For an avid travel lover and Travel Broker, 3 years of not really travelling seems like a lifetime. 2020 -2023 went so quickly it wasn't funny. They say time flies when you're having fun...however, that sadly was not the case for the last few years.
As it had been a while, I booked and paid for my business class flight (first time ever -however it has ruined me as once you go up the front of the plane you no longer want to sit at the back!!) in Oct 2022 to travel in September this year (2023) to have a relaxing holiday. Booking early in a post Covid travel era definitely pays as my fare went up by $1400 the following month.
I really just wanted to chill and relax after the last few years of still booking travel whilst doing another full-time job. I picked Greece for that exact reason. I just wanted to swim in the amazing blue sea, lie on the beach and enjoy some fabulous Greek food and hospitality.
The last time I went to Greece was in 1997, when I checked out Athens, worked in Ios for a month and went to Santorini.
For this trip I picked Naxos, Koufonisia, Mykonos (just to meet up with a friend coming from London) and Paros. I was looking for Islands in the Cyclades that I hadn't been to before that were ideally less commercial.
I flew on a Lufthansa ticket but via Singapore, on Singapore Airlines. I have travelled on Singapore Airlines on many occasions, (and in business class occasionally) but this time the staff seemed rushed and not as polished. I don't really like the A350 pods, but I did make good use of the free wifi to do a bit of work in-between watching movies. In business class they do have the 'Book the Cook' option (which I had looked at but left it too late to book but worth looking at if you want to guarantee a specific meal.)
The Singapore Airlines flight from Auckland was delayed by 3 hours due to a mechanical fault which meant I had a 20 minute turnaround window to catch my flight to Frankfurt and then on to Athens with Lufthansa.Lufthansa by comparison had much larger, better seating (bed at this stage)... almost 2 meters long (my feet couldn't reach the other side), a fully lie flat bed complete with an extra mat for more comfort. You get given a given a top to change into should you wish to. The service, food and wine served I couldn't fault. You can preorder your meals up to 24 hours before and can decide after seeing the menu for your upcoming flight.
Due to the tight connection in Singapore my bag never made it to Athens, and I left the following day to fly into Naxos. I had purchased a couple of Tile Tags (the android equivalent of an Apple tag) and I could see that my bag was still in Changi. Unfortunately, a very helpful Air New Zealand staff member had reprinted my boarding passes in Auckland so that I had them all for all the flights through to Athens and I didn't spot that my baggage tags details were no longer on my boarding pass so I couldn't log my lost bag on the Lufthansa site and had to que up with the many, and I stress many, people queuing to report lost luggage. To their credit Lufthansa did update me on a daily basis as to where things were at. I got my bag in Naxos 5 days after I had last seen it. Word to the wise....just take carry on or at least take more with you as carry on to change into. Fortunately, I had 10 days in Naxos and wasn't Island hopping at that stage, so it wasn't such an issue to get it to me.
Naturally I did go shopping ( not that I had planned on doing so after a 30+ hrs of flying. I went to the closest mall near the Holiday Inn Athens Airport ,where I was overnighting, and managed to get some underwear, a swimsuit, slip on shoes, and a bag as I had purchased a reasonable amount of skin care etc at Auckland duty free and needed something to put it all into. Fortunately for the Insurance company, but unfortunately for me it was the end of their season, so most shops had little left for summer as they were selling their new season winter stock.
In hindsight I would have booked at the Sofitel across from the airport in Athens as I had to pay for the taxi to the hotel as the wait for the free shuttle seemed too long after 30+ hours of flying.
Allianz (who I had taken out Travel Insurance with) paid out the $1200 + claim - (obviously I did more shopping in Naxos) in less than 24 hours of me submitting the claim when I got home. I am a great believer of Insurance despite not really claiming over the last 30+ years.
NAXOS
The following morning, I flew out on Olympic Air from Athens to Naxos. A short 40 minute flight with great service and stunning views on the way. I booked on Airbnb, which I haven't before, 'View from Above' because it had amazing reviews. It is also on booking.com. The only negative to having an amazing view is the 4 flights of marble stairs to go up and down from but I had the most amazing deck for the view and to watch the sunsets. The owners had to come and get me on my first day, as jetlagged me set off in the right direction in search of a supermarket, clothing shop and lunch, but could not for the life of me find my way back ...I had walked past the street I was on and then couldn't work out where I was.....as it turns out there are white house's/buildings with potentially blue window shutters everywhere!!
Once I got my bearings (day 2 after a decent sleep) I realised I was in a perfect location, just minutes of walking distance to the old town, the port and the Saint George Beach.
Naxos is a big Island with lots of different towns and beaches to explore. Plaka beach is stunning and there is a regular bus service that goes every half an hour from the port from 7.30am - 1pm. Well worth the visit.
