my French passport. If I used the British one to leave or enter France, the border officers would want to stamp it and might also ask about my length of stay – which is not relevant as I have dual nationality. But when the ETA [electronic travel authorisation] comes in for European visitors to the UK next month, if I travel on the French one I will need to apply for one. What is the best strategy? Jaine F A Travellers who are blessed with the benefit of a European Union passport as well as a UK travel document can swerve all the post-Brexit rules. Using the EU passport they speed through the (almost always) faster Schengen area queue on arrival at their destination, with no need to have their passport stamped. All that border staff can do is check that the EU document is valid and that it belongs to the holder. They will also be able to avoid the future need for biometric checks and the Etias permit. Conversely, going through UK Border Control with a British document avoids any issues with length of stay and, soon, the ETA, which will be mandatory for all EU visitors (except the Irish) entering the UK from 2 April. So travel with both passports; use the French one for crossing into France, the British one for the UK Border. You might be thinking: but I need to give passport information in advance to the airline. Just choose one passport for flight bookings and stick to it. You will need to produce it when boarding flights, but this is a simple ID check rather than anything affecting your immigration status. By the time you arrive at your destination, the airline has lost interest in you. Please note this advice applies only to an EU scenario. Some countries do not allow people to carry two passports. The people who are in the strongest post-Brexit position are those with the fortune to be Irish. They don't need an ETA for the UK thanks to the age-old Common Travel Agreement, and thanks to being EU citizens they can speed through Schengen Area formalities just as the British once did. Q Can you help me with an urgent passport question but not one about expiry dates? I travel often to the EU for work and have no blank pages left in my passport. Will France let me in next week? Name supplied A Relax, at least for your trip to France. If you plan to travel no further than the European Union and the wider Schengen area (including Iceland, Norway and Switzerland), don't worry about your passport filling up. Some background: after Brexit, the UK asked for citizens to become 'third-country nationals' in the eyes of the EU, and Brussels agreed. The Schengen border code insists: 'The travel documents of third-country nationals shall be systematically stamped on entry and exit.' I fear you will not qualify for the very few exemptions, unless you are a member of a ship's crew; a national of Andorra, Monaco or San Marino; or a dignitary 'whose arrival has been officially announced in advance through diplomatic channels'. Since the rules we asked for took effect, each visit to the Schengen area uses half a passport page: one stamp to enter, another to return. But even if your passport is completely full, frontier officials are required to provide an additional sheet of paper on which the stamps are applied. Problems arise, though, if you wish to travel beyond Europe to a country that demands a blank page on which to stamp you in and out. For example, the Foreign Office warns: 'To enter Thailand, your passport must have at least one blank page.' Many other non-EU countries have the same requirement, and India and South Africa both demand two clear-facing pages. This is yet another consequence of Brexit that you may feel you were not warned about. But the problem is not permanent. From November this year, if all goes according to plan, the European Union's entry-exit system will end manual passport stamping and replace it with electronic registration – except for travellers to Cyprus, which is remaining outside the Schengen area, and Ireland, where British residents do not require a passport and will not be stamped in or out. Q I am flying from London to Edinburgh in early August. I have sent my passport off for renewal and I know it could take 10 weeks, which would mean the end of August. I checked with the airline's customer service line to ask if I can use my photo driving licence. To my consternation, they said 'no, it has to be a passport'. If the new one doesn't arrive on time, can I cancel, get a refund and go by train instead? Name supplied A You have been misled. No airline asks for a passport for flights within the UK, and I can only imagine the customer service person didn't quite grasp that this was a domestic flight. There is no legal requirement for photo ID on internal UK flights but airlines are allowed to ask for proof of identity to reduce ticket fraud (such as Person B using a ticket sold to Person A, breaking the conditions of contract and possibly making a profit into the bargain). Ryanair asks all passengers aged 16-plus to carry 'any photo ID which matches the passenger's name in the booking'. For easyJet it's something official: a driving licence or a passport that has expired in the past five years, for example. British Airways merely 'advises' that you carry photographic identification, adding enigmatically: 'This may be requested at certain points in your journey.' And Loganair needs photographic ID only when you are checking in luggage. This should be 'government issued' but the definition is broad enough to include a bus pass. As I have previously mentioned, the 10-week stipulation by HM Passport Office for a straightforward renewal such as yours is ridiculously pessimistic, and I will be surprised if you do not have the document within two weeks of posting the old one off. Finally, even though the government is enticing more people on board domestic flights by halving air passenger duty three months ago, the train is much more civilised and environmentally friendly. And unless you are travelling on a railcard-reduced ticket, you won't be asked for ID. So go by rail next time, perhaps. Q Later this year, I hope to travel to Australia via Sri Lanka and come back direct. I am lucky enough to have both British and Australian passports. What I'm confused about is which one do I use at each stage of the journey? Charlotte E A People who have two passports are in an excellent position, but you need to be careful about how you manage them. Starting with first principles: two types of organisations are interested in the nationality of your passport. The immigration authorities of the country you are travelling to want to know that you are entitled to enter, and also want you to enter and leave their country on the same passport. (One exception to this: the UK has no checks on departure.) The airline wants to know that you are entitled to travel to the destination of your ticket. It is not interested in how you later leave that destination. From the UK to Sri Lanka: the British government doesn't care about when you leave. The airline wants to know that you have a valid passport and visa; for most people, that will be Sri Lanka's electronic travel authorisation (ETA), price $50 (£38). Organise this with your British passport. At the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, use your British passport to enter and leave. From Sri Lanka to Australia: on departure from Colombo, the airline will want to know that you are entitled to enter Australia. Therefore, present your Australian passport to the airline, which gives you the automatic right to enter with no additional formalities. This will apply even if you are on a connecting flight, eg on Singapore Airlines rather than SriLankan Airlines direct to Melbourne or Sydney. On arrival in Australia, show the passport control people your Australian passport. You should also use this to leave Australia. From Australia to the UK: use your British passport for the flight – otherwise you will be asked, as an Australian, to obtain a UK ETA. On arrival in the UK, just go through the eGates with your British passport. If this all seems too complicated, just apply for the free Australian eVisitor pass, which is fast and easy to obtain, and do the whole thing on your British passport.
