Greece- Top Places you should not miss

Anyone who knows me, knows that the Greece islands were one of the top places I wanted to visit from the time I cannot even recall. Aaaaand after months of planning, me and my husband finally decided to visit Greece for our Honeymoon last year in 2017. (We visited in late June/ early July).I am finally sharing the ins and outs of my Greece vacation, talking about the points of interest and best places to visit, which will help you in planning your very own Greece holiday.

Greece has several different islands like Santorini and Mykonos (which we decided to explore) along with its main capital city, Athens.

Athens:

Parth and I flew from Atlanta to Athens and stayed at the Divani Hotel Acropolis in downtown for two nights. Our hotel was right in front of the Acropolis and Parthenon, making it the perfect location for our sightseeing activities. It was also very near to the Monastiraki Square (where you will find lot of street vendors and authentic Greek food). Roaming around the streets aimlessly, having local beers and lot of amazing food made this touristy place a lot more fun for us.

P.S If you love shopping, you will love the street vendors, I bought so many skin care products made of donkey milk and olive oil, and I love the products even after a year.

Our morning ritual in Athens was to wake up and go to the nearby cafe, grab a cup of authentic Greek coffee and breakfast before heading out for the day. If you are a coffee drinker, you should definitely try the Freddo expresso (which is a local Greek coffee) and let me tell you, my husband who is an avid coffee drinker, totally loved it. I on the other hand, am not a big fan of it, and just ordered a regular cappuccino throughout the whole trip.

Three nights were perfect in Athens, and how we split it, was spending two nights while going there and spending one night while coming back to the states so that if we have any problems with the flights flying back and forth to Athens from the islands, we still will be able to catch our flight back to the US.

On day three, we took an early morning flight from Athens to Santorini, to avoid wasting time in the ferry. The flight to Santorini was literally 25 minutes and it was the best decision ever made because we reached Santorini about 9am and got to spend the whole day there, without wasting any time in traveling.

Athens Recommendations:

1. Stay near Monastiraki Square.
2. Split days in Athens two while going there and one day while coming back to the islands
3. Buy some Donkey milk and Olive oil products.
4. Try Freddo Expresso
5. Shop at the street vendors

Santorini

Santorini is a volcanic cyclade Greek island located in the Aegan Sea. So… this is where we splurged during our trip. Oia has lot of luxury Greece resorts that you can choose from and we stayed at https://www.katikies.com/ _____. It is the dreamiest of hotels located in Oia right on a cyclade. Not going to lie, it was definitely the most expensive hotel I have ever stayed in, but just the experience of living there on the Cliffside, in a cave like hotel room made it all worth it. The most beautiful part of the hotel was our own private infinity pool. It was stunning, modern and so dreamy.

If you want more of an affordable options Fira is a great one. Also, if you are into Airbnb’s definitely stay in the ones in Imerovigli (one of the highest points in Santorini with great views).

We spent most of our time in Santorini sipping wine in our pool, watching the dreamiest of sunsets, taking lots and lots of pictures, and walking around the little streets of Oia and Fira. Santorini, is sooo pretty that all around you will see people trying to capture that perfect photo of the sunset, of the calderas or of the little streets with the blue and white backgrounds. Ah, even thinking about it makes me want to go back.

The most memorable part of our trip to Santorini, was our Catamaran tour with the sunset Oia cruises. We did a semi private day trip (the tour leaves at 1pm and comes back around 7pm after the sunset). The tour takes you the red and black sand beach, has a traditional Greek style meal and you can also snorkel and swim. We loved it. It was my husband’s birthday too that day, and it was so nice of the crew to bring him a cake during sunset. It was indeed the most precious moment of our trip.

