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First off, a little background on how we came to picking Greece in December, which might be helpful to others in a similar dilemma. A couple of months back, I realised it had been over 3 years since we last took a proper vacation. Thanks to Covid and other distractions, we had not really ventured anywhere. Pre Covid, once a year, my wife and I would select a country/region in Europe and explore the hell out of it. It had been so long and the longing for a vacation to beat the stress of the last few years reached its crescendo. Initially, I started off by considering a winter trip to Germany's black forest and the Swiss alps. But, somehow the thought of short, cold days and the inability to do hikes/treks which have always been a feature of our trips dissuaded me. With a little bit of googling and research, Greece seemed like a possible destination with it's mild winters. I asked around on reddit and travel forums, but people from Greece and other travellers discouraged me saying Greece and its beautiful islands totally shutdown during winter and there would hardly be any people around. Also, we wouldn't be able to go swimming in the Mediterranean waters. Now, all none of this sounded like a negative and this sounded exactly like the kind of vacation that we would like. We don't swim and we hate crowded places on our vacations. We don't eat out that much on vacations and all we need out of a vacation is a car and natural beauty, which Greece has plenty of.

So, that is how it was decided that Greece would be the chosen destination. Normally, we would plan the vacation months in advance, but this time, it had to coincide with the end of the year vacation when both of us could take time off without interrupting work. The moment it was decided, we checked online and booked a Visa appointment for the same week in mid November and scrambled to get the insane documentation for the Visa ready. It really baffles me that despite the humungous number of repeat tourists to the Schengen area from India, they still don't give you long term visas and ask for every document under the sun any time you want to vacation in their precious countries. Anyhow, to cut a long story short, the Greek embassy has apparently done a terrible job handling Visas and even we were subjected to last minute stress when the Visa arrived only about a week to go before our trip, nearly 4 weeks after the submission of documents.

We booked a 11 day return ticket to Athens and got down to planning the vacation. Greece is a little unlike other European countries as a lot of the scenery is concentrated on the islands surrounding mainland Greece in the Aegean and Ionian seas. A single trip can never cover all these islands of course. And to add to the complexity of the trip, the Winter ferry schedule threw another spanner in the works. In Summer, the major islands are all connected to the mainland and to each other with multiple ferries everyday and multiple flights from Athens. In the winter, there is only one ferry from the mainland to each of the islands and very limited and expensive flights. With all this in mind, we decided to visit Crete, Santorini and Zakynthos islands and the Lefkada peninsula which is reachable by car on the mainland. We also worked out that, for Crete and Santorini, if we booked the overnight ferries from Athens, we would be saving on stay expenses for the night and could use the money saved to book really nice accommodations on the islands themselves.

I have attached a google mymaps for Greece that I used to organise the vacation attractions. Down South, farthest from the mainland is the island of Crete, the largest of all the Greek islands and home to some pristine beaches and amazing historical ruins and archaelogical sites. A little above Crete off to the right is the famous island of Santorini, the island of whitewashed houses with blue domes overlooking a caldera in the Aegean sea. To the west of the mainland and very close to it is Zakynthos island. A little to the North is the peninsula of Lefkada, which IMO is more beautiful than any of the islands too. Athens of course is the epicentre of our vacation to which we keep coming back to between our ferries and road trips.

In the following threads, I will describe each day with pics and further details.

Blue pins are all the places we visited on the trip, major regions/islands being Athens, Crete, Lefkada, Santorini, Zakynthos and Delphi

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Day 1: We landed in Athens on the afternoon of the 22nd of December around 2.15 PM. The flight was over half an hour late and when immigration and buying the local sim was done and we finally managed to collect the car, it was well past 3.20 PM. We had initially planned to take the car and drive to the Acropolis of Athens and see the Parthenon, its most famous attraction. But since the Acropolis closes at 5 PM in the winters, we didn't want to rush it. Coming to the car, we had opted for a BMW 116i as we wanted a great ride for the trip and again not too expensive. The BMW 116i had push you back into the seat acceleration in sports mode, and this combined with the butter smooth roads and high speed limits meant the trip already felt like a success just getting to the Athens city centre.

Getting the car at the Europcar


Our main plan for the day was to catch the ferry to the island of Crete at 9.30 PM. And we had 6 hours to kill. So we opted to go to the Lycabettus hill, a famous landmark in Athens to watch sunsets overlooking the Athenian riviera and the Acropolis.

