8 Day Greece Itinerary: Athens, Milos, Santorini

This 8 day Greece Itinerary is from our trip in September of 2018 which includes, Athens, Milos, and Santorini. It is a great itinerary for your first trip to Greece. We choose these areas because we felt we would get a good representation of what Greece is like.

Why We Picked Athens, Milos & Santorini for our Greece Itinerary

We choose Athens for the culture, famous Greek ruins, and for the Old European city life. In contrast, we chose the small island of Milos for more solitude, greek authenticity, small villages and towns, history and the many spectacular beaches. Lastly we chose Santorini for the experience of this famous island, the culture, and the beautiful towns built on the caldera.

Athens

Athens has many neighborhoods and we decided on the Plaka area because we could walk everywhere we wanted to explore. We wanted to see the Acropolis and Parthenon, Roman Forum and narrow old streets and shops. Comparatively, Plaka offered all of this within and more walking distance. Overall, we were very happy with this choice.

Milos

Milos turned out to be exactly what we wanted and more. Above all, very quiet and not at all busy or touristy. We decided to stay in Pollonia because it is a small village, very quiet and access to everywhere we wanted to go was a short jaunt and easy. Even though our hotel was outside of the village, it was just a short walk down the hill to Pollonia which had many delicious choices for dinner.

Santorini

We chose Santorini because of the beauty of this island. At Santorini we elected to stay in Imerovigli. We decided on this area because it is right in front of the Rock of Skaros and we loved that view. Altogether, it turned out to be a very good choice with beautiful views of the caldera and amazing sunsets. Imerovigli is also less busy than Fira and Oia, therefore more quiet. which we liked. Imerovigli is also just a 30 minute walk from Fira and it is easy to hop on a bus to Oia. We were more than thrilled with this choice and it was absolutely perfect for us.

Greece Itinerary, Athens, Milos, Santorini

Fly Day

Athens

Day 1: Athens

• Arrive in Athens 10:00 am
• Checked in at Hotel, Electra Palace in the Plaka area. This is one of our all time favorite hotels. You can click here to book a room.
• Found a place to grab a coffee and roll. It was raining when we arrived in Athens regardless, we had a great time. Since it was raining, we did not buy tickets to go in the sights but instead enjoyed the sites from the sidewalk.
• Walked around the Plaka Area.
  • Tower of the Winds
  • Roman Forum

• Lunch on the Plaka Steps at The Old Tavern of Psarras. The Plaka Steps is an area that has restaurants built up on the hillside in addition, table and chars are set up on the steps. We ate inside as it was raining. Regardless, the food and atmosphere were awesome.

• Explored Plaka Shops including Brettos Distillery here since 1909. This distillery has all types of Ouzo, which is a Greek alcoholic drink. Strong and sweet with an anise like flavor.

• Dinner at Electra Palace Hotel, after all, it was convenient as we were staying here as well. As can be seen, the view of Acropolis is spectacular!
• Shopping Plaka at night which, despite the rain, was so much fun.
• Gelato at DaVinci was truly delicious with so many choices.

For additional details, you can read more about our first day in Athens on my blog page Athens on a Rainy Day.

Milos

Day 2: Milos-Explore

• Breakfast Electra Palace Athens
• Transfer to Airport
• Morning flight to the Island of Milos, Greece.
• Transfer to Milos Breeze Boutique Hotel
• Rental car at hotel.
• Explore Milos. All things considered, Milos was easy to drive around as there was little traffic where we were going. After all, it was the end of the season.
  • Ancient Theatre
  • Hike up to Profit Ilias Chapel
  • Tour Catacombs of Milos

• Shopped in Plaka, Milos. This is a fun, cute & quaint village moreover, it is a charming area to explore and walk around.

• Snack in Plaka, Milos at Palaios, a bakery & pastry shop. Awesome food, furthermore, a very relaxing atmosphere.

• Relax at hotel. Milos Breeze was the perfect place to stay both comfortable and quiet. In essence, just perfect.

• Supper at Armenaki, Pollonia, Milos. A great fish taverna within walking distance of hotel and in addition, seating along the water.

Day 3: Milos-Boat Day

• Breakfast at Milos Breeze Boutique Hotel
• Transfer to Adamas Port
• Boat day trip around Milos with snorkeling and lunch. Travel Me to Milos had been arranged and overall was fantastic. It was so much fun. The crew was very attentive and informative and not to mention, the food was great.

