The Acropolis at dawn, the big, real, beach and village island most people skip, and a sunset off a drowned volcano, Greece, the famous one and the quiet one in one trip.
Into the birthplace of so much of the Western world. After the flight we keep it easy, a first plate of grilled octopus in the Plaka, the Acropolis floodlit above the rooftops from a taverna terrace, an early night.
Up to the Acropolis and the Parthenon at opening, before the heat and the cruise crowds; the superb Acropolis Museum below; and the marble lanes of Plaka and Anafiotika, a Cycladic village tucked under the rock. A rooftop dinner with the temple lit gold above you.
A ferry out into the Aegean to Naxos, the largest and greenest of the Cyclades, and the one the crowds overlook. The great marble Portara gateway standing alone at the harbour mouth, framing the sunset; a first long taverna dinner by the water.
Up into the mountains, the Venetian walled village of Halki, the artists' town of Apiranthos, the ancient marble quarries where giant unfinished statues still lie in the hillside. Olive groves, citron orchards, and a Naxos that has nothing to prove.
The long golden sands of the west coast, Plaka, Agios Prokopios, Mikri Vigla for the windsurfers, and a tasting of the island's kitron liqueur and graviera cheese. The slow, authentic Cyclades, before the showstopper tomorrow.
A ferry to Santorini, a crescent of cliff on the rim of a flooded volcanic caldera. Settle into a cave house carved into the cliff face, and join the evening crowd, or your own private terrace, for the famous sunset over the blue domes of Oia.
A catamaran around the caldera, the red and white beaches, a swim at the warm springs by the volcanic islet, and an afternoon tasting the island's mineral Assyrtiko wine on the black volcanic slopes. The Minoan ruins of Akrotiri, the Aegean Pompeii.
A quieter day, the black sand beach at Perissa, the inland village of Pyrgos and its old kasteli, a wine cave, a long lunch. A final caldera sunset with a cold glass of white and no need to be anywhere at all.
A last frappe on the cliff before your flight home. Greece gives you the weight of the ancient world and the lightness of an Aegean afternoon, and you will be back for more islands.
Three ways to do the same route: Comfort, Premium or Luxe. Breakfasts in. Mix tiers city by city if you like, it is your trip.
Priced to your dates, your hotel tier and how the two of you like to travel. Ask, the first answer usually lands within minutes.
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