Santorini and Mykonos

Tuesday, June 09, 2015

So this was our 10 days self-planned itinerary

Day 1 - Fly into Athens, and transfer to an internal flight to Santorini. Spend the afternoon / night in Santorini.
Day 2 - Morning in Santorini. Take the high speed ferry to Mykonos.
Day 3 - Explore Mykonos / Delos
Day 4 - Morning in Mykonos. Take the slow ferry to Athens. Night in Athens
Days 5 - 7 - 3 days tour to Mycenae, Epidaurus, Nathplion, Olympia and Delphi.
Days 8 - 10 - Athens

First up, the islands part of the trip! We decided to do the islands first because it made more sense to complete all the travelling within the first day, since we were arriving about 7 am in the morning, rather than waste time and money commuting from the airport to the city, and thereafter from the city to the airport / seaport for the islands leg of the trip.

Greece has approximately 6,000 islands, and given the limited time we have, we decided to do 2 of the more well-known islands - Santorini and Mykonos.

We stayed at Panorama Hotel, located in Fira, the main town in Santorini. The room was small but modern and clean, conveniently located, and best of all, came with quite the view!

View of the caldera from our balcony!

We decided to stay in Fira given that we only had a day in Santorini, so it was a more central location with more food options, but for the quintessential Santorini caldera views and architecture, you would have to check out Oia, a town located 12 -13 km away (2 to 3 hours' walk). Being the lazy bums we are, we took the bus instead, which would take you to the main stops in each of the towns including Oia, though it was quite the treacherous ride with numerous twists and turns.

Views at Oia, where you can catch the sunset

An alternative mode of transport - donkeys!

Want a pet (stuffed) donkey?

Signature Santorini Style

Wonder how much it costs to dine there?

Along the less touristy streets of Oia

With more time, one could explore the vineyards in Santorini as well as the archaeological site of Akrotiri. Unfortunately, we had to give those a miss.

Next up, Mykonos! We took the high speed ferry as that was the more direct option. (Whilst there is a slow ferry which is supposed to be more comfortable and less prone to cause sea-sickness, there is no direct slow ferry between Mykonos and Santorini and one would thus have to take a high speed and take a transfer at a neighbouring island). Luckily, the seas were relatively calm, so no sea-sickness was experienced.

The old town of Mykonos consists of many meandering streets and cafes, and it's easy to get lost. It was an easy 5 minutes downhill walk from our hotel (Hermes Mykonos), which means the way back was much more challenging. We also took a ferry to Delos, a nearby island and UNESCO world heritage site, and took a 3 hour guided tour of the place.