Many people, myself included, think that going on vacation to Greece is out of their reach. I’m here to tell you it’s not.
Greece averages 35+ million visitors per year. That many people wouldn’t be going there if it was outrageously expensive.
My first opportunity to visit Greece was in 2010. My husband is Greek and has 4 first-cousins who live there. One of his cousins, along with his wife, came to visit in 2009. They used to live in our community, him coming from Greece to work for a few years, and she was an American-born Greek who lived in our city. They met while he was here, married, and moved back to Greece where they have been ever since.
While here, they invited us to come visit. It was a dream come true. We spent about 4 days in Athens seeing the sites, and then rented a car to visit the family in southwest Greece. There we spent 5 days with the family before heading back to Athens to catch a flight home.
My sister and her husband came along on this trip. I love traveling with them and could not imagine experiencing my dream of visiting Greece without my sister.
Our accommodations in Athens was a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment that I found on VRBO. The cost was $400-$500 for the 4 days we were there so that was about $200-$250 per couple. Our rental car for the entire trip was about $800, or $400 per couple. We split the cost of fuel. In southwest Greece there is a beautiful rental next door to ‘the family’ with two bedrooms / two bathrooms, that we again split and I honestly don’t remember what the cost was. Our greatest expense was the flights. Since then prices have gone up but if you travel with family or friends, it’s affordable.
Since 2010 we’ve been back there 3 more times…2015, 2019, and 2021. We are scheduled to go again this year.
The fact is that if I had not met and married my ‘Greek Man’, I most likely would have never been able to, or thought I’d be able to, go to Greece. The first two trips were spent on the mainland and the trip in 2019 we spent some of our time on Santorini. My husband’s sister joined us for this time so while planning this trip, I wanted to get to at least one island. Everything I ever dreamed of related to Greece was on Santorini.
I’m sure almost everyone has seen pictures of the Greek islands, the blue water, the white buildings with blue domes / roofs. The mainland did not show me the pictures I had in my mind but Santorini did. And yes, the blue water that you see in pictures is actually that blue.
While researching Santorini, I saw pictures of rentals, houses and restaurants nestled in the hillsides overlooking the sea. The pictures I saw are what was in my minds eye and I knew I had to see it this time. In my research, I found a restaurant that had good reviews, amazing views, and an excellent menu. I emailed them to set a date and time for dinner. The day we arrived for dinner, the restaurant was virtually empty because of the time of day. Most Europeans eat later in the evening…unlike this American who eats dinner at 5. The host told us to pick any table we wanted. As I walked along the outer row of tables overlooking the sea and the Caldera, I chose a table. As soon as I sat down and really noticed the view, I burst into tears at the amazing beauty that I never dreamed I would see. It was more than breath-taking.
Our trip in 2021 included my husband’s son and his wife. We did the usual ‘Athens tour’ so they could see the Parthenon and then we headed to Kyllini (a port town on the western coast) to catch a ferry to Zakynthos – an island in the Ionian Sea. I found amazing accommodations for us in a two-bedroom / two-bath house out in the country. Not far from town, new construction, immaculate, swimming pool, garage, security gate and system, and amazing owners. With our rental car we toured a lot of the island, ate amazing food, shopped, and just explored.
This year we’re going with more family members and will be visiting yet another island in the Ionian Sea. I just can’t seem to get enough of Greece. I love the people, the culture, the food, the weather…and everything else they have to offer.
Greece is heaven on earth! Life is short…book a trip!
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