Our Trip To Greece – September 2023

Back in Athens 17 years later…

Fun fact for you to start off this post – we used to live in Greece! Between living in Denmark and the US, we lived in Athens for 3 years. We moved to the US in 2006 and somehow haven’t had the chance to travel back to Greece as a family since then. So, 17 years later, we decided to head back for two weeks (some of us only for one week) to visit some of our favorite places, eat lots of delicious food, and see old friends. It was an amazing end-of-summer trip and in today’s post, we wanted to share some pictures with you and tell you more about our trip to Greece.

Week One – Athens and Plitra

We spent our first weekend in Athens so that we could have lunch and dinner with a few different family friends we hadn’t seen since we lived there! Of course, lots can change in 17 years, but we had such a great time reminiscing and updating each other on our current lives. We also visited Sounion, where the Temple of Poseidon is located, but because we had seen most of the sights in Athens multiple times when we lived there, we decided not to spend too long in the city. Then, we drove to the Pelopponese, specifically to a small beach town called Plitra. Our first week was spent relaxing by the sea, while some of us worked remotely, went for hikes, went out for day trips, saw sea turtles (!!), and ate loads of good food. It was wonderful!

Messene and Kalamata

Towards the end of the first week, we went on a couple of day trips worth mentioning. We drove to Messene to see the ruins of an ancient city, and walked around there before spending the afternoon in the city of Kalamata. We then picked up the late arrivals to our family trip at Kalamata airport on the Saturday night and headed back to Plitra. Ancient Messene was beautiful (but hot!), especially the huge stadium and the massive theatre. It was so crazy to imagine that people lived there over 2,000 years ago and enjoyed the same things that we do today, like art and theatre and sport. Kalamata was also a lovely city with plenty of restaurants and shopping, and we honestly wished we had had a bit more time to explore it!

Monemvasia

Once everyone had arrived, we finished off week one by heading on a day trip to Monemvasia. This is an incredible town pretty much built into the side of an island and it’s a must-see if you plan on heading to Greece for a trip at any point. You can’t actually see it as you drive onto the island because it was built to be hidden when viewed from the mainland. This makes its beautiful architecture even more impressive when you finally do see it! It’s like something out of Game of Thrones, and you can climb all the way up to the top of the island to see the breathtaking church of Agia Sofia and a wonderful view of the sea. It was a great way to round out our first week before we drove to explore a different part of the Pelopponese for the second week.

Week Two – Nafplion/Nea Tiryntha

Week two took us to Nafplion, another beach town, and more specifically, the small town of Nea Tiryntha. We stayed in a beautiful Airbnb with a tennis court and a pool, which provided us with plenty of entertainment for the following days! The town of Nafplion was also amazing, and we spent a couple of our days just walking around, shopping, and eating in the town centre. We ate lots of good food (surprise surprise) and also cooked a few meals of our own.

Mystras and Epidaurus

While on our way to Nafplion, we stopped in Mystras, which is a very famous archaeological site of a Byzantine city. The architecture of the various churches and temples on the mountain is impressive, so it’s no surprise that it’s on UNESCO’s Word Heritage list. It is truly incredible, but definitely be prepared to hike for a few hours to reach the top, or you can also drive part of the way up! We did enjoy it a lot, but it was hot 🥵 Later on in the second week, we took a day trip to Epidaurus, the site of a huge amphitheatre and ruins of a healing sanctuary. It was very interesting to take a look around, and the theatre is truly one you can’t miss if you’re ever in Greece.

…and home again!

Before long, it was time for us all to head back to our respective homes all over the US and Europe. It was an amazing trip, and if you’re ever planning a vacation to Greece, definitely check out the Pelopponese! It’s just as beautiful and way less busy than the tourist hotspot islands like Santorini. And if you’re into history or architecture or archaeology, you can’t miss these places. We hope you enjoyed today’s post – we had the best time altogether again in Greece, and already miss it 🙂