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LET’S GO TO GREECE

FINALLY time to live out the Mamma Mia dreams, honey, let’s go to Greece!

Greece has been on my list since the beginning of ever and wanting to secretly, not so secretly, be Donna from Mamma Mia has only ever inspired this dream of visiting Greece. The hype is big surrounding the MANY islands and I finally had the opportunity to go. Let’s talk about it.

One of the first things you will find with planning a trip to Greece is there are a bazillion islands. Plenty of good options, choosing which ones to visit took time. I have heard so many good things about other ones but I’ll just speak to the ones we visited. I was going with two of my girl friends and we wanted to go to islands that offered a big combination of things to do including beaches, activities, and night life, but we did not want to break the bank. We settled on Ios and Paros after our research because they offered what we wanted and were not as expensive to visit.  

Once we had settled on where we wanted to go, the next steps were how to get to each island and where to stay.

The ferries are an inexpensive option that only takes 2-4 hours for most trips and in my honest opinion are not bad at all. Because, let’s be honest, to fly is going to take longer to get to an airport, go through security and do logistics, flight time, and then the same for leaving the destination airport. Also of note, some islands just don’t have airports so ferries are the only option here. 

Getting to Greece:

Most likely you are going to fly into Athens unless you have the funds to fly directly to the island you picked. This is the most cost effective way to get into Greece, from my research, and then to ferry or small plane to the islands. 

Transportation on the islands is pretty easy with options of Uber, renting a car/ATVs, taxis, or local buses.

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ATHENS

We decided to spend a day in Athens to see tourist destinations and then leave for Ios the next day. I really think one to two days in Athens is truly enough. 

To be honest, our Athens experience was sub-par, but this was due to a couple external factors. First of all, if you want to visit Greece in the summer months expect to SWEAT. Which everyone discourages due to LOTS of crowds and high prices, but if that is the only option (I see you collegiate kings & queens, teachers, fams), don’t worry beaches are all around you. When we visited, the temperature was a HOT consistent high 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius). Athens, an enclosed city with cobblestone walking paths surrounded by ancient ruins, the temperature in June was a record breaking 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius). It was so hot with little to no air flow or easily accessible A/C. The Parthenon and Acropolis were actually closed the day we were there because it was TOO HOT. All that being said, we are not quitters (!) and did still trek to them and found a nearby cliff to climb up to get a view. Truthfully, this satisfied me and I don’t think I missed too much. I could see what I wanted from that trusty nearby cliff. We did visit the Acropolis museum (with air-conditioning :-)) and were able to see a lot of artifacts from the Parthenon and Acropolis. So again, I don’t think I missed out on much. After roughing it in mr hot sun for most of the day, yes we did collapse with no clothes on in our airbnb. Hello day oneeee.

Here are some very basic Athens recs:

  • As always a free walking tour is great to get a base on the history and culture!
  • Parthenon and Acropolis: fee is about 10 euros, can buy in advance if you want to avoid lines 
  • Acropolis museum: had to pay like 15 euros, has lots of Greek marble statues and artifacts from the Parthenon (also air-conditioning here)
  • Athena’s cook: this is where we had dinner and was good ambience and good food, would recommend!
  • Syntagma square: central square in Athens with fountain, good basis for finding other structures in Athens

Quick Note about Accommodations: We stayed in Airbnbs the whole trip in Greece because hostels were same price or more expensive and we didn’t feel like that was worth it. I do think some hostels have very fun atmospheres based on some research especially for party scenes, so if that’s your vibe, check those out!

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IOS 

We took the ferry from Athens to Ios, it was about 4 hours and 80 euros per person. Again, we just posted up and slept the whole time, it was not a bad trip. 

Ios is a cute, dry landscape, Greek island known more for a fun beach partying scene. I do feel that many of the islands offer the same experiences for tourists and based on research, you can have a great time here and not over spend. 

Where to stay: 

  • Chora is the popular spot near nightlife and beaches. It was a little more pricey when we were booking so we didn’t stay here but would actually recommend looking here first.
  • By the port of Ios, we stayed at a lovely airbnb that was a 5 min walk from the port and nearby a lot of restaurants and beaches. Was a great and cheaper stay and we were able to walk to Chora and nightlife (it was a bit of a trek with hills, but definitely doable to save some).

