Travel Itinerary: Greece - Athens and the greek islands

Your Greek island getaway awaits! Enjoy a brief stay in the historic Plaka district of Athens, within walking distance of mouthwatering Greek restaurants, the Parthenon and other ancient sites. Then hop on a ferry to the sparkling Greek islands of Mykonos, Paros and Santorini. Relax, refresh and rejuvenate through the beauty of Greece!

For travel during covid19 things were a bit different, the following items were required to board our plane in Boston:

• Passport

• Vaccination card or negative test results within a 72 hour window of boarding

• Passenger Locator Form

• Surgical Face Mask for the duration of the flight and airports

Day 1: Welcome to GREECE

Welcome to Greece! Once you arrive in Athens, check into your hotel and grab lunch in the Plaka district.

Logistics: We booked our flights through Air France, with a connection in Paris. Once we arrived at our connection, we went through customs to enter into the EU. If you have a short connection you may have issues getting to your flight on time, as the customs process took longer than anticipated. We boarded the plane in Paris for Athens and once in Athens we did not need to go through customs again. We arranged a private transfer through the hotel to pick us up at the airport - approximately a 30 minute drive.

Accommodations: Book a room in the heart of the Plaka district at Plaka Hotel (go figure ;-) ). A boutique hotel with standard modern rooms and comfortable beds! This hotel is within walking distance to the majority of what you’ll want to see in Athens. You can also request a room with a view of the Acropolis. The hotel has a rooftop bar with stunning views of the city and we highly recommend visiting at night for a majestic backdrop of the lit-up Acropolis.

To do: Drop your bags at the hotel and head to grab lunch at Efcharis - classic Greek fare in the heart of the Plaka district and an easy walk to the Acropolis. Hire a guided Acropolis tour ahead of time (worth it!) and head over after lunch. After your history lesson for the day, grab drinks at the aforementioned Plaka Hotel rooftop bar before heading to dinner at Athinaikon - Italian fare with a modern flare in an open air setting.

Day 2: mykonos

Take an early ferry to the island of Mykonos.

Logistics: Book Welcome Pickups for a ride to the port (the driver will know which pier the take you to depending on the name of the ferry company and boat). Buy your tickets in advance! Use a third part site like Lets Ferry to find the ferry that works best with your schedule and then book directly with the ferry company.

Web check-in is a minimum of 2 hours ahead of time and a health questionnaire (emailed from the ferry service) must be completed and presented prior to boarding (new covid19 policy for traveling via ferry throughout Greece).

Accommodations: Book a room at Hotel Carbonaki. Located in the heart of Mykonos town, this is a family run boutique hotel, offering a traditional Mykonos style. It is ideally situated in a quiet area of town, just a few steps from the main attractions.

To do: Drop your bags at the hotel and head to grab lunch along the water in the Old Port of Mykonos. There are plenty of restaurants to choose from, all with similar menus - we enjoyed Captains, as they offer shareable plates and a variety of beer.

Walk along the water and head towards one of the most photographed churches in the world, the Church of Our Lady of the Side Gate. The church dates back to the middle of the 15th century and has a very unique construction. Keep meandering and you will see the iconic Mykonos windmills. If it’s a nice day you can head towards a nearby beach, Paralia Megali Ammos to relax and sunbathe. Grab dinner at Karavaki Restaurant, overlooking the Aegean Sea during sunset for a breathtaking view of the island.

Day 3: PAROS

Take an early ferry to the island of Paros (our ferry ended up being cancelled so we spent the day in Mykonos and took a later afternoon ferry to Paros), however, we would highly recommend heading to Paros early if you can!

Logistics: Hire Welcome Pickups to drop you back off at the Mykonos port (book your ferry the same way as you did for Athens to Mykonos). Schedule a shuttle through the hotel to pick you up at the Paros port.

Accommodations: Book a room at Kalypso Hotel. This hotel is set right above the beach of Agioi Anargyroi, and located 1/3 mile from the center of the picturesque town of Naoussa. This beachfront hotel is extremely welcoming, with traditional architecture and comfortable rooms. We stayed in the Superior Room with Jacuzzi and it was right on the water, with beautiful views of the sunset.

To do: Once you arrive, check into the hotel and head to one of the many beaches nearby! Enjoy the day relaxing at the beach. Grab dinner along the water at Tsachpinis - incredible seafood for a reasonable price.

Check out our video below highlighting these first three days!

Next up…Santorini!

Day 4: Santorini

Take a ferry to the island of Santorini, where you’ll be spending the next 3 days!

Logistics: The Kalypso hotel will have a shuttle bring you to the Paros port. Take the ferry from Paros to Santorini, the ferry takes approximately 3 hours. Again, arrange a shuttle to pick you up at the port in Santorini. It is a 30 min ride to the hotel (it can be a slow journey, due to a bottleneck caused by the arrival of the ferry and the switchback roads going up the caldera).

Accommodations: Book a room at Zenith Blue. Although the rooms are now across the lane from the caldera, the value is tremendous. The team at Zenith will be there for any need that arises. If you’d like to be right on the water, book with the hotel that has replaced the rooms we stayed at in 2017, Stella Rocca A Mare (be aware, it’s double the price of Zenith in the high season).

