Greece in July

Disclaimer: I’m writing from the perspective of a solo 30something-year old frugal female traveler with 1 backpack. My way is the cheap-ish way (plus factoring in some “learning experiences” that cost me more money).

I booked all of my hostels/hotels and ferries online before I left. Pro: I had guaranteed places to sleep & ways to get from point A to B, & was carrying less cash. Con: it was a hassle (money-wise) if I wanted to change my plans because most ferry tickets are non-refundable & modifying hostels/hotels is possible but for a fee.

Also – American Airlines and British Airways were the best with the exception of having to go through customs TWICE on the way home (thanks, Brexit). I bought my ticket from a 3rd party site & chose based on airline because I’ve had some bad experiences with other carriers listed.

Things to know beforehand:

1. Call your phone carrier for a travel pass

2. Buy the currency at your local bank (smaller fee)

3. Notify your credit card companies that you’re traveling & also ask if they charge a foreign transaction fee.

4. Make sure your passport doesn’t expire for more than 6 months ahead of time. Some places won’t let you in if the expiration date is within 6 months.

Key items to pack & that helped me save my sanity and $$$:

1. Snacks!!!

2. Mini padlocks. I put them on my backpack & also used them for the hostel lockers since they charge you for locks

3. Collapsible water bottle. And with a filter is even better so you can fill up at any water source without worry of getting sick

4. Inflatable neck pillow for the plane rides & places that don’t provide a pillow

5. Earplugs & eye mask!! I shared hostels with some people who sounded like they swallowed a chainsaw

6. Towel

7. Electrical plug adapter

8. Small cross-body purse. My Marc Jacobs bag has now survived Italy & Greece!

9. Small(er) backpack for beach days

10. Single-use coffee packets. It’s a good thought but I’ll admit that I didn’t use them & bought a freddo cappuccino (with medium sugar) every morning. Also admitting that since the espresso is so much stronger/better in Greece it helped with internal plumbing

11. Kleenex. Some bus stations will charge you for toilet paper (see #10)

12. Cell phone case with a built-in charger (Mophie)

Let’s see how well I remember the last 2 weeks… 🙂

I flew into Athens at 9am to start my day on their schedule. The first day was a b*tch trying to adjust to the 10-hour time change & fight jet lag. I definitely took a few naps & went to bed early! There are cabs available to take you into the city for about 50€, but since it’s just me I took the bus for 6€ & it’s about a 1-hour commute. I stayed at the Student & Travelers Inn in the Plaka – which I would recommend. It’s a great location near a metro station & within walking distance of all of the major sites to see like the Acropolis, Parliament, National Garden, etc. You also get a discount + free drinks & dessert for nearby restaurants if you ask the person at the hostel for their business card. I think I ate at Taverna Plaka almost every night I was there!

The second day I went on a sailing cruise to the Saronic islands (Hydra, Poros, Aegina). It’s around 70€ but I absolutely think it’s worth it. They offer free pick-up and drop-off from your hotel to the Pireaus port. The boat is more like a cruise ship & they feed you lunch and have Greek dancing on board. Wear or bring your bathing suit! The first island Hydra was amazing – I wish I could’ve spent more time there. Poros is not worth going to, & Aegina had a lot of sites to see. The cruise staff offer 3 different guided-tour options for Aegina (historical, nature and swimming) & I chose the historical tour which sounded like it was the best one based on talking to people who picked the other options ;). Also this island is the largest producer of pistachios – so guess what souvenirs I brought home! Definitely try the pistachio gelato! When I was waiting for the shuttle to pick me up for the cruise that morning I met a lovely woman named Ritu from India, who was going on the cruise by herself because her husband was there on business. Since we were both solo travelers we decided to stick together all day & I feel so fortunate to have met her and spent the whole day with her. We learned a lot about each other & our different cultures and I SO hope to see her when I visit India one day! (Possible next trip??)

The next day, I took the 2-hour bus ride to the city of Napflio to see the Palamidi Fortress. Totally worth the day trip! You can get to the fortress by bus or walking up the 999 steps. You definitely need to be relatively fit to make the climb, but the view is worth it & so are the burgers and beers at the bottom where the restaurants are. I also bought Komboloi (worry) beads for good luck at the museum in town & got my first (& last) fish pedicure while I waited for my bus ride back. Tip: If you buy a round-trip ticket make sure you go to the returning bus station so they can assign you a departure time and seat number… otherwise you’re out of luck if the bus fills up.

