A few of my favorite things - Greece

After years of spending months at a time in Greece, I've really developed a love for this country. Every season seems to have its special highlights - to the fresh oranges and olives in the winter, to the blooming rhododendrons, poppies, and beautiful pink and purple weeds along the road in Spring, to the numerous beaches in summer. There's something unique and wonderful about every season and every region.

I've spent a lot of time traveling as a tourist, researcher, and archaeologist and I've used every travel method and accommodation type known to man. Really, that is not an exaggeration. I've slept under the stars on a sheet, in tents, hostels, hotels, castles, and apartments. I've traveled by bus (one caught on fire), boat (including fishing boats), taxis, trains, planes, driving myself, and even by armed convoy. My preferred method of travel is to spend money on a car and skimp on accommodations. That's what I would recommend if you visit Greece. Traveling by car gives you the freedom while site seeing, avoids time waiting for transportation, and allows you to spend time with other backpackers and hard-core travelers at night. I can't tell you how many times I followed a road in Greece because I saw a run down fortress on the top of some mountain. If you traveled using a tour, you would have that luxury.

Here's the itinerary that I suggest to experience the best of Greece with some pictures I took over the years.

Starting in Athens

Athens, like most cities, has a great metro system that connects its airport to the main city center. Follow the signs for the metro and take it to Syntagma (listed as Sindagma on the metro map). All sites in Athens are within walking distance from syntagma. But if you can't walk great distances, you can just hop on the metro under syntagma to eliminate walking between Syntagma and Monastiraki which is right by the Acropolis. If you want to walk, Ermou Street is the main thoroughfare that connects Syntagma to Monastiraki and has a ton of shopping. You'll probably have more fun though if you take some time to wend through the narrow roads of the Plaka on your way to the main sites. You don't even need a map. You will be able to see the direction of the acropolis since it towers over the city and every shop owner can point you in the direction. Just enjoy yourself getting lost, stumbling onto ancient sites, and resting in kafenios along the way.

Sites to See: Acropolis, Agora, Temple of Hephaestus, National Garden and Parliament building, Temple of Zeus, the National Museum of Archaeology and the National Museum of Art. A day for the sites and a day for the museum should be sufficient. On the third day, rent a car and get ready for an adventure.

Side Note: To get to the islands you can take the subway all the way to Pireaus. This is the harbor that connects Athens to all the islands, just be aware of the pickpockets. Wear your money belt inside of your pants. I even tie mine to my underwear - sort of a makeshift wedgy alarm system.

Mainland Greece

Out of all the sites in Mainland Greece...and there are many, you must see Meteora and Delphi. While I love Delphi, if you had to pick one, I would pick Meteora without a doubt. This site should be on everyone's bucket list. If you can spare a little more time in mainland Greece, I would also hit Pella, Vergina, and Dion - in that order. You can easily leave Athens in the morning and be in Delphi in 2 hours, tour the mountain-side site and then take a leisurely drive to Meteora for your overnight. I stayed in the Meteora Gardens camp site and it was wonderful!! The next day you can either take a full day to hit Pella, Vergina, and Dion and spend another night in Meteora or you can cut off a day of the trip by going straight to Meteora Monastic site. Spend a good amount of time here. You can tour some of the monasteries perched on top of the beautiful sheer cliffs that surround the town. Once you are done with your site seeing, hop in the car and enjoy the beautiful ride south to the Rio-Antirrio Bridge, a site in itself. This bridge spreads out over the Gulf on Corinth, connecting mainland Greece to the Peloponnese. Once you've crossed, head towards the town of Olympia where you will spend the night. There is ample lodging and a campsite in town.

Side Note: Driving in Greece is not too bad but there are a lot of accidents that happen with tourists. Here's the reason. In Greece, if you are driving the speed limit, you kind of need to drive on the shoulder. People use the very middle of the road to pass, even if it does not look like it is for passing and people drive really fast. Just make sure you adapt quickly to their style of driving. If you are not a fast driver, be SURE to give people space to pass you - even if it does not look like a road where there should be passing. If you do not feel comfortable driving, go to one of the many tourist shops in Athens and book a trip to include the top sites.

The Peloponnese

There are so many sites to see in the Peloponnese. To see just the absolute highlights, in terms of ancient sites, you need 2 full days (that's if you are a truly ambitious traveler and want to see a lot - fast). You would start in Olympia that morning, sleeping in Nafphio overnight, and ending the next day in Athen.

