View from A for Athens’ rooftop bar
Greece is the perfect combination of adventure and relaxation, so if you’re looking for a little bit of both on your honeymoon, I can’t recommend it enough. At first, I was worried whether or not we picked the “right” places to go (we chose Athens, Mykonos, and Santorini), but the bottom line is, you’ll have a great time exploring whatever parts of the country you choose to visit!
I also feel obliged to tell you that you can plan your own trip so it’s exactly what you want it to be. I looked into travel agents because I was slightly hesitant to plan it by myself, but I’m really glad I did. I learned some of the best kept secrets from reading blog posts, like this one, and talking to others who traveled before us. I also used an app called TripIt, which organizes all of your travel plans in one place — something I found valuable. It has great features, too, like the ability to easily share your itinerary with family back home.
And … it never hurts to have a friend to bounce all of your ideas off of when you’re being indecisive. Read reviews, know the general areas you want to be in, and don’t overthink. Oddly, it’s one of my favorite parts about traveling to new places: if you’ve never been somewhere, you don’t know what you’re missing out on so your own experience is all what you make it.
Athens, Day 1
We landed in Athens at 9 a.m., but we missed the entire night of sleep because of the time change so we were pretty exhausted. And honestly, we were a little overwhelmed. It usually takes me a day to feel comfortable when I land in a new country and it was hard to navigate the streets? alleys? with a million motor-scooters zooming around super fast. We decided to explore the area close to our Airbnb in Athina (about a 10-minute walk from Monastiraki Square — a place we found central to everything we wanted to do). We passed up about 10 restaurants (“because I wanted to find the perfect one”) before Alex put his foot down and walked into a random one. We didn’t know it at the time, but we ended up eating some of the best gyros of the entire trip! My only regret is that I can’t remember the name of the place to save my life. I think I was too hangry.
We checked into our Airbnb a little less starved, but a little more tired. We only had two days in Athens so we didn’t want to waste time. We took an hour nap, made ourselves look half presentable, and headed to our food walking tour — one of my favorite parts of our entire trip. We booked the experience through a company called Withlocals and I can’t say enough about them. They offer all private tours (with locals, duh) where you can handpick your tour guide based off a profile and reviews. Our tour guide, Thodoris, was incredible. He was so kind, knowledgeable on the culture (he taught us some basic Greek words like Yasou), and took us to authentic places we probably would’ve passed up. I’d also highly suggest doing the tour early on in your trip because he gave us so many places to head back to on our own time — and we took him up on most of them.
We visited a market where I tried olives (!) for the first time in my life. I tried three, just for Thodoris, and while they definitely weren’t my thing, I’m glad I did it in Greece. Also, the feta cheese and tomatoes were just SO fresh and the olive oil was just SO good. Fun fact: Alex started making Greek salads the very first day we got back and I’m here for it.
We also tried gyros, lukumades (donut holes with thyme honey and ice cream), and Greek coffee — another first for me. To be honest, the cappuccino had so much cream on top that anyone would’ve liked it. We actually asked Thodoris what cocktail everyone was drinking because it looked so different, and he politely told us it was coffee … oops. By the end, we were stuffed and super excited about all the food we were going to eat for the rest of our trip!
Athens, Day 2
Our second day in Athens was our first full day (and our last), so we got up bright and early for our Acropolis tour, which we booked with GetYourGuide simply for the better price. We booked the earliest tour to avoid the crowds and heat like everything I read suggested, but it’s really just impossible to beat either. Yes, it’s hot and crowded, but it’s such a cool experience to actually see the Acropolis in person. We also headed to the Acropolis Museum afterwards, which surprisingly has a great view of the Acropolis from below.
When we left, we explored Plaka. It’s literally right outside the museum and it has so many shops and places to eat. It’s definitely worth checking out. At the very least, grab some olive oil, thyme honey, and sesame-covered peanuts!
It’s worth mentioning we did all of our exploring on foot, which is why I would recommend the location we stayed to anyone. When we got back to our apartment, we regrouped before heading out for a night on the town.
We stopped at a place called Little Kook that someone on our tour recommended earlier in the day. It was decorated in a Mary Poppins’ theme and had the best desserts (I’m a sucker for crepes and anything Oreo-flavored!). We also got coffee to power us through the evening.
We left right before sunset and headed for the A for Athens’ rooftop bar to catch the sunset. It’s not authentic if that’s what you’re looking for, but it has a great view, one of the best spicy margaritas I’ve ever had, and it’s a little bit of luxury in a city that doesn’t offer much. It’s also in a great location, so you can head down to the Athens flea market and look around after, which is exactly what we did. I bought a pair of leather sandals to commemorate the trip and the store owner asked Alex if he was Greek … a sign we should’ve never left 😉
We ended the night with cocktails at Six d.o.g.s, a place Thodoris told us to come back to during our food tour and also recommended by a friend who was in Greece a few weeks before us. It had the coziest outdoor space and it was a great way to unwind from our busy day.
Even though we crammed a lot into two days, I felt like we were able to see some really great parts of the city. When we left, we both said how glad we were that we started our trip in Athens, so we could end it on the islands, relaxing on the beaches and taking in the breathtaking views … but that’s for another day. Thanks for keeping up!
Keeping Up With Kate 