Travel Review: Luxury Greece Vacation, Crete, Avli, Iraklion, Knossos, Shinaria, Santorini, Caldera, Acropolis, Plaka, Meteora

We enjoyed the entire trip that we thougt of it as three mini vacations. People were very friendly and travellers should not worry about travelling to Greece. First Vacation: Athens Gates hotel was a perfect location with a beautiful view of the Acropolis and close to the New Acropolis Museum and the Plaka. We really enjoyed the New Acropolis Museum. It has be one of the best museums in the world. The Classic Tour segment (Delphi, Olympus, Mycenae, Meteora) was fantastic. We would not have wanted to drive to these locations on our own. It was warmer than we expected for September, but each day we managed to climb to see the historical “monuments” as our tour guide referred to them. Meteora was unknown to us before the trip but a majestic sight with an interesting history. Second Vacation: We loved Crete and want to go back some day. The Avli staff made us feel like family. We felt like we were guests at their home. Avli was centrally located and in a quieter section of town. We enjoyed sitting on the balcony in our suite and hearing the sound of the church bells in the morning. We even got to know some of the locals as we walked to our car each morning. Besides breakfast each morning, we had three dinners at Avli; it is easily the best restaurant in Crete and one of the best in Greece. Driving in Crete was an experience but we quickly got the hang of it. In Iraklion, we went to the Venetian Harbor/Fortress and archaeological museum. We had a wonderful guide at Knossos. We also visited the Kazantzakis Museum , travelling though vineyards and olive groves. We went to a beach on the south side of the island in Shinaria. It was a gorgeous cove with a secluded beach and a small restaurant. The water was blue, crystal clear and refreshing, we swam for hours. The day we travelled on the flying cat we had choppy water due to the storm the night before, but it was sunny. However, once the flying cat starting traveling, you did not leave your seat. Third Vacation: Santorini was picturesque. We had a great room at the Dana Villas overlooking the Caldera. We would watch the ships from our deck/balcony. There were a lot of uneven steps that were difficult to navigate. We enjoyed an early evening cruise on a catamaran. We swam closed to the red beach and in the hot (warm springs). We had a BBQ dinner on the boat. The Captain and First Mate were wonderful chefs. We watched the sunset from the boat and had a added benefit of seeing a beautiful rainbow. We would highly recommend the catamaran tour any time of day (morning, afternoon, or evening).