Greek Islands Itinerary

Sunday, July 3, 2011

I've been having difficulty finding sample itineraries for my multi-week trip around Thailand, and then realized I never posted my own from the Greek Islands from 2009. I did all this island hopping by myself and had a super blast of a time, so here's a post with what you can do in 1.5 weeks in the Mediterranean.

Day	Activities
6/13/09	Check-out of conference resort (Hotel Aldemar) and check-in to Hotel Olympos in Old Rhodes Town. Wander around Rhodes Town for the day.
6/14/09	14 hour ferry ride from Rhodes to Santorini (leaving at ~7am). Check into Youth Hostel Anna in Perissa Beach in Santorini. Fall asleep so fast. So fast.
6/15/09	Book and attend boating day tour of the Santorini Caldera (volcanic island, Thirasia, hot springs, and Oia for the sunset), through the hostel.
6/16/09	Rent an All Terrain Vehicle and drive around Santorini (shopping in Fira, the black Kamari Beach, get lost and end up in Pyrgos for the sunset).
6/17/09	Wake up early and go for a quick morning swim at the closest beach. Take a high speed ~3 hour catamaran from Santorini to Mykonos in the morning. Walk around Mykonos Town (Little Venice, the Old Port, etc). Check into Studio Eleni. Have dinner with some older Australians. Get lost in town. A lot.
6/18/09	Take a morning/afternoon day trip to nearby Delos Island to see the ancient Greek ruins. Return to Mykonos and swim in the town. Spend the night on the town.
6/19/09	Check-out of Studio Eleni in Mykonos Town, and check-in to Paradise Beach Resort in Paradise Beach (Mykonos Island). Spend the day drinking on the beach and swimming. Attend a party held by the campground/hostel's club.
6/20/09	Spend the day on the beach. Make new friends and hit up the gay bar scene at night.
6/21/09	Attend a PADI "Discover Scuba Diving" lesson. Spend the rest of the day on the beach. Hit up Mykonos Town at night, with the scuba diving instructors (sketchy fellows).
6/22/09	Take a 6 hour ferry to Athens. Check-in to Student & Travellers' Inn. Have dinner with new friends.
6/23/09	Take walking tour of Athens (the Parthenon, Hadrian's Arch, Ancient Agora, etc), booked through the hostel.
6/24/09	Find bus in the city to the airport. Depart Athens at 11:45am.

I've stayed in 10-person hostels (Youth Hostel Anna), plywood boxes on the beach (Paradise Beach Resort), simple tiny rooms with doors that open to a courtyard (Hotel Olympos), and made friends in 3-person hostels (Student & Travellers' Inn). All of them were great, but very very different. I had all of the accommodations reserved ahead of time, but booked the ferries and catamarans typically the day before I left that particular island. I got everywhere I needed to go, although I could have done without that sunburn on the 14-hour ferry.







There's more photos of my trip to the Greek Islands up on my Flickr account.