Greece: Naxos & Santorini Trip report
 

Just back from our amazing trip to Greece. 1 night in Athens, 3 on Naxos, 4 on Santorini and 1 in Athens. Obviously from all of you that have already been there...it's indescribable, although I'll try. I feel all of our photos won't do it justice (all 10 rolls I took!). There's something about the light in Santorini ....it's like magic.

Starting off with our traditional Bloody Mary's at the airport, :) we flew Air France through CDG (we ran to make the connection) to Athens. This was my husband and I's first trip "across the pond" and were very excited. Got into Athens by Noon and even though we were beat showered and hit the ground running. Toured the Acropolis (how do those women in 4" stiletto heels do it?) and ran into a TV broadcast. Walked through the Plaka and ate at the foot of the hill at a little place on the walkway down. Sampled lots of appetizers since we weren't so hungry and then retired to the roof top deck to enjoy the lit view from our hotel. It was perfect for what we needed...simple, no frills, but clean and the roof top deck was a treat. We didn't mind Athens at alll...Lost of people say it's dirty ....well parts are as most cities and ther eis lots of construction for the Olympics. What killed me were all the mopeds running all over the roads...nuts! Traffic was pretty rough but same for most busy cities. I thought the Plaka area was delightful great to people watch in. I agree....ask your cabby the fare before you go...we did at first then got lazy and taken for a "ride" literally. 18 Euros one time and 30 the next!!

The toilet paper thing was very odd. Funn yhow cerain things you're just very accustomed to. I was happy to get home and use the toilet properly. My hisband was pretty bothered by it. Although I was troubled when I saw the sign no paper in the toilet but found no basket either?!? I flushed and crossed my fingers. hee hee

Up very early to ferry 4 hrs to Naxos (40 Euros for us both: we simply got our tickets the day before at one of the many travel agencies). Got a great sugar donut from the dock. We had no problem with ferries on our trip. We really enjoyed seeing the other islands and enjoying the sun from the deck. I am so glad we decided to ferry instead of fly. Arrived in Naxos and went immediately with bags in tow to a little restaurant on the dock and ate the best calamari we had all trip. Super big and fresh.

We stayed at Villa Marandi....a wonderful hotel, I'd highly recommend. Tucked away a little outside of town (you could possible walk it but it would be a little hike) with a beautiful view of the harbor & town. It has it's own beach but as I had known from an earlier post, it's not very well maintained. Despite it, we laid out one afternoon there simply out of convenience. The service is superb and Julie made our stay. The hotel is darling...only 16 rooms I think. Very well maintained with the best breakfast I have ever had (all fresh squeezed juices). We enjoyed the beach and pool during the day and cabbed into town to walk in town at night. Had sunset drinks overlooking the harbor at El Greco.....really good barrel wine. Walked the adorable old Market town that's a maze to get through but we had so much fun getting lost. Had drinks listening to a Bozuki player in a back corner bar. Who told us the more we drank the cheaper the drinks would get!! A dangerous game. My husband loved the music and yes, we actually came home with a Bozuki! :) We went to Ocean...a late night club. I was surprised that that happy hour was 10-midnight and clubs opened at mid-night. The club was super overpriced and full but average....surprised to hear the crowd go crazy for Michael J's Thriller mix. Almost disappointing :) Rented a tiny car for about 40 Euros the last day...one of our best days on the trip....drove inland and up to the northern part of the island and saw the most breathtaking views.....lush mountains that you wind through (a nerve testing trip or windy roads and amazing heights) spotting little villages and churches on the edges of rocks. It made us want to yell "Ricolla"! :) There's a town almost completely made of marble and the dearest little fishing village up north called Apollon. I bought the best priced jewelry there at Nikos's shop and ate fabulous fresh whole fish on the grill on the dock. We sneaked away on a private cove that we climbed into on the beach Agna Ana/Plaka beach. There are a bunch of small private coves you can steal away from the world in. Naxos was beautiful and very affordable. I wish we had done more of our shopping there. Lots of Crepe shops....I ate one almost everyday as my husband ate Souvlakis! :)

