Amazing Greek island-hopping holiday

Our ultimate 10-day itinerary covers the best of Greece’s 6,000 islands

Amazing Travel

4/14/202610 min read

Sunsets, whitewashed villages, and unforgettable swims

If you’ve been dreaming of turquoise water, cliffside villages, and golden sunsets, this 10-day Greek island itinerary blends iconic spots with just enough breathing room to actually enjoy them.

✈️ Day 1: Arrival in Athens

Start your adventure in the cradle of Western civilization.

Check into a hotel near Plaka or Monastiraki
Sunset views at Acropolis
Dinner with a view of the Parthenon

Tip: Keep it light—you’ll be island hopping soon

Sunset views at Acropolis

To get to Athens, which's the capital of Greece you can take a morning flight. Lots of airlines like British Airways, easyJet Ryanair, Jet2, Wizz and Aegean fly to Athens from the United Kingdom. When you get to Athens it is an idea to book a car to take you to your hotel. Greece Private Transfers is a company to use. They will take you to your hotel in a car with air conditioning. You will be staying at the Divani Palace Acropolis hotel for two days. This hotel is very nice. It is close to the citys most famous monument. The hotel is actually built on top of the city walls. You can even see the walls in the basement.

When you are ready to go out you can walk to the Plaka district. This area is very pretty with lots of trees and nice streets. You should go to a café called Melina Mercouri. This café is dedicated to a Greek actress. They have lots of pictures and things that remind you of her. You can eat a mushroom pie called manitaropita. Then you can go to The Acropolis. This is a famous place with a very old temple called the Parthenon.. You need to be careful because they only let a certain number of people visit each day. So you need to book your visit of time. After you visit The Acropolis you can go to the Acropolis Museum. Then you can walk down some streets to a traditional restaurant called Glykis. They have good food. You can end your day with a drink on the rooftop of a building on Odos Lysiou street.

Dinner with a view of the Parthenon

Greece has good food. Most of it is healthy. Athens has lots of restaurants. You can find family restaurants and big fancy ones. Greeks like to eat. They usually have lunch at 2 pm and dinner at 10 pm. So you have plenty of time to get hungry.

If you want to try the food in Athens you can take a tour with a company called Culinary Backstreets. They will show you around the city. Take you to the best restaurants. They will take you to a neighborhood called Exarchia. This area has lots of murals and record stores. They will also take you to the Plaka district.

If you do not want to take a tour you can go to the Varvakios food market. This market has lots of food. You can go to a restaurant called Oinomageireion Epirus. This restaurant has been around since 1898. They have good traditional food like tripe soup and meatball stew. If you want to spend a bit money you can go to a restaurant called Dopios. This restaurant has good food like steak with truffle sauce.

🏛 Day 2: Athens → Santorini

Take a morning flight or ferry to Greece’s most iconic island.

Check into Oia or Imerovigli
Wander whitewashed streets
Watch sunset in Oia

Santorini has the beautiful sunsets.

Santorini is famous for its sunsets. You do not have to go to Oia to see them because it is too crowded. Instead you can take a sunset cruise with Santorini Yachting Club. They have catamarans that leave from Vlychadas pebble beach, which is only a 10-minute bus ride from Akrotiri. On the cruise you can swim in springs and then watch the sunset in Ammoudi Bay, which is really beautiful.

Greeces party island is fun for a night. Santorini deserves more of your time. You can take one of Seajets fast catamarans. It only takes an hour to get to Santorini. When you get there you will see the volcanic island with villages on top and it is really pretty. It will even make you feel better if you have a hangover.

Santorini has a lot of hotels like Canaves Oia Epitome and the Santo Pure but if you want to stay somewhere that is not too crowded you should stay at Astra Suites. Astra Suites is a nice place with a great restaurant that serves delicious food like handmade tagliatelle with grilled langoustine tails and fresh truffle. The service is also very good. You can see Skaros Rock from there. From Astra Suites it is a 20-minute bus or taxi ride to Akrotiri, which is a really old Minoan site that is like the 'Greek Pompeii'. Akrotiri was buried under ash around 1500BC.

When you get back to land you should go to To Psaraki, a restaurant in Vlychada that serves good seafood. The chef, Thanasis Sfougaris makes food.

If you want to see what Santorini was like a time ago you should visit the island of Thirasia. It is a 10-minute water taxi ride from Santorinis Ammoudi harbour. Thirasia is an island with only one road and most people get around by moped or mule. You can take a hiking tour with Explore Thirasia to see the island. They will take you to cave dwellings and you can climb up to the top of the island to see the views. You can also eat meze and drink raki punch in one of the tavernas.

When you get back to Santorini you should not go to the restaurants in Oia. Instead you should go to Tou Steki Tou Nikou, a taverna, in Imerovigli that serves home-cooked food like tomato fritters, for a good price.

🌅 Day 3: Santorini Magic

Slow down and soak it in.

Red Beach of Santorini
Wine tasting at Santo Wines
Dinner overlooking the caldera

After a busy day, it’s time to get ready for the main event. You will hear many people tell you that the best place to view the sunset on Santorini is in Oia. It is spectacular but as a result, don’t expect to be alone! It feels like everybody in the whole of Greece are amassing for the descent of the sun once you arrive in Oia.

For the best spots & ‘front row’ be sure to arrive early (by 7pm).

In summer, the sun sets around 8pm, which means you need to be on the bus from Fira by 6.30pm at the latest.

If you’re hoping to get a sunset view with your drinks or dinner, then definitely book ahead. It may happen every day but in Oia the sun gets applauded as it disappears over the horizon!”

To book your perfect meal with a view then try Roka, Elinikon or I enjoyed Lotza. Also recommended is Candouni if you are less inclined to need the Vista.

