OUR GREEK ISLAND TRAVEL ITINERARY

Important to note, we traveled the first week Greece opened to US citizens mid May 2021, towards the end of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Some restaurants, tours, ferry options were closed or not available. There were weren't many tourists on the islands while we traveled, so make sure to plan accordingly, look into other activities/restaurants and make reservations as much as you can to have the best experience!

Island One

Crete

4 Nights

Where we flew in!

Day One: Crete has 2 airports, one more on the Western side and one on the North Eastern side. We landed at the Heraklion International Airport (HER) on the East side of the Island around 4:30 pm, however our Airbnb was on the West side. *If you plan to use our Airbnb/ visit the beaches we did mentioned later, we would recommend flying into the Chania Airport if possible. If not, the drive from Heraklion to our Airbnb in the small village of Kaliviani was beautiful, so we didn't mind the 2 hour drive to the village. We arrived around 7:30pm, got settled, showered and headed out to dinner our first night at Gramvousa Restaurant - which was a beautiful setting!

Outside of our villa in Crete

Where we Stayed!

We searched long and hard for a place that was charming with excellent views, and a great host, this Airbnb checked all of the boxes. It was even better in person! It is located in a very small village that has only a café and 3 restaurants, 2 of which were excellent in their own different ways. It also was near our favorite beach in Crete, Balos Beach, more on those spots next! This host has 3 different Airbnbs, one of which is attached to this cave villa. While we didn't see the inside of the larger villa, no one was staying there and our host was generous enough to allow us access to the pool and it was a huge bonus! If you are traveling with a larger group/ family I would definitely look into renting this larger villa instead or both, depending on group size, or it may be worth the upgrade to guarantee that pool access.

Reasons why we loved this Airbnb

1. The host was amazing, she greeted us with open arms and you could tell the pride she and her husband had in the space they have created. They made a ton of amazing recommendations, she welcomed us with wine, raki (this is a special Cretian drink/moonshine), fresh baked goods, water, fruit, and she even dropped off treats during our stay.

2. The location, after traveling in Europe over the years we found we much prefer the small village local feel. The village itself is called Kaliviani Village Crete, while there are no shops in the village Kissamos is about a 7 minute drive that provides access to everything you need for grocery shopping, atms, tourist information etc. It was near the entrance to our absolute favorite beach, Balos! This link pretty much covers everything in detail about the benefits of staying in Kaliviani, including being a 30 minute drive to the main city which you must visit for a night, Chania.

3. The views!! I feel like it did not showcase having water views, I thought I was going to be basically staying on a farm. I was so wrong! We had a beautiful view of the water, olive trees everywhere and a mountainside filled with mountain goats that we enjoyed watching over breakfast from the balcony.

4. 90 second walking distance to two really amazing restaurants. Gramvousa Restaurant - amazingggg atmosphere, views of the water and delicious traditional food. I’d go there just after the sunsets to enjoy! The other restaurant we enjoyed for the food and the owners made us feel like family. The wife is the server out-front and the husband is the chef! She was beyond kind and we had a great conversation with her. We sat on the main level, there were no views there but they had an upstairs newly added which I did not have the opportunity to check out.

Dinner at Gramvousa Restaurant night one!

The Beaches!

Day Two: We visited what apparently is one of the top rated pink sand beaches in Europe, Elafonissi beach. It was the furthest beach on our list so we made an amazing day trip out of it, opting for the scenic route which was about 30 minutes longer than the direct route (which we took on the way back.) The scenic route was SO worth it although a bit nerve wracking on the mountain sides. You have to do it though because of the amazing mountain views overlooking the ocean and small villages! The beach itself was sooo beautiful! We saw a bunch of van lifers staying there which would be interesting to look into! There are beach lounge rentals and everything you need to spend a day there and explore the Pink Sand Beach! Once we arrived back home we hung by the pool, took naps, got ready and went to eat at Kaliviani Fish & Meat Tavern.

Take the highlighted Scenic Route from Kissamos to Elafonissi Beach!