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The Independent
11 hours ago
- The Independent
Uber brings helicopter taxis to the Amalfi Coast
Uber has announced that customers will be able to book helicopters in minutes in Italy this summer to beat crowds. From 26 July to 23 August, travellers on Italy's Amalfi Coast can reserve a private Uber Copter to take them between Sorrento and Capri using the Uber app for €250 (around £184) per head. The dual-pilot helicopter service will operate every Saturday and Sunday with a 9am departure from Sorrento and 5pm return from Capri. The journey includes door-to-door transportation to and from the helipad and is available for groups of up to six passengers. The American transport company, best known for its taxis, is also launching the Uber Boat in Italy with private charters for up to 12 people available between 26 July until 24 August. Travellers will sail from Sorrento Marina on Italian Gozzo 35 boats, with ample opportunity to soak in the coastline's most breathtaking spots on the four-hour trip. Each trip comes with its own personal skipper and complimentary snacks and beverages. This summer is set to be the southern coastline's busiest on record following the launch of international flights at Salerno Airport. The Amalfi Coast, famed for its pastel-coloured fishing villages and excellent food, is one of Italy's most popular tourist spots, attracting around five million tourists a year. Very narrow roads link the most popular towns on the coastline meaning travellers face traffic bottlenecks and competition over seasonal ferries. Uber said it is responding to the rise in demand from international customers for Uber's mobility services, which increased by up to 25 per cent last summer in places like Rome, Lake Como and the Amalfi Coast. It added that more than 400,000 international customers used the Uber app in Italy during the holiday period in 2024. Anabel Diaz, vice president, EMEA Mobility at Uber, said: 'At Uber, we strive to help our customers go anywhere, wherever they are travelling. Italy is fast becoming one of our most popular tourist destinations, with travellers turning to the Uber app to help make their holiday travel stress-free. This summer, we're adding a series of unforgettable experiences that will make travelling by land, sea or air more magical than ever before.' Customers are required to book at least 48 in advance via the Uber Reserve from anywhere in Italy beginning on 25 June for both the Uber Copter and Uber Boat. The availability of Uber Copter and Uber Boat is expected to be limited and subject to weather conditions.