Lycabettus Hill just after sunset:


The drive through the narrow streets of central Athens would have discomfited people coming from other countries, but driving in Bangalore has made me an expert in these situations. We reached Lycabettus around 4.30 PM, parked along the road to the top of the hill like many others and made the climb to the hilltop quite quickly. The sunset was around 5.20 PM and the sun gave us quite a show over the Athenian riviera. Post sunset, the sky was painted in orange hues and when the Parthenon was lit up in the Acropolis, the sight was quite amazing. Probably the best thing I have ever experienced in a European city. We spent quite a bit of time in the viewing area and there is even a quaint little cafe we can sit and watch the sunset from. We ordered a coffee there and sat around till the last hues of the sunset disappeared around 6.30 PM. From here, it was just a 30 minute drive to the Ferry port of Piraeus to catch our 9.30 PM ferry to Crete. We made the ferry comfortably despite some confusion regarding the terminal entries, parked the car in the garage of the ferry and settled down in what was actually a crowded but comfortable ferry ride. A special mention should be made of the uniformly rude parking attendants on the ferry who make you park dangerously close to the other cars/trucks on the ferry to accommodate as many vehicles as possible for the trip to Crete. We had booked only a lounge access and that meant we had decently comfortable chairs to sleep on and a cafe to eat on the ferry. We enjoyed the novelty of the experience and spent a pleasant night on the calm seas.

Entering the ferry to Crete. Astonishing number of cars/trucks fit into the ferry.

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Day 2, 23rd December: At around 5.30 AM, the ferry entered the port of Chania in Crete. Crete has 2 ports, Heraklion, the capital of Crete in the East and Chania, the place closer to the more famous beaches in the West. As we aimed to see only the beaches, we booked the ferry to Chania. Most of the crowd in the ferry were locals coming back from the mainland or mainland folks visiting relatives in Crete. There were zero tourists as far as we could tell.The crowded ferry meant that it took more than 45 minutes to get the car out of the ferry but thankfully, it was still dark in the winter. I say thankfully because we aimed to see the beautiful sunrise in the beach of Seitan Limania near Chania before checking into our accommodation for the day. We rushed through the empty roads and got to Seitan Limania just as yellow and orange hues appeared on the horizon. We stopped the car and snapped a few pics from the road before reaching the beach.

Dawn on the horizon, just as we were approaching Seitan Limania:



Head lights vs Sun light


Seitan Limania is a small cove in the middle of two massive canyons to which the access is via a difficult descent amidst rocky terrain. People do make the descent in the Summer and swim in the Azure waters. When we got there, the cove was just about coming into its own as the sun started popping out from behind the clouds. It was an ethereal sight and the cove and the canyon being lit up in the first rays was one of the highlights of our trip. Pics cannot do justice to the sights we saw on the trip, but never the less I try and capture as many pics as possible with my phone on all our trips to keep the memories fresh.

First rays of the sun hits the canyon


Let there be more light


The cove and canyon bathed in sunlight


Car parked at the end of the road to Seitan Limania:


Couple of panoramas once the sun was fully up:




After the sun came up fully, we spent some more time admiring the views of the cove before it was time to head to the villa we had booked on the other side of Chania. Our host graciously let us checkin early at 9 AM instead of an afternoon checkout and we were astonished when she let us have the 3 bedroom duplex villa instead of the smaller one we had booked. There were apparently no tourists at that time of the year and we had no clue why. The weather was sunny and cool and perfect for sight seeing though swimming would be difficult in the cold waters. Anyhow, it worked out for us as we got a great deal on our villa and gratefully ate a hearty breakfast of maggi, bread, cheese and khakras.

The rest of the day, the plan was to checkout the beaches in the South of Crete before venturing to the Western beaches the next day. The West and South of Crete aren't that far apart in terms of distance but the mountainous terrain meant that the progress was relatively slow. So, we couldn't really combine the South and the West of the island in a day. The list of beaches we had on our minds were Ageas Nikolas, Plakaki view point, Chora Skafion, Glyka Nera beach, Marmara beach and finally back home to the villa in Chania.

The drive to the Ageas Nikolas beach was beautiful. The weather was pleasant and the drive through the Cretan mountains was wonderful. The beach itself was a volcanic beach with black sand. The formations at the beach added a great majesty to the area. That and the sun coming in and out of the clouds added a great atmosphere.

