One Full Week in Greece
I am just recently back from another trip abroad and this time we went to Greece! I was there for 16 days and I learned a lot on this trip that I want to share with you so that the best time with spending one full week in Greece with the this itinerary when you go to Greece. This way you have an even better time than we did with this 7 day itinerary in Greece!
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So the most popular Itinerary in Greece is doing a Athens, Mykonos, & Santorini – which is what we did for our first leg. While those are fantastic islands I definitely want to recommend checking out other islands in Greece and even extending your trip past seven days if you can!
The itinerary that I am suggesting is exactly what we did, with some adjustments, to have an even better time based on what we learned along the way.
Day 1 Arrive in Athens
Drop your bags at the hotel desk and go explore. You’re most likely going to land in Athens before 2 PM because most flights that are international land before 2pm. If you didn’t set up a shuttle before you for the grace there is a taxi line right outside the #2 door of the airport terminal and it’s about 35 euros and a 30 minute drive for 2 people into the city of Athens.
There are a lot of people that will stay further away from the city near the port to save some money but honestly if you’re only staying in Athens for one night you should make the most of your time and stay as close as possible to all of the attractions.
You don’t need a car in Athens, you can walk pretty much everywhere & you can download the Uber app and it works just like it does the United States except it calls taxis for you.
We stayed at the Athens Gate hotel and it’s a four-star hotel very close to the Acropolis. I highly recommend it the beds were the most comfortable there of anybody we slept in on the entire trip. They have a wonderful view of the Parthenon and a delicious breakfast everyday. I did have a chance to stay at another hotel in Athens on the way home and it didn’t compare yo our stay at the Athens Gate Hotel.
Once you’re in Athens go explore! Grab a coffee & go walk through all the streets, do some shopping (I think Athens had the best prices of our entire trip), and eat some Gelato! You can buy a €30 combined access ticket to the sites and use it over multiple days so I’d suggest checking out Ancient Agora & Roman Agora today. Plan got an early dinner at Sunset then call it a night if you’re feeling the jet lag or go find a bar to hang out in in Plaka. Save the walk up to the Parthenon for the next early morning before it gets too hot.
Day 2 in Athens
Get up early today! Pack your bags and leave them at the front desk to pick up later. It’s a good idea to leave your day 2 outfit & necessities in a small bag so you’re not repacking you’re entire luggage again.
After breakfast you should walk straight up the acropolis to the Parthenon and see all the temples before it gets too hot. After visiting the acropolis you can do one of two things – go visit all the sites by yourself or find a walking tour with a local guide before going to lunch. Most of the walking tours will walk around the acropolis, most of them do not go inside of it. There are a few that will go inside of it though. You can find a tour on Airbnb or GetYourGuide. Some of the ones on GetYourGuide come with the 30 euro all access ticket – make sure you read through the inclusions! A guided tour isn’t 100% necessary as all the areas have a QR code you can scan and read/hear more about each site but our guide was so full of knowledge & answered every question we had. I honestly would recommend having a guide because you’re only spending one day in Athens, you should make the most of your time. After lunch go explore anything you haven’t already, a few recommendations:
- Go shopping, prices are better here then any of the islands
- Have a super long delicious lunch
- get your toes nibbled by the fish
- Visit the Little Kook cafe for drinks or dessert
- Go to the Acropolis Museum, its stunning
Skip the nap and push through any jet lag with my favorite drink while I was in Greece, a frappe! Then tonight after exploring all of Athens you’re taking a short flight over to Mykonos and checking into the hotel so that you wake up on your first island feeling refreshed!
Side Note: We did this party differently, we spent a second night in Athens and took a ferry the next morning. It was a 7 AM ferry so we had to be at the dock by 6 AM due to the new Covid procedures.
I wouldn’t recommend the 7am ferry at all. First off you’re waking up super early on vacation and some people like to sleep in, secondly you are betting on perfect weather. While we didn’t experience this I ran into people that got stuck on their ferry for several hours because it couldn’t dock because of the wind which took away from their vacation time on the island. Ferries are great in Greece most of the time but if you go when it gets windy there’s a chance this happens to you. The flight is about the same price as the Sea Jets fast ferry but a lot quicker.
Day 3-5 in Mykonos
There’s so much to do in Mykonos, way more then what you see on social media.