Times
13 hours ago
- Times
Guided tours are bad tourism — here's how they need to improve
We stumbled off the coach, blinking in the harsh light but delighted to have arrived in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Some of us had been dreaming of this moment since Joanna Lumley discovered this Silk Road city in 2018. Others even longer, but in all the excitement half the group missed the guide's instructions to cross the road and were left behind. By the time they caught up, the vanguard was fighting through an international brigade of tourists to gain entry to the fortress of Nasrullah Khan, the 19th-century 'Butcher of Bukhara'. In a forest of flags held up by dozens of guides, some of us joined different groups. Others got lost. Alone, I blundered into the throne room in the same way Arthur Conolly had in 1841. He'd come to rescue the British spy Charles Stoddart from a three-year incarceration in the bug pit: 12ft deep, 4ft wide and regularly topped up with ticks, rats and scorpions. However, as Conolly was thrown into the same foul hole himself, he must have realised that all hope was lost. • 17 of the best Silk Road tours Now, 183 years later, as we were hurried up stairs, down alleys and along battlements, all trying to make sense of the garbled words in our earpieces, some of us shared Conolly's despair. I found one of our group slumped on a stone bench in the shade of an arch. 'This is not how I dreamt Bukhara would be,' she sighed. Guided tours have been around as long as tourists — Herodotus was unimpressed with his while on a Treasures of Egypt trip in 442BC — but the type in which a coachload of confused travellers follow a pink umbrella through the busy heart of an ancient city is a product of the industrial age. Groups were being led around Rome in the 1820s; the essayist William Hazlitt noted with disappointment that the Eternal City comprised 'an almost uninterrupted succession of narrow, vulgar-looking streets'. In the 1920s the Rev Henry Mullineux of the St Barnabas Society was leading group tours of the Western Front. A decade later coach tours were all the rage: in 1936 Yelloway Motor Services of Rochdale offered an eight-day guided tour of the West Country for £8.75 all-in. • I'm 62: here's what I've learnt during ten years of group tours But as the travel industry matured, the way in which tourists were shown the sights remained all but unchanged. The shepherd leads the flock through the streets, corralling them at each point of interest. Facts and figures are reeled off; Herodotus recounts how a guide read out a list, without context, of the names of 300 kings on a long afternoon in Egypt. Then the sheep are herded onwards. The route is fixed, the clients are passive, and if you don't want to traipse half a mile through a sullen neighbourhood to see some street art, tough, because you won't know where you're going until you get there. I have nothing against group trips. They're a terrific way of making new friends and sharing experiences in wonderful destinations, but that tour of Bukhara was disappointing. It was also uncomfortable. There's something infantilising about following someone with a microphone and a flag through crowded streets like a seven-year-old on a school trip. Fortunately, Bukharans still welcome tourists. The same cannot be said of Paris. Last September I joined a walking tour of the city led by one of the world's biggest group tour operators. Twenty-two of us trudged through Montmartre following two tour leaders and the local guide. We clogged the pavements. We stood in shop doorways. We walked in roads. And then we blocked the door of a bakery that had been on TV. As the guide told us about Amélie, Emily in Paris or Chocolat — I wasn't really listening — the tour leaders caught up on their social media. Engrossed in their phones, they didn't notice as locals became increasingly enervés, subjecting us to a tirade of obscenities. Another hissed 'Ce n'est pas Disneyland' — but worse was to come. A lady in a wheelchair tried to push through a group of nice people who had suddenly become the exemplars of the dumb tourist. Later I asked the tour leaders about the incident. They were dismissive. 'They need tourists in Montmartre,' said one. 'The wheelchair woman had plenty of space,' said the other. I asked if there was an acceptable number of locals they were allowed to upset in the pursuit of so-called sustainable travel, but they declined to comment. I cringe when I recollect that afternoon. Assigning 20 or more guests to a single guide may be a cost-effective way of conducting tours, but in a world where tourists are increasingly resented more than they are welcomed, stomping through cities like an invading army is not a good look. • 11 of the best group tours for solo travellers None of us like to feel unwanted, and yet when I spoke last summer to the citizens of Palma, Barcelona, Santorini and other destinations blighted by overtourism, the human centipedes came second only to Airbnb in terms of disdain. It's a problem easily fixed. Reducing group sizes to a maximum of six and taking different routes around attractions means visitors will have a richer, more intimate experience, locals will be less irritated and there will be more work for guides. Yes, it will be more expensive, because more guides will have to be paid. But if that's the cost of a happy memory, I'll pay it. As for the guiding, I want storytellers not statisticians. I don't really care what year any cathedral or castle was built, or how many hectares a ruin occupies — and I certainly won't remember. But tell me the tales of the people who lived and died there and I'll be boring people in pubs about it for weeks. By Richard Mellor Launched in 1998 by the travel writer Jonny Bealby, Wild Frontiers crafts itineraries where the routes, transport and places to stay are painstakingly considered. Groups have an average of nine and prices tend to include all meals, permits and entrance fees. Most guides have deep regional knowledge, language skills and local contacts (which can translate into special access), while the firm seeks out unusual destinations — epitomised by a new Pioneer collection, and its Mongolia tour, which takes in giant ancient petroglyphs, remote mountain lakes and a golden eagle hunters' Twelve nights' full board from £4,195pp ( Fly to Ulaanbaatar Rated consistently highly for its tour leaders and customer service, Explore! offers more than 350 trips to about 100 countries — everything from Inca Trail hikes to cycling in Kerala. An average group size of 11 means that tours are flexible, and can emphasise locally owned hotels and restaurants. Potential travellers can find out who has already booked on a particular trip (age range, solos or couples, etc). This summer's tours include Slovenia via laid-back Ljubljana and the photogenic, mountain-backed Lake Seven nights' B&B from £1,595pp ( Fly to Ljubljana Steppes's biggest USP is the chance to travel with some true experts — think Jonathan Green, the founder of the Galapagos Whale Shark Project, or the author William Dalrymple on an Indian train charter. The average group size is ten and accommodation is mostly luxurious, highly characterful or both. Run by a team of ex-rangers, guides or camp managers, it focuses on culture, history, good old-fashioned adventure or iconic animal species — such as a boat-based November tour where you can snorkel alongside killer whales in northern Seven nights' full board from £7,559pp, including lectures ( Fly to Alta Are you a fan of guided tours — or not? Share your views in the comments
