Honeymoon in Greece

[WhoseHouse]

I think a few of you have mentioned that you honeymooned in Greece. Please share your experiences/suggestions. Where did you go? For how long? What time of year? Would you recommend it for a honeymoon? Thanks!

 

[Praise of Folly]

Well, I didn't "honeymoon" there but I did encounter a nice honey under the moon.

I was in Italy and Greece for 3 weeks in Aug/Sept. It rained a lot, but that was unusual.

Go to one of the islands of course. Do a Google search on "islands of Greece." You really can't go wrong whichever you choose.

I went to Santorini/Thera, however, it's probably one of the islands that is farthest away. It takes about 10 hours to get there on the boat. Spend a little bit more money to rent a cabin and take the trip overnight so that you can sleep and do your thing. When you get there, rent mopeds (they're cheap) and ride all over the island. I stayed in Perissa but still felt ok riding the approximately 10 miles to Oia. However, don't do it at night. The roads are narrow and there are a lot of tour buses hogging the road.

I spent a lot of time in Athens. Go to Syntagma Square, Monastiraki Square, and Plaka. Check out the markets. Go to Lykavittos Hill during the evening. Naturally, you'll have to go to the Parthenon on the Acropolis. I like urban environments, but you probably want to have a more romantic setting.

There are also some good museums in Athens if you're into that.

Buy gyros to eat from the street vendors. They're safe. It'll be fun and give you more of a sense of the local culture. They cost about a dollar and a quarter when I was there a few years ago.

Don't eat at the restaurants under the umbrellas as all the tourists do. Go to a random leather shop to buy some sandals, a purse, or a backpack and ask the proprietor for a recommendation on a good restaurant. He'll tell you to go to a certain place down the road away from the tourists. That guy also filled up my water bottle from water in his fridge. That was cool. I only speak minimal Greek and the waiter at the restaurant invited me into the kitchen to choose from what they had cooking on their stoves for what I wanted for dinner. I asked him what their 'specialty' was. He brought me some fried cheese, and I'm not talking about that breaded fried cheese that you get in American restaurants. It was cheese that they had fried on a skillet. He brought it out to me and squeezed a lemon over it. That was cool too.

Anyway, good times.

Well, this link didn't work out as well as I would have liked but here you go.

:: Destinations in the mainland
Holidays in Greece is not only about islands : Athens :: Pelion :: Halkidiki :: Delphi :: Epidaurus :: Olympia :: Meteora :: Mycenae :: Monemvasia :: Nafplion :: Nafplion :: More...
:: Destinations in the Greek Islands
There are 1400 islands in Greece: isolated island, cosmopolitan Greece island full of luxury hotels, island with history, etc... You can also make island hopping in Greece.
The most famous are Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Santorini, Skiathos, Skopelos, Corfu, Lefkada, Zakynthos, Aegina, Rhodes, Crete, Kos, Lesvos, Kefalonia, Hydra ...


Cyclades islands, in the middle of the Aegean sea, are the most famous islands of all the Greek destinations :: Cyclades Hotels
Dodecanese Islands, much closer to Asia Minor than to the Greek territory, they are always sunshine and offers to travel into the historical heritage. | Dodecanese Hotels
Ionian Islands, near the Greek western coast, they have boundless sandy beaches, pretty mountains with dense vegetation, clear blue seas, beautiful bays... | Ionian Hotels
Crete Island is the largest one and undoubtedly one of the most beautiful islands to travel to Greece: rich history, picturedque villages, sandy beaches... | Crete Hotels
Eastern Aegean Sea Islands, mountainous and green with long beaches, this group is the less frequented of the Greek seas but not the less interesting. | E. Aegean Hotels
Sporades Islands These islands have maintained their authentic island characteristic with beautiful landscapes, fertile valleys and superb beaches and hotels. | Sporades Hotels
Saronic Gulf Islands are the most accessible islands from Athens. They differ much from the Greek mainland and are the ideal choice for just a few days vacations. | Saronic Hotels

.........

Congratulations on your marriage. Have a good time.

One other thing, depending on how much money or time that you have; it would be cool to take 3-4 days to go to Istanbul as long as you are over there.

 

[TxStHorn]

I went for 2 weeks for honeymoon last July.

We didn't want to leave. Absolutely loved it, and we are planning on going back soon

Booked through Virgin Vacations, told them it was for our honeymoon, and it was awesome. Stayed 3 blocks from the Parthenon in Athens, then an absolutely fantastic place on Mykonos, and then a so-so, but still nice place on Santorini.

Buy Frommer's Greece and Let's Go Greece/Cyclades, and actually follow their advice for restaurants and sightseeing.

The people are very stoic in their demeanor, but extremely friendly and helpful. Just about everyone speaks enough English so that it isn't a problem getting around.

Don't be afraid to try all the different foods. It's all very good.

I'd highly recommend it to anyone.

 

[Texan]

FYI - If you do decide to do Santorini - you can book super cheap flights from Athens to Santorini if you book in Advance. We took the ferry out there stopping in Mykonos and Ios for a few days each on the way then flew back. I think our flight was only $35.

 

[Iantexas]

We went there for our honeymoon in June- went to Mykonos, Santorini, and Athens.

I'd personally recommend against Mykonos- it was beautiful, but very overrun by 18-25 Spring Break types from the US and Europe. I guess it is the new Ibiza. There are several beautiful beaches, but some are completely turned over to the young- they pump dance music out on to the beach. Don't get me wrong- I'm not against all that, I just didn't think it was great for a honeymoon.

Santorini is also overrun, but more by cruise ships and tourists. When we were there, they were also filming a couple movies- Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2 was the one I remember. There's a lot of stuff to do, but it's spread out, so you should rent some kind of transportation. I'd advise against getting an ATV, which are rented everywhere, as we saw several that broke down and they are not fast enough for the couple long stretches of road between towns. We got a Smart Car, which was perfect.

I'm glad we went where we went, but my recommendation would be to go to Santorini, and then a quieter island- something that's not quite so congested. The point is to relax, enjoy one another, and not fight crowds. These are very small islands and towns, so a cruise ship crowd can quickly take over an area. We definitely want to go back soon.

 

[TxStHorn]

Mykonos has a lot of beaches, and I agree that some are over run with the "spring break" types. I'll bet you went to Paradise of Super Paradise beaches.

Ilia was a lot more sedated, when we were there, at least. More adults and families. Plus the hotel we stayed at had its own private section of the beach, which also makes a difference.

I loved Mykonos, and wouldn't hesitate to go back.

I agree about Santorini.

 

[bigg78]

My wife and I spent 5 days in Greece and 3 in Rome for our honeymoon (last few days of May - early June). Our "home base" was Crete, the largest island and south of the mainland. From Crete, we spent some time in Santorini as well.

Crete is a great place and gives you ALOT of different options since its so big. You can hang-out at the beach, take winery tours, explore ruins, go hiking through gorges on the southern part of the island. We had people tell us that to see all of Crete, it takes at least 2 weeks. Anyway...great place.

We LOVED Santorini and would go back there in the future. Fira, the main port, is definitely overloaded with tourist and cruise ships, but we loved Akrotini on the south tip and also thought Ia was beautiful, especially at Sunset.

I would advise against the ferry's, unless you want to save money and have extra time. There are airplanes that fly to and from certain islands. Check it out.