Greece has been on our list since forever. It’s always been a place that intrigued us from its history, beautiful scenery and beaches, to the delicious food and wonderful people. We finally got to check off our 34th country when we visited Greece for 10 days.
Athens: We arrived in Athens around the same time as Andrea and Andy so we were able to take the train into the city together. We checked into our apartment which had a beautiful balcony with great views of the Parthenon. We went and grabbed our first of many delicious dinners in Greece, even trying their local drink Ouzo. After enjoying the views from our balcony, we hit the hay for an early morning tour.
We started out the morning doing a 3-hour walking tour that took us around much of Athens, including the sight of the first Olympic Games, old ancient ruins, the Changing of the Guards and much more. After, we headed straight up to the Acropolis. It was a long, hot walk but so worth it. It was surreal being able to see the Parthenon in person. Plus, the views from the top were incredible. We headed back down and got a much needed bite to eat. We found a local restaurant where we tried our first of many Greek salads. It was tasty! We then grabbed a drink at a rooftop bar with a perfect view of the Parthenon. We spent the rest of the evening exploring and eating our way through Athens.
Santorini: The first island stop of the trip was to Santorini. We hopped on a ferry bright and early and four hours later we arrived. We checked into an apartment with the most beautiful views of Santorini. It was truly breathtaking. We explored Oia for a while, walking around the narrow, white alleyways. We decided to try out a tapas restaurant for dinner. It was nice to be able to try a bunch of different local dishes including but not limited to octopus, tzatziki, fried cheese, and Greek salad. We spent the rest of the evening outside on our balcony, enjoying the view while sitting in our own personal hot tub, reminiscing about past trips.
After eating a delicious hand delivered breakfast while enjoying the peaceful morning, we were picked up at 10am for our wine tasting tour. A small group of us were taken to 3 different wineries where we sampled 14 (yes, you read that right!) different kinds of wines paired with food (a lot of delicious cheeses). It was a nice, relaxing but also really informative wine tour. We ended at an old cave winery that had more amazing views of Santorini. We were then dropped off at our next hotel we were staying at which didn’t have the views but still had a hot tub! We had the rest of the evening to explore the town of Fira (the capital of Santorini) then found a local restaurant for a delicious dinner.
We were again picked up early and we headed down to the port to board our catamaran. This was quite possibly my favorite thing we did on the trip. With there only being 20 people on the boat, it was such a laid-back and enjoyable time. It was a warm (the sun was hot!) 75° day so when we stopped a few places to swim, we all jumped right in. One of those stops even included a swim by the volcano hot springs, which was a couple of degrees warmer than the rest of the ocean. We also had a bbq lunch on board, sampled more wines from santorini and sat in the best seat on the boat (the guide told us so 😊). The 5 hours on the boat just flew by and before we knew it, we were being dropped back off at our apartment. We used that time to enjoy the hot tub. We had dinner reservations at a great restaurant where we watched the sun set over Santorini.
Naxos: Naxos was the next island stop on our trip. I added this island a little later in my planning but it was so worth it. It was smaller and less touristy then the other two and just as beautiful. Everything on all the islands were so white and clean (we even saw someone painting the white in between the stone in the ground). We checked into our resort and got our first of many gyros. We spent much of the afternoon by the pool. Once it got a little later and cooled down a bit, we headed into the center and up to the top of the hill where Portara is located. Portara is a massive marble doorway that was suppose to be the entrance to a temple but the temple never ended up being built. It was really cool to see and again had great views of the city and surrounding ocean. We took a bunch of pictures then walked around the center of Naxos before dinner. We had gotten dinner recommendations from a couple on our wine tasting tour so we decided to check it out. It was a really cute restaurant, full of both tourists and locals. After we stuffed ourselves with food (because we couldn’t help ordering a bunch of appetizers) we started our 15 min walk home. On the way, I heard live music coming from a rooftop bar. I convinced everyone to go and it ended up being a great decision. We listened to some live Greek music and at one point a few men got up and started doing a traditional Greek dance then another came over with about 10 plates and smashed them on the dance floor. Really made us feel like we were in Greece! Opa!
Mykonos: We had a ferry the next morning to Mykonos. Our ferry ended up getting cancelled but luckily, we were able to get on a different ferry and arrive earlier than scheduled. Once we made it to Mykonos, we got picked up and checked into another beautiful hotel, we then had the rest of the day to explore Mykonos. We started in the old town walking through Little Venice and up to the Windmills. We also enjoyed another gyro for lunch. We then headed back to the hotel to enjoy a drink and our hot tub. Dinner was at a delicious Italian restaurant. And we ended the night at a bar where we got to know and eventually started singing songs with a few professional rugby players from England. Let’s just say this was one of our later evenings of the trip!
Today was beach day. We jumped on a bus and headed to Paradise Beach for the day. It was a really warm day so we switched between lounging in the sand and cooling off in the crystal clear water. Mykonos is known for its party scene so when 3pm rolled around, the party really got started. We headed to a beach bar to check it out and ended up dancing with everyone else, enjoying the music and entertainment. We loved watching just how much money people dropped on alcohol (5 bottles of champagne at 750€ a bottle, only to spray 3 of the bottles into the crowd, a huge bottle of Grey Goose for 1800€) it was insane. After we finished off our bottle of Grey Goose (kidding) we headed back to the hotel where we enjoyed the view (Greece is all about the amazing views!) and the hot tub.
We took a 2 hour ferry back to Athens the next day. We found a perfect place for our last dinner in Greece followed by the traditional aperitif, Ouzo. It was a great end to yet another wonderful trip. Greece was really an amazing country. After the craziness of our last few trips, we felt like we could just relax and really enjoy Greece. We will definitely be back someday.
A&A we are again so thankful that you take the time and money to visit us. We wouldn’t trade our trips for anything. Hopefully we can sneak one more trip in before we leave! I really appreciate you as a friend 😉.
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Everything looked amazing! This will definitely be on my list of places to go. Thanks for sharing.
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Your trips continue to amaze. Glad you could relax and really enjoy this incredible country. Great pics too!!
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You can’t comprehend how much your blogs have meant to me. I have lived vicariously through your insights of the journeys you have shared with Andrea and Andy. Each adventure has been a blessing and an opportunity to experience the best of our world. In your young years you are all rich in living.
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