GREECE

GREECE:

Greece marked the end of our European summer which meant we spent as much time as possible soaking up the sun before returning to London for the following two months. It is such a beautiful country however, the islands we visited are not backpacker friendly and I would steer clear of them if you’re on a budget, but if you’re going out hard and fast, the Greek Islands are the place to be!

Athens, Greece:

Day 54:

This morning we arrived in Athens at 3am, not being able to take our bags to our accommodation until 10am we spent around 6 hours dozing in and out of sleep at the airport. We finally made our way to our accommodation, dropped our bags off then spent the next 4hours longing for 2pm when we could finally check-in and sleep in a bed! We wandered through Monastiraki Flea Market, I would definitely recommend visiting these markets! Lots of cool stuff! If I had access to Greek letters I could tell you where we had lunch, but I don’t so… we had amazing Greek pastries for lunch somewhere nearby. Trent got a haircut at a place called ‘Asian’ that was staffed by Pakistanis, go figure? We finally got to check in and meet our host… he was so weird, but nice enough. Our place had a scary staircase upstairs which passed abandoned apartments, however the rooftop view was amazing. It looked over Athens and we could stare straight at the Acropolis,which was lit up with pretty colours at night.  But we wouldn’t stay there again.  It smelt of cigarettes and he slept on the lounge which was awkward. Oh, and he snored super loud and was apparently an "actor".

Day 55:

This morning we visited The Acropolis and surrounding ruins. Absolutely amazing history and sights! Trent was concerned about not having any clothes to begin school when we returned to London so we spent the afternoon shopping in the centre.

Mykonos, Greek Islands:

Day 56:

This morning we left Athens to travel to Mykonos by ferry. We stayed at Paradise Island backpackers in a teeny tiny cabin. We ended up here because it was basically the only affordable place left on the entire island! Paradise Island is known for partying, there are plenty of bars along the beach with a good music and atmosphere. We were far enough away to not hear the music early hours of the morning, which was really good. Spent the remainder of the afternoon at the beach. Our time in Mykonos was dampened a little by the fact that we had to move to London in less than a week and had nowhere to live. 

Day 57:

This morning we caught the bus into Mykonos town and hired a quad bike. We spent the day travelling around the entire island visiting beautiful beaches. The roads aren’t as bad as we expected. This was one of our favourite days, would definitely recommend!

Day 58:

This morning we used our last few hours with the quad exploring all the beaches we hadn’t gotten to the day before. After returning the quad we wandered through the town centre stopping for a coffee at Veranda Cocktail Bar (amazing view from here, and not too bad of a coffee from recollection). For lunch we indulged in some local baked treats and home-made mini ice-creams (there’s a photo below out the front of the bakery).

Day 59:

Today we said goodbye to beautiful Mykonos and caught the ferry to Santorini. We arrived at our beautiful little villa and were greeted with homemade cakes and breads from our host. We spent the afternoon relaxing by our pool.  

Santorini, Greek Islands:

Day 60:

This morning we spent some time relaxing by the pool absorbing maximum Vitamin D before London. In the afternoon we took a bus to Oia at the other end of the island to watch the sunset. We walked through the beautiful little town then settled in a bar to watch the most amazing sunset ever, worth the wait! Oia is just as beautiful at night all lit up so don’t leave after the sun sets!

Day 61:

Today was our last day of holidays:( Today we wandered through the town we were staying in then spent the rest of the day by the pool with some drinks and snacks relaxing. 

Day 62:

Today we left Santorini by ferry for Athens. We got in late and did nothing in Athens.

Day 63:

Today we flew back to London!

TIPS:

FOR THE COFFEE LOVERS: Coffee Island is a chain coffee house in Athens and it’s the closest coffee we’ve had to Australian coffee since we left. If you’re a coffee lover this place is definitely worth a visit especially if you’ve been travelling for a while and are craving a good coffee!

PARTHENON: A ticket will cost you 12euros and gives you access to multiple other sites near-by.

GREEK ISLANDS: The Greek Islands are expensive! Super expensive! We spent what you could spend in a month in Italy in 10days! If we had known the cost would be so high we would have left them for another trip but you live you learn!

HIRING A QUAD: From what we saw on offer, quads/ ATVs start at about 40euros/day, however we paid 80 euros for one that had much more power (or something?) We saw multiple people struggling up hills and slowing down traffic because they opted for cheaper options, I would definitely recommend spending the extra money to get around without a hassle.

GIANT CORNETTOS: Mykonos has these GIANT cornettos about twice the size of a regular one and they’re amazing! Incredibly sickening but SO delicious you can’t stop! Eat them all and send us pics so we can reminisce on their deliciousness.

OIA SUNSET: It’s beautiful, and that makes it popular. SUPER popular. Do your research on places that have a view and book in advance or get there early. We arrived with plenty of time to spare but outside the bar we were people were able to stand in-front of us and trust me, no one cares if they’re in your way or how long you’ve been waiting… they’re like weird and vicious lol.

BOOK ACCOMODATION EARLY: If you know when and where you’re going. Book ASAP, prices are already expensive during summer and last minute accommodation is even worse.