Holiday in Greece - Athens, Santorini and Crete

Greece | May 15 - May 26, 2022

In 2020 we had planned a two week vacation in Greece, but Covid delayed our plans. Dec 2021 we decided to get started planning again. My wife and I enjoy food, wine and seeing ancient sites so we planned Athens, the ancient town of Akrotiri on Santorini and the island of Crete. A friend of ours worked with Angela and so we asked her to help arrange our tours and transportation to and from the airport.
In Athens, our guide was Eleni and she did a great job in showing us the archeological museum and Plaka. We walked on our own in Plaka and near the Acropolis.
On Santorini, our guide was Yannis who showed took us on a tour of the old towns from Oia all the way to Akritiri. There is great wine in Santorini which comes from grapes which grow in the islands volcanic soil. On our own walked through Oia, Fira and down to the lighthouse at Akrotiti, and we had wine tastings at Aroma Avlis (where we also had an incredible dinner the night before) and Sigalas Winery. We skipped some of the bigger wineries but there are maybe 20 more on Santorini.
On Crete, which is filled with olive groves, Alexander showed us the Eastern part of Crete with a visit to an olive oil factory and we toured as far south as the Libyan sea. Nikolas and our driver Thasos took us on a tour of the western part of Crete from Chania over the mountains to the south overlooking the Libyan sea. On our own we walked through the old towns in Heraklion, Chania and Rethimno.
We rented a car on both Santorini and Crete so the days after the tours we drove to some of our favorite places. The Minoan archeological site in Akriti and the Archeological museum in Chania were among our favorites and should not be missed.
I think guided tours are a great way to get a feel for a place when you have limited time, but you also need time on your own to explore. We had four organized tours which was perfect.

Hotel Review

Oniro City

Athens

Fabulous hotel, walking distance to old town in Plaka and the Acropolis. While in an old building, hd interior of the hotel was completely redone with a fabulous shower, bed and pillow. We had a great dinner at Frankie, 1/2 block away.

Location

Great non touristy restaurants, but close enough to Plaka.

Staff

Super friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bed and pillow was smazing

Activity Review

East Crete Secrets Off the Beaten Track: Through the Eyes of Locals from East

Greece