I heard from a lot of people that 1 day in Athens is plenty but I disagree. Aside from it being 100 degrees (my fault for going mid-July) I enjoyed the city because there is so much to see and a lot of different areas to explore. After day 3 I boarded the “ferry” aka Titanic to sail to Crete. I took an overnight boat to save time & money since the ride takes 8 hours. It is possible to fly, but it was more expensive. The ship arrived at the Chania port just at sunrise & I was scheduled to stay at the budget hostel, but took 1 look at it & opted for Hotel Irida right next door. I’m sure the hostel was fine but I had an immediate visceral reaction when I walked by & refused to give it a chance. Anyway, Irida was very nice and it was lovely to experience a hotel in the midst of hostel hopping. This area of town is close to the water & about a 20 minute walk to the bus station & the heart of the town. Since I now had a full day to fill up, I took the bus ride down to Paleochora for a lovely relaxed beach day. I really wanted to see the pink sand beach of Elafonissi beach but I missed the early morning bus for that spot as well. Also, there is a restaurant very close by that I discovered on accident called Blue (translated to English) that I recommend! One of the best meals I had the whole time I was in Greece and very reasonably priced. (Get the grilled calamari!).

I had planned to hike the Samaria Gorge that day, but the latest bus leaves at 830am so I had to wait until the next day. It was SO worth it. The Samaria Gorge is the largest gorge in Europe and is an 11-mile (13K) downhill hike. The bus drives you all the way to the top & you make your way down at your own pace. Almost the entire path is on rocks so you have to be a little cautious about your footing. The hike takes 5 – 6 hours & is not difficult, but it is definitely an all day event so bring food, water, sunscreen, a hat & comfortable tennies. The views & overall experience are amazing! The hike was the whole reason I went to Crete and I’m so glad that I did it. What made it even better is that I met 2 sweet girls from Quebec at the beginning of the hike & hung with them all day. We got to learn all about each other & discussed everything from culture & language to politics. They have promised me safe refuge in Canada if Trump gets elected! So – my next journey might be Canada haha. After the hike I took the bus to the other side of the island to be near the Heraklion port because only ships from this port go to Santorini and the other Cycladic islands.

I might make a lot of enemies by saying this, but I didn’t love Santorini. Don’t get me wrong – the island is beautiful & has the iconic “white buildings with blue tops” that you see represented in every stock Greece photo, but it is also small, overpriced and overrun with tourists. I spent 3 days there & think that was too long. I stayed in Thira (or Fira) at the Santorini Youth Hostel which I definitely recommend! It’s like a Vegas pool party during the day (yes they have a pool), & it is very close to the center of town… which is the only place to go aside from the beaches. I made it to Akrotiri (red sand) Beach and Kamari (black sand) Beach. I didn’t have time for Perissa Beach but heard very good things. I most definitely soaked up my first night there by walking all the way to the top of the town to have baklava & wine for dinner while watching the iconic Santorini sunset. I will admit that the sunset was one of the best I’ve ever seen (& I’ve lived in Texas and California). I ate a pita gyro everyday because they are so filling and super cheap (2.5€) along with fresh fruit from the markets. Even though Greece is really struggling right now and relying heavily on tourism to generate income, I still had a tough time paying for much of anything there because I knew I was totally getting hosed. I think if you are wanting a luxurious vacation and/or don’t mind spending extra cash this is a great place to go, but not for those on a tight budget. One thing that I recommend is that If you make it to this island you have to try the donkey beers! Just trust me. Remember that this is only my opinion & we can still be friends if you disagree :). Also try the Two Brothers bar for drinks & American 80s music and Ouzeri for a nice dinner. I did not go for a donkey or cable car ride either (different port), but it looked fun!

