Greece was on my bucket list for a long time. When my daughter was getting ready for her senior year, we asked where she would like to go that summer (and it’s a good thing we did this trip prior to starting her senior year, because it was 2019 and COVID would hit just a few months later!). I was thrilled when she said “Greece”, because I was really excited to visit there too. But then came the hard part…which parts of Greece to visit…there are so many amazing islands, plus we wanted to visit Athens and see The Acropolis! Admittedly, it was a tough one to plan. I’m not a cruiser, so that option was eliminated. I really wanted to spend time on Crete as well, but it’s pretty far from the other islands and Santorini was a “can’t miss”. In the end, we spent two nights in Athens, five nights in Santorini, and took a day trip from Santorini to Naxos. This was a perfect blend of the historical sights we wanted to see, the breathtaking beauty of Santorini, and the famed Plaka Beach in Naxos. If this sounds like it checks all of your boxes, leave the planning to me and check out this week-long itinerary for Greece!
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Here is a sample 7-day itinerary for Greece, based on our family trip with teens in July:
DAY 1: ARRIVAL AND EXPLORE ATHENS – CHANGING OF THE GUARD AND PLAKA
If you’re coming from North America, you’ll probably arrive in Athens (ATH) in the morning. If you’ve seen my other European itineraries, you’ll know that my advice is to try to stay active and awake until a normal bedtime locally. It’s not easy, but some fresh air, walking, and caffeine helps! This will really help you adjust and work through jet lag quickly.
I recommend staying in the Plaka neighborhood of Athens. It’s very nice, and the location is perfect for walking to all of the locations in this itinerary. We stayed at In(n) Athens, and loved it….stay here! The entrance to the hotel is down this beautiful corridor from the street.
Once you clear customs and grab your bags, grab an Uber or Taxi and head to the hotel. The airport is about 30 minutes from In(n) Athens. If your room is ready grab a quick shower, but if the room isn’t ready, change in the lobby bathroom and leave your bags with the bell hop (we end up having to do this most of the time)! Then put on your walking shoes and head out to find some lunch. There are lots of options near the hotel.
Just about a 15-minute walk from the hotel is Syntagma Square, a great spot to grab a coffee and relax. And just past Syntagma Square is Parliament and the Monument to the Unknown Soldier, where the Changing of the Guard happens every hour of the day. On Sundays at 11:00AM the full traditional ceremony takes place as well. It’s worth stopping by to watch.
After watching the changing of the guard, head back down South toward the Temple of Zeus, walking through the National Gardens. This is a great spot for pictures. The Temple of Zeus is an amazing sight…it’s 2,500 years old and in surprisingly good condition! It costs just a few Euros to get up close, and is worth a stop.
From there, we walked about another 20 minutes up North to the main market in Athens called the Varvakios Central Market. I had read all about this market in preparation for the trip, and had it on my “can’t miss” list. It was a comprehensive market with everything from spices, to produce, to fresh (and I mean fresh) meat of all types. Some of the stalls with the fresh meat were pretty gruesome and smelly, especially on a hot day. So if you’re not up for that sort of thing, just skip those aisles and concentrate on the other items on display! This is also a great spot to pick up some souvenirs.
By the time you finish exploring Plaka, you’ll probably be ready for one more meal…grab something to eat on the way back to the hotel (there are a ton of great places to eat – we stopped at a pizza place, but I didn’t note where it was). Congratulations, you just about made it to normal bed time! Get checked in to your hotel, shower, and get some rest for a full day ahead on Day 2.
DAY 2: PANATHENAIC STADIUM AND ACROPOLIS
Day 2 is pretty amazing, history-wise..be sure to get up early to make the most of your last day in Athens. There’s also quite a lot of walking, and if you’re there in the summer months like we were, it is HOT! Be sure to wear breathable clothing, good walking shoes, and take some extra water with you before you head out for the day.
Start the day by walking about 15 minutes to the Panathenaic Stadium – originally built in 144 AD and then later dug up and rebuilt – this is the stadium where the very first contemporary Olympic Games were held in 1896. It’s such an incredible place in terms of its history and its architecture (and check out the view of Acropolis from the stadium – wow!). Be sure to get the audio tour so that you can fully appreciate your time there. Plan to spend around an hour at the stadium.
Next, big-time bucket list item and the main reason for making time to visit Athens…The Acropolis! The Acropolis is a collection of temples and monuments built high up on a hill overlooking Athens, built in the 5th Century, BC. I recommend starting your time at the Acropolis Museum at the base of the hill. This will help give you some of the history of the area before you head up to The Acropolis. It’s fairly inexpensive at just 10-15 Euros per person, and has a nice little cafe inside where you can grab lunch and some cool drinks.
Plan to spend and hour or two in the museum (including lunch), and then head to The Acropolis. There are various options for tickets (buy in advance online), and two entrances (one main entrance, and one side entrance for small group tours and skip-the-line tickets). There are guided tours available on The Acropolis website, as well as through sites like Trip Advisor here. We chose to just get the basic tickets with the audio guide so that we could set our own pace. Be prepared for it to be pretty crowded, but it’s worth it…the views, the history, and the architecture are all really amazing.
After your time exploring The Acropolis, if the timing works out, grab dinner at Strofi Athenian Restaurant. It is located near the base of the hill, and if you’re there when it’s dark it has beautiful views of The Acropolis all lit up for the night. And the food is great too!
