With several months of traveling the Silk Road through Central Asia behind us, we were ready to take a little break from the historical sites, see the ocean again, and enjoy a bit of luxury. In this part of the world, there is no better place to take in the sea than the Greek islands. Neither Nate nor I had been to the islands, so we decided to take advantage of the shoulder season pricing and head off to the two most famous of the Greek Isles, Santorini and Mykonos. The hotels were certain to be less crowded than the busy summer months, and the discounted rates in October were certainly a plus. The timing worked well for Santorini, but we were perhaps two weeks too late for Mykonos as the island seemed to be shutting down for the season.
Looking at pictures of Santorini, you see the signature white and blue buildings hanging on cliff ledges looking out into the sea. Nate and I discussed and decided it was worth the extra money to stay right in the heart of the postcard village of Oia on the northernmost part of the island. With seemingly endless villas and boutique hotels available, it was very difficult to figure out exactly where to stay but we really lucked out when we booked the Armeni Village. We had a room and balcony with the beautiful ocean view off to our left, and we looked straight out onto the white buildings of the village with the small pools, churches, and restaurants built literally on top of each other into the side of the cliff. We couldn’t have asked for a better place!!
Unfortunately, I came down with a stomach virus our first night in Greece which put me in bed for our first two days there. The balcony overlooking Oia was a godsend, and I could enjoy brief respites in the fresh air amidst my time with a high fever. Nate was forced to venture out on his own to explore Oia and bring back pictures. On our last afternoon and morning in Oia, I finally felt better and when we were finally able to venture out together I loved every minute of it.
Small walking streets wound their way around the cliffs. Cute coffee shops, restaurants, and stores beckoned us to come in. We stopped for a while at a really adorable coffee shop with an amazing view of the sea. The owner of the small cafe was very kind and gave us a lot of recommendations for future travels to Santorini. We found the most famous Instagram spot in town where we predictably confronted a line of tourists waiting for the perfect photo.
We visited the far side of the cliffs to the sunset point where crowds were gathering from around the island to come see the sunset over the water. It is actually hilarious to see the amount of people that make their way to this small stretch, and all crowd in for the sunset. Nate and I decided to go back to our room for the sunset instead to enjoy the view of the colors changing over the village and not just the ocean. That evening, we were finally able to go out to enjoy a nice dinner in Santorini together.
The following morning we woke up early and tried to walk around town before the tourists arrived from the cruise ships that anchored in the bay the night prior. We went back to some of our favorite spots from the day before to catch the beautiful white village at its best. What amused us the most were the tourists who hired private photographers and dressed up to take pictures all around town. This influencer business is hard work I guess.
From Oia, we took a bus to the port for one of the most expensive ferry rides I have ever taken. Honestly, we could not believe the cost of this two-hour ride. Maybe we are used to Southeast Asia, but $90 per person for a ferry that can literally hold 1,280 passengers just seems a bit excessive. The upside though, was that it was the Seajet World Champion Ferry, which is a beautiful boat and one of the fastest passenger ferries in the world. They also have mastered the art of a quick pull-in, unload, reload, and then are back off to the next stop again.
In Mykonos, we decided to stay at a beach that was off the beaten path since we didn’t want the party scene, or rows and rows of beach chairs. Little did we know, this wasn’t going to be a problem since the tourist season in Mykonos was pretty much finished, but this is how we ended up staying at Panormos Village on Panoramas Beach. Since the public bus does not run north out to this beach, we decided to rent a scooter for five days as a means to get around the island, which turned out to be a great decision. After landing at the Mykonos port we loaded up on our rental scooter with our luggage strapped to our backs and Nate expertly drove us to our hotel. We were greeted with a bit of a rundown beach, where we found ourselves at the only hotel that was still open on the beach. That said, our view was beautiful, and the food was really good at the poolside restaurant.
On our second day in Mykonos, we spent the morning at the hotel to catch up on some necessary work and plan for our upcoming travels. We needed to figure out a gameplay and tentative itinerary for where we were headed next. In the afternoon, we hopped on the scooter and drove over to a lovely little restaurant called Kiki’s Tavern, which was the most famous restaurant nearby and brought in tourists from across the island. Only open for lunch and always hosting a wait, this is a sought-after mom-and-pop establishment that is known for great Greek food with a quiet unobstructed view of the bay. While you wait for a table the owner even keeps you happy with free wine!
Our third day in Mykonos turned out to be our adventure day to cruise around the island. We wanted to see how many beaches we could see in one day. What makes beach hopping difficult in Mykonos is that, due to the many cliffs, you cannot just drive along the coast and see the beaches. So, every time we went to a beach it was necessary to drive back up to the main road and then back down again to find another beach.
Another major factor to plan on in Mykonos is the wind. Everywhere we drove we felt like we were going to get blown off the scooter. We ended up spending between forty-five minutes to one hour at each beach, but it was unfortunately not warm enough to go into the water, and of course, the wind was whipping. We made it to four beaches that day: Elia, Agrari, Paradise, and Agia Anna for the sunset.
On our final full day in Mykonos, I wanted a relaxing day at our hotel reading my book and drinking wine, and that is exactly what I did. Nate ventured off on the scooter to the furthest couple of beaches to explore. That evening, we made it into Mykonos town for the first time, and I regret that we saved this for the last day. The village is much more interesting, beautiful and fun than we thought it would be.
In a way, the village in Mykonos reminded me of Oia with the small narrow walking streets cutting through the picturesque white buildings. There were cute shops around every corner and restaurants sitting literally right on the ocean. With the wind howling perhaps some of these restaurants were a bit too close with waves crashing onto the outdoor terraces. We went out on the rocks to watch the sunset over the water and found cute little windmill houses.
This village is incredibly picturesque, and a great place for the sunset and dinner with tons of restaurants and bars. We found a busy restaurant with traditional Greek food to finish up our weeklong trip to these beautiful islands. We really enjoyed Greece and would love to come back when the weather is a bit warmer to enjoy the beaches and Mediterranean again. The following morning we woke up early, drove the scooter into town, and headed to the Mykonos airport for our flight to….Cyprus!!
