Greece

My good friend (and travel buddy) Robert is a personal trainer, who unfortunately had his earlier Greek fitness vacation fall through due to the pandemic. After a few failed restarts, he asked several of his close friends to join him in an attempt to “break even.” Personally, I was eager to visit Greece for a slightly longer amount of time than most of the others, which is why I ended up spending the first 12 days of my trip essentially driving a large clockwise loop solo around the mainland, before eventually spending the last week on Mykonos, where I met up with the bigger group of 10.*

*A little bit of background info on me: without a doubt, my preferred mode of travel is the kind that’s done with one other person (maybe two, if I happen to know them both). In that respect, Greece was a bit of a different type of trip for me: one half-zen solo excursions, one half “party party, party, more party time.” For what it’s worth, both halves of the trip ended up being thoroughly enjoyable.

I spent my first three days in Athens, just checking out the sights and trying to get rid of my jet lag (never fun). The city felt safe enough to walk around in, although I would recommend being sure to walk with a purpose and keeping your valuables close: there were a few alleys that we walked down, just blocks from the Acropolis, that had several drugged-out men and women looking for “work”. Just be aware of your surroundings.

Everywhere you go in Greece, there seems to be yet another historical site worth visiting (I’ll even admit: by the end of my 3-week adventure, I was more than a little burnt out by the countless piles of stones stacked together, nearly all of which held great historical significance). That being said: the Acropolis is the main attraction in Athens and is WELL worth the visit. Personally, I would recommend visiting right at first light, then again later in the afternoon, in order to best see the various types of lighting on the stone blocks – it truly is a different experience visually, depending on the time of day that you go. The local government in Athens is apparently working under deadline to rebuild parts of the structures, which means that there’s a solid chance that it will look entirely different a few years from now – personally, I’m looking forward to going back and seeing the progress. (Particularly cool: at sunset, there is a small hill right next to the main entrance where you can buy refreshments and watch the setting sun before dinner. It’s pretty spectacular to behold, although remember to be extra careful while walking on the rocks, as rubber seems to make the surface even slicker when it gets wet).

From Athens, I would drive each day clockwise around the country. The Greek countryside is beautiful, with small farms on rolling hills dotting the landscape as far as the eye can see. As I drove further away from the coast, finding people who spoke English became much harder to find. Fortunately, I had learned Travel Tip #1 long ago: have Google Translate downloaded with the local language before every trip.

While traveling around Greece, there were several places that stood out immediately. First off, it has to be said: the sheer amount of ancient human history in Greece is significantly greater than you EVER learned in school. The Lions Gate at Mycenae, Olympia, the Roman Aqueducts, the Monasteries at Meteora, Stobi, and Delphi…each are absolutely stunning examples of human engineering (especially when you consider just how long ago they were constructed). For me, probably the biggest surprise was the sheer beauty and variety of the natural landscape. From Perama Cave, to Papingo Rock pools, to – of course – hiking to the top of (the actual) Mount Olympus – the landscapes of Greece are as varied as they are beautiful. Speaking of Mount Olympus, fun fact: in ancient times, each village apparently had its own version of Olympus…at least, until they all realized that only the tallest mountain could really be where the Gods lived. Hence, how there came to be only one Mount Olympus.

One day, on a whim, I decided to cross over to North Macedonia (it was a road trip, after all). At the border, I decided to do something that I rarely do, stopping at the duty-free stand to buy a couple bottles of wine. When I handed them to the cashier to purchase, he immediately started shouting in the local dialect, causing the manager to run over. After some broken back and forth, I eventually realized that apparently, I had unwittingly snagged two of the highest-end bottles of wine in the store. The cashier swiped my card, and upon exiting the store, I immediately checked my credit card statement to see what the damage was, fearing the worst: had I just bought investment-grade wine at the freaking duty-free store? Thankfully, no: it turns out, the high-end wine was only $40 a piece – talk about a relief. (It also happened to be the good stuff, too – a nice surprise).

I ended up spending one night and day in Bitola, a city located in North Macedonia, which itself had a very Soviet-like feel, complete with an old market and updated square, including a variety of new shops, which surprised me. It was a great area, and honestly, had I dedicated even one more day to it, I probably could have seen the entire country. Oh well: at least it leaves open another trip for the future.

Before heading over Mykonos for the group portion of the trip, my friend Aaron arrived a few days early, where we began to island hop our way down the coast. Our first stop was on the island of Naxos, where we ended up staying overnight and rented two scooters to drive around the island. For some reason in Greece, they require international drivers’ licenses (which, thankfully, were easy enough to acquire), plus a motorcycle endorsement; as a result, with myself having both, the two of us ended up driving couples-style on the 100cc hog. It was still a blast, and to make it even better, we found a restaurant at the top of the tallest hill which had amazing views of the long stretch of road that we just putt putted our way up. Definitely one for the memory books.

Santorini, the second island we hit, is pretty much the definition of a “honeymooners destination”: known for its white painted buildings and sky-blue roofs, it’s basically a Bob Ross painting come to life (RIP Bob). Be warned, however: while there, you’ll almost CERTAINLY experience your fair share of tourists, all of whom feel the need to whine and push about to try and get the best photo spot. It’s annoying, but honestly, worth the hassle: the area truly is beautiful, and it’s a shame that the sheer inundation of cameras and crowds have taken away some of the authenticity of the area. While there, we tried a few different locations in an effort to try and beat the crowds for sunset, but – of course – it being an island, there’s only so much real estate. (Fun fact: the region has over 6,000 islands, 227 of which are reported to have people on them. So if you have the time, it’s worth trying to explore one of the other 5,773 options – you’ll definitely have more than a few to pick from).

We closed out the trip on Mykonos with the rest of the group. Known for its party atmosphere, we found ourselves visiting RIGHT as the island happened to be shutting down for the season – talk about timing. That being said, we were still able to find several decent deals at various day beach clubs around the area, and the DJ there wasn’t too bad ; a few of us even managed to get in a little Scuba diving while there. I will say this: if you happen to have a group of friends and want to try something different as a group (particularly for a reunion or get-together), Mykonos is 100% the place to do it. Just be prepared to negotiate around potential price-gouging: on one of the days we were there, a small group of our friends walked down to one of the nearby beaches for lunch and saw a special for hookah. The staff brought over 2 pipes, both of which were subsequently used and returned. When the bill came, instead of the advertised $50, they demanded $500 for the hookah! After some intense negotiation, the crew decided to just walk away when threats of police began to be tossed about. Apparently, the Google reviews claimed that that particular establishment was notorious for price gouging tourists, especially during the last week of the season.

DABLs Decision:

I absolutely love mainland Greece. The ease of getting around, being able to drive on the right-hand side of the road, the region’s small country feel…all of it was added up to an excursion that was consistently breathtaking. On top of all of that, the sheer number and variety of historical sites you can visit – and their continuing excavation, which only serves to create additional sights to check out over time– makes Greece a country that 100% has to be visited at least once (on the whole, I think it’d be a fairly easy country for families to visit, although I’d recommend going with someone who is at least reasonably well-traveled). Highly, highly recommend.