Greek Island Hopping - Milos, Santorini, Paros, Mykonos, + Athens

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Keith009

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We went to Milos, Santorini, Paros and Mykonos (plus Athens) last September and absolutely loved our first visit to Greece. I keep meaning to write up a proper TR 'at some point' but life took over so hopefully this abridged report of sorts helps someone. Happy to answer any questions.

Breakdown of itinerary:
3 nights in Athens
6 nights in Milos (our designated veg out spot)
2 nights in Santorini
3 nights in Paros
2 nights in Mykonos
Final night in Athens prior to flying home the following day

Greece is a wonderful country filled with the most charming people.

I am so glad that I did not skip Mykonos (hesitated because I read very mixed/polarised reviews). It is easily a million times better than Santorini, and remains one of the 2 equal-favourite parts of the trip.

Got upgraded to an amazing suite at the Mykonos Blu thanks to Virtuoso, and its private section on Psarou Beach is fab. Great for a luxury beach holiday with very swimmable beaches and solid fine dining.




The beach clubs were winding down (was in early Oct by the time we got to Mykonos, nearly the end of the season) but we had a great time and got to turn 18 again anyway. :p Mykonos is really just insanely effing fun!

 
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Oia in Santorini was stunning (and we loved our stay at Maregio suites which was in a nice & private part of Oia near that Byzantine castle thing with amazing sunset views) but once we've gotten our fill of 'that view' and selfies with the famous blue domes, there wasn't much of interest. Food was also largely expensive and sub-standard in Santorini (I can however recommend Roka in Oia) whereas there are loads more options in Mykonos and Paros. The only beach in Santorini was a bit of a mission to get to (we didn't bother and spent almost our entire time in our suite - had a private plunge pool), and I was out of breath the whole time thanks to all the stairs!




 
Milos blew us away with scenery that I can best describe as otherworldly. Loads of beautiful beaches (Firopotamos was my favourite) and quiet swimming coves to discover. Definitely go on a boat cruise to see Klefiko, Sieka and something else I can't spell. But we were based in Pollonia and even though it's a cute little town we quickly tired of the very limited food options over the course of our week long stay there. Less than 10 restaurants and they almost exclusively serve seafood. 4 nights here would have been sufficient, not a week long veg out haha. Renting a car is a must here as public transport is nearly non-existent.





 

If I were to re-plan the trip - Paros would have been an even better veg out spot with heaps of nice restaurants and bars. Naoussa in particular was pretty cool with a reasonably happening nightlife even in late season, though all the beach clubs have already shut for the season. Nightlife is said to be pretty great when in-season.




 

Also did the day trip to Antiparos which was quite a bit bigger than I expected. Worth at least an overnight stay next time.


Would definitely head back to both Paros and Mykonos. Loved Athens too - underrated party town, and food was inviting and delicious plus very cheap. Don't just 'transit through' Athens as a lot of people would advise. We stayed at Hotel Lozenges in Kolonaki which was amazing value and easily walkable to shops, restaurants and bars.

And of course it wouldn't be a trip without some quality coughtails and I got to tick the Clumsies (ranked #7 on best 50 bars) off the list.


We planned our ferry itinerary around the islands using ferryhopper.com. It allows multi-sector bookings which helped immensely, and didn't charge any mark ups or service fees. SantoriniDave's website was also a great resource for hotel reviews and comparisons of the different islands.
 
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Some gorgeous photos there. We were in Athens in June last year and had some great food. I would definitely like to visit some of the islands, so your mini report is very helpful :)
 
Thanks for the report. How was the sea water temperature in October- and what was the latest date you were there? I'll be in Rhodes in mid October and hoping it will still swimming weather.
 
Kolo said:
Thanks for the report. How was the sea water temperature in October- and what was the latest date you were there? I'll be in Rhodes in mid October and hoping it will still swimming weather.
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Sorry the report isn't in chronological order, just a stream of my consciousness. We were actually there from mid September to first week of October. Water temp was lovely - warm enough to swim, but not too hot like the July/August peaks. It was very cloudy on our last day in Mykonos on 4 Oct (before we headed back to Athens), so I'd imagine that weather in Oct is less predictable compared to September.
 
Pushka said:
A little sob from me. These are the islands plus a couple of smaller ones that we were going to visit on our Yacht Greek cruise that I cancelled yesterday.
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Greek islands will be there waiting for you once these storm clouds blow over Pushka. Spent 6 weeks in Greece last year so agree it's hard to see those photos 👍
 
Thanks for the TR. Some beautiful colours in those photos. It looked like a great holiday.
 
Another enjoyable report. Paros & Antiparos were the spots we stayed & we loved our time on both. Thanks for the tips in post 5
 
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