Greek island hopping

[soooexcited!]

So a bit of background first.
I met my friend in Kos 26 years ago we lived nearby and have been friends since. I'm now happy single with kids growing fast. I have a mid century birthday later this year and this trip has been in my thoughts for years. When I mentioned I wanted to go she happily agreed to come with me. She was happy to let me arrange things👍
I looked at doing packages but ruled that out on cost alone. Ive been to Greece quite a few times over the years and fell in love with its charm on that first visit. Didn't want to visit places we've been to but explore new ones. The cost of a 10 night package was about £1500 to £1800😬
We opted for the Cyclades flying into Athens and home from Santorini.
Flew BA from Heathrow to Athens approx £300 each with 23kg luggage.
Parked and stayed at the Holiday inn for £130. It was functional but the room stunk of smoke.

[Sandra & co]

I’m waiting for the next bit, off to Kefalonia in August after only being to Corfu on the Greek islands but a few times to Cyprus x

[soooexcited!]

Flight from Heathrow took off 30 mins late but made some time up en route. We booked a private taxi transfer with Town transfers to get us from the airport to Piraeus. Cost €44. Sadly the chap was nowhere to be seen. A very nice man waiting for other passengers called the number for me. He said he would be 10 mins. 2 hours later another nice Greek man and a very unhelpful customer service desk lady later he turned up. Very apologetic we weren't down for pick up. Long and short we should have just jumped in one of the plentiful taxi and agreed a price. Took 50 mins to get to Piraeus. I had low expectations here but I was pleasantly surprised. Lovely harbour nice places to eat. I booked our hotels on booking.com. The hotel Lilia cost €58 euros was clean basic good selection at breakfast. They called us a taxi to get to the port the next morning that came in 2 mins.
My friend Tracey x

[soooexcited!]

I pre booked our ferry tickets online with blue star ferries. Really easy to do and advisable to prebook during the summer months. I booked them back in Feb/March but this early in the season we could have paid at the port. On our first night in Greece we dropped our bags at the hotel and walked 10 mins to the kiosk windows on the harbour to collect our tickets. You can do this before sailing but you need to allow longer to board. Piraeus to Mykonos cost €58 for the two of us. We booked the cheapest seats which were on the upper deck cafe area. Cases had to be stowed on the car deck. We departed at 7:15 and arrived at 11:45.

[soooexcited!]

Arrived in Mykonos on time nice smooth crossing. I think if I do it again I'd pay slightly more and book a more comfy air seat but it was ok where we sat for the price. We arrived into Mykonos to be met by a man from the hotel giving us a free private transfer to our hotel. Very nice touch and much appreciated. Again I booked on booking.com and booked two nights at the Anna Maria hotel. Wow wow and wow! I only booked 2 nights in Mykonos knowing how expensive it can be. We paid €243 for a standard twin room for the two of us. On arrival we were greeted by a lovely friendly lady who said we had been given a free upgrade to a deluxe twin room. Never happened to me before. The room was three times the size of the others with a huge wrap around balcony overlooking the pool and down to the sea.

Breakfast was included which was a good selection of continental ann fried eggs scrambled and Greek sausage as well as Greek pastries and yoghurt.

[soooexcited!]

The hotel was in Glastros which for us was perfect. 10 mins taxi to the port 5-10 min bus trip to the busy centre. Supermarket couple of minutes bus stop outside and 3 restaurants all just a short walk. The bus was €1.80 one journey goes up to €2.30 after midnight. Runs every half hour ish Greek time. The bus goes to Fabrikia which is the busy drop off point for the centre and pick up for other destinations. There's a qiosk to buy tickets or you pay on the bus.

[disneypars]

Sounds really exciting!

[valegroovers]

I just love Greece😍
Brings back memories from when I went island hopping 31yrs ago when I was 18😳. My friend and I started in Crete then went to Ios, then Paros followed by Naxos before heading back to Crete. It was the most amazing holiday ever.
Have an awesome time creating everlasting memories.

[soooexcited!]

So Mykonos can be very very expensive but it doesn't have to be if your careful. If you choose to pay for the two sunbeds for €40 and the cocktails at €15 a go yep you can spend a fortune. The best beaches charge €100 for two sunbeds and often turn the less glamorous or poorer looking folk away even if the beach is empty 😬 Did we pay for a sunbed? Did we heck! We took the bus cheaply and walked the bits we wanted to see. I had to go to Agios Ioannis the beach where Shirley Valentine was filmed. One of my all time favourite films. So I picked my cocktail, guess which one? And sipped slowly 😆

Hippie fish the taverna from the film, looking very swanky now

[soooexcited!]

So in Mykonos we mainly wandered around the shops drank ate and swam. For me 2 days was plenty although the hotel was by far the best of the trip and more expensive one per night but worth every penny. To get a bus anywhere we took the bus to fabrika then catch another to another area.