What To Do:

  • Beaches 
    • We ended up beach hopping to see different ones by ATV riding.
    • Kolitsani beach: nude beach that is A HIKE to get to. I had never been to a nude beach before so this was more of an experience thing for me, but cute small and private beach
    • Mylopotas beach: near Chora, nice beaches and has SO MANY water sport options if you are into this
    • Psathi beach: very local and quiet with free cabanas, loved it
    • Magganari beach: so gorgeous, far away, but so relaxing and well maintained 
  • ATV the whole island: this was by far one of my favorite things to do, the roads here were not super busy and it was so much fun and easy to see the island this way. ALSO GUYS, IT WAS SOOO AFFORDABLE. We paid 75 euros to rent 2 ATVs for the whole day. 
  • Far Out Beach Club: you will see this advertised everywhere, but I do think it really is fun if you go the right time, they list the DJ days on their website. Place felt like I was on the set of Love Island with a pool, bar, dj stand, hang out areas, and even a tattoo parlor lol. Definitely go on a DJ day and be ready to party
    • Only open 3p-10p though and is far from the cities where you are likely staying. I’d recommend taking the bus (check the schedule and when the last one is running)! It was really easy to figure out the bus and it’s so expensive and difficult to rely on Uber. 
  • Go out on the town: just walk up and down downtown Chora streets to find a spot (annoying in the summer b/c they make you pay covers)
    • Some of the places we found fun: Lost Boy, Disco 69, Traffic Bar

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PAROS

I loved this island so much. It has the white sand textured buildings with blue roofs accented with pink florals that has become the curated postcard when someone says Greece. This experience also had gorgeous beaches, same excursions offered, and going out scenes. I really feel like Paros offers a good combination of things when selecting which island to visit.

We had ferried to this island from Ios, a journey of about 2 hours and 30 euros each. 

Getting around:

  • The island is a bit bigger, so a motorized vehicle is much more needed. The bus system is pretty easy to figure out and goes to most cities on the island. The buses are usually not exact on timing for most places and the schedules can change, so the reliability can vary. If you can, renting a car wouldn’t be a waste. Otherwise taxis and the bus are definitely manageable to see what you want.

Where to stay:

  • Naoussa: we really wished we stayed here. It is such a cute spot with SO many restaurants/bars/things to do. Of note, it is definitely more touristic and crowded.
  • Alyki: this lovely peaceful town is where we stayed on the complete opposite side of the island from Naoussa. It was more local and therefore cheaper, but is a bit farther from attractions on the island; however we used buses and taxis to get places and had no problem. 
  • Reach out to me for the adorable Airbnb we stayed at and also for our FAVORITE taxi driver. He was like our Greek grandfather and offered so many tips and took such good care of us. 

What to do:

  • Beach hopping: you can’t get enough of the crystal blue water and beautiful weather
  • Sunset horseback riding: our group had mixed reviews on how enjoyable this was. It def depends on your horse and comfortability on a horse, but the sunset was gorgeous and the people we met and toured with were so fun.
    • We ended up hanging out at the local barn for a couple hours after drinking with the hosts and the people we went on the tour with and had us a night! 
  • Naoussa dinner: AH, THIS IS SO GIRLIE POP. Book (well in advance!) dinner at Barbarossa, more bouje but vibes are SO good, very popular. If you go at typical European dinner time you will get turned away if no resi. If you didn’t book it, it’s okay, we didn’t either, there are SO many neighboring cute restaurants on the street near here.
  • Go out afterwards at the bars in Naoussa. SO MUCH FUN and interesting bars vibes on the Greek waterfront.
  • DO A BOAT TOUR !! This was a highlight clearly.
    • We booked a full day tour exploring Antiparos/neighboring islands that I found by searching online. There are SO many options, some party boats with large slides, some yachts.
    • Our tour was a semi-private yacht that had stops to jump in the extremely clear and blue water with an option to cliff jump. Hosts made us a homemade, very tasty lunch, snacks, and had unlimited drinks of wine and beer.
    • If you need further encouragement to book, we were extremely hungover for this and still RAVED about how much we loved this.
  • Dinner after at the Piso Livadi Port: has really nice views with good food, just choose one of the restaurants near the water
  • Explore Antiparos island: SO WORTH IT, obsessed with this place
    • Can take ferry from the Potunda Port for less than 2€ each
    • Such good dinner spots, coffee shops, and shopping

Greece was that beach vacation and I am so glad I got to explore pieces of the gorgeous islands. I didn’t even get into RAVING about how good that Mediterranean food is. Girls trip, solo trip, or trip with whomever I can’t guarantee you, aspiring miss Donna, will meet three beautiful boys that might be the father of your child, but you will have a great time exploring all there is to offer.

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