Tell people what I do for a living and they’ll undoubtedly ask where my favourite place to visit is – and as corny as it sounds the truth is, I love everywhere… I really do! However, the last decade has seen me return to the same country time and time again; yet it wasn’t until I was sat at Chania airport waiting to return from our most recent multigenerational holiday and was scrolling for a last-minute holiday to return that I realised… we’d fallen in love with Greece.
From a Babymoon in Cyprus to exploring Athens as a city break destination on a budget I like to think my experience of Greece has been varied and not just the typical package holiday – although I’ve done that and you can’t beat endless Greek salad and strawberry daiquiris.
I’d never holidayed in Greece as a child instead we headed to Spain, a country where my mother was fluent in the language and we had a real affinity with the culture and still do – I spent a chunk of my teenage summers in Barcelona and Boo calls out Abuela as opposed to Grandma. I always just thought Spain would be ‘our place’ and we love visiting but Greece is us.
It’s got an alphabet that I’ll never master – and I’m ok with that. Greece has all the culture you could ever need and more, so much so that you’ll never cover it all and in some ways, it’s instantly relaxing to know there’s no definitive ‘must-do’ list, instead I find a dip your toe in approach far more satisfying. The locals are welcoming and see (responsible) tourism as a positive contribution to their country.
My first visit was to Cyprus when I was pregnant – who knew Nissi beach was super family friendly in the day to swimming in the waters of Aphrodite’s rock and enjoying Kataklysmos – The Flood Festival in Larnaca. I did so much, but still came back rested; which is how I feel every time I return from a trip to Greece… rested and recharged.
Athen’s was an assault on the senses in the best way possible – it was everything you could imagine and more. We managed to pack so much into our city break yet the soaring temperatures during May made us feel like we’d really got away.
Look past the sunsets, the beautiful beaches and another attractive aspect is the affordability of the majority of Greece; in particular the islands. Apart from a couple of notable exceptions (I’m looking at you Mykonos and Santorini), the majority of islands have holidays for nearly every budget
So will next year see our return to Greece specifically Crete for the third year in a row? Who knows; one thing for sure is Greece not only has our heart it’s home to so many of our family memories that Boo and I have made together – for which I am sure we will continue to add to for many more years to come.