Took and afternoon ferry to Santorini...about 2 hrs away. The arrival by boat is the way to go...what a sight!! I was so excited. Pulled into the dock and you feel the rush of people scurrying to their cabs and transfers. We hopped on with another tour company and wound up the mountain to VVV. We stayed only 2 days there. After the service and experience at Villa Marandi it was a disappointment. It's a nice place...very large and I agree that the view there is one of the best being that it's in a little cove with only a few other hotels and separated from the clutter of other hotels further down the island. But I was pretty put off by unhelpful staff, when we waited patiently for them to take us to our room and they simply forgot about us and let us sit there for an extra 5 min while the guy had a cigarette. Then when I called the desk for a hair dryer sopping wet in my robe they said I would have to come up to get it from the desk myself...meaning I had to trapse up the maze of stairs & walk by everyone eating dinner with soaking hair to get it. :( No pool towels or unable to use room towels, we tried very hard to get a lounge near one of the 3 pools but found only one and when my husband tried to ask someone if there were any others or for assistance then simply said sorry, wait and see what you find. The best was being woken up each morning by the water drain...seems when your neighbors shower their water drains run under your room and it's loud. Bad for us that our neighbor showered at 6am everyday. Despite it all our first few days we enjoyed the view and first night walked into Fira and all the way to Firastephani! We climbed all over the cliffs in the maze of places. We were so excited to just see everything we kept walking. The key is GOOD SHOES! Ate where we felt like stopping in at....enjoyed most everywhere...some better than others. Loved Nicholas a little place with no menus...just asks what you're in the mood to eat and very traditional Greek food. He gave us complimentary Baklava because we looked like honeymooners....very sweet. Fira was relatively quiet We were told few Americans have come due to war, and the low dollar. We ran into mostly Brits, Aussies, and French.

On Day 3 moved to Sun Rocks villas in Firastephani (just above Fira). We loved Sun Rocks. great service, super rooms, and super pool lounges with leather cushions and a great view for breakfast in tall cushion seats. Yes, there are many stairs, basically each room in on a different level so it's a mountain of stairs. We were at the top...good for coming home after a carafe or two of wine :) A little pricey but worth it. Loved sitting in our robes on our terrace with wine and watching the sunset on our last night.....one of the best we saw. Spent a day in Oia...very cute but smaller than I expected. Lots of shops. we ate at Ambrosia....best dinner on the island. Have the fish soup!! Totally lucked out and happened on the last table upstairs outside with a spectacular view....very romantic. Tons of candles and great mood music. Food is more Mediterranean than Greek, but excellent. Got dessert on the house a yummy flan. Crawled out to the rocks on the northern tip of Oia with beers and chips from the market and watched the sun plunge into the sea with groups of people. Was a fantastic scene. Something about the light on Santorini.....it's just magical. Everything seems to be illuminated and surreal. We road the bus back....bus is only 1 Euro and great. Last ride back to Fira at 11:20pm. Hit some of the nightlife...loved the Jazz bar...a cozy cave with wall painting and crazy sculptures. We ended up back there our last night and the older gentleman, the DJ played our anniversary song just for us. My husband pulled me up for a little swing....one of my favorite memories. They make fresh sangria there...yum. Last day we rented a car and hit the ruin city....which I thought was amazing. I had caught the History channel special on it before so it was a must on our list to see. Then to the red beach (you have to climb down over lots of rocks) and the black sand beach which is a long stretch of beach that is beautiful to see...lost of places to eat and drink. We got hooked on ice coffees starting our first night in Athens at a local cafe. We enjoyed the sun and then back up to Oia for some shopping. Then enjoyed the last sunset from our balcony with a local bottle of wine. Ate a late dinner at Vanilla which was very near our hotel. Good food...not super but good. Very neat atmosphere....pillow benches, vineing flowers and candle light. Then walked into town one last night. I loved the walk from Firastephani to Fira. We just sat at the corner looking at the city all lit up and listening to people laughing....you can almost hear what people are saying. It's an amazing sight! Our last morning we wandered fira for gifts and ordered a cab to the airport since it was during siesta.....well, they take it seriously because it came 35 min late! We just made our flight so we thought till it was delayed an hour....there is no hurry there for sure. We made it on the tiny plane with no a/c ekk. quite a view from the plane as well. And back to Athens and to Attolos for one more night of the Plaka. ...scrambling through the tourist traps getting a few last gifts before they closed. Dinner at a busy street side with vendors, musicians dueling for attention while the waiters try to scatter them away. It was a little like West Side Story! hee hee

We had an amazing trip. Better than I had even expected. Greece is a wonderful place. Friendly people, perfect weather (I managed to get a tan w/o even trying) we felt very safe, the food was excellent and very affordable (dinners with wine & appetizers average about 30 euros for 2) and the views were something else. I only wish I could bottle it so I could open it up once in awhile to enjoy again. It wa sso mystical, it already seems almost like a dream and just worlds away.

