Summary
Spent an amazing 12 days in Greece. 3 days in Santorini, 5 days in Crete, and 4 days in Athens. Total out of pocket: $7,130.19
Travel Notes (All prices below are USD unless otherwise noted)
Covid Notes
- There were no testing requirements to travel to Greece.
- Masking was intermittent, both indoor and outdoor while we were there.
- The test requirement for re-entry into the US was removed while we were on our trip.
Travel
- Santorini
- We pre-rented a car through (https://www.santorini-car-rental.com/en/). They were a great deal - $116.10 for 3 days! They also allowed us to pickup the car at the airport and drop it off at the ferry. It was a great rental experience.
- You need an International Drivers Permit to drive in Greece.
- Moving from east to west or vice versa in northern Santorini via google maps took us through some rocky, single lane roads that were very steep. I would not recommend going these routes unless you are a confident stick shift driver.
- It was easy, scenic driving all over the island. It really gave us freedom to move about the island and get groceries as needed.
- I don't recall any traffic signals, just roundabouts and stop sign intersections.
- Parking was not horrible outside of Oia at sunset.
- We booked a Ferry to Crete from Ferryhopper.com. We had debated upgrading to Club class, but the standard seats were just fine. There were no assigned seats, it was good that we got on early to pick the ones we wanted.
- Crete
- We pre-rented a car through (https://autorentals-crete.gr/). They picked us up from the ferry and allowed us to return the car to the airport.
- Driving in Crete is very comfortable. There is an interesting behavior on the freeway where they straddle the right dividing line. We figured that this was to allow passers in both oncoming and ongoing traffic at the same time.
- Most roads are well paved with traffic signals. There was an "old road" we took through Elounda that was reminiscent of Santorini driving (hilly, one lane) that took us through the countryside. Got to see several herds of goats on that drive.
- We took a short 50 min flight to Athens.
- Athens
- We took a taxi from the airport to the hotel that cost 45 Euro. The taxi driver was very friendly, and insisted on picking us up at 4am for the return flight. He was there to my surprise, ended up giving him 60 Euro for the return trip.
- We also purchased Ath.ena cards:
- 5 day non-personalized cards for each adult - $8.62
- 11 trip discounted personalized cards for each child (We had to fill out https://athenacard.gr/QR_request.dev beforehand and present the QR code) - $5.26
- The Ath.ena cards worked for the subway, buses, and trams which were plenty sufficient for our travel around the city. Google maps worked well in terms of navigation and times.
Accommodations
- Canaves Oia Epitome
- We had Globalist status for the stay (although this doesn't really matter at SLH).
- We used 120,000 points for 3 nights. They also charged us $646.56 extra for the fourth person.
- Point redemption value was about 2.3 cpp.
- Booked Honeymoon Suite and that is what we received. The hotel was full so there was no upgrade offered.
- It was pretty spacious and the girls really enjoyed the plunge pool.
- The views of the sunset were fantastic.
- Blue Palace Elounda
- We had Platinum status for the stay.
- We used 280,000 points for 5 nights.
- Booked Superior Bungalow Seaview, received that for the first 3 nights. Then got a really fantastic upgrade to what I think was a Maisonette Suite. It did not have a pool, but it had a very large extended patio area that the girls really enjoyed. It also was 2 levels which was a great novelty for the girls.
- Point redemption value was about .9 cpp for Superior Bungalow Seaview, and 1.7 cpp for the Maisonette Suite.
- InterContinental Athenaeum Athens
- We had Platinum Ambassador status for the stay.
- We used 97,000 points for a 4 night stay.
- Point redemption value was about 2 cpp.
- Booked King Bed Superior room and was upgraded to what I think was a 1 Bedroom Suite. We also purchased Club access for $381.06 (this was already factored into my cpp calculation).
- The room was quite spacious with a comfortable sofa couch and we ate many meals at the Club. We usually ate breakfast and dinner there, and frequented for drinks/snacks in between.
Entertainment
- Santorini
- We visited the middle of Oia at 6am, and got really good pictures without the crowds. When we revisited at a later time and day (around 2pm) it was very crowded but more of the shops were open so it was nice to have seen it both ways.
- The prehistoric town of Akrotiri was really cool to see. It was so well preserved and there were video recreations of how the buildings looked in their prime. Also it is indoors which gave some relief from the hot sun.
- The black sand beach at Perissa was really nice. There was plentiful parking and many nice restaurants around.
- Crete
- We took a 6 hour round trip to Chania and Rethimno. It was a beautifully scenic drive along the northern coast of Crete.
- The city of Agios Nikolaos is charming and great to walk around.
- Most of our time was spent resting and relaxing.
- Athens
- Was great to see the Acropolis and Parthenon, and the Acropolis museum is wonderful.
- The view from the top of Lycabettus Hill is gorgeous, and it has a commanding view of the entire city.
- Walking around the various shopping streets in Plaka and Monastiraki was very pleasant.
Mobile/Internet
- We opted to use hotel internet and our phones which generally had decent 4G coverage most of the time in all 3 areas we went.
Laundry
- We did our own laundry by hand washing and hanging.
Food
- I really enjoyed Slouvlaki and Gyros, and ate them almost everyday. The greek diet seems so healthy! It was great to tryout out all the restaurants in the various areas we visited.
- There were these fusion bao buns at Goodys (a greek fast food chain) that were so good. I'll try to find a similar equivalent here.
Things that went well
- Purchasing Club level at the Intercontinental Athens. Rachel said we should do it and I was glad I listened to her. It was the only hotel we did not have free breakfast before arriving and it was really nice to be able to eat and unwind there after a long day.
- The power strip extension cords with plug adapter were all we needed for the entire trip. I piggybacked the second one onto the first and didn't trip any breakers. I'll probably not bother bringing the voltage converter for the next international trip as our device chargers are voltage variable.
- Having a car in Santorini and Crete really gave us mobility to enjoy both islands at our leisure.
- Getting the Ath.ena cards gave us a ton of mobility in Athens, and once I figured out a tram location really close to my hotel we were able to move about the city quickly and without a ton of walking when we didn't want to (we did a ton of walking but that was mostly perusing locations we liked).
- Having hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen was a must. Even though it was June the sun was strong almost every day we were there.
- People were generally very kind and welcoming every where we went. Almost everyone spoke English, but seemed to appreciate when we used our limited Greek vocabulary (Good morning, hello, thank you).
Lessons for next time
- Our luggage was delayed 2 days upon our arrival in Santorini. We had to scramble to get clothes to wear and additional toiletries in order. In the future, we're going to try to avoid checked bags if possible for multiple transfer trips and to be sure we have a change of clothes in our carry-ons.
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