Hi, I am Ankita and in this blog I am sharing my experience of Greece and the places that we have visited there. Also, would like to give you recommendations for hotels/restaurants/places to visit.
We visited Greece last year end of September, since it was a mid season we got to experience most of it before places started to get closed and was not so expensive. Hence, I would recommend you to visit during this time as it will be bit budget friendly and the weather will also be soothing, unless you like hot summers.
The below travel itinerary has been created by us as we decided to travel by our own, not through any travel agents. Which we find very cost and time effective.
I would start by saying that Greece is simply mesmerizing, you will fall in love with the islands, as they are so charming with breath taking views.
Arrived in Athens - Me and my husband arrived in Athens late evening as our flight got delayed, hence we didn't do much on that day but we went out for a walk nearby and had dinner. We stayed for 2 days in Athens which we found was quite enough to explore this city.
Syntagma Square - This is the central square and most famous in Athens as this is where the beautiful Greek Parliament building stands, and you will find most of the famous places to visit nearby this area. We were staying very close to this square because all the popular ruins and main market was at a walkable distance.
Day 2, is when we visited the famous ruins of Temple of Olympian Zeus , Acropolis, Parthenon , these ruins were very beautiful and the city view from Acropolis was incredible. The good thing that happened with us was all the entry was free to these archaeological sites, as September last weekend they celebrate European Heritage Days. We also visited The Plaka which is very pretty with narrow cobblestone lanes, it has Cafes,restaurants, and tiny tourist shops. We enjoyed traditional greek coffee with croissant. Later in the evening we did some shopping and went Monastiraki square which is the area for flea market and some good restaurants. You can also enjoy street art while exploring the city.
Day 3, we traveled from Athens to Mykonos, one of the most famous island in Greece. We took ferry from Athens since it was cheaper then flight and you also get to see the amazing views of Aegean sea and other small islands. Ferry takes around 2-3 hrs from Athens, you will find different duration ferries depending on the budget and if time is constrain then flight is a good option.
We booked the ferry from this website https://greeceferries.com
We checked in at our hotel Delight Boutique Hotel & Spa, it has amazing views and very peaceful place since it is situated bit further from main town. The host at the hotel are very welcoming and they will guide you through the city and recommend you places to visit which was very helpful for us. Another plus point was that the bus stand was just next to the hotel, hence we didn't have to bother much about transportation.
If you like to rent a bike/atv or car, you need to have an international driving license.
Day 4, we spent most of our time in Mykonos town(Hora) which is the capital of Mykonos and you can also find old port there. It has narrow lanes with white washed building and lot of restaurants along with amazing places for shopping. You will also find one of the famous Paraportiani Orthodox Church here.
Little Venice is beautiful, this is the best place to enjoy the sunset while having your favorite drinks with so many options of bars and restaurants next to the old port. You can also enjoy the view of Windmills from there. We went to one of the most famous 180 Sunset bar to enjoy the sunset and was really amazed by the view and ambiance of this bar, they also have live music, would highly recommend to visit this place.
Another place that we visited is Ano Mera, it is the second bigger village after Mykonos town, it took us 15-20 mins by bus to reach there from town. This place is very simple, quite and not crowded at all, hence you can see the other side of Mykonos. You can explore this place and find stone house, gift shops and have lunch at one of the Local Tavern for the amazing food. You can also visit the famous Monastery of Panagia Tourliani located here which was build in 16th century.
Mykonos is mostly famous for beach parties, since we were more into exploring the island and relaxing we didn't do much of a party, but if you are interested here are some recommendation for beaches that you must visit for parties Platis Gialos Beach, Paradise beach, Super Paradise Beach, Agios Ioannis Beach.
Day 5, we took a boat tour to Delos Island. Its an UNESCO world heritage site in the Aegean sea near Mykonos, it takes around 45 mins to reach there from Mykonos. It is said to be the birth place of god Apollo, god of light, and goddess Artemis. It's a good tour and experience if you would like to know about the history and see the ruins. You can book this excursion online where you will find various options as well as in Mykonos when you arrive. The sailing experience was amazing after the Delos tour we went for swimming and Lunch on board which was included in our package. The tour was for 6 hrs, hence our entire day was over and evening we went to Mykonos town again as we absolutely loved that place and later we had Dinner in Little Venice.