Next stop – Ios! I’m a fan. I didn’t venture very far… just around the port, the Chora (Greek word for main town or village) & Mylopotas beach, but it is so beautiful! If you are here to party, which most people are, the place to stay is at Far Out Beach Resort. I stayed in the Chora at an AirBnB which was only about a 15 minute walk from the beach, but the resort has better prices & is where the party happens! There is also a bus that goes to/from the resort to town almost all day & all night long. The main area of the resort is open to the public and they have a lot of reasonably-priced food and drinks. If you’re not really in to the party scene, Mylopotas beach is right across the street and I could’ve happily hung out there all day. I spent the good part of the day with new friends hiking & finding a place in town that serves burgers for 2.5€, we (a girl from Arizona that came along from Santorini and 2 girls we met from Quebec) got the party started early that evening and I only made it until midnight because I’m ancient haha. A lot of the bars/clubs in town don’t even open until 3am and along with some restaurants, don’t close down until 7am! Definitely saw quite a few people coming down when I went out for a coffee the next morning :). I wish I would’ve stayed another night but trying to change hostels & ferries at the last minute was too much of a logistical nightmare for hungover me to deal with. And expensive since most ferry tickets are non-refundable.

Naxos was my next stop before Mykonos & I planned this island thinking it was just another stop-over, but this was for sure my favorite island! I stayed at the A1 Soula Hotel which I highly recommend. It is walking distance to the port and main town and 1 block away from St. George beach. They offer free pick-up & drop-off to the port too – not that you would need it if you only have yourself and a backpack. I roomed with 3 girls from Scotland & they might be my most favorite people :). The second day we were there, the 4 of us decided to rent a car and tour almost the entire island. The cost per person was about 15€ including gas, but the cars are all manual so being the American I was not going to be the one to drive even though they had to adjust to being on the “wrong” side of the road. What’s even better is that I (the person who cannot find their way out of a paper bag) was the navigator. We only got lost a few times & made a few wrong turns, but nothing major :). Renting a car is a wonderful way to see the whole island and spend time with new friends! I wish that I would’ve stayed on this island a few more days… it has something for everyone: sightseeing, relaxing by the beach, hiking, shopping, local events (concerts, movie nights, interactive theaters), water sports and nightlife. I’ve been told that Rick Steves says that this is his favorite island as well – so there you go.

Last island – Mykonos! Similar to Santorini it is very beautiful but overpriced. I stayed at the Paraga Beach hostel (similar to the Far Out hostel setup on Ios) that is right next to Paradise Beach where everyone goes to party. The hostel does provide free shuttle service to/from the port thankfully, because Paraga and Paradise are so far away from everything else!! If you are not in that area to party & drop a fair amount of cash doing so, you are in the wrong place. For the Americans, think bottle service in Vegas. Even just to sit poolside at the hostel you had to buy at least one drink or food item which meant a minimum of 10€. To stay in a glorified tent I spent 30€ for one night. I think if I came to this island for a Bachelorette or some other type of blow-out party this island would would be perfect… but not so much for a frugal single traveler :). I did see a lot of flyers up in town about David Guetta performing at Paradise club that night & thought that would be cool to go to, but found out it was 80€ to get in & his set was only from 4-6am! I ended up switching my ferry to the first one out the next morning. Sorry to be such a downer about this island but I really did not have the best experience there. At least the views are killer!

I spent the last full day in Athens at the Avra hotel since it is right next to the Rafina port & provides free airport shuttle service. It was so luxurious to be in a hotel!! Only downside to being in that area is that there are no souvenir shops, so don’t save all of that until the end like me otherwise you’ll be paying 10x as much for everything at the airport. Aside from that minor detail it was a lovely way to spend my last day. It’s a quiet area right on the water with a square nearby having a line of restaurants and bars. Check out Sante Rock bar if you have a chance!

In conclusion, I had a lovely time. Of course some minor ups & downs but very successful overall. I’m 100% sure I now have lung cancer since everyone smokes everywhere all of the time, but I’m also really tan and skinny from all of the walking about!! Gotta evaluate what’s more important ;). I met and had conversations with people from Greece (obviously), Lebanon, India, Serbia, England, Scotland, Spain, Australia (the whole country I think), Albania, Canada, Germany, Uruguay and even other Americans. It was quite refreshing that being kind and friendly is a global thing… we see and read about too much of the exact opposite. I think it’s also important to note that I felt completely safe the whole time I was there. 2 weeks away & constant interaction with people was much-needed for my soul after pretty much being on house arrest (aka studying) for the past year. It’s nice to be back home – which, of course is because I live in a vacation destination – but I’m already ready to start planning my next adventure!