• Transfer back to hotel
• Rent 4 wheeler at Pollonia for the next day.
• Dinner at Rifaki in Pollonia. Walking distance from our hotel. Fantastic food and service, in addition, seating along the water.

Day 4: Milos-Beach Day

• Breakfast at Milos Breeze Boutique Hotel
• 4 Wheeler Exploring was the only way to discover these amazing beaches. I loved everything we did at Milos but all things considered, this was my favorite activity in Milos.
• Tsigrado Beach was amazing! Although it is a very small beach, the fun is in getting there. After climbing down a ladder, then a narrow passage, and finally a short ladder, you reach the beach!

• Firiplaka Beach This beach was a bit of a trick to get to but definitely worth it. The walk down was easy and the rock formations and colors were awesome.

• Firopotamos Beach this beach was amazing. We especially loved the area above the beach which in addition to a great view there is a ruin of an ancient doorway overlooking the sea.

• Lunch at Taverna Ouzeri, Plaka, Milos. One of my all time favorite places to eat in Greece. Not to mention it is authentic and locally owned, awesome food and service.

• Sarakiniko Beach this is an amazing beach, looks like something from another planet! Go early or late to avoid crowds!

• Papafragas Beach To access to this beach you have to climb down a path and swim under a tunnel. The path had been washed out due to a recent storm so we were unable to go through the tunnel.

• Return 4 Wheeler
• Dinner at Enalion Restaurant in Pollonia, Milos. Again within walking distance from our hotel. Great food. The cheese tray is a must and in fact the cheese is fresh local Greek cheeses.

For additional details click on my post, 5 Best Beaches in Milos. You can also read more about our time in Milos by clicking on my other post, 3 Perfect Days Exploring Milos.

Santorini

Day 5: Santorini-Exploring

• Breakfast at Milos Breeze Boutique Hotel
• Transfer to Adamas Port, Milos
• Ferry to Athinios Port, Santorini. We were on Sea Jet Ferries and were at Santorini in about 2.5 hours. Great ride.
• Arrive mid morning transfer to Astra Suites, our hotel in Imerovigli I can’t say enough great things about Astro Suites. In essence the best hotel service, people, and views on our trip. In a word, perfect. You can book Astra Suites by clicking here.

• Hike up Rock of Skaros. This impressive rock was once a fortress ruined by earthquakes. It is a bit of a hike but the views of both Imerovigl and the Caldera are amazing.

• Swim at Astra Suites which was amazing! Especially the view!!

• Sunset Dinner at Astra Suites, our favorite meal! Altogether, the food was outstanding, service impeccable and view second to none!

Day 6: Santorini-Fira Visit and Boat Day

• Breakfast Astra Suites
• Hike to Fira from our hotel in Imerovigli. This took about 30 min and was a nice walk, lots of steps but beautiful views.

• Shopping and exploring in Fira. Overall, this was a lot of fun, checking out the narrow streets, churches and stores. Early morning was a good time before the cruise ships arrived!! As you can see, not much of a crowd!

• Transfer to Catamaran
• Sunset Catamaran Trip around Caldera, Swim and dinner. Highly recommend doing this! You can find many options for Santorini Sunset tours from Viator here.

• Transfer back to Astra Suites

Day 7: Santorini-Island Tour

Day 8: Athens-Acropolis & Parthenon

• Breakfast Astra Suites
• Transfer to Santorini Airport
• Fly to Athens
• Transfer to Electra Palace Athens.
• Self tour Acropolis & Parthenon. When in Athens you can’t miss the Acropolis & Parthenon. Great area and so much history! There are many tours of the Acropolis and Parthenon and although we did this on our own you may find something you like through Viator, click here for Acropolis and Parthenon tour options.

• Dinner at Restaurant
• Shop Plaka at night
• Da Vinci Gelato. We love this place!!

Fly Day

• Breakfast Electra Palace Hotel
• Transfer to Airport
• Fly Home

Planning

I am big on planning and planning for a trip is always fun! It helps to have the right resources and if you use a travel agency using someone you trust is invaluable. When planning for our Greece Itinerary, I did a lot of research on line to determine we wanted to go to Athens, Milos and Santorini.

Internet Information

The Internet is a great place to get information but you need to make sure the sites are up to date and reputable. My favorite site is as follows:

• Greeka.com This site has so much useful information and is a great resource. I have checked out this site many times while trying to decide where to go in Greece.