Plakaki viewpoint with brilliant green waters


Thumbs up for the view from me


A shot of Agios Nikolas beach


Dipped out toes into the Aegean here


One highlight of the South on this day was the drive to Marmara beach. The drive was one of the best we have ever done. A narrow mountainous road with space for only one vehicle and a a deadly drop on one side with the Meditarranean shimmering in the distance felt like a great adventure. Add to that the mountains looked like an alien landscape and it added great charm to the drive. I can only imagine how people manage when they drive here in the Summer when there is bound to be bucket loads of tourists to this area.

The 'widest' part of the road to Marmara beach


The end of the road at Marmara had an alien look to it



On our way back, the sunset was once again mind blowing. Every sunset and sunrise in Greece was an event in itself and we made sure to catch as many as possible during our vacation. Around 7pm, we got back to our villa, enjoyed a sumptuous dinner after an exhausting day, slept soundly awaiting another wonderful day filled with scenic beauty. Some pics are attached for your enjoyment.

A brilliant sunset to end the day. The drives here were mind blowing.

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Day 3, 24th December: This was our 2nd and last day on Crete where we would cover the beaches on the western side. The 3 most famous beaches in the West of Crete are Balos, Falassarna, and Elafonissi. Each has its own unique selling point. Balos has stunning volcanic islands a little off the beach which provides a scenic view but would need driving a treacherous road of 8 kms full of rocks and boulders and a further 30 minute hike to the beach itself, Falassarna has the most turquoise waters and is the most accessible being just off the road and Elafonissi has pink sand in some places. After deciding that it would entail too much driving to visit all three, we decided Balos would be where we see the sunset and Falassarna would be where we spend the afternoon enjoying the waters of the Aegean sea.

Amidst all the beaches, it would be remiss of me not to mention the wonderful villa and its sit out where we spent most of our time reading and eating with a view of the pool. Another leisurely morning meal ensued before we set out to the beaches.

Our villa with a splendid sitout


The added bonus on this day and every other day from this day onwards was that the weather was absolutely clear, blue skies with no hint of clouds. This meant the entire coast was either deep blue or azure and provided some of the most amazing drives we had ever experienced. We stopped at multiple places on the way to the beaches to just take photos and admire the views.

Amazing coastal drive in Crete


Deep blue sea


Candy in the skies


A panorama of another road side stop


Falassarna was an easy drive and before the descent to the beach itself, we got a magnificent panoramic view of the turquoise waters of the sea. Just blew our minds. We then entered the sandy beach and took a walk along the shore. We were quite famished by now and opened the toast and bhel puris we had brought along for lunch and finished a gobsmacking lunch while enjoying the views.

View of the turquoise waters of Falassarna before the descent to the beach


Absolutely deserted Falassarna on a wonderfully clear day


By 2 PM, we wanted to make our way to Balos quickly so that we get there well in time for sunset. The distance was only about 20 kms, but the last 7.5 kms were a hell on earth. For some reason, the road has not been laid and the BMW was not happy with the rocks and protrusions on this road. In a SUV or even my own jacked up Ecosport, this drive would have been quite manageable but the low and soft suspension of the BMW meant I averaged a kilometre every 10 minutes for the last 7 kms. Any damage to the vehicle or tyres would mean we would be stranded there with hardly any reception and no people around to help. Thankfully, we made it to the beach with no incidents and did the hike to be in place at the beach by 4.30 PM. The water here was light blue and the landscape was stunning to say the least.

The small islands off the Balos beach. You can walk over to the island at low tide


Panorama of Balos


Selfie at Balos


The post sunset light dispersion produced bubble gum pink skies and we enjoyed another amazing evening in Crete.

On the way back to the car from Balos


Bubble gum and cotton candy skies


Another one


Driving back with views like this


Post this, we made our way back carefully to the road and were on our way to the port of Chania to catch our ferry back to Athens. What a wonderful island Crete is.

