We recently came back from a fantastic vacation in Greece. After ski season is over the whole family needs a trip somewhere warm and this year it was also to celebrate Summer’s 40th birthday! We found a window of time where we were able to go for 18 days and Jamison only missed a week of school. Riley missed more, but 3rd grade isn’t too difficult to catch up on.
There are some pictures below, but you can (and should!) view the entire album from our trip and we also have a mix of videos we took on the trip, including an amazing time-lapse of the Santorini sunset.
Athens Arrival
We started out in Athens, arriving on Orthodox Easter. You can read about Riley’s perspective on the day as well. We were pretty tired, the kids didn’t sleep at all on the plane and Summer and I only got a little bit of sleep
The worst part of the arrival was going to the car rental counter and having them refuse to give me a car because I didn’t have an International Driver’s License. Who has even heard of such a thing? Apparently Enterprise had and it was a requirement. I didn’t really know what to do so went to a different companies counter (Sixt) and they rented me a car without one. Very sketchy, but I guess it worked out. I read about it more after and it’s hit or miss on the company, but technically one is required. If you are going to Greece or any country that doesn’t use our alphabet, I recommend just getting one, or at least confirming whether or not you need one.
Day in Athens
Acropolis – Obviously you must see this, it’s clearly epic. Overlooks Athens and you can only imagine what it was like when it was active. Today, it is infested with tourists and scaffolding which takes something away from the experience. I witnessed it several days in the early hours of the morning running around Athens (from the outside) which made it seem a bit more magical. The museum is also a must see. Right outside the Acropolis you can also visit Mars Hill, where the Apostle Paul spoke from to the people of Athens.
Agora of Athens – At the foot of the Acropolis, this was the center of Athens and walking through it was a great way to experience what daily life in Athens was like.
Corinth, Mycenae, Epidaurus and Nafplion
We decided to do a quick day trip from Athens to visit Ancient Corinth, Mycenae, Epidaurus and the city of Nafplion. This was a great side trip, albeit a long day. Mycenae in particular was memorable as the remnants of an old civilization even before the Ancient Greeks. Included in this trip was the amazing Corinth Canal which definitely takes your breath away as you look down from the bridge.
Beach Day
We decided to spend the next day relaxing at the beach so we drove south from Athens and ended up spending the first half of the day at Yabanaki (Vari) Beach. We essentially just drove down the coast until we came upon a beach that looked cool and then stopped. Rented a cabana for the day and just sat there while the boys played in the water.
Afterward, we drove back to Athens proper and visited the Olympic Village from the 2004 Summer Olympics and the original Olympic Stadium from the 1896 Olympics. We love visiting the Olympic sites when we can; we’ve been to Atlanta, Barcelona, Berlin (just Jakub), Seoul and Whistler.
We finished off the night with some dessert at a pretty unique place.
Poseidon
Our last full day in Athens we decided to venture south to visit the Temple of Poseidon. This is about an hour drive from the center of Athens, but worth it if only for the views which are like no other ruins in Greece. After the temple, we went back to Athens and actually visited the Acropolis Museum.
Delphi
We left Athens and headed into the mountains to visit Delphi. The drive up there is pretty crazy and right before you arrive you drive through this small town called Arachova which is extremely picturesque and apparently a big ski town in winter. We arrived at our hotel which we would definitely recommend; great view of the valley, walking distance to the ruins and very friendly staff. Afterward, we ate and headed to the ruins. Delphi is where the Prophet was and people would pilgrimage there for advice. It’s nestled into the mountains and very well preserved. There is basically nothing else round here, but if you have a car and are going to be visiting the mainland, you should visit.
Meteora
The next day we headed out from Delphi toward Meteora where we would spend two nights at a cute B&B that we’d also recommend; view was amazing, location was good and we had a two bedroom place for two nights for less than one night in Athens. While I thought the drive to Delphi was a bit crazy, this was even more so; lots of driving up and down mountains with windy switchbacks. I can’t imagine driving here in the snow and thankfully didn’t have to.
Meteora is a small town underneath some surreal looking natural rock formations upon which monks decided to build their monasteries. This is something that truly has to be seen to be fully appreciated as these buildings, some of them immense, sit atop sheer rock faces. Many are still active and thus the visiting hours are limited and tend to fluctuate, however, we were able to visit all of them in about a day and a half and you could definitely do it in a day, assuming they are all open that day.
We were there in early May, which is definitely off-season and yet there were many tourists there already. I can only imagine what this place looks like at peak season.
Mount Olympus
From Meteora we drove further north to the town of Litochoro, near Mount Olympus. The original plan was to hike Olympus all the way to the top, but this time of year we knew that we wouldn’t be able to given that there was still a ton of snow on it and none of the shelters were open. We arrived at our hotel which it turned out was a beautiful resort right on the sea and quickly upgraded to an amazing sea view suite with a jacuzzi on the balcony for $100 total for two nights – winners!
We did end up hiking here and the region is beautiful. Olympus is a pretty massive mountain (almost 3000 m high), but what makes it special is both the history and it’s proximity to the sea, making it seem larger than it is when you are on it looking down.
We took two hikes here. First, on the day we arrived, after visiting the Mount Olympus Visitor Center we did a short hike to Orlias Falls which was a nice quick hike. The next day we took a longer hike exploring different parts of the Litochoro to Prionia trail.
Overall, I would love to go back and climb Olympus to the top and spend more time hiking in this area. We left here and drove back to Athens for our flight to Santorini, but stopped at a small mountain village of Panteleimon and did a short hike there per recommendation from the concierge at Athens. Very cool small town, until two busses full of teenage students showed up and ruined the atmosphere. Hopefully ours kids don’t turn into those.
Santorini
Santorini was our first (of two) island stop and took our breath away even as we landed on the small volcanic island. The pictures (and video, be sure to watch the time lapse sunset in the main video) can’t really do it justice.
One thing to point out is that our kids were one of the few that age we say on the whole island! It was either honeymooners, retires or surprisingly, couples with babies.
Another fun fact about Santorini is that the drive down to the port (where we took our boat to Crete) is the craziest, steepest, switchbackiest road we’ve ever been on and our driver thought he was an F1 driver the entire way down. I don’t think Summer opened her eyes.
A few things we’d recommend. The Akrotiri Archaeological Site is very cool to see and you can easily park by the water while visiting the Red Beach, also recommended. Skaros Rock is also a fun hike, including some rock climbing to get to the very top. Santorini Brewing Company is a must visit if you want an IPA in Greece – Crazy Donkey! Lastly we really enjoyed wine tasting at the Gavalas Winery which was unlike any other experience we had – extremely hands on, friendly and knowledgeable folks there.
Crete
Finally we spent our last 3 days in Crete at an all inclusive resort and essentially just hung out, ate, drank and played darts. We did spend one day visiting the Palace of Knossos and downtown Heraklion, including the great Archaeological Museum there. From Crete, we caught a flight to Athens, spent the night at a hotel at the airport and took off for home at 4 AM the next day. Amazing trip!