Guide Books, Maps, and Good Reads

I absolutely love tour guide books, maps and good reads. I think they have great information and are great to carry along. The following are my favorites that I have used when deciding what to do. (I am an Amazon and also Viator affiliate and receive a small commission for any of these ordered at no cost to you or the vendor.)

• Rick Steves Pocket Athens guidebook and found a lot of useful information in it. There is also a pocket map.
• Top 10 Athens (DK Eyewitness Travel Guide) It includes a top 10 list of restaurants, museums, things to do etc. It also divides into top 10 of each area. This is my favorite guide book. It does come with a pocket map.
• Athens Street Map which was more in-depth and very useful.
• Parthenon on our Roof by Peter Barber. This fun book is a great read to learn more about Greek culture. Peter, an Englishman, moves to Greece and marries his Greek girlfriend, Alex. Read about their adventures as he navigates his new lifestyle in a humorous, relatable way.
• Bucket to Greece by Victor Bucket. The Bucket to Greece series chronicles Victor and Marigold Bucket as they up root and move from London to Greece. This book is humorous and also gives insight on the Greek Village life.

Conclusion

We had a wonderful first time in Greece! I hope my Greece Itinerary of Athens, Santorini and Milos is helpful and I tried to include helpful links both from my own blog site and other resources as well.

This and That

Internet Resources

My favorite internet sites for Greece are as follows:

• Greeka.com This site has so much useful information and is also a great resource for Greece.
• Santorini. com is a great resource for Santorini. Lots of background information in addition to information you wouldn’t normally find.

Favorite Greek Foods

Finding quality Greek foods here in the US is not easy. I have found a couple resources though.

• For true Greek honey, mountain tea, and and also olive oil, I order online through Kilo Tea. They are prompt and in addition, I have never had problems with any of my orders. I highly recommend ordering from here as everything is delicious. You can click here to view and also order the Klio Tea products.
• I also order from Tassos. This company also is prompt and I have had no problems with any orders either. I really like the olives, fig jam, and also olive oil from this online store. You can click here to view and also order from Tassos.

Guide Books and Map

I am a big believer in having guide books and maps. They come in handy Greece and I used them for Athens and Crete, didn’t find a great one for Santorini though. Maps especially as GPS wasn’t the most reliable in Crete. UPDATE: On our September 2023 trip to Crete we found GPS worked much better.

• Rick Steves Pocket Athens guidebook and found a lot of useful information in it. In addition, there is also a pocket map.
• Top 10 Athens (DK Eyewitness Travel Guide) It includes a top 10 list of restaurants, museums, things to do etc. It also divides into top 10 of each area. This is my favorite guide book. It does come with a pocket map. All in all this is a great little guide.
• Athens Street Map which was more in-depth and very useful.

In addition, Books I enjoyed reading

• Parthenon on our Roof by Peter Barber. This fun book is a great read to learn more about Greek culture. Peter, an Englishman, moves to Greece and marries his Greek girlfriend, Alex. Read about their adventures as he navigates his new lifestyle in a humorous and also relatable way.
• Bucket to Greece by Victor Bucket. The Bucket to Greece series chronicles Victor and Marigold Bucket as they up root and move from London to Greece. This book is humorous and also gives insight on the Greek Village life.
• A Boy Growing Up Under the Nazi Boot and the Greek Civil War by George C. Kradikas. This book is a true account of the early years of Mr Kakridas as his family endures hardships beyond belief while growing up near Sparta in Greece during occupation years. A poignant story told with the emotion and memories as only someone living through this period can tell.

Follow Me on Instagram !!!

If you want to read more detail about this trip you can click on the following links!!

A Rainy Day in Athens, Sept 2018

3 Days in Milos, Sept 2018

5 Great Beaches in Milos, Sept 2018

First Time Guide-3 Days in Santorini, Sept 2018

Exploring the Acropolis and Parthenon, Sept 2018

Astra Suites Hotel, Santorini, Sept 2018, Oct 2019

To Read About our Other Greek Trip Click Below:

2 Weeks in Greece-Delphi, Meteora, Corfu, Santorini, Athens 2022

14 Days in Greece-Crete, Naxos, Santorini, Athens-September 2021.

10 Days in Greece-Athens, Crete, Santorini

Diary of a Gen-X Traveler recommendations for hotels, restaurants, and tours are based on our own experiences and our own expense. The only places/experiences we recommend are places have personally been to and experienced unless otherwise noted. Although we are affiliates of some businesses such as Amazon, Viator, and Booking.com we are not sponsored by any business. We do get a small percentage of compensation if you buy from one of our links at now cost to you.