Our Amazing Trip to Greece

Greece is a place of wonder with a lot of options for how to spend your time. We opted for an amazing itinerary that included a little bit of Athens and three very different islands. With 227 inhabited islands to choose from, you could vacation in Greece for years and never hit them all. My advice is to match islands with what you love to do and try to have a mix of vibes.

Our trip brought us to the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea, an enchanting archipelago of 56 islands, only about twenty of which are inhabited. The most popular, Mykonos, Santorini, Paros, Naxos, Amorgos, Folegandros, Ios and Milos are heavenly places where you will love exploring. We built our itinerary using Trip Advisor and various Greece specific blogs such as Greece Travel Secrets. It consisted of 2 days in Athens, and a few days on Milos, Santorini and Paros.

Itinerary

Day 1- Arrive in Athens from ATL around 9am and check into hotel

Day 1- Visit the Acropolis of Athens, surrounding area ruins and wander the city

Day 2- Visit the Olympic Stadium and fly to Milos on Aegean Airlines

Day 3- Catamaran tour to Kleftiko (Photos)

Day 4- Rent car, scooter or ATV and beach hop

Day 5- Take SeaJets ferry to Santorini

Day 6- Spend the day walking around Oia (definitely stay in this village!)

Day 7- Wine tasting and cooking class

Day 8- Rent ATV and drive to a black sand beach

Day 9- Take SeaJets ferry to Paros. Rent a car from the ferry port.

Day 10- Spend the day at Monastiri Beach

Day 11- Take the car ferry to Antiparos

Day 12- Fly from Paros to Athens for connecting flight home

Day 1

After checking into the Hilton Athens Greece (note: currently closed for renovations until 2024), we headed for the city center. It’s about a 15-minute walk from the Hilton, but there are plenty of hotels in the city center as well.

The Acropolis of Athens

The Acropolis of Athens was on the agenda for the day. Be sure to book a skip the line guided tour for about $35 per person. It will save you a ton of time, and you can pick your entry time when it’s not too hot or crowded. Early morning or evening to watch the sunset are recommended. The tour tickets also include entry to the Acropolis Museum.

Day 2

Be sure to visit the Panathenaic Stadium and do the self-guided tour for $5 per headset. You can even get in a jog while you’re there, since it’s open to the public for exercise. We left for Milos that afternoon, but if you decide to stay for another day, the hop on/hop off bus is another good option for seeing the city.

Day 3

The ferry stop is in the village of Adamantas, but we opted for the quiet fishing village of Pollonia. Our hotel, the En Milo, was fantastic. We had breakfast on our porch every morning while watching the sunrise. The tiny village is basically a strip of restaurants, bars and shops. Be sure to stop in the Japanese restaurant, Armenaki, for the best gin and tonics EVER!

Kleftiko

The Kleftiko Tour is highly recommended in Milos!

Day 4

Rent a car, ATV or scooter, and beach hop. I won’t go into all the different beaches as you can’t go wrong with any of them.

Day 5

Take the SeaJets ferry to Santorini. It’s fast, comfortable, and reliable. Island hopping by ferry is the way to go. Stay in Oia (you can pronounce it E-uh or Oiy-ya, both are fine) as it’s where the sun sets every day, so you won’t have to trek down there to find a good spot to view it. You can watch from your private pool at the Oia Mare Villas, a hotel built into a cave. Spend this day walking around the village, and if you want the exercise, walk down to the water and back up the stairs. Fira is the main town.

Our hotel is where the swimming pool is near the center of the photo. Our room was 2 floors with a hot tub.

Day 6

I spent the morning diving, and Liz hung around to did a little shopping. The diving wasn’t great for my fellow scuba junkies. While the water was very clear, there was very little if any sea life to see. When I got back, we walked around the village and spent the day by the pool (it was hot) waiting for the sunset.

Day 7

Our tour for this day was awesome! We did a wine tasting at Art Space Winery, a 200-year-old winery, followed by a Greek cooking class. We even brought the recipes home and cooked for friends.

Day 8

Renting an ATV and driving all the way to the other side of the island was both adventurous and relaxing. We ended up at Kamari Beach, a black sand beach with beach clubs to relax and order food and drink.

Day 9

Take the SeaJets ferry to Paros and rent a car. It’s much more convenient and inexpensive for getting around the island. The island is very drivable. We stayed in Naousa at the Stelia Mare Boutique Hotel. Opt for one of the rooms that sits up top and overlooks the pool.

A room with a view! Stelia Mare Boutique Hotel.

Day 10

We spent the day at Monastiri Beach. You can relax at the beach bar that has lounge chairs for rent and the ability to buy food and drinks. You can also bring your hiking shoes and hike to the other side of the hill and see the full view of the sea. We saw a wedding party hiking up there for a ceremony. Also, be sure to walk over and check out the chapel on the hill where I took this awesome shot of Liz.

Monastiri Beach from the chapel looking back down at the beach

Day 11

Take the car ferry for about $8 roundtrip to Antiparos. There are amazing beaches over there and be sure to stop by the Cave of Antiparos.

Day 12

Fly from Paros to Athens for connecting flight home. Most rental car places will allow you to simply leave the car at the airport with the keys locked in it. I recommend flying to Athens the day before flying home as even 2 hours was barely enough time to get luggage from Aegean Airlines and check into Delta. It’s a risky move to connect the same day, but it worked out for us.