Greece came at the perfect time in our travels. We were over big cities and crowded tourist attractions. We were ready for the beach! Every. Single. Day. (10 total) of Greece was spent at the beach, and it was perfect.
First stop: Santorini. If you are looking for a place to relax, this is your destination. Santorini is so peaceful, laid back, and breathtakingly beautiful. We stayed a 5 minute walk from Perissa Beach, famous for the black sand. This was our favorite of all the beaches we visited, so it was a perfect location. The red sand beach made a close second, but was more of a lounging beach than a swimming beach (the ocean's rocky bottom and lots of coral made for tricky walking).
We rented an ATV after reading that it is the best way to explore the Greek islands. We agree: it really is the best (and most fun) way and everyone was riding them. We saw more ATVs and scooters than cars.
Basically every place we visit, we go to a brewery or at least try a local beer. When we found Santorini Brewing Company, of course we had to stop for a taste! They let us sample every kind they offered and they were all good. They actually brew the first ever IPA made in Greece- pretty cool.
When in Greece, you MUST watch the sunset at least 50% of the time you are there. They are out of this world. There were times when we would say "it looks to perfect to be real". And the horizon just seems to go on for miles and miles. It almost looked like the sky was a screen in an IMAX movie theatre, and we were just watching a perfectly drawn sunset. From atop of a hill, it's a full 360 beauty: looking down at the blue and white city below you, looking left and right to see hills and rocks and fields, and looking out to see ocean for miles, all in front of a seemingly never ending skyline. These were the most spectacular sunsets we have ever witnessed.
Mykonos was our next stop. While it had some similarities to Santorini (blue and white buildings, lots of hills, beautiful sunset and ocean views), Mykonos had more of a beach party vibe. Paradise Beach was what Derik described as "spring break for adults". There were two beach clubs with DJs blaring music for the entire beach to hear. It was a mid-twenty to mid-thirty age crowd and while we visited other beaches, we kept coming back to Paradise.
Mykonos town is a picturesque area full of shops and restaurants. It's hard to not fall in love with the scenery: the quintessential blue and white buildings, bright floral alleyways, and windmills along the water. This is a great sunset-viewing spot!
While the Greeks are good at some things (hello gyros and everything feta), they do not excel when it comes to coffee. We made the mistake of ordering Greek coffee at a cafe, thinking "if the Greeks drink it, we should definitely try it". Essentially they pour hot water into a cup, add ground coffee, and stir. It wasn't a pleasant taste and from then on, we stuck with espressos.
Greece was definitely the most relaxing part of our trip. We lounged, we swam, we ate gyros (very inexpensive meal option!), we got a little sun-kissed, and of course, we danced in Paradise.
First stop: Santorini. If you are looking for a place to relax, this is your destination. Santorini is so peaceful, laid back, and breathtakingly beautiful. We stayed a 5 minute walk from Perissa Beach, famous for the black sand. This was our favorite of all the beaches we visited, so it was a perfect location. The red sand beach made a close second, but was more of a lounging beach than a swimming beach (the ocean's rocky bottom and lots of coral made for tricky walking).
We rented an ATV after reading that it is the best way to explore the Greek islands. We agree: it really is the best (and most fun) way and everyone was riding them. We saw more ATVs and scooters than cars.
Basically every place we visit, we go to a brewery or at least try a local beer. When we found Santorini Brewing Company, of course we had to stop for a taste! They let us sample every kind they offered and they were all good. They actually brew the first ever IPA made in Greece- pretty cool.
When in Greece, you MUST watch the sunset at least 50% of the time you are there. They are out of this world. There were times when we would say "it looks to perfect to be real". And the horizon just seems to go on for miles and miles. It almost looked like the sky was a screen in an IMAX movie theatre, and we were just watching a perfectly drawn sunset. From atop of a hill, it's a full 360 beauty: looking down at the blue and white city below you, looking left and right to see hills and rocks and fields, and looking out to see ocean for miles, all in front of a seemingly never ending skyline. These were the most spectacular sunsets we have ever witnessed.
Mykonos was our next stop. While it had some similarities to Santorini (blue and white buildings, lots of hills, beautiful sunset and ocean views), Mykonos had more of a beach party vibe. Paradise Beach was what Derik described as "spring break for adults". There were two beach clubs with DJs blaring music for the entire beach to hear. It was a mid-twenty to mid-thirty age crowd and while we visited other beaches, we kept coming back to Paradise.
Mykonos town is a picturesque area full of shops and restaurants. It's hard to not fall in love with the scenery: the quintessential blue and white buildings, bright floral alleyways, and windmills along the water. This is a great sunset-viewing spot!
While the Greeks are good at some things (hello gyros and everything feta), they do not excel when it comes to coffee. We made the mistake of ordering Greek coffee at a cafe, thinking "if the Greeks drink it, we should definitely try it". Essentially they pour hot water into a cup, add ground coffee, and stir. It wasn't a pleasant taste and from then on, we stuck with espressos.
Greece was definitely the most relaxing part of our trip. We lounged, we swam, we ate gyros (very inexpensive meal option!), we got a little sun-kissed, and of course, we danced in Paradise.
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