Warning: a bit of a long post. If you would rather just read about individual islands, check them out here: Crete, Santorini, Mykonos.
I tried for almost a decade to get to Greece before I finally made it.
On my first trip to Europe in 2007, Greece was skipped so that I could visit Sound of Music stuff in Austria, Lourdes in France, and spend some extra time with family in Ireland.
It was five years before I got back to Europe. On my first long-term backpacking trip (2013), Greece was in the plan. I’d wanted to go since I was in high school, and my brothers had both gone to Greece on school trips. They came back with great pictures, some awesome souvenirs, and tons of stories about beautiful islands, memories with friends, and less-than-completely-vigilant-chaperones that enabled them to try their first beers. I vowed that this would be the year I would get to Greece.
Unfortunately, Greece was on my list closer to the end-ish of my trip, and before I could get all the way down to Greece, I’d pretty much run out of money. (This, of course, opened up the doors to an absolutely magical experience in Northern England). I didn’t want to get all the way down to Athens, but not be able to afford to island hop on the ferries.
Finally, I returned to the continent in 2015, and made it a priority to see the country. Success!
Greece proved itself to be exceedingly welcoming, despite its financial difficulties, despite the growing number of refugees finding hope on their shores. In the growing question of whether or not it would remain in the EU, there was a severe shortage of tourists. I had nothing to compare it to, but I heard repeatedly that ‘its a slow year’. Restaurants went out of their way to give you a fantastic experience, hotels gave out upgrades because ‘the room wasn’t used; someone may as well enjoy it’. Tourist sites were practically empty. I explored the acropolis in the early evening. I had nearly every ruin to myself. I explored the new acropolis museum and had a new guide offer to give me a free tour, as he had nothing else to do and wanted to practice his tour.
Still, despite the low numbers, Greeks went out of their way to ensure that the tourists who did venture to their country had an amazing time. Music was heard on the streets, and baklava was handed on literally on the street corners.
Before I ventured to Greece, I often heard the sentiment ‘you’ll enjoy Greece…but it’s not like the old times. It’s changed. It’s too commercial. The Greece of 10 years ago was better’. But after my trip, after continuous and unrelenting kindness of locals, amazing experiences, and essentially living out my 10-year-old Greece fantasy, I firmly believe that Greece of a decade ago is back. There is simply no way it could have possibly been better.
To start my trip, I had a requisite two days in Athens. It was busy, sometimes chaotic, full of life, and a very interesting introduction to the country. But it was hot, loud and less-than-fresh. After checking off the tourist attractions I felt I wanted to see, I was more than ready to head off to the islands.
My first stop was the farthest away. I took a slower (cheaper) overnight ferry, mostly so that I could save the cost of a hotel. Usually, whenever I travel solo, I prefer to be in a hostel. I can meet new people, have instant friends to travel with, etc. Hotels can get a little lonely, despite some added perks of private rooms and generally, good breakfasts. Unfortunately, hostels are not as common on the islands as on mainland Europe, and I was stuck hotel-ing it for most of my island trips.
I arrived in Heraklion, Crete in the early morning and walked to the hotel. (Highly recommend the hotel Lato – ~100US per night, with a truly fantastic view of the harbour and ocean – always a favourite for a tourist from land-locked Saskatchewan!)
I spent the first day exploring the ruins just outside of Heraklion – Knossos. Local buses depart about every 10 minutes from just outside of the port. If you can flag a taxi, this takes about 7 minutes to drive to and costs about 5USD a way. The issue arises when you want to return to Heraklion. I ended up requesting that my cab driver return for me and it worked very well, in addition to giving me flexibility as to when I wanted to return. The driver threw in a free ‘city tour’ of Heraklion, on our return. (Again…business was slow).
There is a fantastic pedestrian street in Heraklion. Lots of people out, lots of music, and plenty of fantastic outdoor seating at restaurants. I was in tzatziki heaven! Definitely check it out if you are in the area!
The next morning I boarded a bus cross-island to Ierapetra on the south side of the island.
My hotel ended up being just outside of town. Though it was a great place, and the incredible kindness of the owner was amazing, I would definitely recommend staying in town if you are there for a quick visit. I had gone to Ierapetra for one reason only: to visit Chrissi (or donkey) Island. I could go on for at least another 1000 words on this beautiful island here, but if you’re interested, check out my separate Chrissi Island post here.
After my day-trip to Chrissi Island, I spent the night in Ierapetra and headed back to Heraklion for a quick night sleep.
The next morning, I managed to snag a seat on one of the fast ships. These shipped, often called ‘flying dolphins’, etc, are the best way to ‘island hop’ if you are short on time, and the weather is ideal. They don’t go in bad weather, or even if there is a possibility of bad weather. The seats are considerably more expensive than the larger ferries, but they are also much faster. The ride is quite a bit more bumpy, but rather than the rolling waves felt occasionally in the large ships, its more a bouncy, light-turbulence type sensation. I would definitely book these ahead of time, as I was pretty lucky to get a last-minute seat on the day-before sailing.
