What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Greece? Is it the picturesque white homes on the cliffs of Santorini? The history of Greek gods and goddesses? Or glasses upon glasses of wine?
We were able to experience it all! And although we weren’t able to do everything (we only had a week to make the country our playground), we did as much as we could. That meant two nights in Athens, two nights in Mykonos and two nights in Santorini!
The Basics
Our itinerary getting to and from Greece wasn’t ideal, but it worked for us. We had an early departure flight with a stop in Philadelphia. During our six-hour layover in Philly, we made pretty good use of our time. Check out this blog post for more. Then we had a nine-hour overnight flight to Athens. Rest wasn’t an option when we arrived. We went straight into the action!
Athens
While in Athens, we stayed at the AVA Boutique Hotel, a super cute hotel just minutes from the Acropolis Museum, which is where we headed first of course. We used our pre-purchased passes for a hop-on, hop-off bus to get us around the city.
Mykonos
We knew that while we were in Greece, we wanted to take a ferry somewhere. Though it’s a longer trip than catching a flight, ferries give you views of the water. So we hopped on our ferry at 7:30am for a six-hour journey that would include three stops. But we must admit, being on top of the boat looking at the clear blue waters made this voyage more bearable! We booked a cute Airbnb in Mykonos, located just a few minutes walk away from dining, shopping and the water. The location was perfect. We enjoyed the much talked about Mykonos nightlife (even though it was the end of the season, there were still places open) and ventured out to Ornos Beach for a day in the sun.
Santorini
While we enjoyed pleasant weather for the majority of our stay in Greece, upon arrival to Santorini (by short flight), the weather began to get a bit cooler and windier and the waters a bit rougher. Unfortunately, this meant we would not be able to do our planned sunset catamaran tour, but that didn’t take away from the great time we had on this beautiful island.
We stayed at the Celestia Grand luxury villas in Fira, Santorini and were blessed with some of the best sunset views. We have to give a major shout-out to Niko, the villa’s manager and concierge because he took such great care of us from coordinating our airport transfers to helping us with booking our excursions and even telling us the best places to shop and eat. He was fantastic. If you ever plan on visiting Santorini, we highly recommend staying at Celestia Grand – if not just for Niko alone – it’s freaking beautiful. And it’s about to undergo renovations, so it will be even more beautiful.
Santorini is often known as a honeymoon destination and couples getaway; and while we saw our fair share of couples, the island is great for just about anybody. We loved exploring the town, eating dinner with amazing views and even horseback riding in the village of Megalochori.
Check out our blog 2girlswhotravel.com for more on our trip to Greece, including vacation tips!