Thanks again for all your helpul tips...we had an amazing time thanks to them.

Happy Travels!

Baemel...

Goodness! Back already? Well, welcome back! I am glad you had such a great time! Thanks for posting a trip report...some of the places you went, I also frequented, so good to see I wasn't the only one who enjoyed it.

Now, I guess you will have to come back to earth eh? But you will always have your lovely memories...

Thanks for the trip report, since I'm not going to Greece this year reading this brought back great memories!

Yes, back already and so could of stayed longer. American's really need to adopt the European way of taking Holiday. Everyone we spoke with was on a 3 week or longer holiday. We were so envious.

But, I guess the best cure for the post-trip blues is to start planning another trip. Our dilema always seems to be to go back to somewhere in which we loved or to go somewhere new? Our inital thoughts are to see Italy next. Must say, for our first trip abroad though, Greece was spectacular and more than live dup to all expectations. i found myself in the grocey store last night buying Dannon plain yogurt and honey to relive the treat I loved, but it's not even close :(

So glad that you found and enjoyed Nicholas, yummy calamari! I too fell in love with their yogurt and have since found a greek yogurt at our Whole Foods grocery store called Total, the real thing. Hope you can find it too.
bobbie

Greece was my 1st trip abroad as well. Since then I have been to Italy a few times and a day trip to Albania. My boyfriend thinks I'm nuts (I'm Italian-American) but so far I prefer Greece over Italy. I think I'm just positively in love with the Greek Islands. Probably when I visit a smaller Italian island I may have the same passion for it. I also have not been to beaches in Italy, whereas in Greece we did a lot of that and I am a big beach person. I do love the food in Italy over Greece.

Bobbie- thanks so much or the tip about the Greek yogurt! Whole foods is a 5 minute drive from me.

I'm glad you had such a wonderful time, it's amazing how Greece gets under your skin. I'm making my 4th trip since 1998 it drives my Greek-Canadian husband crazy because he wants to visit other countries. But I keep telling him that there is so many areas we haven't seen yet.
Thanks for the great report!

funny! I was actually at Whole Foods on my lunch break today in hopes to find something of a little greek taste....I got a bunch of greek olives but so glad to hear about the yogurt! Thanks bobbie.

Italy is our next trip. Interesting to hear you like Greece better. i just can't imagine much better than our trip as well.

Truly enjoyable and informative report, I've been waiting for it!

We're heading to similar places in 3 weeks, I'll follow up with specific questions once my wife reads your report too,

Mike

Hi, will be staying at the VVV in September for 5 nights...Was it really that bad?

Great report--Greece is on my list for next year or the following. Sounds wonderful

Tracey B....it depends on what you're looking for. Overall VVV was just fine. The view makes the place, it's large...lots of rooms and 3 pools (1 for families and 2 other smaller ones) although very few lounges which was our prime goal for daily R&R. ...so you have to scramble and get up early because people save them. The rooms were fine too...the drain bugged us every morning but it was very clean. There was a sidewalk infront of our balcony so really could'nt get the full view while seated. I would request a room on the left side of the mountain....quieter.

The biggest disapointment was the lack of care or help from the staff....there's no service there. We had questions and needed advise etc and they were very unhelpful and at times very dismissive.

Thanks Baemel...View is utmost important for myself and my husband, as well as clean...It appears that everywhere we travel to the lounges are saved, so that is really not a big deal...I really doubt that we will be sitting on lounges all day anyhow as we are there to explore...We want the view, but we don't want to pay top $$, so I think what you are describing will be fine for us...I have a very high tolerance to anything that involves travel and usually love everything!! Hopefully the service become's better by the time we get there in September. Thanks again..

Baemel,

Thanks for the warning at VVV, we're there 4 days next month.

