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Greece Mother/Daughter Trip part 1

Thanks to everyone on this list I received great information for a mother and 17 year old daughter graduation present trip to Greece. I hope our experiences will help others!. We traveled from LAX to Athens with a layover at London Heathrow. I purposely booked an overnight connection both ways to avoid connection issues and to not fly more then a long haul in a day. It worked great especially when both AA flights between LAX and LHR were more then an hour delayed. After an early morning flight to Athens I picked up a car. Rented from Athen Car Rentals. They were excellent. Met us at the gate and met us when we dropped off at the airport. I don't know what would happen if we had a problem, but they were affordable and quick. The road from the airport to Nafplio where we spent 4 days, was quick with 4 toll stops of around 2 Euros each stop. Parking is very easy at the port and our hotel, the Omorfi Poli was simple but welcoming with a great AC. Our first afternoon we explored the town from the port to the castle. Most of the shops were tourist shops. Lots of restaurants. I learned that Greece has supersized portions and after one mistake of my daughter and I each ordering a salad and entree and realizing we only needed to order one of each and share. Also better on the pocketbook. The next day we got up early and hit Mycenae and Epidaurus. Amazing. Each took an hour or so but you really felt a sense of the history. Back in Nafplio we walked to the castle and had OK seafood on one of the recommended restaurants. The next day we booked a cooking class with a local food blogger/cookbook author. Ivy Liacopoulou. We made 5 dishes in her kitchen and talked about her life in Greece with her and her husband over lunch. An enjoyable way to learn about the cuisine. I think at this point we could have easily left Nafplio but we had another full day so we walked down the shoreline to the beach. I enjoyed the walk which was pretty but we didn't feel like hanging at the beach. We spent the rest of the day walking around the town with a nice nap in the afternoon. The evening was fun in the main square. It was a Saturday night and everyone was out in the square. It was a holiday weekend so there was some performances. The next day, after we turned the car in we took an Olympic Air flight from Athens to Santorini. We took everyones suggestions and booked a hotel in Firostefani. I loved our hotel. It was the Sunset Hotel. The staff was great and the patio outside our hotel was huge and amazing. We loved the sunsets on our deck and met several of the people who were staying there. We went modest with great views but no pool. Firostefani was a good location because it didn't get the crowds of Fira or Oia. We didn't need reservations anywhere and always had a great view of the water. But in hindsight, we could have been just as happy getting fish and chips in a cone (across from our hotel) for only 4.80 and hang out at our hotel patio with the great view. On the first full day we did the Fira to Oia walk. Definitely worth it but it was challenging. We started in Firostefani at 9:40 and ended up in Oia at 12:30, right when the cruise ships hit. Oia was super crowded but we just went with the flow. Took the bus back to Fira and walked the last part of the trek to Firostefani for the full walk. The second full day we planned to take the bus to Ankor but my daughter wanted to sleep in and we had a sunset cruise we would need to rush back for. In hindsight I would have booked an extra night in Santorini to fit everything in and still enjoy the view. We did a catamaran tour in the afternoon that was good as expected. We had the blue star ferry from to Naxos which was excellent. Definitely the way to go.

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I am glad you stayed Firostefani. Oia and Fira are so crowded. Can't wait to hear your thoughts about Naxos. Sounds like the beginning of a great trip.