Why Exploring Greece?

When we started the difficult process of realizing our goal of Exploring Greece, our motive was the desire to get to know our land, moving beyond the typical tourist search to really explore it (as emphasized by our title), and then to transfer the practical knowledge gained from our experiential tourism to all of you, utilizing cutting-edge technologies of information processing and the Internet.

Our ambition is to make Exploring Greece the most complete online Greek tour guide, through which each of us will be able to electronically "travel" and "explore" our country (Greece), visiting interesting places as desired, and scheduling our holidays down to every last detail (where to go, how to go, what to see, what to do, when to do it, where to stay, where to eat, where to have fun, etc.).

Ever since we began our venture, the collection of rich primary content through on-site observation has provided a strong foundation for the attainment of these goals. The vast majority of information provided (geographical coordinates, photos, trails, experiences) has been gathered by Exploring Greece's own collection and development team. Texts, articles, etc. are combinations of original writing and information gathered from various sources (which are cited when used).

This procedure has a disadvantage, however: the time required for completion-- although in practice the project will never be complete, since we will be working continuously to fill in gaps and enrich the site. So we decided to present to the public whatever content is completed regarding a designated area (e.g. a county or tourist area) and to proceed this way until we achieve the coverage of all of Greece. Our current version of the integrated content covers the Prefecture of Arkadia, the islands of Saronikos, the Kalavrita and the Trizinia area, Nafplio and Tolo in Argolida, Elafonisos and Lakoniki Mani in Lakonia, parts of the Fokida Prefecture ( Delphi, Galaxidi, Itea, Eratini ), Isthmia in Korinthia, Kriovrisi and Astras in Ilia, Sintiki and Iraklia in Serres, Sithonia in Chalkidiki and part of the Cyclades Prefecture ( Thira, Thirasia, Mykonos, Serifos, Sikinos, Syros, Folegandros and the complex of Small Cyclades ), part of Dodecanese islands (Halki, Lipsi, Agathonisi and Arki) and the heroic Psara.

A second distinctive feature of Exploring Greece is its use of state-of-the-art online technology, both to enhance its presentation style, and even more importantly in the manner and speed of its search function, as well as the evaluation, correlation, and application of the results of an inquiry. Emphasis has been given to both projections onto maps (both interactive dynamic maps, and static maps) and the ability to use our gateway through portable devices (tablets, smart phones, etc.).

We will be very grateful for any comments or observations that might help us make our application better, more user-friendly, and more complete. Each one of you, who knows your area the best, can also help with articles and content, which will be published on our web site under the author's name after being checked by the editorial team of Exploring Greece.

Happy Exploring!