My luck stopped with my ferry ticket. Last minute accommodations in Santorini ranged from the mildly expensive, to the insanely expensive, to the ‘I-may-as-well-book-the-honeymoon-suite-because-I’ll-never-be-able-to-afford-to-travel-again’ level of expensive.
Kicking myself for my lack of pre-planning when usually, I over pre-plan, I booked three nights in Imerovigli – a smaller town, but one on top of the caldera (i.e.: the better places to see the sunset; the most famous thing about Santorini). The hotel boasted small, family run accommodation (only 6 ‘suites’ – they only had suites), that faced the sunset, had a small ‘plunge pool’, and included breakfast. All this for a whopping 225USD/night. (While this may not seem extreme for Santorini in the summer, on a last minute booking, think about my daily budget of 60$ on this trip….)
Granted, everything about this hotel was perfect, they included a welcome bottle of local wine, and the view made me physically weak in the knees (jaw-dropingly amazing). Check out my experience with them here. Santorini did not disappoint. Everything I’d heard, read, and seen about it was true. The view was incredible, the sunsets amazing, the people genuine and friendly, and the wine, delicious. What else do you need? I also went on a wine-tour that I tell you more about here.
My first day in Santorini was spent in Oia; probably one of the most popular, and romantic destinations on the island. Think donkeys, markets, amazing views, whitewashed and blue-domed churches, narrow walkways and hundreds of steps. While it was definitely the busiest of the islands I went to, it was by no means crowded. I frequently found myself alone on long stretches of pathways. It was easy to find a place to ‘regroup’, I never had a problem getting a table at a restaurant, I was never crushed by large crowds. It was a great time to be on the islands.
The next day I took a fantastic wine-tour (detailed here), making it back to my hotel just in time to watch the beautiful sunset from my private balcony.
Finally, my third day in Santorini, I took a local bus (when I found out I had to get to the other side of the island to get to the ruins and my beaches, I worried that it would take too long. Until I found that it was a mere 25 minute drive…), to the Akrotiri archaeological site. I opted to tour on my own, but ended up tailing a private tour group. There is excellent signage in Greek and English and it would be easy to give yourself a tour. The site itself is amazing, and is indoors, which is great, both for the preservation of the site, and for getting out of the sun in the heat of the day. The site is essentially an ancient city that was buried long ago. It was truly amazing to see how advanced the Greek civilization was for centuries before any others.
While in the south of the island, I also took advantage of the unique beaches. Santorini has black, white, grey and red sand beaches, all within the same area. Even though it was a hot day (~28 degrees celsius), and it was the early afternoon, the beaches had plenty of seating, sand and swimming room. The beachside restaurants were lively, but there was no problem getting a table.
Finally, early the next morning, I got to my last island, Mykonos. My entrance and introduction to this island was less than perfect, but it ended happily. You can read about it here.
While Mykonos was undoubtedly the most expensive island I visited, it was also beautiful, with helpful locals, a picture-perfect old town, amazing food and outdoor cafes, and windmills!
I didn’t have long here, but managed to get delightfully lost in the winding paths of the old town. I watched a sunset from a beautiful water-side table and had a small taste of the after-dark atmosphere here. Should I have had the chance to spend a night or two, I’m confident it would have been a wonderful and very upbeat atmosphere.
I boarded an over-night ferry late that evening back to Piraeus (the closest port to Athens). I had managed to book a ferry to Italy but it was a long and confusing bus and train combination from Piraeus to Patras. This was definitely a downside of the trip. If it were not for the amazing kindness of Greeks on the bus, I’m sure I would have gotten hopelessly lost.
The trip involved catching a local bus from the port, to the downtown bus station. I then had to find the ticket window for the long-distance bus to Patras (all in Greek writing with no English anywhere…), purchase a ticket, and find my bus. This bus took me the two hours from Athens to Patras, where I then had to take a further local bus to the Patras port. It was a further cab ride from the new port to the old port. Confused yet? I sure was! I wish I could tell you an easier way to do this….but I don’t think one exists! I will keep looking into this and update when I find a better way.
The bus ride itself was comfortable, and it was nice to see a big more of the Greece country-side. We passed by Corinth, with a high-level bridge above a series of locks (similar to the Panama Canal) and many beautiful ocean scenes. The port at Patras was new and modern, with excellent waiting facilities. I was able to have a nap without worrying about my bags, and I was able to charge up my electronics with the several available outlets. There was also a large duty-free store with huge Milka bars…which is, of course, a reason to visit the port almost in and of itself! 🙂
In general, Greece is extremely easy to get around. It was a little on the expensive side; my daily expenses were just over 100$/day, though this could have been significantly reduced had I planned farther in advance and pre-booked ferry and accommodations. The Greek people were exceedingly and overwhelmingly helpful, gracious, polite. (check out my ‘heartwarming travel stories’ – many of these stories are in that category!). On more occasions than I could count, they went above and beyond what would be expected, or even hoped for for a tourist. I would go back to Greece in a heartbeat, if only to visit and see more of these incredible people.
Though I was by no means the only person on the islands (ha!), it was nowhere near as crowded as I had expected it to be. While that may be because of the recent financial difficulties, or the refugee crisis, or just a particular week, it was incredible to see Greece in a ‘less tourist-ridden’ time period.
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