I have not met anyone who doesn’t have a travel to Santorini in their bucket list and for good reason – It’s breathtaking! The whitewashed colors of the town, the blue domes that mirrors the sea and sky, the small alleys that zigzag around town and the views of the caldera, It’s a photographer’s paradise.
However, for a greek mythology nerd like me, a trip to Greece won’t be complete without a visit to Athens first. After all, it is the city named after my favorite greek goddess Pallas Athena.
In planning this trip, the original itinerary I prepared includes the island of Milos, and Zakynthos. However, since it was winter during our trip, we decided to skip the islands (the boat schedules were limited and we can’t enjoy it anyway because its too cold to swim) and head to Meteora to see the monasteries in the sky I heard so much about.
My friend Rachel and I arrived in Athens from Istanbul around mid-afternoon. Since we were planning to drive to Meteora instead of taking the train, we picked up our car first. (Side note: Even if you have insurance, they require you to purchase insurance for around $100 or else you have to deposit almost $1,000 which they will refund when you return the car.).
Street parking is free around Athens and our Airbnb is walking distance to the places we wanted to visit. When you don’t have much time to explore a place, planning how to go around the city is crucial. Like most major cities, you can also take the subway everywhere in Athens and it connects to the airport too.
After checking in at our Airbnb, we grabbed a quick gyro dinner and walked to the Acropolis and Hadrian’s Arch to see the monuments lit at night. Right near the entrance to the Acropolis is a rock outcropping that allows you to see all of Athens at night with the Acropolis right behind you all lit up. It was perfect!
The next day, we stopped by one of the bakeries our host recommended and oh my! All the bread, pastries, desserts, cake and baklava(!) look sooo delicious I ordered maybe 4 and ate all of them by the time Rachel picked up her order (oops).
We went to The Acropolis first to beat the crowd and was done in like 3 hours. Buy the combo ticket that includes entrances to other ancient sites. Definitely cheaper and makes a lot of sense since you will likely go visit all of them anyway (Side note: the Acropolis museum ticket entrance is NOT included in this combo ticket).
The Acropolis, the crown jewel of ancient Athens, is visible everywhere in the city. The ruins of the once majestic structures atop tell the story of war and occupation in ancient times. The Parthenon was the most perfect building built by the world’s most advanced civilization and dominates the top of the Acropolis. There is also the Erecthion which sits on the most sacred site of the Acropolis where Poseidon and Athena had their contest over who would be the Patron of the city and contains the famed Porch of the Maidens, Temple of Athena Nike, Propylaea, Theatre of Dionysus and a lot more cool, old stuff.
The contents of The Acropolis they were able to salvage are stored in the Acropolis Museum right at the foot of the hill. We spent the rest of the morning in the museum which is nice because it ties-in the ruins we just saw to its contents and its own stories.
Our next stop was the Temple of the Olympian Zeus. Nothing much to see here honestly, but its columns (the largest of the temples) is quite impressive. Afterwards we headed to Hadrian’s Library, the Ancient Agora, and the Roman Agora before returning to our Airbnb to start our drive to Kalambaka (Meteora).
One thing I can tell you about driving in Athens – rowdy. Just cars overtaking you without warning, switching lanes on a curved road, over speeding, you name it. Be warned!
On our way to Kalambaka, we thought we could stop by Delphi since we’re heading the same way but didn’t look up the closing times during winter so we missed it, bummer. Anyway, we passed by a charming little town there called ‘Arachova’. If we had time, we would’ve stayed there for a night. Definitely consider it when you visit Delphi!
We arrived at Kalambaka around 7pm and after having a nice, sit down dinner in one of the restaurants in the area, we called it a night. Tomorrow is a long day.
You can hike to the monasteries if you want but there are six monasteries and exploring them is already quite a walk so it is best to either rent a car to drive up there or get a cab. The monasteries are also STILL active and have inhabitants so be mindful of the days they are closed. There is no way to visit all of them in one day since there is not a day when all of them are open at the same time.
The day we went up only the Monastery of St. Nicholas Anapausas , Monastery of Rousanou/St. Barbara and the Monastery of St. Stephen were open. The three that were closed are the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, The Monastery of Varlaam (which is the most picturesque IMHO) and the largest of them all, the Monastery of the Great Meteoron. You can still go and take pictures of the closed ones up to their gate but obviously can’t admire its interiors.
