Kelsea Knight 5/28/19 Kelsea Knight 5/28/19

Athens, Greece

From ancient artifacts dedicated to Greek Gods, tasty tzatziki and pita bread, and islands with unbelievably clear, aqua blue water, Greece is a beautiful destination for a honeymoon or vacation.

Below, I am sharing hotels we stayed at, restaurants we dined at, activities I found enjoyable, and tips that I wish I knew before going.

Yamas! (To say cheers in Greek, Yamas means “to our health”)

ATHENS

Hotel: AthensWas Design Hotel - Excellent luxury hotel. The rooftop restaurant Sense has incredible sunset views of the Acropolis. You can visit the restaurant for a drink or two and enjoy the view. AthensWas is a short 5 minute walk to the Acropolis Museum, a 12 minute walk to the Panathenaic Stadium (not included in any combo ticket), nearby all archeological sites included in the combo ticket (which I recommend you purchase), and walking distance to the Plaka and Monastiraki, which are both great areas in Athens to shop and eat. Athens felt similar to Los Angeles, CA to me. It is a big city, crowded, with lots of traffic, but with incredible ancient ruins and historical archeological sites.

Transportation: We arranged for car service through our hotel to/from the airport and to/from the ferry port to ensure we would arrive on time. The city is very walkable, but we used the Uber app to get to Lycabettus Hill and the National Archeological Museum because they were the only things far from our hotel. We took a Taxi once because the driver was conveniently waiting where we were. The Taxi driver wanted to charge us 20 Euro for the ride although my Uber app showed the ride would cost me 8 Euro if I called a driver via the app. I asked if the Taxi driver would take us for 15 Euro and he agreed. Taxi drivers are flexible with rates, but will always cost more than Uber.

Note, there are a lot of one way streets and pedestrians in Athens, GR. Driving is crazy.

Airport: ATH

Ferry Port: Port Pireaus

DAY 1:

Visit the Acropolis Museum - Buy tickets online. This can take you approximately 2 hours to do. Highly recommend if you are jet lagged and want to be inside a nice, air conditioned building or if you cannot check into your hotel room just yet. You’ll see amazing artifacts found and learn a lot. Do a self-guided audio tour, pick up the headphones at the front desk. We purchased our tickets via the e-ticketing link on: https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/plan-your-visit#eisitiria

Lunch: LIONDI Traditional Greek Restaurant - Tasty souvlaki (grilled chicken), pita bread and tzatziki, French fries, and gyros. Cheap $. This was near our hotel.

Dinner: Smak (Ζυμερία, Romvis 21, Athina 105 60, Greece)- Greek pizza! Cheap $. Delicious.

“Athens By Night” Walking tour with Sebastian (YouTuber / Guided Tour) - Highly recommend! We came across this tour guide who makes helpful videos on his YouTube channel Greece Explained. Sebastian has great informational videos about Athens and all the islands in Greece. We did this tour on our last night in Athens, but I wish we would have booked this in advance for our first night because it would have been helpful to know where the best spots in the city were and how close the archeological sites were to us.

We purchased our tickets via: https://greeceexplained.com

Watch Sebastian’s Greece tips YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2XBfHsqS9tSK_uPE0kQ6_w

DAY 2:

8:00AM - Athens: Acropolis and 6 Archaeological Sites

Acropolis (Must visit) - The Parthenon building is on the Acropolis. Get there right at 8:00am, enter via the “side entrance”. Buy the “combo ticket” online, you can skip the long ticket line and walk to the entrance to scan your ticket (sent to you via email) to enter. We went at the end of May/beginning of June. It gets hot outside by 9:30am. We did not do a guided walking tour. The tours are long and move at a slow pace. We wanted to get there quickly and beat the crowds. The guided walking tours start around 9:00am and it gets crowded on the Acropolis fast. Wear running shoes and bring a water bottle. You are hiking up a giant hill and your shoes will get a little dusty. This took us about an hour to do.

Find a combo ticket with the Acropolis/Parthenon (same place), Ancient Agora, Roman Agora, Temple of Zeus, Kerameikos, Hadrains Library, and Aristotle’ Lyceum. You will generally have 5 days to see these sites, meaning your ticket is good for 5 days, and you do not have to do everything in one day.

We purchased ours via: https://www.getyourguide.com

8:00PM Dinner: A For Athens. Make a reservation ahead of time for 1 hour before sunset. Stunning view of the Acropolis, amazing food.

DAY 3:

LUNCH: Kostas (the best gyros in Athens) and Lukumades (Greek donuts)

Finish any remaining archaeological sites.

Kelsea Knight 5/28/19 Kelsea Knight 5/28/19

Mykonos, Greece

Mykonos is a party island!

Things to do: Book a dinner reservation months in advance for Scorpios, Mykonos. There is an elevated dress code, amazing food, and a stunning beachside location with live music and dancing. Take a catamaran cruise. Explore Mykonos town.

Where to stay: Rocabella Mykonos Hotel

Kelsea Knight 5/28/19 Kelsea Knight 5/28/19

Santorini, Greece

Santorini is a beautiful island with white buildings, over 600 churches, and stunning views!

Things to do: Take a catamaran cruise to view the island from the water. Book a wine tour. Walk through Oia to get the perfect picture, shop for handmade pottery, paintings, and accessories.

Where to stay: Illiovasilema Hotel & Suites (Imerovigli, Santorini, Greece)

This hotel was very nice, friendly staff. Just outside of Oia, less congestion, less people, still a quick shuttle ride away from Oia.