Greece 10-Day Itinerary
Day 1
Travel day, depart at 1900
Day 2
Land at 1600
Transportation arranged by host
Dinner: Anogi (3-minute walk)
Stay: Imerovigli Cycladic home by Nikos
Day 3
Complimentary breakfast from Caper provided by Airbnb host (we chose fresh pastries, Greek yogurt bowls, freshly squeezed orange juice)
Hike Skaros Rock (11-minute walk)
Visit Panagia Theoskepasti Chapel on the back side of Skaros
Smoothie at Smooth-It
Lunch at 4 Seasons Restaurant
Dinner at Anogi
Stay: Imerovigli Cycladic home by Nikos
Day 4
Complimentary breakfast from Caper provided by Airbnb Host
Checkout: 11am
Transportation to 2nd Airbnb arranged
Lunch at Pitogyro
Explored the streets and shops
Icecream at Kayak
Oia Castle
1800 dinner at Kastro Oia (amazing view!)
Stay: Santorini Island Cycladic home by Manolis and Morgan
Day 5
Brunch at Vitrin before 1030
Smoothies at Solo Gelato
Relax, visit Blue Bell Tower Church, explore
Church of St. Spirydon
1830 dinner at Lycabettus cliff area (amazing view but not directly of sunset)
Stay: Santorini Island Cycladic home by Manolis and Morgan
Day 6
Smoothie from Solo Gelato
Walk down 300 steps to Ammoudi Bay, walk to the water
Icecream
1800 dinner at Dimitris Ammoudi Taverna (incredible view!)
Stay: Santorini Island Cycladic home by Manolis and Morgan
Day 7
0725 flight to Athens (15USD/person, 35 minute flight on Ryanair)
Metro- take the blue line #M3, to Monastiraki and walk 12 minutes to Acropolis
Brunch @ The Brunch Factory Athens
*Athens Pass to Acropolis & 6 sites (Acropolis & Slopes, Ancient Agora, Roman Agora, Hadrian’s Library, Temple of Olympian Zeus, Kerameikos, and Aristotles School Lykeion), includes Erechtheion, Odeon of Herodes Atticus, & Theatre of Dionysus)
Walk around Monastiraki Square and visit the shops in Plaka
1700 dinner at MS Roof Garden Food Reservation at 1700 (breathtaking view of the Acropolis, a must!)
Dessert at Davinci
Metro to airport
2315 flight back to Santorini
Stay: Santorini Island Cycladic home by Manolis and Morgan
Day 8
Breakfast at Skiza
Icecream at Kayak
1900 Dinner at Skala
Stay: Santorini Island Cycladic home by Manolis and Morgan
Day 9
Breakfast at Skiza
Barbarossa Sunset Sailing 2-7pm: dinner, snorkeling, and swimming in the Santorini Volcano Hot Spring is included)
Late night snack at Pitogyro
Stay: Santorini Island Cycladic home by Manolis and Morgan
Day 10
Breakfast at Vitrin
Explore shops
Lunch at Skiza
Flight departs at 1730 to London Heathrow
Arrive in London at 1930
Taxi to hotel (40 mins)
Stay: hub London Westminster St James’s Park
Day 11
Breakfast at hub London 0600
From hotel, walk to Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, London eye, Buckingham Palace, Uber to Tower Bridge 16 mins, walk 3 mins to Girl with a dolphin fountain
Flight leaves at 1205
Tips:
-There are no addresses in Greece, so your Airbnb host will schedule all transportation for you (if you stay at a hotel, I imagine they would as well). Drivers will pick you up from the airport with your name on a sign and carry your luggage for you.
-I was extremely impressed with our Airbnb hosts and the Airbnb experience in Santorini. The kind hosts will personally check you in and give you a tour of the place and likely have a large welcome gift for you such as fresh fruit, local beers, snacks, etc. They will keep in touch through text or Airbnb messaging to ensure that you don’t have any questions and that you have everything that you need. Mid-stay they will offer any cleaning, additional supplies, etc., they will provide tons of recommendations and book things for you, as mentioned above they will book all transportation for you and bring you complimentary breakfast at some Airbnb’s, it almost feels like a butler service. Truly incredible!
-We stayed at a very nice place with views for the first 2 nights, and then stayed at a cheaper, more tucked away apartment for the rest of our stay. Both amazing, but personally, if you are able to financially, I think it is worth splurging for 1 or 2 nights in Santorini because some of the views you just cannot beat, such as our first Airbnb in Imerovigli that I am convinced has the best views in all of Santorini!!
-You cannot flush any toilet paper down the toilet and tap water is not drinkable.
-I recommend not wearing tight long dresses (my mistake!). Long or short flowy dresses/skirts are preferred because of the steep steps.
-Comfortable shoes are a must, especially in Oia. I recommend cute close toed shoes that you can wear with dresses/skirts/dress up. Make sure they have a thicker sole and a good grip so you don’t feel the cobblestone a much while walking or slip.
-End of October was the perfect time to go in our opinion, it got too hot for us during the day especially when you are walking up steps nearly all day long (there’s a reason the locals call Santorini a boot camp, phew!)
-The best time for dinner is 1800 to catch the full sunset.
-Skaros hike is VERY STEEP, so steep that we, and all the other tourists there, had locals physically guiding and lifting our bodies up while essentially scaling to the top on a literal 90 degree angle on the side of a cliff (scary but worth it!).
-The walk down to Ammoudi Bay is no joke. It is 300 steps down and 300 steps up, we walked down and up to it 2 times, but there is an option to take a taxi up or a donkey (I would recommend the taxi if you don’t want to walk it).
-Imerovigli is quieter, more romantic, less touristy, with much less traffic, while Oia is very touristy, with a lot more people. Both equally amazing just in different ways. Most of the people that get off the cruises will go straight to Oia and the traffic significantly fluctuates based on how many cruises are there, if any. It is a dramatic difference.
-For the best sunset views, we recommend Dimitris Ammoudi Taverna and Kastro Oia at 1800. For the best experience/hospitality, we recommend Anogi in Imerovigli (best baklava as well). Best breakfast and lunch, Skiza in Imerovigli.
-The Acropolis was incredible beyond words, and I think our 1 day there was perfect and enough time-wise. I did not feel like our time there was cut too short. Get to the Acropolis as early as you can before the crowds grow. However, navigating your way from their airport on the Metro can be a bit confusing, so you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the train schedule as much as possible. Note, when coming back late at night to get to the airport, the only line that returns to the airport is the Suburban Rail so you will have to hop off of the blue line and switch to the yellow line about 3 stations before the airport.
-Don’t forget your travel adaptor plug!
@anissajaworski