Day 6, was a lazy day, we spent time at the hotel till afternoon as we had to catch the ferry for our next destination Santorini island at 2 pm, we again choose the option for ferry which was budget friendly and it takes around 3 hrs to reach. We reached Santorini around 5 pm and then moved to hotel.
Santorini is quite unique spot, the height offers a spectacular view of the scenery. We were staying at hotel Adamant Suites located in Fira the capital of Santorini, we enjoyed the Sunset from hotel, since it was on the cliff side the caldera views were amazing. Later in the evening we went to the Fira town to explore a bit and had dinner. Since its the capital you will find lots of bars, cafes, restaurants and most of it with stunning views. It is also a good place for shopping and photography.
Day 7, we went to explore Oia town, which is the most picturesque and photogenic town of Santorini, most of the photos what we see of Santorini online are from this place where you will find beautiful blue domes and white washed building and it's one of the most visited place. Here you will find lot of hotels, small shops, restaurants and cafes with spectacular views of the entire island along with caldera. We took the photo tour at Oia which was the plus point to enter the private owned areas of these white washed building, otherwise tourist are only allowed to click photos from the main street only. With this tour we got to see the blue domes, beautiful alleys and amazing locations of Oia with close proximity. Hence I would recommend you to take photo tour if you really wish to enjoy this scenic beauty and trust me, it would be worth of every penny.
Day 8, we took the Santorini sea excursion, which is of 6 hrs and takes you around the volcano and hot spring for swimming. We took the sunset one which includes onboard dinner and this was one of the amazing experience we had. The boat that we choose was APHRODITE TOUR and it was so much fun sailing Aegean sea, we got to learn few Greek dance steps onboard and they also served amazing food. There are lot of options for this tour, private tours are way more costly, so it would be advisable to take group tour if you are on a budget travel.
Day 9, we took guided Bus tour, which was all day tour and will take you around the island's famous sites and also provide the information of these places. Bus will pick you up from a designated pickup point near your hotel. You will have 2 options to choose from with or without sunset at Oia. Below are the places that we visited in our bus tour.
Akrotiri is an archaeological site, this ruined city of Santorini is covered with ash following the volcanic eruption which makes it more special for a visit.
Perissa is a beautiful beach on the southeast part of the island. It has black sand and crystalline water, you will also find lots of beach side restaurants, taverns, cafes and hotels. You could also rent lounge chairs and umbrellas and one can also enjoy the ride on toy train here. There are other famous beaches that you can visit like Vlychada Beach, Red Beach and Kamari Beach.
Our third stop was this beautiful winery, and we did wine tasting which was included in the package. This is one of the best winery in Santorini and gives stunning views of the caldera and cliffs.
It is the largest village of Santorini, you will love the primitive architecture of the village. It has very narrow alleys which leads to a castle.
Mount Taygetus is the highest point of Santorini, it has a beautiful church known as Monastery of Profitis Ilias. You can enjoy the amazing views of the entire island.
Day 10, was our last Day in Greece and we head back to Athens as we had to catch out flight from there. We got half day to explore this city again, this time we were staying in Glyfada which is very quite place away from the center of Athens, but there is enough cafes, restaurants and shops to enjoy.
Restaurant/bar Recommendations:
Athens - The Clumsies, A for Athens Rooftop Bar, kosta sovlaki (For the best sovlaki), BlueFish Vouliagmeni, Tokyo Joe.
Mykonos - 180 Degrees Sunset Bar, Funky Kitchen, Karavaki Restaurant and many more to try in Little Venice area.
Santorini - Metaxi Mas, Tango Bar, Mylos Bar Restaurant, Santowines Winery, Pelican Kipos Cafe Wine Restaurant.
Travel Tips:
1. Beware of pick pockets while in crowd and tourist traps.
2. Buy a local sim card for ease of travelling and using internet.
3. Try to install few recommended apps like - Taxibeat, Moveit, CityMaps2Go Pro Offline Maps etc.
4. Always save the contact number of your hotel in case of any emergency.
5. Try to carry sunscream and drinking water while going out at day time.
Please feel free to ask if you have any questions or guidance.
Thank you!