Day 3: Part One -

Was our journey to Balos Beach! Our favorite beach of the entire trip! It felt like a bit of a trek so go prepared with the right shoes! We used our amazon swim shoes which are lightweight, easy to pack and the perfect in between sandals and sneakers. There are two ways to get to the beach, by boat or car/walking. There's a boat option to the island (the day we visited was the first day it was in service) but the walk was really cool to experience and was just 1 euro per person for access to the park. The trek starts with about a 30-40 minute drive on the side of Kissamos Bay from our Airbnb, stunning views and tons of mountain goats to keep you company. It's actually a short distance but it's really bumpy with loose gravel, and takes some time (check with your car rental company to see if you are allowed to drive it, we weren't but learned that everyone does it anyway.) Next up was walking from the parking lot taking a pathway between mountains and then a ton of steps down to the beach, down isn't so bad because you find yourself pausing a lot to soak up the view of the beach! It was beautiful and so peaceful we didn't want to leave! Note you can rent beach lounges down there. If you decide to walk, look and see what time the first boat arrives and make sure you beat them there. Though since we were early in the season not many people were there, I imagine in the mid summer months It will get a lot more crowded with boat tours! There was also a snack bar down there but it wouldn't hurt to pack extra snacks, water and a hat to bring along. Also, always ask your Airbnb host for extra towels to bring with you on all your beach days!

Balos Beach

Day 3: Part Two-

We were gifted a wonderful walking tour that included dinner and drinks in the main city of Chania! *Note, we didn't know our exact itinerary before going on this trip so we would have stayed 3 nights in Kaliviani and saved this tour for our last night and stayed in Chania before heading to the next island* We wanted to enjoy ourselves for the evening in the city so we booked a cheaper Airbnb though it ended up feeling over priced.. just for the night and just packed an overnight bag with us, leaving everything else at our cave villa for the night. Chania is about a 30 minute drive from the village. I'll link the Airbnb we stayed in because it was in a nice central location to walk around the town but I do not recommend it and wouldn't book this place again, small dark and not the best check in but look for something nearby here! If you are a shopper, this is a great area to do so! The private walking tour was really nice with our local guide! We typically never do tours but it was the perfect balance to learn some history of Crete, see some really great views, a beautiful sunset on the harbor and a charming dinner away from the touristy area ending with another spot for dessert. We crashed at the end of the night and made our way back to Kaliviani first thing in the morning.

Day 4: Yes, by now we are totally burnt out but another day, another beach! Falassarna Beach, It was the perfect spot to relax and recharge for the day! One of the best locations to totally zone out and was a pretty quick (~10 minutes) and most importantly, easy drive from our Airbnb which was perfect! They had beach loungers to rent and enjoy food and cocktails. It's also a great location to watch the sunset. A lot of the locals recommended heading to Orange Blue for the sunset and drinks! We never made it as we had an early flight out of Chania the next morning and needed to pack, do laundry and rest up for the next day of travel! (Again, depending where you are flying out of or taking a ferry from we recommend to stay there for your last evening)

Island Two

Santorini

4 Nights

Where we flew in!

In Santorini you can either take a ferry in or fly into the Islands capital Fira. (We think) Due to COVID there were next to no ferries from Crete to Santorini (They're usually ~3-5 hours). So we had to fly, which we actually ended up liking, but given the option we’d usually opt for the Ferry. You don’t really need a car on this island, there are cabs everywhere with fixed pricing to each city and for money saving purposes tons of buses, but check the schedule before you go!

Where we stayed!

We REALLY lucked out with this spot, not sure if it was due to COVID or a glitch in the system but we were able to book the Deluxe Suite here at Maregio Suites for $250/ night and used some hotel rewards costing us even less which is a fraction of what it normally goes for in the heart of Oia with Sunset Views straight from our room, we would have never stayed here otherwise. If this is out of your budget you can really stay anywhere on the entire island because there are plenty of ways to explore the entire island (bus,taxi, car/ATV.) If you rent a four wheeler for a day or 2 you can cover everything worth seeing! Our first time in Santorini we stayed in a more affordable area, Perissa and still had the best time here at Aqua Blue, it was the first week it was open so looking at prices now I believe again we got it for a fraction of the price. If we were to visit again I think we would opt to stay anywhere in or between Fira and Oia!