DAY 3: TRAVEL TO SANTORINI AND WINE TASTING
There are a couple of options for getting from Athens to Santorini (JTR); an 8-hour ferry on Blue Star Ferries, or a 45-minute flight on Aegean Airlines. It’s only about 50 Euros more per person for the flight and it saves a ton of time, so I highly recommend the flight option.
In Santorini, we stayed in the Fira (Thira) area, on the West coast of the Island at the El Greco Resort. This is a great option for a family, with plenty of space (it had an upstairs loft with beds for the kids), multiple pools, and is in walking distance of restaurants and shops. Of course, I totally understand if you want to stay in one of those iconic white villas nestled in the side of the hill…they are so cool…but if you’re traveling with your family, they tend to be pretty small and without the amenities that a larger resort like El Greco has. That type of place is perfect for a couple’s getaway!
Once you’re settled in to your hotel, I’d recommend either walking North up the road in to Fira to find some dinner, or if you enjoy wine tasting like me, Santo Winery is a 10-minute drive down the road, right along the coast. There weren’t Ubers in Santorini when we were there in 2019, so our hotel arranged for a car for us. Based on my research, there are Ubers there now and you still reserve through the Uber App, but it will connect you with a local taxi driver. Santo has a full menu and some amazing views, so it’s a great place to relax, have some dinner, and enjoy the sunset.
DAY 4: EPIC HIKE FROM FIRA TO OIA
The hike from Fira to Oia is one that should not be missed, assuming you are in pretty good physical shape. It’s 6.5 miles in total (maybe another half mile longer if you start at El Greco like we did) and has some up-and-down elevation along the way (and some steps!). Be sure to have a good breakfast, pack snacks and water, and wear some good walking or hiking shoes. I believe all (or almost all) of the trail is paved, but sometimes uneven or cobblestone paths. We had a little bit of trouble finding the start and then navigating some of the forks in the road, so check out this site here that gives step-by-step directions, a map, and photos to help you find your way!
I don’t recall exactly how long the hike took us, but I think it was around 2-2.5 hours. We are pretty fast walkers though, and we only stopped once or twice for a break. There are a couple of restaurants along the way where you can stop for lunch, however we just stopped at Profitis Ilias Church to take a peek in the church, and we bought some fresh fruit from one of the vendors nearby for a snack. It gets a little confusing when you walk through the villas, so watch for signs and use Google Maps to help you. The views are outstanding throughout the entire hike, and you will feel so accomplished when you are done!
We grabbed lunch on the patio of 218 Degrees…we just happened to stumble upon it as we were tired and famished, and it was amazing! Great food and outstanding views. We ate a lot of pasta, had a nice rest, and then browsed the shops around Oia for a bit. The best way to get back to Fira is to take a city bus. There is a bus stop just a 5-minute walk from 218 Degrees. You’ll need some cash Euros, but it’s just a few Euros each for the ride and it’s very comfortable.
Since you’ve already packed a lot in for the day, maybe spend a couple hours relaxing by the pool, or taking a little nap. There are restaurants on site at El Greco, so I’d suggest just having dinner at the resort and calling it a night!
DAY 5: SCENIC CATAMARAN TOUR AND SOUVLAKI
Seeing Santorini from the water is pretty outstanding as well. There are several options for tours, but all are pretty similar. I couldn’t find the exact one that we did, but here is one that is highly rated and makes the same stops. It’s 5 hours in total, and there are options for day tours and sunset tours. There are several stops along the way where you can get out to swim or snorkel, including a white beach and some hot springs. Pricing includes hotel transfer, snorkel gear, drinks, and a delicious lunch prepared fresh on board. Our tour had only about 12 people in the group; it was a ton of fun and a great way to spend a day.
After getting cleaned up at the hotel, we walked up the road to Fira for some souvlaki (kabobs) for dinner from Karvounaki, gelato for dessert, and then enjoyed the sunset. What a great day!
DAY 6: SANTORINI FOOD TOUR AND MOUSSAKA
One of the highlights of our stay in Santorini was the Eat and Walk Food Tour…even the kids loved it! It’s a small group tour for 8 people or less, and for ages 12 and up. We met our Guide in Fira (one of the couples from our boat tour the day before was on this tour too!) and walked all throughout the village learning about the area, the culture, and sampling a wide variety of local food! We had everything from Turkish coffee, to souvlaki, dolmas, moussaka, local beer, and ouzo. It was so much food and so much fun…always take an opportunity for a food tour on vacation; you won’t regret it!
For dinner, we ended up going back to The Vine (one of the restaurants we visited on our food tour) because the moussaka (like a greek lasagna made with eggplant) was so good on the tour, that we wanted to go back for more! We were able to catch this beautiful sunset from our table as well.
DAY 7: DAY TRIP TO NAXOS ISLAND
For our final day in Greece, we decided to make a day trip by Ferry to Naxos Island. I had debated between Ios and Naxos (both were close by and easy to do in one day), but Naxos won out in the end since its beaches are supposed to be some of the best that Greece has to offer. I used Ferry Hopper to find the schedule and book our tickets in advance. It was a comfortable full-service ferry that took about 2 hours each way. While we didn’t have a whole lot of time on Naxos, it was fun to spend a couple of hours on Plaka Beach, do some shopping, and see more of the Greek Islands. We had lunch near the port when we arrived, and then took a taxi to the beach from there. Admittedly, I did get a little nervous when the return ferry was running late and our flight out of Santorini was leaving the next morning, but eventually it arrived and we made it back to Santorini!
Greece was one of my favorite vacation destinations to date. It truly is one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen…both natural and man-made elements…and I can’t say enough about the AMAZING food!! Definitely add this to your bucket list and visit soon.