Six day Itinerary to Athens and Crete

Prerequisites: Gang of friends, international driving licence with atleast two of them!

Three of my college friends and I were planning this trip since long. It was a trip that was designed with more of catching up in mind, rather than tourism, and boy, this trip was an ideal place to hang out with dear old friends.

Day 0: 

Two of us from India landed in Athens airport at 1 pm. That's when most flights from India land. Keeping in mind our next day trip again from the airport, we (pre)decided to stay close to the airport. We had booked in an apartment (Four Seasons apartment, the host Miltos was an awesome host) in Artemida, a fifteen minute drive off airport by cab. Keep in mind, the city of Athens is a good hour away from the airport. After freshening up, we ordered food to the room. Food is good in Greece in general, both for vegetarians and non vegetarians. Rice is quite a stable carbohydrate accompaniment here. 

1600.

Post lunch, we headed by Uber to the city of Athens. There are multiple places to see in Athens, but it was a place I had been to earlier. I had to chose two sights for my friend to see; I decided to take to him to the Acropolis first.

1700.

Walk up to the Acropolis, and purchase tickets to the Acropolis and the slopes. It is around 5 Euros per head. You will be given a time to enter. We entered at 1730. First head to the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, which is a stone Roman amphitheatre. It is an amazing site for photos and the steep slopes of the ampihteatre will make us wonder how great it would be to listen to a show here, There are shows that you could attend, but that is at a specific time from another entrance.

                      

Climb up the slopes of the Acropolis. Enjoy the historic architecture of the  Acropolis. Don't get stuck long in clicking photos while climbing upwards, as the best part is at the top. At the top of the Acropolis mountain, enjoy panoramic views of the whole of Athens, Wear good shoes, don't forget!

Don't make funny poses here, this is a holy site

Its quite likely you will get stuck here clicking a lot of photos. Head down in an hour.

1830. 

Enjoy a cool lime or strawberry slush near the ticketing office. 

Here is the catch. The sun sets quite late in summers, so you may go to the Parthenon and Temple of Olympian Zeus, both of which are quite similar, but well worth visiting. Cabs are easily available at the Acropolis

We headed out to the Panatheniac stadium

1900. 

Panatheniac stadium.

It was built in 330 BC, how renovated over years. Presently it is made up of marble. The official handing over of the olympic torch to the host nation occurs every Olympic year here in this place. It was also the site of ancient athletic events. It was destroyed and rebuilt several times. The present complex looks very beautiful.

1930./2130 (According the the number of places visited) :

Head back to Artemida.

2030. 

If you have not had dinner already, head to the beach of Artemida. We had dinner at the Archontikon, which was right beside the beach. The sunset occurred at 2045, which can be quite a change for a people coming from India, The variety of food on offer was great. 

2200. Crash!

Day 1

We had two of friends come over from the US in the morning and it was great catching up. Personally picked up some breakfast from a local bakery, and boy was it yum!

The scheme was to take the trip nice and slow, so all we did the whole morning was chat. We checked out at 1 pm, and headed over the the Archontikon for lunch. The view from the beach is quite different from it was during the twilight hours. 

1400 

Our host rode us past a viewing point on a hill near the Agios loannis Prodormos church, from where you can get an entire panoramic view of the Artemida town, which was beautiful. We got dropped off at the Athens airport.

1750. Skyjet flight from Athens to Heraklion, Crete. This flight is notorious for being late, so expect it!

1930. 

We reached Heraklion. We had prebooked a car. Always do that in Crete, as it is not Uber or coach friendly. Fortunately, our two US friends found it easier with their licences and their experience in left hand drive cars to drive around. For Indians, it can be quite confusing in the narrow roads of Greece, especially when confronted suddenly by a bus coming in the centre of the road from the opposite direction. Our knee jerk reaction would be to push the car towards the left side of the road, which could be disastrous 😀.

Although there are numerous hotels and apartments in Heraklion, it is to be noted that Heraklion is one side of Crete, and everyday travel would be difficult. Also, it is quite crowded. We decided to book our vacation villa in Rethymno, a city in the centre of the northern coast of Crete. It is less crowded (relatively) and accommodation is a little cheaper. The drive was of one hour, We reached Villa Diana in Rethymno at 930 pm and ordered food, which was again delicious, 

An hour in the Jacuzzi. (a great value add) and catching up completed day 1 of the trip. Crashed an hour past midnight.

Day 2

Get up late and have a lazy breakfast

1100. 

Reach the castle side beach road at Rethymno. Plenty of parking spaces here (cheat code). You could climb up to the castle from here, which would offer you panoramic views of the whole town and seashore. We decided to walk along the road, and laze around at the restaurants by the sea side, once for beer and once for lunch. 

1400. 

Head towards the city centre Rethymno. Plenty of shopping opportunities, but dont miss the icecream shops here. You can easily spend a couple of hours here.

1600. 

Head back to the room, and rest in the afternoon. 

          OR

Head towards the Marina and go parasailing. I heard its an awesome experience, and I still kick myself for missing it

1830. 

Dip in the pool in the evening or drive to the city centre again, where you get views of the sea as the sun sets.

2030. Manadatory Jacuzzi time.😁

Day 3.

1000 to 1130. 

Drive to the Agia Sofia caves. You will probably stop in numerous locations on the way for great photo oppurtunities by the sea, and also by the valleys. Park near thr Agia Sofia Caves.

1130 to 1300. 

Climb the 210 steps up the caves. I was breathless, needless to say, on the way up. However, once you reach the summit, the trip in the caves is well worth it. There is a small church in the caves, but also numerous stalactites and stalagmites. Awesome place for photos.

1300 to 1400. 

