Friday, March 18, 2016

Greece: A Girls' Trip Itinerary!

Shorty has a big birthday coming up, and she's been dreaming of a trip to Greece for years now, so she decided to make it happen and just go!

http://www.themochileradiaries.com/inspiring-travel-quotes/?utm_content=bufferd73b0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest.com&utm_campaign=buffer

She put together the itinerary she wanted to do, the things that were the most important to see on her first trip to Greece, and then she sent it to a bunch of us, and we all picked the parts that we're able to make it to. It ended up working really well that way, because everyone had different dates, responsibilities, budgets, and this way there was no pressure on it!


She's doing a slightly longer trip that includes a couple of extra days in Athens, and a day trip. She has a friend from Chicago joining for part of that, then a couple of us are leaving a few days later and meeting her in Athens for the islands part of the trip. We're going to Santorini and Mykonos, then back to Athens before flying home.

Here are the itineraries! The core itinerary is for 8 nights, and then Shorty's extended piece would make it an 11 night trip.

DESTINATION:  
Greece - Athens, Santorini, Mykonos

DURATION:
7 full days, 8 nights
Shorty's extended trip: 10 full days, 11 nights
 
Shorty's extended piece: 

PRE-DAY 0: Depart Monday night from Los Angeles
PRE-DAY 1: Arrive in Athens in the evening, night in Athens.
PRE-DAY 2: Athens, night in Athens.

PRE-DAY 3: Day trip, night in Athens.


DAY 1 - FRIDAY: Island hop trip, meet up when larger group lands that evening, night in Athens.

And here's the rest, that a larger group of us will be joining for:

DAY 1 - FRIDAY
Arrive in Athens in the evening, night in Athens.

DAY 2 - SATURDAY
Athens, Parthenon and Acropolis (we're staying in the Plaka district to make this easier!), then an evening flight from Athens to Santorini. Night in Santorini.

Athens

TRAVEL TIP: There are frequent ferries from Athens to Santorini as well, but we wanted to save time, and found cheap flights that weren't much more expensive than the ferry! We are taking the ferries from Santorini to Mykonos, then from Mykonos back to Athens, so I'll definitely post about the differences in travel at some point.

DAY 3 - SUNDAY
Shorty's birthday! Day in Santorini, hiking from Fira to Oia, and checking out the Byzantine Castle Ruins, and a fancy dinner in Fira for Shorty's birthday. Night in Santorini.

DAY 4 - MONDAY
Santorini. We think we're going to rent 4 wheelers and explore the island a bit more this day, so we can check out the red sand beach and Akrotiri Archaeological Site. Night in Santorini.

DAY 5 - TUESDAY
Santorini. We're staying at the place of Shorty's dreams in Santorini, the Blue Angel Villa, so I am really hoping that we have one day that's just dedicated to chilling out and relaxing! Night in Santorini.

Blue Angel Villa, Santorini

DAY 6 - WEDNESDAY
Ferry from Santorini to Mykonos, then checking out the windmills (Kato Milli) and Church of Paraportiani in Mykonos. Dinner most likely in Little Venice, since we'll already be right there from the windmills! Night in Mykonos.

DAY 7 - THURSDAY
Mykonos, and a morning day trip to Delos. Or, alternatively, a beach day. Night in Mykonos.

Delos

DAY 8 - FRIDAY
Mykonos, checking out the beaches and generally lazing around. Evening ferry to Athens, dinner in Athens, night in Athens.

DAY 9 - SATURDAY
Morning flight home.

We wanted to have that last night in Athens, just in case something were to happen with getting back for our flights. This way, we have an entire night to get back to Athens and (hopefully) no chance of being late for our flights home!

There are still a ton more things in Greece that I'd like to do - particularly visiting Crete and Meteora - but I think this will be a good "starter" trip.  Have you been to Greece? Is there anything huge we're missing out on?

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