The bank long weekends are a perfect excuse to explore a new country!

Greece has been on my bucket list for some time and with cheap flights as well as cheap accommodation (going in low season has its perks!), my friend Wendy and I were able to explore Mykonos and Santorini, eat good food and enjoy catching some sun and beach time! We only spent 6 days on the Greek Islands but it still felt like it was enough time to explore both islands.

Mykonos

Mykonos is one of the most popular Greek Islands and known for their beaches and nightlife. The season runs from May to October each year so we got there right when the season started. Although the nightlife hadn’t really started at this point, it suited us fine as we were happy to skip that and have a more relaxing holiday.

We flew into Mykonos from London Gatwick and we got a free transfer from our hotel, Poseidon Hotel & Suites. This was located in Mykonos Old Town which meant we were right in the action of everything and close to restaurants, bars and shops.

We headed to Jimmy’s for gyros and then explored the Old Town. We went to the Windmills, explored Little Venice, walked around the cute streets and did a little bit of shopping. For dinner, we went to Bakalo and had a Greek feast including stuffed squid, Greek salad and moussaka.

The next day wasn’t as warm but we caught the bus to Platis Gialos and walked along the coast to Paradise Beach. We hung out there for a while before heading back to the Old Town. Another gyros at Gyros Corner and then we hung by the hotel pool before heading out to dinner again at Joanna’s Niko’s Place which is located just outside of the Old Town by the water. The food was amazing – we shared the stuffed capsicum and had the seafood platter and it’s very reasonably priced.

Santorini

Santorini is an all year round island in Greece, unlike Mykonos. It is generally busy all year round with lots of people getting married or having honeymoons. We took the ferry to Santorini and it takes only 2 hours or so but costs around €62 one way!

We headed to our accommodation which was at Aghios Artemios Traditional Houses which was in Imerovigli and it was super cute and boutique style as the owners really looked after you.

We went to lunch at Aktaion in Firostefani which had great octopus, fried squid and traditional kalogeriko which is a local Santorini pasta dish. In the evening, we headed to Santo Wines Winery to try their wine flights and see the sunset. I highly recommend booking a table an hour before sunset to enjoy it all.

The next day, we started early and walked from Fira to Oia. The walk is 10km and took us around 2.5 hours and scenery along the way is stunning. We walked around Oia then headed down to Ammoudi Bay for lunch. Dimitri’s Ammoudi Taverna was excellent as it was located right on the water and had great seafood and other local Santorini dishes such as fava. We had an ice cream stop at Lolita then we then caught a bus to Perissa Beach and relaxed there for the rest of the afternoon. We went back to Fira for dinner and went to Lucky Souvlaki’s for gyros (only €2.50!) and then headed to LukuMum to try the greek doughnut balls – loukoumades.

Back to Mykonos

After Santorini, we caught the ferry back to Mykonos and stayed one night at the 5 star Myconian Ambassador Hotel. The hotel was located in Platis Gialos and the facilities and service were top notch. We went for lunch at Avli Tou Thordori where we had the lamb shank and seafood platter, then hung by the sunbeds and went for a swim before going back to the hotel to relax. For dinner, we went to Yialo Yialo which was disappointing and the only place we would not rate out of all the places we went to in Mykonos and Santorini.

Our last day was spent at the hotel, having an amazing buffet breakfast then relaxing poolside, before getting a transfer to the airport.

I really enjoyed going to the Greek Islands in low season as this meant lower prices and less crowds, whilst still enjoying good weather. I can’t wait to go back and explore more the smaller Greek Islands!