Day 5: We landed in Fira around 11am and were able to check right in. The first night we soaked up the views from our room, watched the famous Oia sunset and had a low key dinner in town.

Day 6: My birthday! We got up early, had an amazing breakfast and took a cab to Fira and started out year 30 with an 8 mile hike back to Oia!! It was definitely worth it especially if you have a short time on the island. You get to see all the sights worth seeing in Santorini - Caldera views, the white and blue churches and so much more! *If we were to do it again we’d opt to hike from Oia to Fira, have lunch in town and cab back. For my birthday dinner we booked a really fun experience at Armeni where a boat came to pick us up in Amoudi Bay and took us to the restaurant right on the water all included with dinner! If you like fresh fish, they come to make rounds with their fresh catches of the day for you to pick your dinner. The server was quite the character and it was just a really fun evening!

Day 7: We rented a four wheeler for the day and explored the rest of the island finding ourselves at the highest peak in Santorini, spending some time on Red Beach (need those swim shoes) and enjoying wine at the stunning winery, Santo Wines which also has great sunset views if you need a spot to relax and enjoy! The rental is for a full 24 hours so we went back, got ready enjoyed wine and the sunset from the room and hopped on the ATV to a beautiful dinner at an adorable restaurant called Lefkes with a beautiful atmosphere and when I think back this might have been the most flavorful meal we had during our entire trip!! No sunset view but just so dang charming!! I’d go twice if I had more time! One of my favorite moments was the ride home that evening through the streets of Oia. Romantic <3 You might even consider looking at places to stay near Lefkes because the little town of Finikia is adorable, leave time to walk around!

Day 8: From the day of travel and 2 days of adventures we napped by our pool, enjoyed the views and didn't leave our hotel room terrace until after the sunset for dinner! We made our way back to Fira for dinner at another pretty spot for dinner, Argo Restaurant which also has sunset views if we wanted to enjoy it during dinner. Fira has the most nightlife in the area so if you want a night out, Fira is the spot! Due to COVID we didn't have that sorta night this time around!

• Packing Tip for the ladies! Bring plenty of sundresses with cute and comfortable sneakers! It was about 170 stairs just get to our hotel room, you will be doing tons of walking so for photos have your cute dress but comfortable walking shoes. Then, just throw a pair of sandals in your bag from the day. Definitely leave the heels at home for this trip.

Island Three

Naxos

3 Nights

Where we Ferried into!

We took a quick and easy ride on the Ferry into Naxos Town. At first we did not book a rental car based on some reviews we read on our Airbnb but after factoring in how many taxis we would be taking back and forth we booked a little rental car during our stay and it was WELL worth it! In the 2.5 days we had, having a car allowed us to cover so much of the island! If we were ever to come back we would switch up the location of where we stayed closer to the beaches but I'll include more notes on that later.

Where we Stayed!

Here is the link to our Pink Castle Farm Cave Villa Airbnb that was a beautiful setting! The communication with the host wasn't the best but when I did get a hold of her she was super sweet and the Villa is run by her mom which really made up for the very uncomfortable bed (we hardly got any sleep here.) She was sooo sweet, warm, welcoming and provided fresh squeezed lemon juice from the trees on the farm, Greek coffee and treats every morning. So if you want a really nice experience in terms of the pink castle, creating fun photos, chill by the pool, nice hospitality it's worth staying a night! In terms of location it was about a 15 min drive into town and 20-25 minutes to the beaches and about 40 minutes into the popular mountain village destinations. After one night's stay here, we would recommend staying near the beaches instead.

Day 9: Said goodbye to the beautiful Santorini, our hotel booked a van for us to the ferry as we made our way to Naxos! We arrived at our pink castle Airbnb by 2pm, checked in, changed and took off for the mountain villages. It was a bit of a weird feeling being the only tourists there, a lot of restaurants were closed. It was still really cool to think about how long these mountain villages had been around for. Our first stop was in Chalkio Naxos which was super charming and worth a stop for an hour! We explored the town, had a cocktail and took a round trip walk of 30 minutes down a path passing through tons of olive trees and old villas to see the Church of St. George Diasoritis, which was a beautiful stone church built in the 11th century. We wanted to visit the citron distillery intown but it was closed by the time we got back from our walk, so we were able to enjoy a couple citron cocktails at a nearby tavern! Next we set off for Apeiranthos, which was really cool to see as the streets were all made of marble! It was a bit of a ghost town and we were literally the ONLY tourists there so we just walked around a bit, had a beer at a tavern with a view of the mountainside and made our way back to Naxos Town for the sunset at the Temple of Apollo- Portata, which was so so stunning and gave Santorini sunsets a good run for the money! After the sunset we enjoyed a delicious dinner on the Harbor at a pretty restaurant, The Music Cafe!