Of course you have to go visit Little Venice, the wind mills & the iconic church. There’s also lots of night life. I highly recommend checking out Scandavian Bar, it was quite fun. Find a fun spot to sit & have a few drinks, Negrita had a wonderful drink menu and you cant beat the view. They have a minimum of €120 at night but during the day you can stop by for just wondering if you’d like. Mykonos also has wonderful beaches. If you’re only going to be in Greece visiting Athens Mykonos and Santorini then Mykonos is definitely spot to have some beach time.
There are lots of beach clubs – they almost all require reservations so definitely get those in advance. we had a fantastic time at Super Paradise & heard great things about Jackie-O ‘s as well. Both charge for the beds. Super Paradise was €50 for two beds and five euros per towel. If you aren’t into beach clubs there are a ton of beaches you can just go set your stuff down at and relax.
How should you get around Mykonos?
There are a few options. You can rent an ATV, I wouldn’t recommend renting a scooter unless you are highly versed at crazy traffic. If you plan on renting anything do it MONTHS in advance. Especially if you’re going during the summer. Rentals book up very fast. I personally wouldn’t recommend driving a car in Mykonos, it’s more stressful then useful if Im honest. There are water taxis that will take you to the different beaches. There’s also a pretty good number of drivers. I definitely recommend downloading WhatsApp and getting a driver/taxis number from the front desk of your hotel while in Mykonos.
Where should you stay in Mykonos?
We stayed at San Marco Hotel which was a wonderful 5 star hotel outside the town. It has a shuttle that runs into Mikonos town several times a day. The only downside of our hotel was the location in proximity to the town but the complimentary shuttle was helpful for sure. They also had the best breakfast of all the hotels we stayed at on our entire trip, They even included champagne! We picked this hotel because of pricing & amenities, next time I would stay closer to Mikonos town though it is more expensive. If you stay on any other part of the island I would definitely have a plan for getting around the island.
3 full days & nights should be a good amount of time on Mykonos to explore & relax. You can always extend your time but if you’re trying to only go for one full week in Greece then 3 days is perfect.
Day 6 – 8 it’s time to head to Santorini!
The last stop on your full week in Greece is Santorini, on Day 6 head to Santorini via ferry! I recommend the Sea jets fast ferry as it’ll get you there mid day. Schedule your transportation from the port ahead of time and start exploring after you’ve checked in at the hotel. You can book all your ferry’s on the ferryhopper website.
While in Santorini I highly recommend exploring Thira, Oia, & Ammoudi Bay, and doing as much of the caldera hike as you can (it starts in Thira and Is about 7 miles to OIA). The views on the hike are amazing. If 7 miles is too much you can do half of it by starting in Thira & ending at the halfway point at Cavo Tagoo hotel or starting at Cavo Tagoo and ending in OIA. Most of our group did half, I bailed at 4.5 miles at San Antonio hotel.
Tip: What’s app a taxi service (+30 697 247 3824 is the number we used in Santorini to get around) they’ll take you the rest of the way to OIA so you can go have lunch & explore more.
I also HIGHLY recommend a sunset cruise. The sunset cruise we did was so professionally done, they do private & shared boats. The crew was a lot of fun and I highly recommend booking with them. Everyone wants to see that picturesque sunset in Santorini and it’s much better from a restaurant enjoying dinner or on a sail boat in the ocean. We had dinner at Naoussa in Thira one night and had a fantastic time watching the sunset from the restaurant.
If you started on Saturday then day 9 is a Sunday for you and it’s time to fly home. You can take a direct flight back from Santorini or take an early AM flight to Athens then go up to the international terminal for your flight home.
Where should you stay in Santorini?
My suggestion is Thira, If you aren’t sure where to book check out the map feature on Booking.com to find hotels within walking distance to town. For reference to why I say stay in Thira – We stayed in Pyrgos and although it was cheaper it was a pain driving into town via taxi each day because the buses weren’t on time ever. I didn’t particularly enjoy our hotel in Pyrgos so I have no recommendation on specific hotel here other then staying closer to all the things you want to see & do. Staying in OIA (pronounced E-ah) is very popular because of the view but it definitely comes with a much higher price tag.
Other Greek Island Recommendations
Hopefully you’ve had an amazing time exploring Greece while getting some relaxation in. If you’re looking for more island recommendations for Greece check out my guides on Crete & Milos. Another island I think is wonderful but haven’t made it up yet is Zakynthos. Looking for tips on packing and what to bring? I have a guide for that too! Coming from an over packer I DEFINITELY think one full week in Greece can be done with hand luggage only, or as we like to call it – a carry on.
