Naxos: What To Do in the Biggest Island of the Cyclades

My next stop on this Greece trip was Naxos, the largest of the Cyclades islands where I settled in a nice little apartment in Hora the Capital. The city is similar to those of Mykonos or Paros as it is filled with white and blue little streets everywhere. However, Hora is built on a little hill where its streets lead all the way to a Venetian era castle. Much cheaper than the other islands around like Mykonos, Santorini, and Paros, it felt like a relief for the wallet as even restaurants on the main sea strip were reasonably priced, as well as accommodation that can be found for under 20 euros. To my eyes, Naxos is nice but doesn’t pack the quality and mindblowing aspect of the other Cyclades islands. What can be found on Naxos can be found in better somewhere else in the Cyclades. Hence, I wouldn’t call Naxos a “must visit destination” on a holiday in Greece, yet travelers will converge to […]

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Visiting Paros in Greece: One of My Favorite Island in the World

The title of this article was chosen carefully. I wrote “island” as the capital, Paraika, isn’t anything that special. And “one of my favorite”, because Bora Bora or Tuvalu would take the crown, as “nothing can be greater than paradise”. But as far as the whole island goes, this is very close to perfection! Too many travelers make the mistake to rent a place in Paraika and stay there their whole stay. The best option on Paros is to rent a vehicle at arrival (there are hundreds of companies and many will fish you down at disembarkation of your ferry) and stay at various locations on the way. This island is incredible! I could imagine myself staying here and build one of those little White and Blue house around Naousa and live happy forever. For me, Paros is the perfect example of the “white and blue” towns of the Cyclades, much more than on other islands like Syros, Mykonos or Naxos. The closest comparison I can […]

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Visiting Piraeus: Unfairly Eclipsed Under the Fame of Athens

Piraeus is like a Porsche standing next to an F1… It wouldn’t stand a chance! Athens is such a behemoth of a city that anything placed next to it would be eclipsed into the shade… and this is a shame because Piraeus would be a great city to spend a few days in when in Athens! Instead, it is considered a little neighborhood that very few tourists will make it to. Or in most cases, it is single arrival/departure port to the Greek Islands. I really enjoyed Piraeus, especially the area around Mikrolimano, this small marina packed with stylish cafes and restaurants overlooking the yachts in the marina. This port has a lot of history in itself when it was made the official port for the Athens fleet back 500 B.C. Just walking around the area you can see archeological searches being done in the middle of busy streets (see photo below). There’s a nice little beach south of Mikrolimano where you can enjoy a swim with […]

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Athens On & Off the Beaten Track – 3 Days City Guide

Athens is this city where you can spend endless time exploring every corner of every street and you will always find something interesting. It’s just incredible how much a single city can hold, its a playground for history lovers, having literally layers over layers of civilizations stacked on top of each other, dating back more over 5000 years ago. On top of this, Greek people happen to have an extremely refined sense of design and their creativity gave birth to tons of stylish restaurants, cafes and bars spread around the city. These places are focused more on the experience rather than only consumption. I’ve been to Athens several times,  and usually the first visit to Athens is the same for everybody: Visit the same most important sights: the Acropolis, the Parthenon, at least 3 museums and enjoying the streets of  Plaka in the center. All of that is time-consuming and takes 3 to 4 days which is about what most people have in one visit. But […]

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Top Things to do in Nafplio, the Ancient Capital of Greece

Known as a best-kept secret by nearby Athenians coming on Weekends, Nafplio, which used to be the capital of Greece one point after the independence, is one heck of a beautiful city. It is such a strategic point that it has 3 fortresses stretched on hills around the area. The Palamidi fortress is the biggest and makes a nice hike going up a set of stairs all the way to the top, where there are stunning views down to Nafplio, the Argolic Golf and the other fortress, the Akronafplia Fortress. the town of Nafplio itself provides a very nice walk around its incredibly beautiful streets lined up with little Greek restaurants, with nice Balconies along Amalias street and Vasileos Konstantinou Street. I really enjoyed going around the Akronafplia Fortress, a nice walk of about 1km that passes by Arvanitia Beach, a little stretch of pebble beach with crystal blue waters, providing an excellent base for a quick swim on a hot afternoon. The walk continues around the Akronafplia Fortress […]

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Visit Crete: 2 to 3 Days Itinerary in Chania

Ever since I came to Chania 15 years ago as a novice traveler, I’ve been bragging about it as my favorite city in Greece. So being here again after such a long time definitely brought excitement to rediscover it. Chania offers a different feeling of the typical islands of the Cyclades with their white and blue architecture. Chania has a Phoenician, Venetian and Ottoman background where many remnants are still visible today. But its history goes even further with traces that are harder to see, such as its Minoan roots that date over 3500 years. Some open-air Minoan Archaeological sites can be found in the center of the old town. The most scenic part is concentrated around the Venetian port, which ads an interesting taste of Ottoman occupation, especially with the mosque of Kioustsouk Hasan situated right on the port on the eastern side. For me, the Venetian port makes it the most pittoresque port of all Greece and one of my favorite of Europe! sitting […]

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Visiting Ancient Olympia from Katakolo in the Greek Peloponnese

I’ve already rated Greece as the number one in my ranking Map of the most beautiful Countries, as well as one of the best in terms of Historically Rich destinations around the world. Ancient Olympia is one of those places that was on my list and this year it was time to pay it a visit. Birthplace of the Olympic games, Ancient Olympia was the chosen location to build the famous games which were hosted from 776 BC and have been played there for 1169 years before it was destroyed by an earthquake and later rediscovered by German archeologist. Since its opening to the public, it has become a popular touristic place to visit while in Greece, mostly for its significance more than what is left. In fact, very little is left. It seems more like a graveyard of stones laying everywhere than an actual Olympic site. Nevertheless, it is impressive to imagine that such an important sports traditions have been hosted here for so long. Several tours are […]

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World Map of The Most Historically Rich Destinations, Through The Eyes of a Man Who Visited Them All

This is part of my series about maps of the world where I compare each country I have visited in different categories. The point of this analysis is that after having visited almost all the countries (173/196) I believe I have finally acquired the experience and the credibility to be able to put them side by side and give an honest comparison. Of course, many of them are personal views following my personal tastes and is only a generalization. But since I get so many questions all the time about “what are my favorite country, for this, for that, for everything… “ I decided to represent my results graphically for people to get a better understanding of my opinion. When I was told at age 13 years/old that I had to do something in life that I truly loved, the subject that most resonated in my mind was “History”. That was my real passion! But I couldn’t imagine myself being a simple history teacher in […]

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World Map of The Most Beautiful Countries, Through The Eyes of a Man Who Visited Them All

This is part of my series about maps of the world where I compare each country I have visited in different categories. The point of this analysis is that after having visited almost all the countries (173/196) I believe I have finally acquired the experience and the credibility to be able to put them side by side and give an honest comparison. Of course, many of them are personal views following my personal tastes and is only a generalization. But since I get so many questions all the time about “what is my favorite country, for this, for that, for everything… “ I decided to represent my results graphically for people to get a better understanding of my opinion. The world is truly a marvelous place! And humans are truly an amazing species! It is pretty incredible what human intelligence and creativity have been able to do in different places in the world, under different climates, different geography, and different beliefs. This creativity has resulted […]

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