Most people know Greece for its beautiful Aegean islands and “The Acropolis” and many thought a 7 day trip would be sufficient. Well, if the intention is to visit Santorini (one of the most popular Aegean islands) and The Acropolis then 7 days would probably be enough.
But Greece is more than just the above two famous destinations, our 21 days took us to many parts of Greece, covering ancient ruins, stunning islands, breathtaking beaches, traditional mountain villages, deep gorges and beautiful cities. Every destination was an unforgettable experience and every photo taken was postcard shot. If we had more time we would go as far north as Thessaloniki and as south as the Crete Island.
Our total cost for this 21-day trip in Greece came up to about SGD8000 or Euro4600 for the two of us. This amounts cover all flights, ferry rides, car rental, petrol, meals, tickets, hotel charges.
Our 21 day trip route
| A | day-1, day-2 | City | Athens
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| Ruins | The Acropolis
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| B | day-3, day-4, day-5 | Aegean Seas | Mykonos
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| C | day-6, day-7, day-8 | Aegean Seas | Santorini
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| D | day-9 | Sights | Corinthn Channel
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| E | Ruins | Ancient Corinth, Ancient Mycena
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| F | City | Nafplion
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| G | day-10 | Ruins | Ancient Mystra
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| H | day-11 | Ruins | Ancient Olympia
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| I | day-12 | Ioanian sea | Zakynthos: shipwretch cove
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| J | day-13 | Ioanian sea | Kefalonia: Melissa Cave (Blue Cave)
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| K | day-14, day-15 | Ioanian Sea | Corfu
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| M | day-16 | Historic Bridge | Bridge of Plaka
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| N | Zagori Village | Aristi
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| O | Zagori Village | Papingo
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| P | day-17 | Canyon | Vikos Gorge
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| P | Ancient trails | Vardetto steps
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| Q | Zagori Villages | Metsovo
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| R | day-18, day-19 | Monastery | Meteora
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| S | day-20 | Lake | Lake Plastira
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| T | Ruins | Ancient Delphi
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Hi Jaik:
Thank you so much for sharing your trip through Greece. I am going to be doing a 21 day self drive through Greece in October and your detailed information has been invaluable.
One quick question…in hindsight, were there any places you would have skipped or any part of your itinerary you would have changed?
Thanks,
Bobbie
Hi Bobbie,
We loved all the places we visited in Greece and wished we had more days so that we could go further north.
For your visit you may want to skip Bridge Plaka (day 16) as it have collapsed due to heavy rainstorm one year after our visit.
Thanks for the heads up on Bridge Plaka. Much appreciated!
Hi Jaik Yong,
I’m planning a self-drive trip in Greece this December, and found your blog! It’s very informative and well-written..
I would like to follow similar route in Pelopponese, can I check if the roads are easy to drive? We drive in Singapore, but as Greece is Right Hand Drive, not quite sure if my husband can handle…
Thanks !
Great!! Enjoy.
Sorry for the late reply, somehow I missed your message until last evening. Yes, driving on the other side can be a big intimidating the first time, our first time driving on the other side was in Korea. But after a few countries we are now getting use to it. You have to start somewhere. Just do it slow, have your roads (gps) ready. We did not have a hard time in Greece because the road was not congested. Have a good trip.
Hi Jaik,
I read your blog. I plan to rent Avis car for holiday travel in Greece. May I ask how you go about confirming with Avis/Budget that it is ok to bring the rental car onto the ferry.
I cannot find a query icon in Avis.com website, when I get quotes.
Thank you
Hi Chuan,
I made a booking at http://www.avis.gr, and after they email me a confirmation I used the email id to check about the ferry issue. After their “no going onto the ferry and greek island” I cancelled my booking (since it was free cancellation). Similarly for http://www.budget.gr I requested for a quote and used the email id to ask about the ferry/greek island issues before finalising my booking.
You are right about http://www.avis.com has no “query” button. I just took a look at http://www.avis.gr and wwww.budget.gr and both websites have a “contact us” option on the menu bar on top.
Hi Jaik,
Thanks for your quick reply.
Much appreciated.
Hi Jaik,
Do we need to apply for International Driving licence to drive in Greece? Is Singapore Driving licence good enough?
Thanks again.
Rgds,
seok
Hi Seok,
Based on Greece tourism website (http://www.visitgreece.gr/en/travelling_to_greece/by_car) it says that for non E.U. Member-state citizens an international driving license with own valid national driving license is a must. So we went with our international licenses.
Thanks so much!
Hi Jaik,
Thanks for sharing your Greece holidays in details.
I am planning on visiting Greece in May this year, and doing some research and chanced upon your wonderful blog.
Do you have any advice for driving in Greece? Any thing to take note of?
Was it easy to drive in Greece?
Is there only a person driving throughout your trip?
Thanks,
seok
Hi Geok,
We were in Greece in October which was just after the peak tourist season, so driving around was pretty easy.
All in we rented three cars. One in Santorini, another in Mykonos and the last one for the Greece Mainland and its nearby islands.
We were told by Avis attendant that if we were in Mykonos a month earlier we would have witnessed a “war zone” car environment, because too many tourists visited the island during that time and many rental cars were returned with scratches and dents. This would also apply to Santorini. The cars on Santorini and Mykonos did not have GPS so we had to rely on google maps which required data plan and HERE and android mobile application which did not require data plan.
On the Greece mainland we rented a car from Budget Car Rental Service because it was the only international car rental company that told me it was okay for its car to go onto a car ferry, this way we could still use our car when we went over to the ioanian island like Zakynthos, Kelafonia and Corfu. If the car company did not give the”permission” the car insurance will not cover damages that are substained on the ferry. And if the car breaks down on the island you will have to bear the towing charges to bring the car to the mainland. We only rented the car when we moved out of Athens as the Athens it was pretty well connected so a car was not needed to move about in the city.
There were two drivers throughout our trips, not because we needed two drivers but my friend and my husband both enjoyed driving. So for one week my husband drove and for the 2nd week my friend drove. My itinerary was planned to have several stops a day, so it was pretty easy for the same driver to drive for the entire day.