Travel Diaries: Greece




Little Venice, Mykonos


Views from our villa in Mykonos

Greece is somewhere I've always dreamed of going and before I departed on my study abroad journey, it was the one destination I knew I HAD to visit this semester. Outcome? I went and it did not disappoint whatsoever. I have to say, out of all the places I've traveled in the past 4 months, Greece was by far my favorite. I went with 4 of my roommates and 14 of our other friends from our study abroad school. Traveling with 19 other people is exactly as crazy, frustrating and fun as you would expect. It is very hard to coordinate everyone, but overall, we had an absolute blast! We rented two massive villas through Airbnb at one of the highest points in Mykonos (it's cheaper to stay far away from the center) and had the most breathtaking view of the water and hillside. The only downside is that the two infinity pools that came with the villas were not yet filled with water so we couldn't swim in them. The manager said that they planned to fill the pools with water the day after we left –so annoying! I'm going to give you a day by day run down of the trip but first I'll go over some important info:

Why Mykonos? Mykonos and Santorini are the two most popular Greek islands so it was a toss up between the two. Mykonos is beautiful, known for its incredible night life and a bit less touristy, whereas Santorini is known for that iconic white and blue hillside overlooking the water. We ended up going to Mykonos because the nightlife aspect was important to some people in our group. However, since it's still somewhat off-season (end of April), a lot of the clubs ended up being closed anyway. In the end, I would have preferred to go to Santorini because of the landscape, but hey, now I have a good reason to go back to Greece! Next time I go, I'm definitely going to go during peak season, when the island is in full swing.

How did we get around? So apparently there are less than 30 cabs on the island and about a thousand visitors so cabs were out of the question (at night). Our villas were wayyy too far to walk to the town from so we ended up ordering vans from a private cab company whenever we needed to go anywhere. This is definitely the optimal way to get around if you have a huge group of people (the cost per ride ends up being low when you have 7+ in the car). Another way people get around is ATVs. We rented several for the 3rd and 4th day and used them to transport some people.

Day 1: During peak season, you can fly directly into Mykonos/Santorini for an affordable price, but at this time in the year, it's so expensive so we flew into Athens. Athens was exactly like what I heard about it prior: unimpressive. Apparently, the only thing worth seeing is the Acropolis (the famous, ancient ruins that you've probably seen photos of). Due to the amount of time we had between our flight and the time our ferry to Mykonos left, we unfortunately didn't have time to visit the Acropolis. We took the ferry to Mykonos, cabbed to our villas and just spent the night there hanging out (after all, we had so many people in our group, it was practically a house party).

Day 2: Our villa has such a gorgeous view that we just hung out, relaxed and tanned near our empty pools that day. That night, we went out on the town (the main part of the island is called Little Venice).

Day 3: We went to Paradise Beach Club. A few people from our group had gone the day before (Saturday) and said it was very much a party environment but since it was a Sunday, we experienced a more calm, relax on the beach type of environment. They have INCREDIBLE pork and chicken Gyros there. By the way, I ate at least five Gyros this weekend. I cannot stress how amazing they are. That night, we went to a really nice restaurant called Kalita. The ambiance was so nice and it was the perfect place for a fancy vacay dinner.

Day 4: After checking out of our villa, we spent the next 4 hours exploring Little Venice during the day. Even though Santorini has that iconic blue and white hillside, Mykonos also has so many gorgeous white buildings with bright colored accenting. Before dropping off the ATVs, I took one ride along the coastline and it was an unforgettable experience. I highly suggest renting ATVs on Mykonos/Santorini for at least a day –it's the perfect way to see the island. We took the ferry back to Athens and stayed in a hostel there for the night before our flight the next morning.

As I am writing this, it is currently the night after getting back and I'm already having serious Greece withdrawal. I've enjoyed all the other trips I've been on, but Greece has been the only one that I've missed after leaving. When you mix a great group of people with a gorgeous island for the long weekend, you can't lose.

P.S. Check out my previous travel diaries from Paris and Portugal too!

2 comments

  1. I'm loving all these over-seas posts. Looks like you're having a fabulous time
    Kate || KATE KOUTURES

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  2. Your photos are gorgeous! I also love your lipstick!
    Lauren | Pretty as a Peony

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