Top 5 Favorite Trips – #1 Santorini, Greece

It’s time for our #1 favorite trip of all time…our honeymoon to Greece! Our honeymoon consisted of multiple stops including 5 nights on the island of Santorini, 1 night in Athens, and a 4 night cruise through Mykonos, Rhoades, Patmos,  Khusadasi Turkey and another stop back at Santorini.  The entire trip was amazing, but the reason Greece comes in at number one is because of Santorini.

For as long as I could remember I wanted to go to Greece on our honeymoon.  For some people an over the water bungalow is their vision of a romantic honeymoon, but mine was always the white washed buildings with blue roofs of Santorini. Brian agreed, and he planned the most amazing trip with every detail accounted for.

We arrived at our hotel in Santorini to a bellman tossing our 50lb luggage over each of his shoulders and walked down what had to be 70 steps.  Not more than 15 minutes in our room and our phone rang, it was the destination specialist Brian had used to plan our stay on Santorini calling to make sure everything was to our liking. It was, and more!

Our hotel was located in Imerovigili, a small town almost smack in the middle of the two main towns, Oia and Fira.  Imerovigli was about a 25 minute walk to Fira, but the walk was worth the benefits and luxury we experienced.  The serenity and quiet we experienced at night was so relaxing and romantic.

Each night we would decide on the next day’s breakfast from the room service menu, and each morning they would bring our requested order at 11am…the latest time option available.  We’d wake up just in time for breakfast to arrive, eat on our balcony, and go back to sleep for another hour.  For those of you thinking about your honeymoon, we definitely recommend planning for extra sleep and relaxation.  We tend to be on the go on our trips, but after months of wedding planning, sleep and minimal activity was just what we needed.

In Santorini we visited Fira most days or nights, but also sprinkled in a few excursions including a boat tour and trip to the beach which is located on the other side of the island.  Another reason to use a travel professional…don’t make the mistake of booking a hotel on your own and end up on the beach.  Santorini is all about the views from the caldera!

Brian also planned an authentic Greek dinner filled with food, drinks, dancing and plate breaking!

And of course something that either makes or breaks a trip for us, the food!! The fresh seafood was something we’d never experienced anywhere else. I think we had fresh octopus almost every day and the seafood paella was even better than what we had in Barcelona!

After the 5  nights in Santorini, we headed back to Athens for less than 24 hours before we hopped onto our Cruise.  We had to make the best of our limited time in Athens so Brian hired a private driver and private tour guide at the acropolis museum. Dinner that night was one to remember…we forgot to take a picture of everything before we ate most of it, but did take a picture of the restaurant just in case we make it back there one day.

While Santorini was the highlight of the trip, the cruise was a great way to visit other islands, especially to speak about them with clients based on experience.

Today is our 8 year wedding anniversary, and 8 years ago we were getting ready to set off on the most amazing trip we’ve experienced so far.  We’re already planning our 10 year anniversary trip, and Santorini is on our short list.  But then again, so is Barcelona, Hawaii and Positano. Wherever we go, I’m sure it will be carefully crafted and curated by my husband and forever travel partner ❤