My 45th Birthday in Greece

In one word – STUNNING.

I don’t think I have ever sat in both amazement and silence while on a vacation. At times, I literally would say out loud, “I’m speechless. This place is amazing!”.

Planning for my Greek vacation wasn’t as daunting as I first envisioned. I have never been to this side of the world, and I was eager to explore. Most of my planning was done through Expedia, TripAdvisor and Viator, using the latter as my booking engine for Greek activities. I booked my lodging through Expedia and Marriott Bonvoy (Platinum Elite Status), and then relied on locals for some food recommendations. 

My journey in Greece began in Athens. Dinner in the Sky was my first activity, where we dined at a rotating table, suspended 150 feet in the air, overlooking the views of Athens. I like to get out and see the local sights and culture, so I booked a street art walking tour with a local tour guide, who provided us with culture and history lessons as we walked the streets of Athens. From Athens, I flew to Santorini where I would spend the next 3 days. The resort in Santorini was close to the airport, but secluded. From the resort, it was about a 20 minute taxi to visit the villages of Oia and Fira, my two choices while in Santorini. I ended my trip by returning to Athens for one more day, before flying back home the next day.

In all, the trip was 7 days, but I would recommend 10 days, as there were several things I didn’t get to do simply because I didn’t understand the length of travel it would take from the airport to the hotel and from the airport to another island. I also underestimated the amount of energy I would have traveling back and forth. And because of that, if you want to visit Greece, here are six tips on planning your trip from my point of view:

1. The most expensive thing was the flight. I first checked for flights out of my home airport, Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF). While there were some good options, I wasn’t sure this was the best option, and since I work in the travel and tourism industry, I knew that Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) was probably going to be my best option because of their most recent announcement of a direct flight to Paris. I chose CVG as my airport, and flew overnight from CVG to Paris, and then Paris to Athens. I chose Athens as my base in Greece, because this made me feel the most comfortable in making it to and from the country. Make sure you give yourself a minimum of 2 hours for your layover as navigating the airport in Paris (CDG) was not easy. 
2. Buy a European Travel Plug Adapter. Greece uses two types of plugs, Type C and Type F. I had no idea, but luckily there was at least 1 USB outlet to use in some of the rooms, and I always travel with lithium batteries. But if you have multiple devices to charge you will have to be selective on what you charge and when, so don’t forget to use the outlets on the airplanes to keep any other devices charged. 
3. Make sure you have cash on hand for your smaller transactions, like taxis, snacks and drinks. I didn’t have time to hit the ATM before I landed in Greece, so there was a bit of frustration from the locals with me when using my credit card for those smaller transactions early on during my vacation. And some suppliers do not accept credit cards, so be prepared for that. When making purchases or using the ATM, always choose the local currency versus having them convert it to USD, it will save you in conversion fees. I did make it to the ATM, and once I had cash in hand, everything became much easier.
4. Greece is made up of islands, and each island has villages. There are lots of options here to where you can island hop. When island hopping you can choose a ferry, a faster speed jet boat, or go by plane. When planning to island hop, do your research on the vibe of the island and the villages as some can be relaxing and others can just be one big party. Also take into account the ferry schedules, as some islands can be a 4-5 hour ferry ride away, which means you would need to overnight on that island as there might not be a return trip that day based on your initial departure. 
5. I flew from Athens to Santorini. Just a heads up, the Athens airport and Santorini airports do not operate like the U.S. You need to be paying attention to the screens and your flight times, because when my flight from Athens to Santorini was delayed, the screen at the gate said it was on time. Then when it updated, it didn’t provide us a new time, it just said “LATE”!!! So I stayed close to the gate to make sure I didn’t miss the call. The airport was unorganized, compared to US airports, as the gates are small, people are everywhere, there are tons of announcements being made in both English and Greek. Lastly, we boarded a bus at the gate that took us to the tarmac, which is where we boarded our plane, something that we do not do in the U.S. 
6. The trip from the Athens airport to the hotel, and vice versa is 1 hour, at a minimum. You need to plan for that. I did not…One of my trips took 90 minutes! On day one, we met a terrific taxi driver, and we exchanged information on WhatsApp and I was able to use him for multiple trips around Athens, by just sending him a text. It’s a practice we do in the U.S., so I’m just letting you know it works in Greece too.

To give you a bit of planning inspiration, here is my rough itinerary:

DAY 1 | Fly overnight on the 612p (EST) flight from CVG to CDG to Athens, arriving at 1005a (GMT). 

DAY 2 | Check-in to the hotel, relax, walk around the city and do Dinner in the Sky.

DAY 3 | Take the Athens Street Art Walk at 10a (GMT) and then fly to Santorini that afternoon. Check-in to the resort, and have dinner and cocktails.

DAY 4 | Hit the gym on the resort in the morning. Spend the afternoon and evening in the village of Oia for shopping, food and the sunset. Return to the resort for a late-night swim and Hookah. 

DAY 5 | Get a full body massage at the resort, and lay around the pool with food and cocktails. That evening, take a visit to the village of Fira for dinner and cocktails.

DAY 6 | Fly back to Athens, and enjoy the evening.

DAY 7 | Fly back to the U.S.

This vacation to Greece was one for the ages. The culture – amazing. The views – breathtaking. The locals and staff at the places we visited were some of the nicest people I have ever met, going out of their way to assist, and the vendors were very humble, at times even refusing to take tips. 

Let this serve as your reminder to book that trip to Greece.