To do: Once you arrive, check into the hotel, relax and enjoy the gorgeous caldera views. Then head to dinner at The Aegean Restaurant in Imerovigli. Be sure to make reservations, as even in the shoulder season, this hotel is very busy. We have eaten here on both trips and we’ll be back again next time - the food and service are equally amazing!

Day 5: SANTORINI

Spend the entire day in Santorini! There is so much to do and see on this stunning island, you won’t be able to fit it all in. On our first trip, we checked a lot of boxes off our must-see/do list - check it out here! It included a sunset cruise and wine tasting/food pairing.

Head down to enjoy a full breakfast spread at Stella Rocca A Mare (included with your stay at Zenith Blue). After breakfast, put on your walking shoes and make the trek down to Fira (approximately 30 minute walk). The walk is along the rim of the caldera, so you’ll enjoy stunning views from the cliffside. Once in Fira, you can do some shopping (there are many different shops in this area of Santorini). There are also many different cafes and lunch spots. We grabbed some drinks at V Lounge Cafe & Cocktail Bar. If the timing works out, back up towards Imerovigli and stop in Firostefani for a delicious “lunch with a view” at Mama Thira.

Once you’re back in Imerovigli, enjoy time by the pool or your private hot tub (depending on the weather and time of year). We spent the balance of this day relaxing (we earned it after the first three days!) and wanted to finally spend a day doing as little as possible. Make dinner reservations in Oia at Oia Gefsis. It is said that Oia is the best area in Santorini to watch the sunset (our vote is for Imerovigli), so arrange a transfer to watch the sunset prior to having dinner. Whether or not you get dinner in Oia, it’s at least worth catching a sunset and seeing this popular, caldera side town.

Day 6: Final Day IN SANTORINI

We went a little overboard on this day and filled our plate with plenty of to-do’s, so pick and choose what interests you (or go for it all!)

Start the morning early and work with the hotel to arrange a driver to bring you to the town of Akrotiri. Akrotiri is a town on Santorini that contains an archaeological. It was a Cycladic Bronze Age settlement on the island. The settlement was destroyed in the Theran eruption sometime in the 16th century BC and was buried in volcanic ash, which preserved the remains of fine frescoes and many objects and artworks.

Our first stop was at the Akrotiri Santorini Venetian Castle. It has a beautiful view of the villages across the caldera (where we are staying). Next we got our covid-19 tests done at a local pharmacy and it took a total of 15 minutes from receiving the test to getting our negative results. We needed this test to board our plane home (it is required within a 3 day window of your flight).

We we walked towards Akrotiri archaeological site (we could have taken the bus or arranged transport), but the line was unreasonably long (a tourist bus just arrived) so instead we headed towards the Red Sand Beach. The walk down towards the beach can be a bit sketchy (especially if it has recently rained), but it was a beautiful trek. Once we arrived on the pebble strewn beach, we walked the length of it towards a small cafe where we grabbed some freddo espressos and enjoyed the relaxing ambience of the beach.

We decided to hike a different way back towards town, and it ended up being quicker, but MUCH STEEPER. Once we arrived back in Akrotiri, we grabbed lunch at Misteli. This was Kailah’s favorite restaurant on the island. Delicious food, friendly staff and reasonable prices! If you’re in the area, definitely grab a meal here.

Hail a taxi from the restaurant to a local, yet well known winery called Santo Wines (or catch the bus). You’ll experience absolutely stunning views while tasting some delicious Santorini wine. After our tasting we grabbed a bottle of white wine (ask for a chilled bottle) to enjoy during sunset. We called our original driver and he had someone pick us up after our tasting and bring us to Imerovigli, where we watched an amazing sunset from right outside our room. We grabbed dinner at Anogi which we highly recommend (we visited last trip as well!). Tremendous food and service right in the heart of Imerovigli.

Day 7: Athens

Enjoy your last day in Greece!

Logistics: Book flights back to Athens. Arrange a transfer at the hotel to drive you to the airport. The flight is a quick 30-45 minutes (the ferry would be around 5-7 hours, depending on the ferry chosen).

Accommodations: We stayed at the hotel across from the Athens airport called Sofitel. The rooms were beautiful, spacious and comfortable. It was very convenient to be so close to the airport with an early morning flight the next day.

To do: Our cab driver from our first day in Athens recommended we head to the beach town, Artemida (locals call it Loutsa) to spend the day there…so we did exactly that! We grabbed some coffee and then afternoon drinks at Malabar and the service was excellent! We then walked along the water and grabbed food at Island Basket. Unfortunately the food was very bland… so we wouldn’t recommend it. Our hotel had a couple of restaurants (and a bar), so we ended up grabbing some food and drinks there once we were back and it filled the void left by the Artemida restaurant.

Since it was our final night in Greece, we made sure to cheers with ouzo and call it an early night. We will obviously be back!!

As always, live presently and travel often!

Kailah & Kyle