Greece
I can actually pin point the exact moment I wanted to go to Greece, specifically the Greek Islands… It was after watching the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Haha
But seriously, if you have seen the movie you know the parts I’m talking about. It looked like a dream. The white & blue buildings overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, the beaches, the Greek food & riding a donkey to name a few things. I knew it was the first place I wanted to go overseas after I became a flight attendant.
We stayed a total of five nights in Greece from Sunday, May 7th - Friday, May 12th 2017. One night in Athens, two nights in Mykonos & two nights in Santorini.
Let me rewind a minute to catch you up to speed, this was our second stop of our 2 week vacation for my 28th birthday. This was also my boyfriend’s first time overseas. After spending 24 hours in Paris, we were on our way to Athens!
We fly from Paris to Athens on Aegean airlines. It was about a 2 ½ hour flight if I had to guess. They served us a meal with complementary wine & beer, which was a nice surprise. It was a Greek dish, meatballs with sauce. Really good actually!
ATHENS
We took the train from the airport into town to the Syntagma Square stop. This is a cheap & easy option for getting into town. We stayed at Hotel Astor. I loved this hotel & would stay there again if we go back!! It is in a great central location!
Our hotel room had a balcony with a beautiful view of the Acropolis. Cheers to Greece!
The jetlag caught up to us from spending a quick 24 hours in Paris, so we decided to take it easy the rest of the day. We went up to the hotel rooftop terrace for dinner, it was amazing! It looked over the whole city & the Acropolis. We ended up being the only people up there that night, so it made for a very romantic dinner. Our waiter was so nice too, he was one of our favorites of the entire trip! He told us stories about his favorite Greek islands & festivals they have.
The next morning we woke up early & took a taxi to the ferry that would take us to Mykonos. The taxi was cheap & it only took about 20 minutes. As we are rode through Athens we saw how the city was pretty rundown, but honestly there is so much history there… It makes me sad we didn’t get to see more of it.
We booked our ferry through Blue Star Ferries.
The ferry ride was an adventure in itself. You are on this huge ship that has indoor & outdoor seating. We sat outside at our own table the entire 5-hour ride, it actually goes by pretty quick! There are flights from Athens to Mykonos as well if you are strapped for time, but we wanted to get some time out on the water… We love being out on a boat!
MYKONOS
We get to Mykonos & they had a shuttle that took us to our hotel, Hotel Acrogiali. This hotel was right on the beach of Platis Gialos.
I knew we wanted to stay by the beaches & I had found an amazing deal with a room that had a balcony that overlooked the ocean. It was around $89 a night!! This hotel was one of our favorites of the entire 2 week trip!
We walked down to the beach & both fall asleep on the lounge chairs by the water.
After our nap, we head back up to the room to touch up for dinner & go next door to the restaurant on the beach, Avli Tou Thodori.
Sam got the seafood pasta & I got spaghetti carbonara. So good!! They even brought us a complimentary dessert at the end of the meal.
Fun fact… There are random cats everywhere in Greece! 😻
The next day we woke up to complimentary breakfast overlooking the sea. Breakfast in Europe is pretty similar everywhere. They have an assortment of croissants, breads, fried eggs, cold meats, cheeses & fruit.
It was a beautiful sunny day, so we wanted to beach hop. We were there a week too early in the season to catch the ferry that could normally take you down to Super Paradise & Paradise beaches, so we decided to walk to all of them. We went to the one to the east of us first, Psarou beach (most of the others were to the west).
We ended up crossing through a beautiful 5 star hotel to get to it. We thought about just going to lay out by the pool there, but we decided to carry on. Haha… This is more of an exclusive beach where celebrities tend to hang out. There was a huge yacht posted up in the water. The beach was pretty, but to be honest I liked the ones that came after better.
The hotel that we passed through was called Mykonos Blu.
Next up we head back towards the beach we were staying at & continued on the path to Paradise beach. There were a few little beaches along the way, Agia Anna & Paraga beach. It was a pretty fun & easy hike… You can see the trail leaving the hotel in the picture below. You literally just follow the water most of the way.
We arrive at Paradise beach & let me just tell you the first thing we notice is that it’s a nude beach. I will spare you the details… When in Greece! Nude beaches are pretty common there.
We walked down the whole strip just to check it out. It was one of my favorite beaches I have ever been to just because of the vibe there. It was relaxing, but it is definitely a party beach. I wish we could have stayed until the sun went down.
We ended up going to Guapaloca Mykonos for 2-for-1 drinks! I was drawn to it because of the hot pink booths, obviously!
We didn’t end up going to Super Paradise beach, but when we go back I want to go! I would also try to go to Kalo Livadi beach, Lindsey Lohan’s club & show on MTV is filmed there!
Hiking back actually went by quicker than the way there. Once we were back, we got ready then headed into Mykonos Town. There is a bus that stops right around the corner from our hotel! This made it a cheap & easy for us & took us right to the heart of town.
MYKONOS TOWN
First things first, I knew I wanted to walk to the infamous windmills. It is what I first remembered seeing when I thought about Mykonos.
We headed into town to walk those beautiful streets. #happiness
We only window-shopped along the way, but ended up in Little Venice. It was a preview of what was to come with Venice, Italy, but it was unbelievable.
The place we went to was called Veranda Bar.
We were able to get a table that overlooked the sea & windmills. The table would be reserved for later to watch the sunset, but it worked out perfect since we were out & about early! We split a crepe & had some drinks. It was a Greek style crepe with tomatoes, cucumbers, ham & feta cheese. Really good!
After that we came across a small snack bar, Leonidas.
It was the cheapest meal of the trip & it was one of the best. We got the classic gyro soulvaki with fries wrapped inside it & some Mythos beers.
