Greece

As a child; working on elementary school assignments about ancient Greek mythology, watching Kevin Sorbo as Hercules in the cult TV series, and hearing the stories of Achilles and the Iliad, the Greek world became so fascinating to me. Greece was the one place I dreamed of visiting from about the age of eleven, when I had no inkling of desire to travel anywhere else. Fast forward to adulthood and somehow Greece got sidelined. The very first place I ever dreamed of seeing ended up being the 45th country we visited – but I’m glad we waited, because the stage in our lives that we finally went was perfect timing for us to really enjoy it.

Greece began with an immediate connecting flight from Athens to the post card island of Santorini. Arriving very early in the morning, we picked up our rental car and drove around the tiny island, shrouded in fog, while the inhabitants slept. It was a very peaceful introduction to Greek island life, but it would not last. When Santorini wakes up, it really wakes up… it is a very congested island that gets entirely overrun by tourists who arrive on cruise ships during the day. After meandering around the island and finding a beautiful location to have breakfast overlooking the caldera, we watched as the sun began to rise and the cruise ships began to show up - the serenity we had enjoyed in the early hours on Santorini quickly disappeared. That is, until we checked into our hotel.

Iliovaselema Hotel & Suites was our home for the next four days. Tucked up high on the central cliffs of Imerovigli, it is in one of the quietest areas of the island and we picked it for just this reason. The plan for our stay here was to not leave the hotel, and we sure didn’t! If you plan to visit Santorini, pick a hotel that is nice enough to allow you to shut off and completely relax. You need three things from a hotel here; it needs to be high on the hills and facing the caldera, it must have an amazing main pool or an in-suite private pool, and it must have an excellent room service menu. Santorini is one place you should splurge on accommodation and really enjoy what you’ve paid for. We highly recommend Iliovaselema Hotel & Suites because of how magnificent the views are from the suites, and how quiet the surrounding area is. We sprung for the Iliovaselema Suite with Private Pool and Caldera View because we knew it would be a once in a lifetime experience for us. I think the pictures from the hotel speak for themselves!

After four marvelous days spent either soaking in our private pool or lounging on our patio, we checked out and spent some time doing all the sightseeing on the island. We strolled up and down the busy, overcrowded pathways of Oia and Thera. We stopped and had beer on all of the top beaches, which are very rocky. We drove the entire length of the island, stopping at every main attraction. Our takeaway from everything we saw and did on Santorini was that we made the right choice by spending so much time enjoying our hotel suite because it was the best part of the island.

The next leg of our Greece trip was to fly back to Athens and switch gears from island life to big city life. Athens is a sprawling metropolis, but at it’s heart are the ancient ruins of the Acropolis where you can step back in time and forget you are in a massive, modern city. The Acropolis is not something you can just walk up to and enjoy. You must get in line for a ticket and the lines can snake around well over 100 meters. Get there early and bring water as you may be waiting in line for a very long time. The tickets are somewhat expensive, but they are certainly worth it. The ruins are incredibly impressive, and the views over Athens from the plateau are stunning. It can get scorching hot here and there are no places to cool down up on the plateau, so make sure to hydrate well. Down below you will find several other ancient ruins worthy of a stop, including the Odeon of Herodes Atticus; where if you are lucky there may be a play or a concert on, and the Roman Forum.

Athens is not a particularly walk-able city, but there are calm areas with less traffic and very old buildings that can be very nice to stroll around in. The downtown areas immediately north of the Acropolis have what seems like thousands of great food and drink options, and loads of cool shops and markets - all along tiny old roads barely wide enough for compact cars. It is a very nice area to spend a few days. For truly spectacular views of the city and the Acropolis, head over to Mount Lycabettus and hike the paved pathway to the viewpoint. About three quarters of the way up we found a lady selling ice cold beer from a cooler at the side of the trail and we took full advantage while stopping to take in the view.

After getting our fill of the city, it was time for the leg of the Greece trip at least one of us was most looking forward to – the drive north. We set off to the northwest and made our way directly to the ancient ruins of Delphi. The huge complex of Delphi is one of the three most impressive archeological sites in the country, and possibly the most authentic representation of ancient Greek and Roman life. Delphi sits midway up on a towering mountain with fantastic views over the valley floor below. The site is sprawled over a very large area and climbs up the hillside so expect to do some hiking to see it all. At the very top is a fantastic, very well preserved stadium. It is believed to be the first example of a Greek stadium with bleacher seating instead of grass seating. If you are spending time in Athens, then Delphi is a must. If you don’t want to rent a car then there are plenty of tour operators that run day trips to the site.