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Day 4, 25th December and Day 5, 26th December: The ferry from Chania to Athens was a far more comfortable and cozy one than the one we went to Chania in. This ensured a great night's sleep in the comfy sofas and we were really excited to what was the over all most beautiful area of Greece IMHO. Lefkada is not a place that we had heard of before from people who had been to Greece before. Most people visit Santorini, Mykonos and Athens. Sure Santorini is beautiful(as we will see further down in this thread), and Mykonos is the party capital, but Lefkada is the place to go to for sheer natural beauty. The eponymous Ionian blue comes from the waters of the Ionian sea and it has to be seen to be believed. We got off the ferry pretty quickly this Christmas morning and took advantage of the fantastic Greek highways to cruise to the Lefkada peninsula by around 11.30 AM. We checked in at a small and barebones airbnb here since our plan was not to spend too much time here considering the places we had to cover in just a day at this beautiful peninsula. We set off immediately after lunch to see the hotspots here.

The best beaches here are the famous Porto Katsiki and Egremini beaches. Further down South, the light house gives us some splendid views of the Ionian sea. The entire drive to these beaches and the lighthouse was dream like. Every turn would make you stop and gape at the coastal views. We did some photoshoots for the car as well as ourselves and eventually, we got to the first stop which was the lighthouse. The pictures of the lighthouse down below should do all the talking for this view.

Drives with views to die for. Impossible not to stop at every turn.


Temporary BMW owner


Only the car


Wife wanted a pic with the BMW too


Haven't seen a better view of a lighthouse


Another view of the lighthouse


Lone plant stubborn against the wind & the water


Stop near the lighthouse



Next up was the Porto Katsiki beach whose sunsets are legendary. We got there well in time for the sunset and spent a few hours that will live in our memories for ever. Again, pictures alone can't capture the ethereal setting of this beach but I have done my best with the mediocre iphone camera at my disposal. It was a pink hued sunset again and post that the hues in the sky looked like they were photoshopped very skillfully. On the way to Porto Katsiki, we also had passed a view point from where we could see the Egremini beach. Our jaws dropped at these views.

Views of Egremini on the way to Porto Katsiki


We basically stumbled upon this view.


Can't get over how lovely the Ionian blue is


Final shot of Egremini for this day


Porto Katsiki from the road


A view from the steps to the beach.


Waves up close from the beach


Another from the brilliant beach


Couldn't resist dipping our toes in the water here


Lone human(me) on the beach


Serenity redefined


Unbelievable that there was nobody else here


The colors of the final rays is just unbelievable


Paintings in the sky


Drive back was stunning


Final views before complete darkness


We were so amazed that we came back to Egremini beach again the next morning from our airbnb to experience it once again. This added an extra 80 kms in mountainous terrain to our trip but we didn't care. On this day, all we needed to do was get to Athens to catch our ferry to Santorini that evening. Sadly, this day we would be returning the BMW at the ferry port as it was prohibitively expensive to take the car to Santorini on the ferry and it didn't make sense to drive a huge car on the narrow roads of Santorini. We instead hired a small hatchback in Thira, the capital of Santorini.

The next morning at Egremini.


Caribbean feel in Europe


Final view of Egremini

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Day 6 & 7, 27th and 28th December: The ferry from Piraeus (the ferry port in Athens) to Santorini was one of the few disappointing experiences. The lounge seats were dirty and we seemed to be the only ones who chose to use the lounge instead of booking a cabin in the entire ferry. It was not a good experience and in hindsight a flight would have been much nicer. However, the Crete ferry was splendid and this was probably the effect of the off-season that we got a bad ferry deal.

It was 6.30 in the morning when we were off the ferry and the small standalone car rental right opposite the port was open just like they promised just for us and another American family. This was the swiftest car rental we have ever done in our life. The guy took down the DL and passport and gave us the keys and closed his shop. The return was to be late in the night the next day and he said just leave the car here outside the shop and go. That was pretty amazing to hear. We got a Peugeot 208 hatchback and it was a strictly basic automatic car. However, for Santorini it was fine as the island itself is pretty small and we would be driving only around a 100 kms over all.

