Greece trip planned by Tasos at KimKim Travel wa...
Greece
|
Jun 3 - Jun 15, 2024
Our trip planned by Tasos at KimKim Travel was the best vacation my Husband and I have ever taken! Tasos worked to organize our customized Greece trip by listening to what we wanted to do and not do. We flew from Tucson, AZ, to Atlanta, GA, then to Athens, Paros and Santorini Islands. We spent 4 days on the mainland of Athens while also traveling to Meteora and Delphi. The history is like none other in the world! The Plaka District is the place to stay for the history in all of Athens in my opinion and The AVA Boutique Hotel where we stayed had amazing breakfasts every morning and treated us superb. Very comfortable suite w/kitchen. They even gave us welcome and parting gifts! Totally unexpected. In Athens, we visited the Parthenon, Acropolis Hill, the Ancient Agora, National Archaeological Museum. Very historic and great history learned.
Michael was our Tour Guide for The Acropolis & Ancient Athens Mythology Tour, he was wonderful, funny and a great historian.
George was our Private Transfer Driver who drove us safely to Meteora, the oldest Olive Oil Producer in Greece with ancient olive Grove and Delphi and he was great too! He added stops along the way at no additional cost so we could get some beautiful pictures by the sea and history (battle of Thermopylae) that he provided himself. Meteora and Delphi were humbling. The history there and the stories of the Monks from the past to today we will never forget! By the end of the three travel days we were friends with George and he too gave us a parting gift of his very own harvested olive oil and oregano! We're enjoying both today as I write this:)!
George, delivered us to the Athens Airport and we flew to Paros Island. The plane was small and we were cramped. Husband is 6'5" and I'm 5'10" so hard to get around that. Fortunately, it wasn't a long flight.
We loved Paros, didn't want to leave. Don't recommend anywhere that we traveled in Greece to snorkel. Did bring our gear but no coral, sea floor is black rock or rock from volcano eruption and/or earthquakes. Did see lots of small fish though. Water is a beautiful turquoise and just the right temperature in June to swim and enjoy. Don't wear your smart watch in the salt water!
Paros is an amazing Island. Old authentic with new development just as Tasos mentioned. We wanted beaches and that's why Tasos recommended Paros. We spent 4 nights on Paros. Town of Naoussa (where we stayed) and Parikia were great to visit, dine, shop and just go around at our own pace. We had great meals and service everywhere we ate. Never had a bad meal. We stayed at the Contaratos Beach Hotel. Right on the water. Had an amazing balcony that looked right out on the gorgeous pool and then the Sea. The view was fantastic. Employees were awesome at hotel. Always smiling and willing to help whenever needed. Tasos recommended a full day boat trip that we met great people on and had a huge meal that was delicious. All the beer, wine, other beverages and food you wanted. We traveled to many islands, swam and snorkeled. Great day! Naoussa and Parikia were so much fun! We used Panos as a private transfer driver throughout our stay and he was very friendly and kind too.
We took a ferry from Paros to Santorini Island. Very crowded but moved well. We were comfortable on the ride. We arrived on Santorini along with 7 other "Cruise Ships" that day! Santorini is way too crowded at this time of year. Yes, the island is beautiful but don't recommend going here. Way too crowded and expensive. Everything here was more than double the price of Paros and other Greek Islands that are spectacular. Our hotel, Petit Palace Suites, was fantastic. Great view of the caldera, off the crowded track. Room and Employees were fantastic. We took a morning Catamaran Caldera Cruise and thoroughly enjoyed the cruise, ship crew and getting to know the people cruising with us. The town of Oia was beautiful but disappointing because it was way too crowded. Did come away with great pictures from the island though. Wasn't impressed with the sunset. We have prettier sunrises and sunsets in AZ;). We also attended a wine tasting that we were supposed to sip wine, learn about their old vines and the centuries long winemaking process that we would only find in Santorini, but, we were only entitled to sip 4 wines and didn't have any tour or learn about their winemaking process. I think that lasted for 30 minutes. There was no view that I recall either.
After two nights in Santorini, we started our return by flying to Athens late on day 3. However, our flight was cancelled due to weather in Athens. Tasos set us up with "Travel 12" Customer Service through Whatsapp to communicate from the beginning of our trip to the end. Travel 12 was with us all along the way, while Tasos left us to enjoy our trip but monitored the communication. Immediately, Travel 12 was there to support us by offering to find us a hotel with transfers. My Husband stood in line for over 2 hours with Aegean Airlines (partner of Delta) to determine what they were going to do with us. We had to catch a connection the next day at noon for the US out of Athens. We did have insurance and was assured the hotel and flight changes would probably be covered according to Travel 12 so that was a relief. Travel 12 consulted with Tasos and he advised to wait to see what Aegean would do for us because if they offered a hotel with transfers back to airport the next morning our insurance would not cover what Travel 12 was working on for us and that's exactly what happened. Aegean covered transfers and another night stay on Santorini. The hotel was decent and the transfers were timely and just as expected.
Once we finally arrived home in Tucson, AZ, our bags did not. However, Delta tracked them out of Athens and were delivered to our home 2 days later in tact with nothing damaged.
Hotel Reviews
Wonderful place to stay, great employees, fantastic breakfasts (best on the whole trip!) receive both welcome and parting gifts from them!
Beautiful view. Old world charm. Didn't care for different levels in hotel room and bath. Breakfast was just okay. Staff very kind and attentive.
Smallest bathroom we've ever showered in. Bed and breakfast very nice though. Great location in town to stroll around in.
Everything here was PERFECT! Didn't want to leave!!
Everything here was PERFECT! Didn't want to leave!!
Didn't stay here because our flight from Santorini was cancelled.
Activity Reviews
Highly recommend it. Michael our tour guide was great!
Great - Highly recommend!
Remarkable, will never forget this experience. One of a kind, breathtaking and amazing history.
Tour Guide was exceptional regarding the history information shared. She even extended the tour time because we were her last tour for the day and she wanted us to have all our questions answered.
Owners were very informative and lunch was delicious! View spectacular!!
Panos was very kind, safe and informative about the area.
Highly recommend! Great Crew, food and beverages and people touring that we met!
Guide and tour was great - tired us out though in the heat. Wine tour was disappointing. Wasn't a tour and we had a sip from 4 wines (lasted about a half hour). Did end up having lunch at the winery and that was very good.
Highly recommend! Great Crew, food and beverages and people touring that we met!
Cancelled because it was too late in the evening for show start and we were tired and sunburned.