Leaving Delphi behind, we continued north along winding mountain roads that eventually turned into somewhat treacherous switchbacks. Once again, where our GPS told us there were nicely paved roads with an 80km/h speed limit, there were actually single lane gravel roads with mountain switchbacks and single lane, blind corners. The average speed was no more then 30 here. At times we were hugging rocky cliffs on one side and looking straight down hundreds of feet on the other. Up and down mountain after mountain, and through tiny villages left unchanged since WWII, we finally made it back to the main freeway. What our GPS told us was a 3 hour drive turned into 8 hours, but this is the type of adventure we love to have. Arriving much later then we expected, we eventually pulled up to our hotel in the town of Kalabaka in the northern Greek region of Thessaly.

Kalabaka is a little town nestled into the foothills of the towering rock pillars of Meteora. Meteora is one of the most fantastic and breathtaking natural wonders you could ever have the privilege of visiting. To top it off, there are a series of six eastern orthodox monasteries built high on top of the rocks that are completely inaccessible without the use of cable cars, bridges and pulley systems. From the town below, the horizon is dominated by the rock pillars. They are an intimidating site white sitting in their shadow to the south. A short drive outside of town and up around the sides of Meteora and you can access the pillars from the less daunting north side on a very picturesque highway. There are quite a few lookout spots that are not marked but fairly obvious. If you start your drive from the eastern side, the first observation area you will come to is down a dead end road, just before you reach the monastery of St. Stephan. Here you will just pull over and parallel park along the retaining wall. There is a small viewing area at the edge of the cliff that looks towards the monastery, but more adventurous people will climb over the short wall and drop down onto the rocks below. From here there is a very large area you can hike around with jaw-dropping views of the town below. You can walk right out on a huge rock pillar that drops hundreds of feet on either side. This is a perfect spot for returning in the evening and watching the sunset, just be careful returning to your car if it gets dark! Here are the GPS coordinates for this viewing area: 39.710630, 21.637569.

Turning around and continuing on the highway north of Meteora you will find two official observation decks. What they mean by “deck” is that you will be standing on the top of a rock pillar with no railings and sheer drops, hundreds of feet down on either side of you. If you are not good with heights, or you have balance issues, think about staying back from the edges here. If you don’t have these issues, the second and northernmost observation deck has an amazing rock platform that you can climb onto for terrific photo opportunities. See the gallery! The GPS coordinates for the two observation decks are: 39.719278, 21.637155 and 39.721282, 21.634307 respectively.

High in the mountains above Meteora is the Eagle’s Nest restaurant with a beautiful patio presenting terrific views of the valley and amazing and affordable Greek cuisine. It is a very long drive up the mountain but this was one of our favorite restaurants of the trip, and worth the drive. If you visit Meteora and you have a car, make sure you do the drive on the north side a few times at least. Go up and watch the sunrise from the northern observation deck, check out all three viewpoints and tour a monastery or two during the day, and then watch the sunset from the first and southernmost viewpoint. Meteora should be on everyone’s bucket list.

Our next leg began with the beautiful mountain drive west to Ioannina, then the long and somewhat bland drive south to Patras on the Peloponnese peninsula. Most major highways in Greece are toll routes, and you may encounter toll booths multiple times every few hours while on the road. The Rion-Antirion Bridge that takes you to from Central Greece onto the Peloponnese peninsula is also tolled, and it is fairly expensive unfortunately, but is saves more then 5 hours of driving! Once you are on the Peloponnese peninsula, you will notice an entirely different style of driving. Painted lanes no longer hold any meaning, any you will find that neither do speed limits. We loved this because we were able to cut down the drive from Patras to the west coast by at least a third. When we reached the coastal town of Kyllini we drove onto a ferry to take us to the island of Zakynthos. There are two ferry companies that will take you to Zakynthos but we chose Levante. The prices were very reasonable and we purchased our tickets online in advance. We opted for the round trip option where you must select a specific sailing to get to the island, but the return ticket is open-ended - meaning you can chose any return sailing you like, even last minute. The sailing is fairly short and the ferries are very nice, with plenty of snack and drink options.

