Fall 2014 | 15 days
1 Athens (2 night)
2 Naxos (4 nights)
3 Santorini (3 nights)
4 Crete (5 nights)
Back to Athens to fly out (1 night)
This was my fourth trip to Greece and Steve’s first. It was also our first trip to a country where neither of us knows the language. Since I’d been here before and knew from previous visits and research that English is widely spoken, and Greece has a reputation for hospitality, it seemed a good choice for hitting our most foreign country. We tried to keep to at least three nights per stop so we didn’t feel rushed.
Read more about our planning for this trip
A note on Greek place names: Since Greek has its own alphabet, names don’t always get transliterated the same way. Ἡράκλειον might become Heraklion or Iraklion or a variation on either of those. I’ve tried to include place names in Greek when possible.
Accommodations
$62-$110 per night
Transportation
$270 per person
Sights & Activities
$184 per person
Food & Drink
$37 per person per day
Our costs for this trip (in US dollars at time of trip). Click for more details.
Fly from home to …
Athens (Αθήνα) – 2 nights
While we didn’t want to spend a lot of our trip in the city, we did want to see the major historical sights and take in some of the older neighborhoods. We enjoyed just wandering around the city, especially in the evening.
I’m kind of amazed we managed to pack all this into a day and a half, especially being tired and jetlagged. I would recommend adding at least another night to Athens.
- Day 1: Plaka
- Day 2:
- Acropolis
- Ancient Agora
- Monastiraki Flea Market
- Acropolis Museum
- Filopappou Hill
- Shopping for contact lens case and solution
The Acropolis
August 31, 2014
The Acropolis was our focus while in Athens. The Ancient Agora is equally impressive and more pleasantly shaded and mellow.
Take a boat to …
Naxos (Νάξος) – 4 nights
We wanted to hit another island in the Cyclades besides Santorini, one that was new to both of us and was more representative. (Santorini is unique.) We eliminated Mykonos as too pricey and touristy and eventually narrowed it down to Naxos or Paros. Naxos won out for it’s old town and food scene. We’d planned to do some hiking on our own but when we got the opportunity to do a guided tour with a local expert, we did that instead. We still ended up doing a little hiking!
- Day 1: Athens to Naxos
- Day 2: Plaka Beach
- Day 3: Guided tour of Naxos
- Day 4: Day trip to Delos
- Day 5: Naxos to Santorini
Guided Tour of Naxos
September 3, 2014
It was a great day out and we got so much more out of the tour than we would have hiking on our own, which is what we’d originally planned to do before this opportunity came up.
Day Trip to Delos and Mykonos
September 4, 2014
Delos was available as a day trip from both Naxos and Santorini. We did it from Naxos because we had more time on that island. It’s a nice day trip if you like ruins like we do.
Take a boat to …
Santorini (also Thira, Θήρα) – 3 nights
I’ve wanted to go to Santorini since the first time I was in Greece in 1983. I hadn’t been able to fit it in until now. We stayed in Perissa because it was less expensive but expected to spend most of our time around the caldera. In fact we didn’t actually spend much time around the caldera. We love Perissa! It’s now our favorite beach town.
We did do the walk from Fira to Oia and were woefully unprepared since it was a last minute call. Be prepared for lots of sun and no opportunities to get water.
- Day 1: Naxos to Santorini
- Day 2:
- Ancient Akrotiri
- Red Beach
- Walk from Fira to Oia, stay for sunset
- Day 3: Perissa Beach
Hike from Fira to Oia
September 6, 2014
It was hot, tiring, and sometimes it was hard to find the trail in the villages. But gorgeous views all along the 10k walk. Be prepared for little shade.
Take a boat to …
Crete (Κρήτη) – 5 nights
Hiking the Samaria Gorge was a bucket list item I couldn’t fit into a previous visit to Crete and I’m glad we fit it into this one. It’s a beautiful hike. The best base for that is Chania, which sounded cool in its own right. We were able to arrange our schedule so that we could do Knossos enroute to Chania. We planned to visit one of the west coast beaches too, but decided the beach at Chania was nice enough that we didn’t make the effort to get to one of the more out-of-the-way beaches.
- Day 1: Santorini to Heraklion
- Day 2
- Knossos
- Heraklion to Chania
- Day 3: Exploring Chania
- Day 4: Samarian Gorge Hike
- Day 5: Neo Hora Beach
- Day 6: Chania to Athens
Minoan Ruins at Knossos
September 9, 2014
We visited Knossos on an overnight stop in Heraklion. We arrived by ferry in the evening, visited Knossos the following morning, then took an afternoon bus to Chania.
Samarian Gorge Hike
September 11, 2014
Hiking the Samarian Gorge was a bucket list item. It’s a long, gorgeous (couldn’t resist), not especially challenging downhill hike from the mountains to the sea through a beautiful gorge.
Fly to Athens, then home …