I've traveled a fair bit, but am nowhere near my ultimate goal of seeing the world. At this point in my life, I usually live by the philosophy that, if I am going to travel to another country, I'd prefer to go somewhere that I have never been before rather than revisit a past destination. This is simply due to the fact that I am still so young, and have so much of the world left to see, that if I keep going to the same place again and again, I will never know what I'm missing in the rest of the world!
Well, this upcoming March, I am breaking that rule. After a trip to Greece last May, I had a feeling that I have never felt before - that I was willing and ready to go back at any moment's notice - even at the compromise of a repeat destination. Thus, I felt it fitting that my first travel post showcase why I fell in love with this island-country in the first place.
Let me preface this by saying that this trip was pretty last minute. As in, my mom briefly mentioned that my older sister, Katie, had a month off between the end of her last year of medical school and her actual graduation, and she was debating a trip to Greece but had no one to go with her...Umm, HELLO!!!! Sister, I will graciously take one for the team and go with you! Needless to say, we didn't plan much beforehand as we were now literally just booking our flight three weeks prior to our departure date.
We booked our flights into Athens - the capital (and mainland) of Greece for two reasons: 1) we wanted to see at least some of Athens before venturing out to the islands, and 2) it was usually a lot cheaper to fly in/out of Athens than the islands themselves. When researching where to go for our trip and talking to a few friends who had visited Greece in the past, the overall consensus was yes, you should visit Athens since it's full of history, but you will probably want to spend most of your time on the islands (unless you are really into archaeology). So that is how we structured our trip: fly into Athens, arriving on Saturday afternoon/evening; spend all of Sunday exploring Athens; and leave early Monday morning to take the ferry to Santorini, where we would spend the remainder of the trip.
We landed in Athens and found it fairly easy to navigate the metro from the airport to the city center, where our Air B&B was. My sister arrived first, so she met with our host and obtained the keys, and stayed at the apartment until I arrived. We were both pretty wiped out from travel (and jetlag for me), so we just went out for our first Greek dinner and then called it a night.
The goal was to wake up super early the next morning to visit the Acropolis and see the various ancient ruins, as we had heard that it gets very busy as the day goes on...well, sleep got the best of us! Instead, we joined the crowds and hit the Acropolis around the middle of the day. It wasn't too bad, but definitely would've been a little nicer if we had come a few hours earlier to avoid the crowds - not to mention, a little bit cooler. The ruins are on top of a hill overlooking all of Athens, at the highest point in the city...and it sure gets HOT up there!
We took a look around all the ancient ruins, opting not to pay for a guided tour since we were trying to save a little money (and we aren't really huge history buffs). Supposedly you can get an audio tour (they give you a little device, you can listen along as you go) for relatively cheap, or maybe even free (I can't quite remember which) - so we were going to do that but unfortunately they were sold out. Thus, alone we went! It was still cool to see, though I will say it probably would've been nice to have the audio guide for a little more information on what we were looking at. There were at least little summaries in front of the various ruins, so we weren't completely in the dark.
Pro tip: if you are a student, bring your student ID! My sister was able to get a discount because she had hers (I wasn't a student yet).
After a few hours of exploring the various ruins, we grabbed a quick lunch at a cafe nearby. All the restaurants and such were pretty quiet - I'm not sure if it was just because it was an awkward time for lunch (it was more of mid-afternoon), or if it was Sunday, or if we were just in a quiet part of town. Regardless, it was still a good lunch! I had my first taste of octopus at this spot, and it was so delicious!
Once we were a little refreshed after our meal, we headed to the Acropolis Museum. This place was filled with probably over a million artifacts, videos with in-depth detail about the pieces and the history behind them, and some other very interesting exhibits. If you are into Greek mythology, history, or archaeology, you will love this place! Unfortunately...Katie and I really aren't haha. We wandered through a good portion of the museum, and then decided that we had overwhelmed our brains enough. We headed back to our apartment for a quick break, then grabbed another Greek dinner before trying to sleep early since we had an early ferry departure.
The next day, we woke up early to grab a ride to the ferry and depart to Santorini! We used "Beat" to get to the dock - it's the Greek version of Uber. (There's also numerous taxis you could probably use, but we were worried because we were leaving so early in the morning that we wanted something we could book in advance.). It was very easy to use, just like Uber - I just downloaded the app on my phone and added my card. We also booked our ferry tickets online and picked them up at the dock - it was relatively easy, but there was quite a line to pick up tickets (and they move pretty slow), so definitely arrive with plenty of time if you do this. I think we allotted about an hour before departure, which worked out well.
Taking the ferry is a bit of an experience in and of itself. Overall, it is a pretty easy ride, but there are some details to note:
Ferry schedules: For us, schedules weren’t too much of a problem, as we were travelling during main tourist season. However, if you are visiting Greece during the offseason, it is best to check the schedules well in advance –sometimes the ferries will only run certain routes a few times a week (whereas in summer they may run daily or even multiple times a day) – so this is crucial to check before booking accommodations!
Tickets: This goes hand in hand with the above- we had no problem buying our tickets last minute (which can be purchased from ferries.gr or ferryhopper.com), but from what I’ve researched, the earlier you buy, the better chance you have of getting a cheaper price. In addition, when you’re travelling in winter/off-season, it is also probably a good idea to buy ahead of time due to the limited number of trips (or else risk missing the trip you want and having to wait a few days for the next ship!).
Ferry type: There are three different ferry types: passenger ferries (largest), high-speed catamarans (mid-size), and small high-speed catamarans. The catamarans are high-speed, so they’ll usually will save you a few hours, but will cost a little bit more. They also will be a bumpier ride than the passenger ferry and are more likely to be cancelled if weather is unfavorable (especially the smallest one). We opted for the passenger ferry, which took us about 8 hours to get from Athens to Santorini (stopping at Naxos and Paros along the way). The plus side of the slower, cheaper ship is that it is much larger – so there are more tickets available; there are many more seating options and room to walk around (the large boats are the only ones with an outdoor deck!); and the ride is in general pretty smooth (so those of us who struggle with seasickness don’t suffer for eight long hours!
For more ferry information, this website is a great resource!
The ferry itself was quite spacious and our seats themselves were very comfortable. There was a restaurant and place to sit out in the deck if you'd like, or you could relax in the recliners (and catch a snooze...which we may or may not have done...). You can also purchase WiFi (I think it was like $5 for a 3-hour pass or something of the sort). The WiFi gets a little spotty - you are in the middle of the ocean, after all! - but it does work for the most part. (You probably won't have any phone service, though, unless you are at the port on one of the islands).
That's all for now - stay tuned for part two as we hit our FAVORITE part of the trip - Santorini <3
Comments