Given the time we had, we could only cover 3 locations - Athens, Mykonos and Santorini - all 3 incredible in their own ways. Again, I cant reiterate enough on how much it helped that we ended up doing this trip in the shoulder season. We heard enough from the locals on how insanely crowded each of these places get and in a way it reminded one of India. Something that P & me often end up discussing is how the best time to travel anywhere in India is off-season - looks like Europe is going the same way :)
Athens
Packed with history, Athens is best enjoyed as a tourist when you stay near the city center; Omonia, Syntagma, Monastriki are best places to stay (if a bit pricey); It helps that every important archaeological site is very walkable and if you don’t want to do that (then why visit Athens), maybe the presence of the key shopping and eating places should help you see reason
Historical sites abound and most of them are doable within a day. Acropolis/ Parthenon obviously tops the list but we also loved the Panathenaic Stadium. It’s really wonderful how well that is maintained and is also pretty much ripe to do the Usain Bolt pose 😊
Do not miss out of Lycabettus hill as well; the view from the top of all of Athens and the surrounding area is worth it. Even if one is doing short trip, Lycabettus is definitely worth doing especially at sunset and a good way to beat jet lag if you walk up. Like Po from Kungfu Panda, P had to face her old enemy at Lycabettus – Stairs
History aisde, one should also definitely do Cape Sounion, it’s around an hour from Athens and there are multiple tour and tour operators for the same. The sunset tour is the one to do (we were however unlucky that it turned out to be a cloudy day). The place has spectacular views and a must do when visiting Athens – though you may have to carve out half a day to do it
Mykonos
The ultimate party place as per all sources but we found it super quiet and very nice (and also super expensive, in all regards, esp after Athens) given that we found digs in the new town. It also helped that the place we stayed was very close to the beach and offered spectacular views
The Windmills of Mykonos is the absolute draw for the place and offers fantastic sunset views (I think I will repeat this for most locations). Don’t miss Little Venice just before the Windmills section; it’s a delightful shopping and eating place
Gioras Medieval Bakery is one such place. It is one of the oldest working bakery dating back to the 18th century and the shop is packed with so many delights that your stomach will not be enough and you have to stuff tiny little packets of wonderful delights into your pockets for later snacking
A friend had a word of advice saying don’t pack your days when you are in the island esp in the evening and that you should ideally find a restaurant or a bar to view the sunset from. That was possibly the best piece of advice I received and we found a delightful restaurant called Nice n Easy and plonked down there to enjoy the sunset over an amazing Gemista. It doesn’t stop there. After a wondrous sunset, you see the stars peeking out in that fabulous night sky and the world feels a wonderful place to be in
Mykonos doesn’t really have much to do barring lounging in one or more of the beaches. We did the trip to Delos, another place brimming with ancient history and is almost a trip back to ancient times
Getting around though is a bit of a pain (and expensive) esp if you don’t have your own vehicle. Even if you have your own, parking is expensive. Try to find accommodations closer to Old Town wherein you can walk down or near the Ferry terminal, in which case you can cab down (~15/20 Euros for the cab)
Santorini
Highlight of the trip, Santorini is truly the island of infinitely instragrammable sunsets. Given the time of the year, its also super windy and chilly. That caught us by surprise and we actually had to carry a jacket for most of the time in Santorini
The “You had me at hello” situation at Santorini literally happens at the Ferry station. The imposing caldera right next to the ferry station and the winding road leading all the way up to the top is impressive and intimidating as well
Tons of places to stay, each with their own benefits but if you are not planning to get your own conveyance, I think it makes sense to stay at Fira/ Firostefani or Oia. You get the spectacular views but you are also close enough to get a lot of options – be it food or shopping
Unlike Mykonos, theres a lot to do in Santorini & you might have to pick and choose depending on how long you are there. We ended up doing the full day island tour with sunset at Oia and a cruise to the volcanic islands and Thirassia. Other things to do include a tour of the different beaches (red, white & black beaches) & wine tours.
The volcano tour has 2 major stops. First is at Nea Kameni wherein you have to hike up 30 mins to get a fantastic view and the second stop is at Palia Kameni, where the boat stops at a hot spring and folks just dove down from the boat to get to them. One of those times where we felt we really should have learnt swimming
Oia gets super crowded given the iconic 3 domes as well as the sunset. For taking pics at the 3 domes, you definitely need to get in early to get the best spot and theres quite a queue that forms up for it. For the sunset view at Oia, if you are not staying there, follow the Mykonos trick – pick a good spot at a restaurant or a lounge bar and enjoy it in style (and a full stomach)
Given the pretext of the trip was P’s birthday, we actually found an awesome Indian restaurant to have a great birthday dinner
It’s a small world after all
Of all the things to hear, we heard the Kesariya song from Brahmastra on a few occasions across locations – and played by local Greek folks. Just reiterates the fact that music is truly universal and language does not really matter
We tried an Indian restaurant at Athens and P was beyond ecstatic when she heard the cook conversing in Tamil. She got even happier when the cook said he was from Mayavaram, which is very close to her native place of Kumbakonam. Isnt it a small world indeed?
Speaking of small worlds, P got into a conversation with a receptionist at the Santorini hotel and found that the receptionist’s Great grandmom was actually from India. She actually wanted a grand Indian wedding with Indian traditions when it was time to keep in touch with her roots. She was also super helpful and provided P dope on this place called Little Kook in Athens – it turned out to be a fairytale themed café and super cute
Other random observations
Greece possibly had the cleanest washrooms that I have seen so far in my travel and P also agreed on that. For a country that doesn’t use the jet spray/ bidet in washroom and gets so many tourists, that’s quite an achievement
Athens easily might be the graffiti capital of the world, tastefully etched ones at that too – buildings, garages, shops, vehicles and even their metro trains had graffiti all over them
It was also quite amazing to see the number of cats in the country and none of them scrawny. Proper plump, pleased with themselves cats lounging, lazing and languidly loping all over, even in the most crowded places
Very Nice Blog Vinay....it went like a breeze