Greek Gateaway

Hi loves,

So, as promised, today I will be telling you more about our 2 nights stay in Athens, Greece, which was a surprise trip made for my love’s B-day. Where we have stayed, how we got there and since it was just a matter of 2 days only holiday, what we decided to visit in order to make our stay wonderful.

So, first things first. I book a flight with Ryanair with 2 weeks before our departure. Be careful with your luggage: You can get 2 for free, but you’ll bring just the small one in the airplane. If you want to get both of them with you, there is a small tax that you should pay. For my own comfort, I decided to book priority with 2 cabin bags. I think it’s easier this way and you’ll have to pay around 30 euro extra for both flights. The flight was scheduled to leave at 13: 40, which was quite reasonable. No more morning wake up!

Ok, once we got in the Athens airport, we decided to go by the bus. The price of a ticket is 6 euro and the one that we took left us in Syntagma Square (was the closest station to our hotel). From this place we took Uber and the cost was around 4.5 euro. So a total of 16.5 euro to get from the airport to the hotel for two persons.

Very important!! There is no actual Uber in Greece. Even if the app is working, you cannot see the approximate price for your ride, mainly because they have the normal cabs ( Yellow ones) that will start the charging device once you get in and after you reach your destination, they will introduce the charged amount on the app. Don’t worry, you’ll still pay via Uber and the prices are really fair in the end.

For our 2 nights stay in Athens, I have picked Novotel Hotel. It is situated near the city center and the Uber ride was always around 5 euro from the hotel to the Acropolis, to the Monastiraki Square, to the Placa Square and so on.

Regarding this hotel, oh well… I had the chance to stay there, I think, 10 years ago and it was not like as I remembered. You should also check the other hotels available in the city center because I was not really satisfied with the price/quality ration.

And now, let’s talk a bit more about how we decided to plan our holiday during our stay.

       1. First day: We arrived at the hotel at 18 o’clock. We took a fast shower, change our flight clothing and went to the Acropolis. We got there somewhere between 18:30 and 19:00. Believe me, it’s the best hour to visit it during the summer because it’s almost the closing hour and most of the tourist visit it during the first part of the day. It was not as crowded as we expected and you can see this from the pictures I have took ♥

We took a small walk down to the Monastiraki Square, we bought some souvenirs and after that we stopped at a local tavern to have dinner. IMPORTANT: The restaurants are better in this area.

2. Second day: As you might guess, we started with the breakfast at the hotel and after that, we decided to go to the  Vouliagmeni Lake. Is 20 km away from the Novotel Hotel and we took Uber again to get there. The price per ride was around 20 euros and we got there in 30 min.

This place is truly amazing and I think you should include it in your must see places while in Athens. But remember to take your towels with you. I thought that they rent some and came unprepared. In the end we had to pay 17 euros per one towel, because as you can guess they don’t rent, but they sell them. I think I was not the only one and in the end because they can make quite a business out of this. The entrance price is 15 euros if I remember correctly and you can stay all day long.

In the same note, the food and drinks have a reasonable price there, but you can also check some good restaurants across the street.

– Once we got back in the city (around 18 o’clock) we took a well deserved nap and after that we went to Placa Square for dinner. WORST IDEA! The food was ok-ish, but in Monastiraki Square we ate better. Regardless of the food, the serving was horrible and the waiter seemed… quite bored with his job. This area is also good for shopping & souvenirs and it’s really active and full of tourists.

3. Third day. We decided to go back to Monastiraki to drink a coffee at A for Athens. It’s a hotel that has a roof bar with the most amazing view over the Acropolis. After that, we couldn’t resits and went back at the restaurant were we had ate on the first day and took a delicious seafood plate, tzatiki and some french fries, in order to remember Greece also for it’s food… haha. It was delicious.

-After our lunch, the adventure began. I was 100% sure that our flight was at 17:40 and that there is no rush for us to get to the airport. I couldn’t be more wrong because that was the landing hour. The flight was at 15:50 or something like this. You should have seen my face when I realized at 14 o’clock that we might loose our flight.

We took a cab, we arrived at the airport in 30′ and yes, we caught the flight. The taxi ride from the hotel to the airport was around 30 euro. The worst part of the journey was actually at the end.

Arriving at 18:00 at the airport in Bucharest, means that you’ll get the rush hour in traffic at its fullest. Our flight took one hour and 20′ from Athens to Buchares, but the same was the case from the airport to our home :(.

Nevertheless, it was a great experience and we enjoyed it a lot. You should also visit Greece!

In the meantime, I am waiting for our next trip to Barcelona at the beginning of July. If you have any tips, feel free to share them with me ♥

Kisses, M ♥