with love, from Greece
This was my husband, Christian and I’s first big international trip together. We spent three weeks backpacking through mainland Greece and hopping between four nearby islands. These are some of our favorite spots from the journey. All 35mm photos shot on my Canon Sure Shot or Rebel 2000.
ATHENS
We didn’t spend to much time here, the city was very packed with tourists and it was extremely hot/humid when we went in June of 2023. We stayed in the friendly port town called Rafina, right outside of Athens to make it an easy travel to the islands by ferry. If we did stay in Athens, I would have wanted to stay in the Plaka, which was a charming authentic town in the middle of the historic city.
Must sees: Acropolis, Panathenaic Stadium & Museum, Parthenon, shopping in the Plaka.
MYKONOS
Our first Island stop: Mykonos, known for its sleepless night and energetic town. We stayed in the area called Little Venice. We rented a moto bike for the duration of our stay to get around, the other options were city buses but they were packed with tourists and we wanted to be mobile without having to wait for the bus schedule. We explored the beaches that weren’t close to the crowds which were, Fokos, Agios, and Paragka.
Restaurants we loved: D’Angelo (fresh Italian, DELISH), Pepper (authentic Greek food), Fokos Tavern, Nice, Scorpios and Tropicana beach club.
PAROS
We had 5 nights on this island so we split our time and stayed the first half in Piso Livadi & the second half in the popular town of Naousa. Piso Livadi was a very quiet & beautiful fisherman town, it was a great place to stay to take a sailing excursion on one of the days. Naousa had lots more nightlife and places to eat. We went to a cute winery called Moraitis Winery. Other notable restaurants in Naousa were: Umi Sushi and Cafe Karino.
SANTORINI
We rented an Airbnb in the heart of Oia. It had breathtaking views of the ceramic, cliffside homes and the great Mediterranean Sea. To get around, we rented an ATV and explored outside the town to the black sand beaches and wineries.
Some of our fave spots we ate at: Lolitas Gelato, Flora Cuisine (amazing breakkie), Venetsanos Winery, Fino Restaurant, Ambrosia Restaurant (one of our favorite dinners on our trip!).
KEFALONIA
Our last stop on our backpacking adventure, the largest of the Ionian Islands, Kefalonia, located in Western Greece. We ferried back to Rafina & spent 2 nights in between flying to Kefalonia. Once we arrived, we rented a small sedan and drive 1.5 hours to a small town on the tip of the island called Asos. This island was much different from the Cyclades Islands, it was much more vibrant with Italian structures and less desert more greenery. We had a perfectly located Airbnb that over looked the Asos cove, there were small cafes running along the rocky, turquoise beaches.
Some highlights from Kefalonia were: Mytros beach (a long stretch of white pebble beach with the clearest water we’ve ever seen), and Melissani Cave.