Did you just wing it when it came to restaurants, or did you do any research or ask the locals first? Are reservations required? What are the clubs like? What are best gift ideas? Is there anything you wished you didn't do, or anything you think you missed?

We'll be in Athens, Mykonos, Naxos and Santorini 7/10-23. Email me if you've decided on Italy--we're no experts but have gone there 3 times in past 4 years.

Thanks,

Mike
[email protected]

Mike,

We took a list of recommendations for resturants and tried to hit a few of them for our dinners, but mostly winged it wherever we happened to be and asked locals, our hostess at Sun Rocks, made excellent recommendations. you don't need reservations for most places but some more upscale ones you do. Although, we never made any and ate everywhere we wanted. You may since you're going during high season though.

As for clubs there are 2 big ones on Naxos, Ocean and one more North I think called Club Beach. We only went to Ocean, its a techno dance club with 2 djs. More American music than not. It was very busy and fun to people watch (clubs open at midnight till dawn). There's a late night food stand around the corner which we hit called Jackbox which has Souvlaki and Crepes. (yum....I miss them). Santorini clubs...there are a bunch in Fira, off the top of my head...an Irish pub: Murphy's, a Jazz bar (called just that), Breeze (one of the few places we found to have a cover charge), lots of choices all very near each other. The Irish bar had mostly American's in it. We loved the Jazz bar...some locals and great music, neat little cave with funky scultpures.

Gifts?? We brought back Ouzo and local Santorini wine. You'll see lots of Olympic 2004 gear. My husband bought a Bouvuki (guitar) and I bought some jewelry. Jewelry was much less expensive on Naxos. I bought a few things there and wish i would of bought more of my gifts there. Have the Naxos hard cheese....I wish I could of brought some of it home!

We enjoyed everything we did. We wish we would of gotten a car on Naxos for an extra day....we only rented one our last day and we would of loved to have another day to explore more of the beaches and spent a little more time at Agna Ana....very cute beach town. Was so glad we took the ferry instead of flying to each island. Good time to write in my journal, talk about next island plans, and just enjoy the views of the passing islands.

Have a great trip! We are in the very initial stages of our Italy trip planning. We are thinking about late Sept. early Oct. 2004 for about 2 weeks. Thanks for your offer on advise...where in Italy have you gone? We're going for the wine. noticed the "creative" in your email address....mine does too. I'm a designer. :)

Hi Baemel,

Thanks again.

Based on your interests, I know you will love Italy. We've gone 3 times: Venice, Florence and Tuscany ('99), Rome and the Amalfi coast ('01), and Milan and the Lakes ('02).

Food, wine, people, country, history, culture, etc. fantastic.

mIke

PS-we're a consulting firm. You a graphic designer?

Hi Mike,

Did you particularly enjoy one trip more than the others? We usually end up attracted to the water.

yep. work for a gov't contractor and on my own as well.

It is nice to hear your trip was great. I am planning my trip to Athens, Naxos and Mykonos in September. I was considering Villa Marandi for the beach but I guess if I am looking for a nice beach I should look someplace else ?
Where is the best beach of the island ?
Could you suggest another hotel located by a nice beach ?

Thanks
William

I stayed at

http://www.aphrodite-mykonos.com/

It is situated a little 2 minute walk from a very quiet, but beautiful beach. It is not near the main town, but only a quick 10-15 minute cab ride away. We loved it, spacious rooms. Great place to return to after a long day of sightseeing.

Hi Baemel,

Wow, I never thought of which Italy trip was better before.

They were very different--we knew so little the first trip (no internet searches, etc). By the third, I had dinner reservations made in advance every night.

There was water in all three--from Venice to the Amalfi coast to the Lakes.

There's more to see/do in Venice/Florence/Tuscany (our 1st trip) and somewhat less in the Lakes trip (our 3rd). If you want similar to Greece (from what I've read so far...) then the views at the Amalfi coast are spectacular. We did Rome first, then stayed in Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi. Visited Capri and Ravello (we spotted Ray Liotta in our hotel and left him alone. Next day, he gets out of a car right in front of us. I politely asked for a photo, he grunted while his girlfriend laughed her head off (he must have just said to her: no one's gonna recognize me here...')

Anyway, you can't go wrong in any of these places, and there are tons of posts about all three areas.

We love Italy and will likely go back next year.

Mike