Head back a short distance where you reach a hamlet with restaurants right next to a beautiful valley. The views are stunning and the food awesome. Do not forget to use the washroom here!

1400 to 1500. 

Drive to the Kedrodasos beach. After parking the car, it entails walking down a rough path to the beach. It is not your sandy beach, but boyoboy, I will not be exaggerating when I say that it was probably the most picturesque beach i have ever been to. Instagrammers beware; you may go nuts here. Dont get too wet here, spare your swim clothes for the next destination. Walk up back to the car.

1500 to 1530. 

Drive to the Elafonesi Beach. 

1530 to 1830. 

Elafonesi beach. This is is much more popular beach. After parking the car, you again need to walk a good kilometre or so. So its better to use the paid bathrooms at the parking itself.  This beach is famous for two things, a walk through the crystal clear waters to a nearby island, and the red coloured sand near the isalnd due to the phytoplanktons. This beach is much more crowded, and the water is clean . You will get pretty wet here, so dont forget to pack your beach wear!. The salinity is high and you can float in this water so easily! You probably wouldn't want to leave the place, to be frank. Grab a coffee up near the parking again, and use the washrom again as its a long drive back

2100. Reach Rethymno and eat your dinner before heading back. We decided to eat Indian on this day. 

2330. Try to sleep early!

Day 4

0530: 

Begin your drive from Rethymno to the Heraklion Marina 

0730. 

Check into one of the boats towards Santorini. (Always prebook). You can drive your car into the boat. We had taken the Power Jet Boat from the Seajets company.

0800. 

Boat leaves from Heraklion. Have your breakfast in the jet. Cannot comment much on the quality of the food and coffee. Walk upto the open deck at the top. Be prepared for choppy waters and rocking from one side to the other! It was an amazing experience.

1100. 

Drive out of the boat into Santorini, and drive towards Oia village, the so called Instagrammers paradise.

1200-1300. Roam around Oia. Don't expect anything similar to Instagram here. Its very crowded. For a quick pic opportunity, walk up to the main square church. After reaching there, take a right till you reach another small church. Get into the lane just beyond it, walk a few steps down, where you will find a closed gate. That's it. There will be a line of tourists waiting to take a photo at the 'perfect spot' where you get the whole village, the blue rooftops, the white houses and the sea coast. You could walk around in certain small lanes to experience the local culture and buy some momentos. Almost at every lane, you might want to take a picture. But remember, there will always be people hustling around, so it may be impossible to get a very serene photo. Stop for a frozen yoghurt.

1300 to 1330. 

Drive to the Red beach. On the way, there are some places for panoramic photos shoots with distant white coloured villages.

1330 to 1500. 

After parking the car, be prepared for a brief hike around a small mountain to reach the place. The red beach was awesome and not to be missed, as it offers an unique perspective into the nature that defines Greece. Have a quick lunch near the parking. Alternatively visit the black sandy beach which is also supposed to be very picturesque. 

1500 to 1630. 

Travel to Pyrgos. Climb up to the highest point of Santorini for panoramic views and walk around in the relatively less crowded but equally beautiful narrow lanes. Start back on time

1700. 

Ferry back to Heraklion. Catch a small nap, or have a refreshing coffee, or both!

1900. 

Drive back from Heraklion to Rethymno. On the way, we stopped for dinner at a place called Bali (I know, I know). The restaurants over here were also in a superb location by the sea. 

2130. 

Back to Rethymno. Jacuzzi, shower and crash!

Day 5

1000. 

Drive to the Preveli gorge.

1100-1200. 

Preveli Gorge. This is the speciality of this islands. The mountains are almost adjacent to the sea, and this place seems so far away from any potential beach. Its a beautiful valley and you can spend your time hiking down the Gorge. The greenery around is beautiful

1200. 

Drive to Preveli palm beach. There are two approaches to this one. One is from the hill road near Preveli monastery. The views look stunning , but if you look at the path towards the beach, you will surely wonder how difficult it would be to climb up once you are there. Most people would make the sensible decision to turn back and drive to another road that takes you closer to an adjoining beach at Preveli itself, from where there is a brief hike around a hill to the original beach.

1300. 

Lunch at the Cafe.

1400. 

Walk along the mountain towards the Preveli beach. Unless you know how to swim well, this beach is a disappointment, as its floors of the beach are not sandy, but full of pointy pebbles and stones that really hurt. But the best part was the small rivulet that forms a lagoon before it joins the sea. This will give you a stunning view of the Preveli Palm Grove This was amazing and gives a beautiful place to take a dip and take photos.

1500. 

Travel to Skinaria Beach. 

1530 to 1630. 

This is a stunningly beautiful beach, and not very crowded. You can have a serene dip here in the crystal clear waters.

1630. 

Coffee at the nearby cafe.

1700. 

Drive back to Rethymno, go back to the castle road, and enjoy a super long dinner at the Sunset restaurant. Oh ,the sunset is extremely beautiful here!

2100. 

Villa, and u guessed it right, jacuzzi, shower and crash.

Day 6. 

Slow start, pack your bags and check out at 1100

1100. 

Drive back to town, shop for family (that's a must, isn't it?), have a leisurely lunch at one of the restaurants near the marina, and icecream

1430. 

Headback to Heraklion 

1630. 

Signoff the car, feel a separation anxiety, and head to the airport, which will be chaotic at that time. If you have a priority pass, better to be seated at the lounge , till the hostess tells you its time to leave. If you leave earlier, you will get stuck for a while as these flights are frequently late.

1930. 

Flight to Athens

2100. 

Have dinner at Athens airport

2200. Check back into the same hotel where you had initially stayed. We had stayed in the Four seasons apartment in Artemida, remember?

Day 7. 

Head back to Athens airport and fly back home.

What a memorable trip it was!