Day 10: We took today by Sea and booked this Sailboat with a super nice captain and his adorable wife as our host for the day. It was not a private booking but there ended up only being one other young couple from the US so it was perfect! We went to a few different locations and enjoyed snorkeling in a couple spots! It was an excellent value as all food and drinks were included! We were able to stop at the island Paros for a bit and explore an adorable town called Noussa. It was like a mini Mykonos! It was gorgeous, and though we didn't see the main town or beaches, if we had the choice again we would stay in Paros over Naxos. After the long day we just grabbed gyros for dinner in Naxos Town and spent the evening by the pool at our Pink Castle Villa.

Day 11: Last full day on the island! We took the day to head to the beachside and check out the beaches in Naxos for the day. It's miles long with a ton of beach front trendy restaurants to choose from for lunch that each rent out beach loungers. This side of the island felt more like a chill beach town area, no huge adventures for the day! We went home, got ready and our Airbnb hosts recommended a super cute traditional restaurant in town called Doukato, if you find yourself in Naxos it's worth an evening for dinner!

Day 12: We were able to enjoy one more cup of Greek coffee at the Pink Castle Villa before catching a flight out of Naxos into Athens (the Ferry schedule didn't work with our schedule.) *The Naxos airport is the smallest airport I’ve ever seen and you don't need to get there more than 15 minutes before your scheduled boarding time, otherwise you hang outside for a while. I have been to Athens twice already and I don’t know that you really need to spend more than a night to see what you need to see in the city. This time we opted for a beach front hotel 15 minutes away from the Athens airport as we had a 7am flight back home the next morning rather than 40-45 minutes from the city. We had a nice lunch at a nearby restaurant, took naps to rest up for our early morning journey home! Oh, we did wake up for a quick late night dinner and had the BEST gyros we had during our visit in the islands and it was right next to the hotel!

Day13: Early Flight out of Athens connecting through Frankfurt to home! See additional tips for traveling the Greek Islands below!

Tips for Traveling the Greek Islands!

• Rent a car if you visit Crete! Make sure to read up on driving in Crete lol! Having a car allows you to explore the island in ways you wouldn't be able to otherwise. Again, we went just out of COVID so there were not a ton of public transportation options for us.

  • Make sure it is a small car, we had to squeeze between really tight walls on very narrow roads at times, especially if you book our Airbnb there is one reallllly tight section that requires focus to squeeze through!

  • Bring accessories! We use the magnetic vent mount for our phone which we love to bring to use for maps if we know we will be driving a rental car. Along with USB's etc.

• We could have used at least another 2 nights Crete, the island is huge and there are so many places to explore - especially if you're interested in hiking or Greek mythology! Stay as long as time allows!

• Using credit cards in Greece is super easy and you can pretty much use them everywhere! Still make sure to take out some euros at the airport for cabs, buses, park entry, and buying gifts etc. We managed with 300 euros for our 2 week trip.

• Hunt for Airbnb's first, then cross check flights into Greece and ferry schedules from island to island before booking any Airbnb. We tend to track flight deals from Scotts Cheap Flights to decide on our destination and then begin the planning process from there! Check out my first Blog post for more tips on that!

• Make sure to ask your Airbnb host or hotel for an extra towel per guest. You'll want one for showers and one to take on day trips for beaches!

• Wi-Fi can be sketchy at times, download your driving map on google maps for the day just incase you have no service or Wi-Fi!

• We always travel with two back up chargers for our phones

• Ask your host and the locals for the best recommendations, some of our favorite places were recommended by the locals for a more authentic experience!