Greece has been high on my list for years, long before my obvious love for Italy.
A few years ago when we started our goal to pay off our mortgage as early as possible, Meshach promised me a two-week, mommy and daddy summer vacation to anywhere of my choosing if we accomplished the goal.
That place is going to be Greece!
My obsession with everything Greek has become more prominent over the last week. From watching Troy on Netflix, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, to Greek food cooking shows and searching for Greece photos on Instagram – I needed to do something to end this travel bug insanity until we visit, so I wrote this blog post.
Because I am always eager to stroll along the wanderlust road and plan trips in advance before even booking a flight, these are the places I want us to visit while in Greece.
Athens
While I have never been to this ancient city, as a history geek I am already fascinated that it’s over 5,000 years old!
5,000 years….
Can you imagine walking through ancient ruins that were once bustling with ancient Greeks who were going about their daily routines as we do today? It’s so amazing to me!
On our first day in Athens, literally after checking in to our hotel, I want us to take a free Athens walking tour. It’s something we enjoy doing to get better acquainted with a new city and it’s FREE! We also did one in Montreal and it was the best idea ever.
I have a list of hotels to consider for the nights we will be in Athens and so far, Hotel Arethusa looks like it would be perfect for us.
Almost every review I’ve read about this hotel mentions how easy it is to get to the sites and public transportation. Plus, you can use the Athens Airport Bus X95 which costs 6.00 € each way and it will take you to Syntagma Square within a couple of minutes walk to their hotel.
Santorini
We can’t go to Greece without staying on at least one of its islands for a few days.
After doing some research, Santorini is definitely the island for Meshach and I. Alonistra Oia Houses is on my radar for where I want us to stay in Santorini.
How cool would that be to stay in a house on this beautiful island? Definitely want to stay there, plus it has really good reviews on TripAdvisor.
As typical tourist as it sounds, we want to stay in Oia (almost in every Santorini photo you have ever seen.) I was also trying to decide between Naxos, Mykonos and Crete (which I’ve heard it needs at least one week to visit because it’s practically like a country on its own!) but they may have to be for another trip.
Maybe we can return to Greece on a second trip (with Tristan) and do some island hopping.
Meteora
Honestly, I had never heard of Meteora until listening to Linkin Park’s “Meteora” album years ago (which by the way is my most favorite album ever by the band!) When I looked up photos of Meteora I just knew I wanted to visit someday.
Meteora has very impressive rock formations with monasteries that seem to be suspended in air. Some of the monasteries are inhabited by nuns and monks to this day. You can also visit the inside of the monasteries while staying in the town below (Kalambaka).
We want to take the railway and stay in Kalambaka for an overnight trip and give us at least two days to explore Meteora before heading back to Athens.
Corinth
I wish we’d have an entire month to spend in Greece instead of two weeks. We would probably spend majority of the time visiting every ancient site we’ve read about in myths and history books.
A day trip to Corinth from Athens is also on our list. Key Tours also seem like a good tour company to use for this day trip since we will not be renting a car (based on customer reviews) they also have tours in Meteora.
We want to stop for a view of the incredibly narrow Corinth Canal on our way to the archaeological site of Corinth. The very city where Apostle Paul stopped on his Greece journey.
Like our experiences in Rome, there is something surreal about walking on the same soil of a place you grew up reading about.
It’s one of my favorite things about traveling.
Nafplio
Another day trip from Athens would be the port city of Nafplio. We are going to be brave and climb all 900 steps to get to Palamidi Castle (but maybe take a bus back down!)
I imagine us strolling through the cute streets, having a delicious seafood lunch by the water and just having a relaxing end to our trip before our last full day in Athens the following day.
If you could fit in just one more place to visit in Greece for a day or two, where would it be? Also if you have tips for Greece, please let us know. Don’t forget to comment below and share this post!
*This is NOT a sponsored post. All businesses/services mentioned are solely based on our personal trip planning research.
**Photos from Pixabay.com