The Red Beach of Santorini is without a doubt one of the most stunning and interesting beaches on the island, as it stands out for its color!

A unique spectacle and a site of rare beauty is the Red Beach of Santorini Island! So get ready to visit it and be amazed.

The volcanic eruptions led to the formation of this beautiful site that is visited by many tourists every year. Its surroundings of enormous volcanic rocks, black and red pebbles, and sand of various colors, mainly red, compose a wild scenery that attracts all the visitors and captivates everyone from the minute they step foot on this stunning place. Its rock formations and its interesting marine life make the beach also ideal for snorkeling lovers.

⛵ Day 4 & 5: Chania, Crete

Chania is a fantastic addition—but it changes the feel of your itinerary in a really good way.

Instead of just hopping Cycladic islands like Santorini, adding Chania gives you a richer, more local, and less touristy experience—with dramatic landscapes you won’t get elsewhere.

🌿 Why Chania (Crete) Is Worth It

1. More than beaches
Crete is huge—almost like its own country. Around Chania you get:

Venetian architecture
Mountains + gorges
Some of Greece’s best food

2. Unreal beaches (different vibe)

Balos Lagoon – Caribbean-like المياه
Elafonissi Beach – pink-tinted sand

3. Food is next-level
Cretan cuisine is famous across Greece—think fresh olive oil, grilled meats, local cheese.

4. Fewer crowds than Santorini/Mykonos
Still popular, but more relaxed and authentic.

⚠️ The Trade-Off

Crete is far from the Cyclades.

Ferry from Santorini = long (5–6+ hours)
Better option: short flight
You’ll lose time if you try to do too many islands

👉 So the key is: don’t cram it in—swap it in.

Head west on the road, which is really potholed and it goes between big mountains and the coast with lots of beaches to Chania. Put your bags in one of the suites on the top floor at the Samaria Hotel in the center and then go out to buy some silver jewelry, traditional boots and other things to remember your trip in the many shopping streets around the old harbor of Chania.

When you get hungry get a table by the harbor at a family-run place called Ta Xalkina, where they have music from Crete and you can eat snails and other small dishes.

Get up check out of the hotel and then drive on a road in the mountains that is a little scary to Hora Sfakion, where you can take a boat to a beach that is really hard to get to called Agia Roumeli. The beach is at the start of a gorge called Samaria Gorge. Walk on the trail for long as you want and look for goats, eagles and big vultures before you go back to the coast. You can swim in the water to cool off.

Go back to Hora Sfakion by boat. Then drive across the island to Rethymnon. If you like history you should stop at a museum in Askifou that has a lot of things from the war. Have lunch at a family-owned place called Othonas in the town of Rethymnon, where they make really good lamb in a clay pot and then walk around the old town to see the old mosques and buildings, from a long time ago. Get a piece of baklava with honey at a shop where a man named Giorgos Hatziparaschos makes the pastry. Stay overnight at a hotel called Kapsaliana Village Hotel, which is made of stone and was part of a monastery a long time ago.

Day 6 & 7: Sitia, Crete

After having a nice breakfast at the hotel restaurant and a garden with olive trees. I ate bougatsa, which's a kind of custard pie. Then I took the coast road to Heraklion.

The palace of Knossos is a place to visit. It is the home of King Minos and the Minotaur. Some people do not like the way it was restored. I think it is worth seeing. After I saw the palace I went to the museum in Heraklion. They have a lot of Minoan frescoes there. Then I went to a village called Archanes, south of Heraklion. I had lunch at Kritamon, a little restaurant. The chef, Dimitris Mavrakis makes good Cretan food.

From Archanes I drove to Sitia. It took two hours. I went through some villages in the mountains. Sitia is a town with nice beaches and quiet tavernas. There are not hotels but I found a nice one called Sitia City Centre Luxury Apartment. It is near the harbour.

After I dropped off my luggage I went to a restaurant called Meraki. They have good food. I had kalamari with wine sauce and some local pasta with cheese. The locals were walking along the waterfront enjoying the evening. It was really nice. The palace of Knossos and the Minotaur are still, on my mind it is a place to learn about the Minotaur and King Minos.

Day 8, 9 & 10: Karpathos

Blue Star ferries go from Sitia to Karpathos one or two times a week. They usually leave in the afternoon. If the weather is good you can get up early. Drive to Vai beach. It takes half an hour to get to Vai beach. You can sit on the beach. Relax. The beach is very nice. Has a lot of palm trees. You might have seen this beach on television before. It was on the Bounty chocolate bar advertisements.

When you get back to Sitia you can go to the animal rescue centre. You can play with the animals. Then you can go to Takis Voulas bakery. He makes good spanakopita and hortopita pies. You can buy some of these pies to eat on the ferry. The ferry ride to Karpathos takes three hours.

Karpathos is a nice island. It is 30 miles long. It starts at the port of Diafani in the north. It goes all the way down to the beaches of Makrigialos and the town of Pigadia in the south. Not many tourists go to this island.

You should call Mixalis Reisis before you go to Karpathos. He can help you rent a car. He works for Karpathos Travel. You can drive to Afoti Beach Hotel. It takes an hour to get there. The road is very windy. Goes through the mountains. Afoti Beach Hotel is a nice hotel. It is right, on the beach. They have a restaurant that serves seafood and other food. They also have a lot of cocktails.

Karpathos has some of Greece’s loveliest beaches, but be warned: many of those idyllic, pine-fringed shores can only be reached via steep dirt roads. Spend the day lounging on Apella’s sandy beach, backed by a tiny 13th-century church, or swimming from dune-strewn Diakofti’s remote coves.

In the afternoon, make your way to the mountain village of Olympos. Cut off from the outside world until a road was built in the 1980s, it offers a trip back in time and women – who still dress in colourful traditional costumes.