Santorini is famous for its whitewashed houses, some with blue domes in the village of Oia. The best views in Santorini are on the west side facing the Caldera from the villas built into the side of the cliffs. Most people just book a villa in one of Thira, Imerovigli or Oia. The reason that most people do this is because there is almost nothing else to do and the views from everywhere else are relatively ordinary. So, this is what we did too. It was the most expensive accommodation we had ever booked anywhere in the world, coming in at 13k INR. However, this was worth every penny as you will see from the pics. This was a villa called Villa Fegari and the host told us that we could check in only at 2 PM. So we had a few hours to kill and had added a nice 2 hour round trip hike to a archaeological site called Ancient Thira. It was up the side of a mountain from a beach called Perissa and gave great panoramic views of the Aegean. The highlight though was a Byzantine church that pops up around 1/3rd of the way up to the ruins. It was cute and photogenic. The hike was of moderate difficulty because of quick elevation gain to the top. My wife struggled up where as I was able to quickly run ahead, take some pics and wait for her. We took about 1.5 hours to get to the top. The views were good but not great. At the top though, there is another church and there was a small funeral going on which was well attended by the locals. They were all having some buns and hard cheese which made us hungry and they were kind enough to give us a couple of buns. Whether it was because we were tired or because the cheese was actually that splendid, we wolfed it down with a word of thanks to the man who handed the buns to us. By this time, we were done with the views and got back down to the parked car and had a further stop for coffee at a quaint cafe before heading to Villa Fegari for the checkin.

Start of the hike to Ancient Thira at Perissa beach


Byzantine church a third of the way up with views of the Aegean


Now, the Villa Fegari was in Thira and was a typical Santorini villa built into the side of the cliff high up with each villa opening up into a sit out with unobstructed views of the Caldera in the Aegean sea. I have no words to describe the views. All we did that day from 2 PM onwards was marvel at the views, enjoy probably the best sunset of our lives and wolf down maggi/snacks etc. Post sunset, the sit out got cold but the moon came out and lit up the ocean which made us brave the cold for another hour. Finally, we went to bed and the next morning, I was up early to soak in the sun rise. The sun rise views were as good as the previous evening and it was another blissful few hours before we had to check out and complete the rest of our itinerary in Santorini.
The only other things we wanted to do was to see a black beach and a red beach that were quite popular and we had plenty of time to do it in. We completed that quickly and they were nothing to write home about compared to the views we had experienced in Villa Fegari. We revisited the cafe from the previous day for an afternoon snack and coffee and headed to Oia village, the place of the famous blue domes and windmills that are plastered on images all over the world.

The view from the room in Villa Fegari


Typical whitewashed houses on the side of the West side cliffs


Sunset to begin


The sun is almost in the sea now


Post sunset lights


Just before sunrise


Imerovigli village lights up first in the morning


Pano of the view from our room


Early morning visitor who refused to go away

Sun is out in full force almost


Morning pictures come out better as the lens don't flare in the glare of the sun


Maggi with a view


Another brilliant day ahead of us


Final view from the room before checkout


Views from the road


Views opposite the cafe



The village of Oia was the very definition of quaint. And this was where we saw the maximum number of tourists apart from Athens. All the tourists on the island gathered in Oia probably and we spent an hour watching the sun go down. The sun actually hid behind clouds and some people were a little disappointed. We thanked our lucky stars for the previous evening's brilliant sunset.

Walking towards the sunset point in Oia


Another nice view on the walk along Oia


Famous blue domes in Oia


Post sunset views


With that done, we headed to Thira for the best and most expensive meal of our vacation at a Greek restaurant called Kipos. The Greek salad with feta and local olives and other veggies was heavnely and so was the Cretan pie they served. The pasta was just as good and we were so full we could barely walk back to our car. Our ferry this evening was very late at 11.30 PM and we made it in plenty of time. Santorini is often hyped up around the world but it actually is one of those places that lives up to its hype.

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Day 8, 29th December and Day 10, 30th December: This was another heavy driving day for us and time to pick up a new car at Athens. We were to also see the Acropolis in Athens this day and then catch a ferry to the famous Zakynthos island from a ferry port called Kyllini which is over 250 kms from Athens. The logistics was complicated as we wanted to rent the car from the Athens airport as we would also be returning the car to the airport for our return flight on the 1st of Jan. We did not want to juggle public transport on the last day considering it was the 1st of Jan and you never know whether public transport works on schedule. So, we rushed from the ferry port of Piraeus to the Athens airport using the metro, picked up a Jeep Compass (Another great car) at the Europcar at the airport, went to see the Acropolis in the centre of Athens before rushing to Kyllini to catch the last ferry to Zakynthos at 8.30 PM. Quite a rushed day even by our exacting standards.

Everything went smoothly and we were in the Acropolis by mid afternoon. We mainly saw the Parthenon and the ancient stadium whose name eludes me now. All in all, the ruins in Greece wouldn't impress you much if you have already seen what the ancient Indians managed to achieve. But never the less the ruins are well maintained and worth a couple of hours of your time.