Below are some photos of my room and amazing rooftop deck -
SHOPPING
I found my one stop shop for clothing for lost luggage needs while I was waiting for my luggage to turn up - Alley Resort Wear...a fabulous shop, lovely owner and perfect linen dresses, trousers and tops. Needless to say, that by the time my suitcase turned up in Naxos I had far too many clothes and if I had known what I could get on the Island, I would have waited until I got there as they were cheaper and better than what I had taken with me!
TOURS
I had prebooked a few tours...again if I'm honest I left it too late to get all the ones I wanted but I did the following ones-
I did 'A Taste of Naxos' market tour and cooking class with Trekking Hellas Tours which was great. We made Greek Kolokithokeftedes (zucchini fritters), an Eggplant salad, a Greek salad, Tzatziki, Dolmades and were also served Moussaka. It included a tour of the old town, cheese tasting, wine and Citron tasting. A great way to spend 4 hrs. I did a cheese tasting Koufopoulos Cheese tasting....a platter of 10 Naxian cheeses and a glass. This gets booked out early and is often included in other tours as either a stop or part of tours, so I recommend booking early. Through Naxos Cultural Tours, I did the Cultural food tour at the villages of Naxos ( visiting Kourounochori, Apaiaranthos and Chalki/Halki stopping for amazing food along the way. We also went past Filoti which is worth jumping on the local bus to check out on its own. I also did The Mythology Sunset Tour with them. Both were great tours and a great way to meet other travelers.
EATING
To be fair all the restaurants were great and I never had a bad meal but some of my favorites were -
Scirocco in the Court Square - amazing food and it pays to book To Ellhniko - down by the beach, great food and outdoor seating - book to get a good table Sottovento - down on Saint George Beach - nice setting, great food
KOUFONISIA
My cousin who came and met me in Naxos and I went by ferry to Koufonisia for 3 nights ....a small island off the back of Naxos ...normally visited as a day trip but well worth staying -
possibly the nicest Island of the trip.
The water is pristine, super chilled, no sun loungers on the beaches with very little traffic as only residents cars on the Island.
Stay - Portes Houses in a deluxe seaveiw apartment as it had a separate room and double sofa bed. It is a super chilled place with lovely pool area and they will even bring breakfast to the room to have on the balcony. If I am honest it was probably the most expensive place of the whole trip but lovely none the less. The Hotel was away from the port and main township (chora) but still walking distance.
If you wanted a place more in town I would recommend Keros Art Hotel which I checked out while there.
EATING
Our favorite cafe was Finikis Bar and Restaurant which served the freshest squid I have ever had and it is beachfront on one of our favorite beaches. They also have accommodation but we only ate at the restaurant and hung out on the beach. Lefteris seaside restaurant was also a good spot
We also had dinner in town at Armira Kai Pioto which we had to que to get into but worth the wait. Closer to our hotel was Mxalios Grill House which was a fabulous family run restaurant where we enjoyed amazing food and hospitality. To Kyma is a great coffee, brunch and cocktail place just up from the port with great views.
Shopping Highlight - A fabulous jewelry shop - Arodou Jewlery where I was talked into (not too hard to be fair) purchasing a beautiful Maria Eleftheriou hand crafted ring.
MYKONOS
My two night stay here was just to meet up with my friend from London, flying in for the week so that we could go to Paros.
I stayed at Olympia Rooms which was perfect for a quick stopover...just up from town but away from the hustle and bustle of town which was heaving during the day as 5 huge cruise shops were all in.
PAROS
Just a short hydrofoil away was Paros.
Stay - We opted to stay in Naousa to be near the main town and stayed at Zoumis Residence . A short 10 mins walk into the town area of Naousa and a short walk to the closest beach. Great atmosphere and pool so I highly rate it. Just up the road was Sanaya Luxury Suites, which I went and checked out - very chic, bohemian luxury property is you were wanting something a bit more luxurious.
Eating and Drinking -
Tsachpinis - On the port, very busy so it pays to book. It was by far our most expensive meal but great food (we didn't realise that you paid by the kg of fish) and service. To Takimi - is a traditional music meze and cafe place which is located in the center of Naousa next to the square's church...we wish we had found it sooner. It was supposedly closing after the season but I believe it is still open. Great food at very reasonable prices. I Tria became or favorite pre and post dinner cocktail spot...amazing staff and cocktails. Pastello -just up from the hotel that does take away if you feel like some authentic itian If you are in Parikia it is definitely worth watching the sunset with a cocktail at Evinos Bar. Sightseeing -
We did the Captain Yannis one day boat trip which was a lot of fun, a great group of travelers, nice lunch, drinks and snorkeling. We went into Parikia for the day - great shopping for souvenirs. I brought a stunning ring from Barbaris Dimitris ( ΠΑΡΟΙΚΙΑ, Paros 844 00, Greece) and our favorite shop was Memories Jewelry - G.Roussou, Agora Parikia - the owner was so lovely and the shop had so much beautiful jewelry, scarves etc to buy.
All in all a fabulous time in Greece and all our Seajet (island hopping) travel went without a hitch.
Such a great destination....
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