Gallivanting Through Greece
Why has it taken me this long to share a trip I was beyond stoked to take, after dreaming about it for the last 20 years? It wasn’t intentional, but life hasn’t slowed since our big “we’re expecting” announcement, set with Santorini’s crisp blue waters and clean whitewashed homes as a backdrop. A couple months ago I mustered the energy to post about our visit to Turkey; the preamble to my long-awaited bucket list destination. Planning a visit to Greece included a layover in Istanbul. I highly recommend taking advantage of the opportunity to explore Turkey, particularly when it won’t add any additional air travel costs.
My husband and I spent 10 days across 3 Greek islands - Paros, Santorini & Crete. I could write a post for each island, detailing our every move, but I prefer to provide you an overview of our itinerary, highlight a few of our favorite experiences, and leave you with our biggest takeaways. Should you desire more details, feel free to contact me through this site or on Instagram.
ATHENS
From Istanbul we arrived in Athens. We spent the day touring the Acropolis and Parthenon and indulging in a Greek salad topped with an entire brick of feta. Not a bad day! We stayed at the Hermes Hotel at the recommendation of a friend and absolutely loved the view of the Acropolis; especially in the evening, illuminated from the rooftop terrace.
We did not intend to stay in Athens long, but missing our ferry had us exploring the port town of Piraeus for an additional half a day. It would have been an okay mishap, had we both not contracted food poisoning from a restaurant in town that lasted the next four days. It wasn’t a pleasant ferry ride, but getting to our first island, Paros, introduced us to the Greece we’d been eager to meet.
PAROS
Paros is known for ample, beautiful beachfront and coastline. Our mission was to slow down and relax. Ironically, we did this by “whipping” a moped around the island. We topped out at about 30 mph, when we weren’t traveling up the mountain, allowing the cool, cay breeze to wash away our ailments.
Our favorite spots off the moped were Naoussa Old Port and Naoussa Venetian Castle. If you have extra time, check out the Archaeological Museum of Paros. We found it interesting and a nice break from the intense sun.
*Pro Tip: We were thwarted in our efforts to rent a moped in the town center, as neither of us possess an international drivers licence. However, walking back to our hotel we found a man renting mopeds privately who accepted our standard licenses.
SANTORINI
Next stop: Santorini. We spent the most number of days here, soaking up the picture-perfect scenery. Because it’s just as picturesque and travel-worthy as the imagery suggests, Santorini had the most dense population of tourists. Our accommodations within the Caldera made all the difference in our ability to appreciate the island at our own pace, with plenty of space.
The highlight of Santorini, for us, was our choice to stay at the Aqua & Terra Cave House in Oia. From our balcony we had the most sought after view. A panorama of the sun setting over the Caldera, without the obstruction of a hundred other tourists (and their selfie sticks) vying for the best picture. We could soak up the seascape while soaking in our veranda pool.
We ate well in Santorini, but could not get into the restaurant I was most looking forward to (Ambrosia Restaurant), because they did not have any open reservations during our stay. *Pro Tip: Due to year-round popularity, make reservations at Santorini restaurants prior to arrival.
CRETE
Crete surprised us as our most relaxing and luxurious stop of the bunch. It had the most beautiful beaches, with soft, white sand instead of rocks. It was quieter and a lot slower paced than Santorini.
We stayed in the city, at a brand new gastrological hotel, Legacy Gastro Suites. 3 weeks operating, Legacy had their hospitality procedure perfected. Upon checking in, you place your custom breakfast order for the following day. One evening, pregnant and tired from weeks of travel, I asked if they had any herbal mint tea on hand. They did not, but by morning it was on our breakfast trolley.
We rented a car and spent an entire day in Ammoudara, with our toes in the sand. In the late afternoon we headed west and walked around Chania’s quaint, waterfront village. We indulged in an ice cream sundae and people watched as the sun set over the 16th-century harbor.
Crete was the perfect last stop for us, as we made our way back through Athens for a night and then onto Houston, through Istanbul. This time without a multi-day stopover.
A couple of takeaways from our experience…
Island hopping by ferry is incredibly convenient. We booked ours ahead of time, on go-ferry.com Do yourself a favor and pay the few extra Euros for First Class seats. We were excited to hang out on the stern until we were stifled by heavy smokers polluting the entire area. We upgraded our tickets and enjoyed clean, comfortable, indoor seating.
Map out all the ports and figure out your route well in advance. I have the ports for the islands we visited charted on my Google Map. Give yourself plenty of time to get there from your hotel. We missed our ferry from Athens to Paros, in part because our driver didn’t know where the port was. We didn’t push back when he detoured from the directions on my phone and found ourselves waiting 8 hours for the next ride.
Feel free to save the above Eat-See-Do brochure or save your own copy of my Google Map. And reach out to me with any questions!