So far, our drive up to see the monasteries is the most scenic drive I’ve ever had. It helped that its still late fall so the changing colors of the leaves provided a good backdrop. The monasteries themselves were very impressive! It’s like being in the temples of the air nomads if you are familiar with the Nickelodeon show “Avatar: The Last Airbender”.
Everywhere you turn is a scenic overlook. You can stop the car at any point in time and take a photo of the views and it would still be picture-perfect. It was so surreal! I’m going to let the pictures speak for themselves.
Pro-tip: Best sunset view is after the Monastery of Rousanou overlook!
The next day, we drove back to Athens, returned the car, and dropped our luggage at the airport for our Santorini trip (if you are traveling to Santorini on a budget airline with limited baggage allowance, droppin goff your luggage for a minimal fee is definitely the better option!).
We arrived in Santorini that night and the long drive from Kalambaka to Athens plus the flight tired us out so we settled in for the night after a quick dinner (and some dress shopping for me!).
There are many ways you can explore Santorini but the most scenic by far, is to walk around the caldera from its capital Thera to the edge of the island in Oia where the famed sunset views you see all over your Microsoft wallpapers and instagram. We took the bus back to Thera after our hike because who has the time to hike back another 5 hours?!
We started early in the morning after breakfast to ensure we arrive in Oia for a sit down late lunch and the sunset. Since it’s winter, the sun sets around 4:30pm so we planned our hike base on that.
Because it is low season, there’s barely any crowd! When I was planning this trip, it was a choice to do it during late summer when I can still enjoy the beach but had to deal with the crowds of tourists or winter when I can’t enjoy the waters but I don’t have to deal with people. To me this is a no-brainer, winter it is!
It is easy to see why Santorini is one of the top places for proposals and destination weddings. It really makes for a picture perfect engagement photos. During our short trip, I saw maybe 2 engagements in social media and we walked past a couple doing pre-wedding photos. Now personally, I’d rather elope and have a small wedding overseas than spend $$$$$$ in elaborate wedding celebrations (cheaper and more intimate I think!) so maybe I should also consider Santorini! *wink* *wink*
Our hike took us around 5 hours and that is because I stopped Rachel several times to take photos (haha!) and to walk down some obscure stairs and explore alleys and hidden entrances.
You can’t tell from these photos but it’s freakin’ 45F! As you can see, I am very dedicated to getting the best photos in the best outfit!
We arrived in Oia right on time to find where the best sunset view is (yes, it’s at the very tip of Oia – the Oia castle) and then backtracked a few alleys to have our late lunch at Lotza restaurant for some delicious greek food and italian pasta. Our first choice is Kastro Oia but it was closed for the season. Kastro Oia is arguably the restaurant with the best views of the sunset in Santorini so be sure to check it out!
Now that we were fed and our feet rested, we resumed our walk back to the Oia castle and while it was still a bit crowded for my taste (around 20 people), I am still thankful it was only 20 as opposed to 200 during the summer!
This was my sunset view… that 5-hour hike was definitely worth it.
During winter, the last bus from Oia leaves around 7pm and the bus stop is conveniently located near the Oia castle so you can catch it right after viewing the sunset!
Rachel and I stopped by one of the bars near our Airbnb to have some refreshing cocktails and reminisce about our day before we fly back to Athens and then home (for her! I had to fly to LA for work right after this trip). It was a nice, relaxing end to our fun day.
We had our host connect us to a shuttle that would bring us to the airport at 7am for our flight back. I had another day in Athens (because my connecting flight literally has a 12-hour layover) so I spent it at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. I took the metro from the airport to the city and then just walked from the nearest stop (Viktoria station). The museum is about a 15-minute walk from the metro.
Apparently, you CANNOT take a wacky photo of yourself (selfie or otherwise) beside the statues here and that’s the only kind of photo I want to take so yeah, no photos of me here.
Before heading back to the airport, I stopped by the popular Estrella restaurant in Athens well known for their imaginative approaches on traditional breakfast recipes, with a modern fusion twist. Personally, while the food looks delicious, it doesn’t translate to the taste. Overrated in my opinion.
Afterwards, I boarded the metro back to the airport to wait another 3 hours for my flight. This combined trip was definitely exhausting. Looking back though, I cannot imagine not going to Greece when It’s only less than two hours away from Istanbul. Also, I will not pass the chance to see Greece, one of the oldest civilizations in the world and one I have read so much about… and of course to see whether Santorini is really all that (SPOILER ALERT: IT IS).
The Travelling Accountant 