That would allow you to see Olympia, Corinth, Mycenae, and Epidarous while giving you some time to swing by Sparta to see the medieval site of Mystras (that's a must).

Next best option would be a three day trip - Olympia to Methoni to Monemvasia for an overnight. Monemvasia to Mystras to Naphlio for the second overnight. Then Naphlio to Argos, Epidarous to Corinth, Corinth to Athens for an overnight.

I like to see a lot, so my recommendation would be to add at least one more day and do the following: Olympia - Methoni - Passava - Overnight in Githio and head down to the Githio beach in the moonlight to see a truly eery sight of a huge shipwreck on the beach with the dark ship towering over you in the pale moon light.

Day 2 - if you are so inclined, check out the Diros Caverns which includes a below ground boat ride through the caverns - then head to monemvasia, ending the day with an late afternoon walk through the ruined medieval town of Mystras just outside of Sparta - then head to Napfhio for dinner and sleep.

Enjoy a beautiful breakfast on the harbor in Naphlio and spend the rest of the day wandering through Mycenae, Eidauros, and Corinth, ending the day with dinner in the plaka with a view of the Acropolis. There use to be an amazing outdoor movie screen ontop of a building in the plaka. It was distracting though, watching a movie with the acropolis lite up in your peripheral view.

If you have one more day to spare before heading home or to the next islands, I would recommend taking a day trip to Sounio, on the southern tip of mainland greece, south of Athens. The temple of Posiedon on the coast with the sun setting behind it is really a sight to see. You'll understand the urge that possessed Lord Byron to scrap his name in the temple. He just needed to declare to the world "Lord Byron was here"

Sites: Olympia, Monemvasia, Githio Beach, Mycenae (Argos), Naflio, Sparta, Mystras, Corinth, Methoni, Epidauros, (Githio area).

Crete

Ahh Crete....I LOVE this island, though I may be biased having lived here for many months. It's huge, beautiful, and there is so much history here. You will need multiple days on this island to see it properly. While Heraklion is a very nice city, do not get off the boat at the port and stay in Heraklion for your whole stay on the island! Normally, I take the overnight boat from Piraeus and early in the morning in Heraklion. This is great because you can skip the cost of a hotel room that night. There are cabins, but I've never used them. I get a cheap ticket for the sitting area and then find a place on the floor to place my sleeping bag in a nice little secluded area where I can drink wine and play games.

In the morning, if you don't want to drive or get a tour, you can leave the harbor and cross the street where you will find a bus depot that can take you to most of the top destinations in Crete.

Here are my top highlights - the places, sites, and towns that I would go to over and over because they were so nice.

Archaeological Sites: Knossos, Phaestos, Gournia, and Mochlos. There are a lot more, but these ones are all beautiful and will give you a nice highlight of Minoan archaeology.

Towns: Heraklio, Chania, Agios Nikalous, and Ierapetra, and Sivas.

Fun: Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Beach at Matala, Lake Kournos, visit one of the many restaurants or nightclubs on the beach, eat a long slow lunch in small town kafenios with the locals, do some mountain hiking, go to a wedding (if you can!)

Santorini and other Recommended Islands

Almost everyone wants to see Santorini when they go to Greece but there are a number of other great islands in the Cyclades that are at least worth a day trip! I would recommend Mykonos, Syros, Naxos, Paros, and Tinos for a fun variety of sites and experiences - in that order.

I do love Santorini. One winter, I was stuck there for a few extra days and really got see a lot of the island. Really though, you only need 2-3 days to see a lot of what the island has to offer. You could spend one day with a morning visit to Akrotiri, then a nice long afternoon on a black sand beach, and then spend the evening taking in the famous sunset at Oia while eating dinner and a nice taverna. The next day, you can spend the day around Fira shopping in the whitewashed village that drapes down the side of the steep slope that plunges into the sea and overlooks the center of the caldera where there is a small island of lava rocks. Although the volcano is dormant, it is active. So, don't be surprised if you happen to feel a tremor while you are in the Cyclades. I experienced on in Crete once where it wasn't a shaking tremor but felt more like the ground was just rolling underneath me. After strolling through the village, make your way down the long staircase to the sea and get a ride to the center of the island so that you have an opportunity to check out the lava rock up close and take a nice dip in the sea while you are at it. End the day with dinner in Fira.