Parthenon in the Acropolis of Athens


Stadium whose name I can't remember


It was a hot and sweaty day and we were relived to be back in the car for our drive to Kyllini. It was a splendid coastal drive and we managed to do it in well under our budgeted time. It meant we had time for another snack and coffee at the ferry port and boarded the best ferry of our trip. The trip was a short one and the comfortable sofas again meant I managed a quick nap of an hour or so.
We rented another basic airbnb just for the night in the centre of Zakynthos' main market. It was a great location and we had a nice dinner, a good night's sleep and were out the next morning at sunrise. The highlight of Zakynthos is the view of the famous ship wreck beach in the North of the island and I would argue that it would make the top 10 of views around the world.

We set off with great expectations, but first stopped at another nice beach called Xigia. This was a quick stop at a great looking beach. The drives in Zakynthos are rivalled only by the ones in Lefkada and we had a debate as to which was better on our way to the ship wreck beach view point. Now, this beach is not road accessible and the view point gives you a panoramic view of the beach and the old shipwreck on it. It is a view to die for and was easily the highlight of our trip. It is what cover photos are made for. I would argue that I would have gladly paid half the cost of the trip just for this view. Please look at the pictures if you don't believe me.

Xigia beach view point


The beach itself with blue waters


Clear waters


Jeep Compass, our final car for the trip


The highlight of the trip


Access is only by boat, however the views are other worldly


Carefully orchestrated selfie


Final view out to the sea



The next stop was Stentis bay in the north west of the island. Some travel bloggers had warned of the treacherous road to the bay and even with the ground clearance of the Compass, we weren't sure it would make it to the beach. So, at one point, we parked the car in a clearing and made our way on foot to the bay. It was a steep descent and my wife started complaining about the ascent even before we started the descent. However, the splendid views started egging us on and we made the hike to and back in an hour and a half. My wife had a hell of a time coming back up but I made use of the time she took to shoot more pics and videos.

Some mind boggling drives on the way to Stenitis bay


Another view before the final bad stretch of road.


The bay itself with the sea caves


My better half struggling back up in the distance


By this time, we felt like nothing else we would see would match what we already saw and would only be a letdown. However, we were randomly googling for anything else to do in Zakynthos and came across a blog that showed us a view point called Myzirthes. Since we had the whole afternoon in front of us, we thought there was no harm in checking it out. Good thing we did as it was another view where we had to pick our jaws up from the floor.

Jaw dropping view point


The sandy beach at the base of this rock outcrop


A small boat circling the rock


Now, completely satiated and with nothing much to do, we wound down our trip with a relaxing coastal drive through the island via Olive and Orange groves. I don't think I have spent a more pleasant afternoon in my life. Our ferry back to the mainland was at 6.30 PM and we made it well in time. We were however not to end the day at the ferry port of Kyllini but would drive a further hour or so to get to the 3rd largest Greek city of Patras. We had booked another amazing airbnb here in Patras as the next day was relatively light for us and we wanted to pamper ourselves. The place lived up to its pictures on airbnb and we were coming to the end of our vacation.

Best drives ever, Olive groves like this on the one side and coastal views on the other.

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Day 10, 31st December and Day 11, 1st of January: The last 2 days of our trip were going to be relaxed. We got the heavy sightseeing and hiking out of the way and we only had a visit to the Archaeological site of Delphi to finish on this day before we returned to Athens and headed back to India. We had taken an airbnb in the beautiful Greek city of Patras by driving a little post our ferry ride back to the mainland the previous night. Patras is an amazing city with a view of the ocean from almost every roof top. The streets are all planted with Orange trees and were laden to the brim with fruit. Every house had a few orange trees at least and we couldn't help ourselves from plucking out a few from our airbnb and demolishing them.

We had a terrace to ourself in our airbnb and had a heavy breakfast with a view of the ocean flanked by mountains. We were in no hurry to leave as the heater in the house and the views from the terrace kept us cozy and sated. We finally left around 9.30 AM and did the 2.5 hour drive to the Delphi ruins and museum. The best part of the day was the beautiful drive itself. The constant sight of blue waters on one side when we were in no hurry at all made it an exquisite experience.