Things to do in Santorini:

1. Take the Catamaran tour with the sunset Oia cruises. (Take the one where you can see the sunset and take semi private or private). The company also provides you with shuttle service back and forth from the hotel
2. Go to the fisherman’s pier and have dinner or lunch.
3. Hike from Fira to Oia if you can. (we only did half of it since it was super-hot)
4. Visit in Late April/ Early May if you can (since it was super-hot in June/July)
5. There is a Greek yogurt / Coffee spot in Oia called They have some amazing coffee and Greek yogurt. Definitely try that.
6. Mediterranean restaurant
7. If you want to take some awesome shots, one of the days wake up early around 6am when everyone else is sleeping.
8. Watch the sunset from the sunset point- if you want to want to watch the sunset from the castle, be ready for the crowds or go there about 2 hours early. I would recommended watching the sunset from a local terrace if you can. We were lucky to find something on our way to the castle and the owners of the house were so nice to invite us to watch the sunset from their terrace. Also you can watch the sunset one of the days from the wineries. But watch the sunset, it is breathtaking!
9. Have a hotel or apartment with a pool. There are not great beaches in Santorini and therefore having a pool is a must.
10. Go to one of the wineries. (Santo Wines, Venetsanos Winery and there are many more…)

Mykonos:

So…Mykonos was the last destination of our most amazing trip. To be honest, I was not expecting much of it, because all that I had heard before, was how it is a “party” island unlike Santorini which is a pretty island. Now, I don’t disagree with it being a party island, but I disagree with everyone thinking, it is not pretty as Santorini. It is pretty in its own way and there is so much to it than just partying.

We took a ferry from Santorini to Mykonos. I would say this, it was a fun experience but it was a whole day spent traveling (the ferry companies mention the travel time to be 3 hours or so, but in reality it takes 8 hours). Therefore I wish, I did a flight from Santorini instead of a ferry.

One of the things I love about Mykonos is that it’s very tiny. We had two full days and we felt it was perfect. We stayed at this beautiful Airbnb which was near the Mykonos Town (also called little Venice, the one with the tiny streets you see in pictures), and rented a moped for an easy commute. It was so much Fun!

We spent most of our time in the Mykonos town, exploring the little walkways and narrow streets, shopping at the little shops and boutiques, and eating the yummy food by the waterfront. At night, we went to the infamous beach parties at the Paradise beach. The cocktails at Tropicana beach club are epic.

If you like to party, like we do, Mykonos has some best beach side restaurants. These restaurants are unlike any other beach bars. You will be amazed by how fancy it is. We spent one afternoon there at one of the beach bars called http://principote.com/ ___ and then headed over to a fancier one called Scorpios (it is my fav) in the evening. If you visit Mykonos, do not miss this. You will definitely thank me later. The cocktails at this place are AH-Ma-Zing!

Things to do in Mykonos:

1. Rent a Moped or ATV. You will have lot of fun.
2. Stay near the Mykonos Town.
3. Take a flight if you do not have much time and do not want to waste time in the ferry.
4. Visit the Scorpios beach bar (in the evening) and Principote Panoramas Beach Club (during the afternoon/morning)
5. Eat at the waterfront restaurants
6. See the Windmills- it is just one of the things you have to see. You might not be amazed by it, but it gives the island its own charm. And… If you are like me and looking for an Instagram spot for the pictures go take one at the Windmills.
7. Visit the Delos Island if you have time. You can grab the tickets for the boat from Mykonos Town Harbor.

To wrap up this beautiful trip, we took a flight back from Mykonos to Athens and spent an evening there doing nothing but just enjoying our last few hours near the Monastiraki Square.

I am so glad we split the days in Athens (as mentioned above) because we had an issue with our flight back from Mykonos ( and there is only one flight per day) and if we would have missed that, we would have eventually missed our flight back to USA from Athens. I would highly recommend doing it this way and splitting your days in Athens between starting your trip and ending your trip.

Let me know if you have been to Greece islands and what places you recommended when visiting the Greece islands.

Traveling to Greece during the Coronavirus Pandemic? Here’s what you need to know:

Before entering Greece, everyone is required to fill in the Passenger Locator Form no later than the day before arrival. The form requires detailed information on passengers’ departure location, the duration of previous stays in other countries, as well as the address of their stay while in Greece.

All persons entering Greece must submit a negative COVID-19 test result obtained within 72 hours of arrival in Greece. Travelers from the allowed countries may skip quarantine, provided they have a negative PCR test within 72 hours before travel, proof of infection within the past 2-9 months, or proof they’ve been fully vaccinated, and completed their cycle at least 14 days earlier.

The QR code will tell you whether you need to have an additional test done at the airport. If you do, you must self-isolate until you have the results — around 24 hours.

Useful links:

https://travel.gov.gr/#/