Greek Island hopping

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Santorini is stunning. The views of the caldera and cliffs are incredibly unique. We stayed at Finikia Memories hotel which was just a short walk from Oia, one of the main destinations on the island. The blue domes, the white buildings, the unreal sunsets, it’s all here. The hotel restaurant was surprisingly fantastic. We ordered the Moussaka a few times it was so delicious. Our room itself was spacious with a classic white wall cave feel. If you do want to have a luxury experience without over spending we reccomend staying just outside of town in one of the many resorts.

We also took a bus day trip to Fira, a beautiful larger town with great views. Santorini had the most well functioning public transit of the islands so renting a car was not needed. The towns are quite high up on the cliffs, the entire island is, you go here for the romantic views and pools and spas, it’s not as beach accessible as the other islands. Try to aim your sights towards the Caldera, the island itself isn’t entirely perfect. It looks quite a bit like the hills of Southern California after a dry spell.

We stayed here three nights which was a great time to get a feel for the area at a relaxed pace. Oia is known for its sunsets but make sure to arrive early, it gets crowded! The only time it felt busy was during sunset, otherwise it seemed like we had the island to ourself!
Milos is a bit off the traditional Greek Island path and not on everyone’s radar. The towns themselves feel smaller and less touristy. It’s known for its beautiful beaches and unreal landscape. Unfortunately for us the wind picked up quite a bit and all the boat tours were cancelled due to bad weather.

We did get to visit Sarakiniko, the moon like rock beach that Milos is most famous for. We made sure to visit the small fishing village of Mandrakia next, a colorful spot to get the best seafood of your life. Medusa had seared eel that was some of the best bites of the entire trip. Jamie got the swordfish souvlaki which was also simply divine.

We found a small family restaurant near our hotel run by a local man who takes your order, brings your drinks and cooks your food. He was ecstatic to meet people from California and even introduced us to other people sitting nearby that spoke English. We came back almost every night for dinner and the more we chatted with him the more free tastes he gave us! The grape leaves he served were the best of the trip. I’ll never forget his quote, “On Milos you can eat the sea sand and sun with a spoon”.

We decided to rent a car here, it is a must to traverse Milos. Almost everything is within 20 minutes but the buses do not run often. The roads were much less intimidating than on Santorini! We headed to the port town of Adamas, the largest on the island but still a small village. Artemis bakery is a must, the Greek salads and pastries were our classic breakfast go to.

A great idea was to buy some food in town, along with a bottle of wine and head to the beaches where you’re allowed to drink! Our first beach stop was Firiplaka which provided some shelter from the wind. Its definitely the main beach on the island with super soft sand, small waves and large rock formations to swim out to and explore. The water was still warm even in October!

Plaka is another main village that we thought was the most picturesque. It has a true Greek cobble stone and white wall feel with pops of blue and magenta colors. Don’t miss the sunset, you’ll beat the crowds just by being on this island versus Santorini!

Pollonia was a great spot to walk around and explore as well with cute beach shops and restaurants. Make sure to get the white wine everywhere you go, the Greek Islands are known for it!

However the wind again limited us for it being a beach destination. When we found a sheltered area we loved laying out and soaking up the sun but the water activities were a no go. In fact our ferry got canceled on our last day and we had to take a detour to spend another night in the islands. The downside is this island has fewer options to connect to other places.
In Mykonos we stayed at a traditional home AirBnB just steps away from the heart of Mykonos town. Because of the cute towns and immaculate beaches the views are 360 here. It’s a much bigger place then you think it may be, you could walk around for hours exploring the winding streets. The shops are very high end with designer stores around every corner. To our surprise it was more expensive than Santorini.

Just a five minute walk out of town was the famous windmills with awesome views and a unique look to take pictures at. The food was consistently the best on this island, with unreal tuna tartare and insane sous vide chicken breast with sundried tomato pesto, eat at M-Eating for a true gourmet experience. Little Venice at night was our after dinner activity with bars right on the water for a fun cocktail experience.

The next day was again pretty windy as October progressed so we didn’t make it to the “party beaches” plus it was a Sunday/Monday stay so we missed the classic beach party Mykonos experience.

Jamie’s favorite pastry shop was called Pierre where she had the best Nutella pastry of her life! We went twice in two days. Our final night we ate a truffle mushroom risotto at Avra that opened our eyes to just how savory truffles can be. It has a very romantic private garden dining setting, the prices were worth the memories.

We finally had a classic Mykonos night out cocktail hoping, especially at Lola with fantastic drinks. Everyone was friendly and young and in a great mood. The people at the table to the left of us bought us shots and the people to the right took us to an awesome club for all night dancing. A true Greek Island experience!

Our flights out of Mykonos ended up canceling on us as well so we decided to fly to Athens for another night. We would reccomend ending your stay in Santorini instead for more flight options out of a bigger airport.

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