Beautiful drive to Delphi from Patras


Accompanied by coastal views throughout



Even if one has very little interest in seeing ruins, one should definitely do the drive to Delphi for the scenery. The ruins themselves are located on the top of a mountain overlooking a valley and that is what gives the otherwise paltry ruins an aura. The ruins and the museum itself are quite blah compared to what we have in India and it is a lesson in marketing and management how the Greeks have made ordinary looking ruins into a world famous historical site.

Ruins with a pretty background


I believe this is the temple of Apollo, but didn't look like much


Another stadium that wasn't very impressive


Nice views down the valley


We spent an hour or so at the ruins and the museum taking pics to do justice to the ticket price and were on our way to Athens around 1.30 PM. The drive to Athens was super fast and we had booked a hotel in central Athens in an area called Kolanaki from where we could explore the important city squares by foot. After freshening up in the room, we left the hotel at 5 PM and began our journey on foot with our car being parked in a pay and park nearby for us to collect it the next morning on our way to the airport.

Being the last day of the year, central Athens was teeming with locals and tourists alike enjoying supper/dinner/coffee in the hundreds of quaint cafes with street seating and cozy heaters near each table. A couple of hours of shopping for souvenirs and chocolates and other treats made us hungry too. Soon, we hit the highly touristy Syntagma square and chose a nice looking cafe to have the last supper of the year 2022. The place was vegetarian friendly and the waiter readily suggested a veg Moussaka and a veg Souvlaki and some fries to start off with. The fare was excellent and we wolfed down our dinner with relish. Post dinner, we visited the Monstraski square and a cathedral in the area. The entirety of central Athens was lit up and it was a lovely place to walk about aimlessly. Finally, we made our way back to our hotel in Kolanaki square and called it a night early.

Athens nicely decked up


This is Syntagma square, which is a tourist hotspot


The next morning, we got ready lazily and since our flight was at 2 PM, we had plenty of time on our hands. We went out again at around 9 AM for an hour's walk and stopped at a Patisserie and had the most heavenly cheese pie and spinach cheese pie for breakfast. A great end to the trip before we checked out, collected our car from the pay and park and drove for one last time on the butter topped expressways of Athens. We returned the car and made our way to the checkin counter with loads of time to spare and returned home with plenty of fond memories of a country blessed with immense natural beauty.

[Aditya]

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[veerubhai]

Breathtaking pics of the Sea and nature! Very nicely written covering major site seeing places of Greece. Tourists flock to the ancient ruins which are maintained with great pride in Athens.

Brought my old memories of Athens visit 2 decades ago. During my trip to Greece , visited Acropolis, the renovated amphitheater (which you mentioned as stadia) , Delphi (seat of Oracle) and the ancient Olympics stadium etc . Greece has lots of history!

[Annibaddh]

What lovely images. Reminds me of our drive around Santorini, and Athens to Delphi/Meteora all those years back. The mainland is incredibly underrated. Some of the roads are pure joy to have a nice ride and good company. And the food! Gyros and Souvlaki became my new favorite foods. Most memorable bit was actually the drive down from Thira to the Satorini ferry terminal as the dusk fell. Incredible views and surreal landscape.

What a joyful travelogue mate. Brought back some memories.

[sup?]

Originally Posted by Annibaddh

Most memorable bit was actually the drive down from Thira to the Satorini ferry terminal as the dusk fell. Incredible views and surreal landscape.

Santorini is definitely one of those places that lives up to its hype, isn't it? I have a time lapse of the sunset from our villa that I would rate as the best video I have ever shot. We were so thankful that we went there in the winter when you don't need to jostle with thousands of tourists to view the sunset.

[rajeevsulu]

Lovely write up. Fantastic pictures as well. I feel it is better to hit such places in the offseason. The European and American travellers hit Greece fot the sun in Summer. We have enough and more of it here. Less crowded, clean places are what we get in winters. Travel may be limited and probably expensive but the peace and beauty, surreal.

[vinya_jag]

Thanks for those Stunning views. Some of your photos were Postcard like. Thank you for stopping by and spending those extra minutes to grab those clicks for us all

[TN20CQ5187]

I have been having Greece in my list for a long time now. And your travelogue and Pictures increases the urge to do it as soon as possible.

Excellent travelogue & the pictures are so compelling. The blue beaches are one of my favorites. I just have a few questions about the trip.
1. How easy is it to take a self driving car, the documentation process and the cost involved.?
2. How well can we survive in Greece with English for communication, or do we need to hire a local guide?

Finally, thanks for taking the time out to write such an extensive travelogue.