The island of Zakynthos, also known as Zante, is a Greek paradise. In total contrast to the barren and arid Santorini; Zakynthos is a lush, green, fertile island. It is dominated by olive orchards and plenty of other fruit and vegetable farms. The main town, of the same name as the island, is busy but still beautiful. Zakynthos has the beaches that we missed on Santorini, with soft white sand and clear turquoise waters. We really felt like we were on the Hawaiian island of Maui here, aside from the Greek food and lack of English! On the western coast, and somewhat difficult to find, is the famous Navagio or “Shipwreck” Beach. Even if it doesn’t sound familiar you have probably seen a photo of it. It is one of the most beautiful and interesting sites on the planet.

The beach itself is only accessible by boat as it sits in a cove that is surrounded by sheer white cliffs. The cliffs are slowly crumbling away, making any kind of stairway or trail impossible. In fact, just before we arrived here a massive section of the cliff fell to the beach below and narrowly missed killing dozens of tourists. If you would like to step foot on the beach there are many tour operators that will take you, ranging from a private speed boat to massive pirate ships holding dozens of people. The beach actually is very crowded most of the day and from everything we read it is not a pleasant experience, so we decided to opt only for the lookout points high up on the cliff tops which are far less frequented. The route to the lookout is difficult to follow and is roughly 40 minutes drive from the main town. The official lookout point is a concrete platform that extends slightly past the cliff edge and has safety railings. It lets you see the shipwreck, but you are looking straight down from directly above it. It is not a good angle for photos, and it is so narrow that you may have to get in line and wait your turn to step onto it. Instead, take the trail north from the viewing platform that runs down the side of the cliff and curves back around slightly near the point. From here you can look back and see the full cove with the shipwreck framed perfectly. There are several perfect viewing areas here, but keep in mind that they do not have railings of any kind, and you are standing on cliff edges that have a tendency to crumble. We spent a good amount of time here in the sunshine and took photos for people before heading back for dinner. After dinner we returned with a case of beer and watched the sun set from the point. This is the perfect sunset spot and it was magical to watch the colors change on the cliffs around the ship wreck. Head back before it gets too dark! This is another bucket list spot for sure.

We did not want to leave the island of Zakynthos, but after taking the return ferry back to the mainland we drove straight to the archaeological site of Olympia and continued our adventure. Olympia is the namesake of the Olympic games and the site where the first ever games were held in the 8th century BC. Nearly 3000 years later, the site is incredibly well preserved and remarkably accessible to visitors. It is one of the three most impressive archaeological sites in Greece, along with Delphi and the Acropolis, but is typically the least crowded. The 260 acre site is totally covered with ruins that visitors can walk among  and has two museums. Expect to spend at least a few hours here imagining what it would have been like during one of those ancient Olympic games.

Next we made the 185km drive east to the city of Corinth. The first two thirds of the drive were reminiscent of the winding and slow going roads north of Delphi. Again what should have been a 3 hour drive ended up taking close to 6 hours. Many times along the drive we had to stop and wait as shepherds herded flocks of sheep between pastures. There are many tiny picturesque villages along this route and it is well worth the extra time it takes. Keep in mind that along these rural Greek roads there are no restaurants, no public bathrooms and very few places to get fuel, so plan accordingly. Arriving in Corinth we checked into our hotel and had an amazing Greek dinner at Marinos Restaurant. The Corinthian canal which was man-made in 1881 is worth a quick visit on the way back to Athens, if for nothing more then to marvel at the pointlessness of it. Fittingly, lovers tie pieces of toilet paper to the less than romantic bridges over the canal – a decidedly un-romantic sort of homage to the padlocks lovers use on the romantic bridges of the Seine River in Paris.

Our last stop before leaving Greece was at Sounion on the southern tip of Central Greece. The southern coastline is home to beautiful beaches and rocky hills. The biggest attraction here is the Temple of Poseidon, high on it’s perch overlooking the sea. When we arrived at the temple we were informed that the labor union representing the Department of Culture was on strike, and therefore all archaeological sites across the country were closed. The strike closures included all of the big three sites we had already visited and so we were extremely grateful that the timing of the strike only prevented us from this one attraction. Thousands of tourists expecting to see the Acropolis of Athens were not so lucky. The Temple of Poseidon is easily visible from a restaurant and an overlook so we still were able to see it and get some decent photos without getting up close.  

One aspect of the trip that is underrepresented here is the food. Other then the Eagle’s Nest and Marinos that are mentioned; none of the restaurants we ate at really stood out. The food across the country was consistently terrific however and we were never disappointed with a meal. No matter where you are in Greece, if you stop for traditional Greek cuisine you will be happy.

Make sure you put Greece near the top of your list and don’t pack too much into each day. Greece is a really beautiful and affordable country with some amazing sights and a colorful history.