[Tips]
- Greeks use euros as their currency. While most places accept card, it’s safer to bring some cash for tour fees and tip
- Tipping at restaurants is 5-10%
- It’s easiest to take the metro. Once you’re in the city center, you’re pretty much near most of the main attractions and can walk
- It’s safe to drink tap water in Athens but make sure you buy bottled water on the islands. Even the waiters will tell you to!
- Wear comfy shoes and save the cute ones. Greece is very hilly and has uneven ground that you can easily trip over.
[Day 1] Athens, Greece
Evening: Arrived
First things first after arriving – Dinner at O Thanasis in Monastiraki which was near our hotel. The food was decently priced and pretty fresh. My favorite was definitely the saganaki!
We couldn’t resist dessert at a random place back to our hostel
[Day 2] Athens, Greece
Morning/Afternoon:
We started our morning with a complementary breakfast at the hostel – Athens Studio. I’m loving the feta everywhere!
Breakfast was not enough. Gotta fuel up with coffee at Coffee Island before all our tours.
After coffee, we walked over to do an audio walking tour of the Panathenaic Stadium. It’s the old Olympic Stadium in Athens Greece, built of granite in late 19th century from the 4th Century which hosted the first modern games in 1896. It’s a lot easier to understand when someone tells you what’s going on – even if it’s through an audio speaker.
After the Panatheaic Stadium we headed to our next tour at 11am – A half day guided Tour of Athens: Acropolis, Ancient Angora & Museum, Hephaestus Temple, the Church of the 12 Apostles, the Temple of Apollo Patroos, the Altar of Zeus. FYI – the Acropolis and Ancient Angora ticket fees is paid separately on site. You’re essentially paying for the tour only.
We finished the tour around 3pm and had a late lunch at Attanos Restaurant. Not going to lie, I got hungry along the tour so make sure to eat a heavy breakfast or bring a snack!
Evening:
We weren’t ready to eat dinner just yet so we walked around Plaka & Monastiraki for shopping, which mostly had souviners. However, we did crave a fresh fruit juice which my sister couldn’t stop raving about, in the cutest little juice store!
Once we felt ready for a (light) dinner, we took the metro to Syntagma square and had drinks at Six D.o.g.s which was extremely hipster but cute. By the way, it’s a cafe during the day!
Couldn’t resist dessert though and had to try these delicious fried dough! We got Lukumades to share.
[Day 3] Santorini, Greece
Morning:
We arrived to Santorini at 6am in the morning and needed somewhere to chill so we found a cafe to camp out at while we waited for our hotel to open. Food was extremely mediocre. Luckily, the hotel checked us in early.
Checked into our cute hotel, Sweet Pop, with a gorgeous view.
Afternoon: Since Santorini is pretty hard to get around without a car, we decided to skip the headache and took part in the Santorini full day sight seeing tour.
The first stop was the Akrotiri Archaeological Site which is considered the best-preserved Minoan ruins outside of Crete. The guide will take you on a tour to learn about the remnants of the city that remains from the eruption of Mt Thera. Our tour guide was extremely excited about the toilet that was still standing!
We then got dropped of at Perissa Beach where we had lunch at Aquarius Restaurant. The best dish was by far the fried seafood. The mousaka and kebab plate were disappointing but they kinda made up for it but giving us a free piece of cake afterwards.
After lunch, we headed to Perissa Beach where they’re known for their black sand. Not the easiest to walk on barefoot but nonetheless extremely unique and pretty.
Hopping back on the bus, we headed up the mountain to Prophet Elias Monastery – the highest point of the island. There, we simply took photos and hopped back on the bus.
Next, we stopped by Santo Wines to enjoy tastings of Santorini’s unique volcanic varietals. My favorite was the sweet red wine made in Santorini! Because we took so much time taking pictures, we didn’t get to check out the museum but just know that it’s there!
Las but not least, we traveled to Oia to watch the iconic sunset. Super crowded, but ultimately worth it!
Evening: By the time we got back, it was pretty late, around 9:30pm so we had a late dinner at Lucky’s Souvlakis. We each got a souvlakis which I highly recommend!! Totally hits the spot.
[Day 4] Santorini, Greece
Morning: We got a quick breakfast at a 24 hour place near hotel which had fresh made pastries every day. My sister and I shared a cream filled pastry and a frappe which was insanely good! We then walk to old port of Fira, which if you take the stairs, make sure to give yourself at the least 30-45 minutes. It’s 587 stairs down which doesn’t sound like that much but they’re huge steps down a whole cliff!
Afternoon: We got on our boat at 11am and started our half day Volcano and hot springs boat tour.
15 minutes after sailing, we arrived at Nea Kameni, an active volcano where we hiked up to the top (don’t forget workout shoes!) and had a little time to explore and take pictures.
We then headed over to the Hot Springs at Palea Kameni where the boat stopped 30 meters and we had to jump in and swim over. They strongly recommend not going if you’re not a “good” swimmer and I concluded after my swim that I wasn’t. Anyway, I made it. Jumping into the water was not bad (actually pretty refreshing) but I was disappointed in the hot springs because it was not hot and was warm in only certain areas.
After cruising back and arriving at 2pm, we took the cable car back up because we were not doing all those stairs again. The sites were so picturesque that we decided to do a photo shoot around town before dinner. Such a photogenic island!
Evening: Once we got ready for dinner, we headed over to the bus station to head over to Oia again. From there, we headed down more stairs to Amoudi Bay where we had dinner & watched the sunset at Sunset Restaurant and stayed for 4 hours. The food was incredible and I highly recommend the calamari and dried octopus.
[Day 5] Paros, Greece
Morning: The next morning, we got up early to travel to to our next island, Paros. We took Blue Star Ferries and slept like a baby because it didn’t even feel like we were on a boat at all!
It was too early to check into our hotel so we explored a bit.
We stopped for a much needed cup of coffee at Secret Cafe. I got a cappuccino which was delicious! We chilled outside and enjoyed the views.
Afternoon:
It still wasn’t time to check in so we stopped for lunch at Hellas. Most lunch places did not open till 12pm, hence the coffee beforehand. The food was overall pretty good but super hipster. Not sure how I feel about it.
Finally, we got to check into our hotel by the water, Hotel Oasis. The room was huge but the shower was lacking for such a huge space.
Next, we went exploring the town of Nauossa. Protip: check the bus schedule. When we went, the bus came every 1-2 hours so we ended up taking a pretty expensive taxi there.
It was a little town so we decided to see what else there was to do. They were known for wine tasting at Moraitis Winery so off we went! They had a downstairs to show off where they made the wines.
Evening: After getting lost, we finally got dinner at Taverna Glafokos. I’m loving the water view dining life! Everything was extremely good and the seafood (calamari, fish, octopus) was a must get! It was super fresh and affordable.
As we headed back to the bus station, we watched our last sunset in Greece which was of course, incredible.
[Day 6] Paros & Athens, Greece
Morning: Before catching our ferry back to Athens, we had breakfast at Black Coffee, again by the water.
Afternoon: After a 3.5 hour boat ride back to Athens we stuck it out in some heavy traffic to our airbnb near the Acropolis. We spent some time souvenir shopping in Plaka.
Evening:
We had our last dinner at Savvas. The food was okay but the view of the city & Acropolis was insane!
After dinner, we walked around some more to try to find dessert. I got a huge ginger shot and juice because I was sick.
I couldn’t finish the trip without Greek ice cream so froyo from Chillbox hit the spot. This was self serve and they weigh it for the price.
And that was 5 days in Greece! If I could do it over again, I would probably add an extra day in Santorini just to chill on a boat. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip and look forward to going back!
