Quarter 2 | 2025
Tips and Tricks for Navigating Greece
By Anthony Pascale
Planning a trip to Greece can be overwhelming: in addition to the mainland, there are over 6,000 islands and islets of which over 200 are inhabited. If you're planning a trip for the first time, my first recommendation would be to invest in a good travel guide to help narrow down the scope. For my recent trip I used the Lonely Planet's guide, but I have also used Rick Steves' guides for other trips and both have been equally helpful.
While the islands tend to get a lot of attention from tourists (for very good reasons!), most international flights will require your trip to begin and end at Athens International Airport. You'd be remiss not to spend a few days checking out this amazing city, rich in centuries of history and culture! I have been to Athens twice now, and on both occasions, the highlight has been a little known attraction that I found in reviewing the Lonely Planet guide: This is Athens with a Local. This is a FREE platform that aims to provide visitors with the opportunity to see the city through the eyes of a local resident. There are a variety of tour themes to choose from, and each will be catered to your group. This past visit we chose the "Taste Athens with a Local" option and our local guide Antonis took us for an epic culinary adventure through the city that we will never forget. We had so much fun that we spent a few hours with Antonis and his family the following afternoon and have tentative plans to visit again next year!
In Athens, all roads lead to the Acropolis! This ancient citadel is located on a rocky outcrop that towers over the city center, a constant reminder of the ancient and storied past of Athens. The Acropolis is always crowded with tourists (more so around midday), but it is truly a marvel of ancient architecture and the experience of climbing to the top is well worth the crowds. If you're even remotely interested in history, spend the extra money on a small group guided tour and plan to go as early in the morning as possible. While it's certainly cool to walk up without a formal guide, it's also very easy to miss out on a lot of interesting historical context that will enrich the experience significantly. As an alternative, the "Rick Steves Audio Europe" app offers several free guided tours throughout Greece, and at least two or three are for the Acropolis.
When choosing which islands you might like to visit, the most talked about (and thus most tourist filled) are of course, the Cycladic islands of Santorini and Mykonos. Both islands are gorgeous, iconic, and well worth a visit; however, as comes with the territory of being major tourist destinations, they are both some of the most expensive and crowded islands in all of Greece. If that's not the experience you are looking for, I would highly recommend checking out the island of Paros. It has a similar feeling to Mykonos, but not quite as expensive or crowded (yet!).
By far the best decision we made in Greece was signing up for a day tour with Michael Zeppos Cruises out of Paros. There are innumerable companies that will take tourists out to sea for a day of snorkeling and beach hopping, but Michael Zeppos was in a class of its own. We spent 7 hours cruising around Paros and Antiparos on a traditional wooden kaíki (fishing boat), eating a delicious lunch prepared fresh by the amazing crew, enjoying all-you-can-drink house wine and beer, and swimming and snorkeling around some of the most beautiful locations the islands have to offer, many of which were only accessible by boat!
If Michael Zeppos was the best decision we made, I'd say the second best was a tour and tasting at the beautiful Petra Farm! Petra is a family-run sustainable organic farm specializing in the production of Mediterranean crops such as olives, capers, figs, grapes, and a variety of herbs, just to name a few. Our visit began with a small group tour of the farm complete with idyllic views of the bay of Kolymbithres and the nearby town of Naousa. It ended with a delicious lunch tasting of Petra's various products and wines, and a new appreciation for sustainable farming and agriculture.
Finally, if you have the time, I highly recommend taking the ferry from Paros to the nearby islet of Antiparos, located just 1 nautical mile away. The Ferry is inexpensive and conveniently located, and you can choose to walk or drive your car on board! The ferry will drop you off in the lovely town of Hora where you can easily spend a few hours walking around the stone-paved streets and whitewashed alleys and checking out the various shops and restaurants. If you're feeling adventurous, the Cave of Antiparos is a short drive from Hora and is home to some of the oldest known stalagmites in Europe!