We headed back to the hotel & enjoyed the sunset from our balcony for our last night in Mykonos. #nofilter
I can’t believe our time at Mykonos had come to an end… We didn’t want to leave!
The next morning we took the hotel shuttle back to the pier & hopped on another ferry to Santorini. It was on a smaller boat with minimal views, but luckily it only took about 2 hours to get there.
SANTORINI
I’m blown away when we pull up to the pier in Santorini. It was breathtaking!
We stayed in a Cave House Airbnb in Oia, Santorini, which I would highly recommend!! It is part of the experience staying there. They arranged a private shuttle that took us from Fira to Oia. It was about a 45 minute ride. It was kind of freaky to be honest, because you are driving along these huge cliffs on narrow roads. It was so pretty just taking in all of the island, so that helped distract us from the crazy ride.
We arrive in Oia & the host of the Airbnb met us to take our bags up the cobblestone streets to the house. I thought that was a really nice way to greet us.
Hidden Gem 💎
We literally stayed in the best location in Oia. We are right by where everyone goes to see the famous sunsets in Santorini, but we have our own private view from our own hot tub!!! Worth the splurge!!!
The cave house we stayed at was called Canava View.
Pinch me!!!
We are right under one of the windmills that you see in the pictures… It is surreal.
We walk into a dome shaped cave house. It is a white stucco, big open room. It has a bed in the back & the bathroom is literally in a cave. Coolest bathroom I’ve ever taken a shower in, hands down. Beautiful updated kitchen… I could seriously live here.
We head up to check out the hot tub & get excited to watch the sunset later.
This leads me to my next Hidden Gem 💎
It was located like a block away from where we were staying… I cannot rave on this place enough!
It had an amazing pool with cabanas over looking the sea. Literally like infinity style views being up on the mountaintop. With the sun shining & a drink in my hand, I couldn’t believe we were at this beautiful place. Santorini is my favorite place I have ever been to… It is truly Heaven on Earth.
After hanging out awhile, we decided to walk down to Ammoudi Bay & grab some dinner.
Ammoudi Bay
I had read some reviews & knew that we needed to go down to Ammoudi Bay for some fresh caught seafood. I’m so happy we did! A trip to Santorini must include this!!!
We ate at Dimitris Ammoudi Tavern.
First off they bring you a traditional Greek salad, which was bell peppers, olives & feta cheese drizzled with olive oil. Then we got fresh grilled octopus to start. It was pretty good, but also pretty chewy... more so than regular calamari. Then they brought us fresh caught fish (yes it still had the head & eyes on it) but it was so good. They literally caught it that day & grilled it… Can’t get any fresher than that!
We were right on the water… I could dip my foot into the water if I wanted. I decided to speak up & ask if they have the hanging Octopus like I have seen in blogs. The waitress kind of laughed at me & acted like she didn’t know what I was talking about. A little later, the owner of the restaurant, Joy comes & talks to us for about 10 minutes… I’m not crazy after all. Haha
It was nice to talk to her & she knew what I was talking about even though they didn’t have it at her restaurant. Andrew Zimmern had filmed there for his show a few weeks prior & she said he had actually asked about it too… Geeking out inside because i’m a huge fan of his! You can check the episode out on his show Bizarre Foods, Delicious Destinations: Santorini.
Nice to know i’m somewhat following in his footsteps! A girl can dream right?! Any other travel foodies out there??
She was so sweet. She is actually an American that fell in love with Greece after she visited… Ended up moving there & opening this restaurant. The rest is history!
After dinner was one of my favorite parts of the trip, the donkey ride!
Right when we walked up to ask about it there were a few other people who decided to join in on the fun. We literally could not stop laughing the whole way up. Riding a donkey enjoying the beautiful views of Santorini… Is this real life?
Side note: I honestly felt bad after the fact. They took us all the way up the cliff & it was pretty hot outside. I would just pet the donkeys next time!
Once we were at the top, we just had a short walk back to the cave house & ended our night with a sunset view from our hot tub. I mean check out these views!
We woke up the next morning & went to walk around to see the town of Oia & get fish pedicures! I have always wanted to do this!! It lasted about 10 minutes, but it basically just felt like they were tickling your feet. It was called Kissing Fish.
Fun fact… This is the same place that the Kardashian’s went when they went to Greece.
We grabbed lunch in town at a Mezzo Snack Bar which had covered patio seating that overlooked the water.
We walk around to get some more views of the city! We had to find the famous Blue Domes.
For that night our Airbnb host recommended a 5-hour sunset cruise that would take us to all the major places in Santorini, including the hot springs & red sand beach.
The boat left from Ammoudi Bay, so we just walked down there from the house.
It was amazing to see the island from a boat. The ride was very pretty & it was a cool experience to see the island from a different point of view. It took us to the hot springs (even though it was still freezing) so I did not end up getting in the water, but my boyfriend did. Then we cruised around the island & ended up outside the red sand beach.
The sunset was short lived that night, but it was still enjoyable. You got all the free wine & ouzo you wanted & they provide you with dinner.
We got back to the house & enjoyed one last sunset from the hot tub.
Greece was one of my favorite vacations to date. We only had a few days at each place, but overall I feel like we made the most of our time. There are always things I wish we could have had time to do, but like anything we had to pick & choose!
We plan on going back to Greece eventually. We would like more time to hang out at the beaches in Mykonos & more time to explore Santorini. I would go back to Oia & Ammoudi Bay again. I would also want to go to Fira. There is a winery there, Santo’s Wines, I wanted to go to. Riding 4 wheelers around & hiking are some other fun ways to see Santorini.
I hope this post will be helpful in planning your own dream vacation to Greece!
Life is short, book the flight!
xoxo, Tarah
