While this blog is mainly focused on fun things to do and see in the Bay Area and San Diego, I also like to share fun travel experiences. My husband and I recently returned from our first Viking cruise from Athens Greece to Venice Italy. We had a great time and saw many incredible sights and checked lots of places off of our bucket lists. We weren’t sure we were “cruise” people, but I think it’s safe to say we would consider doing another cruise if we like the itinerary. This was our first time vacationing during the school year; normally, we would have to plan our vacations around either our kids’ school schedules or mine (I’m a newly-retired elementary science teacher.) We were also happy that we weren’t visiting the Mediterranean at the height of summer when it’s overrun with tourists and scorching hot. I’d definitely recommend visiting this part of the world during the spring or fall if you can.
As far as cruising goes, we were very impressed with the service on our Viking ship. We chose Viking because their ships are smaller and therefore have fewer passengers. Ours had approximately 950. We were definitely on the younger side compared to most of the other passengers and we’re in our early 50’s. As you might imagine it was a pretty tame but friendly and fun crowd. We met a lot of nice people throughout our trip.
All of the staterooms on Viking ocean ships also have outside balconies, which was a must for us. We felt very comfortable in our penthouse veranda stateroom, which was slightly larger than the typical staterooms and had a fairly roomy bathroom. The two cabin stewards assigned to our room were awesome and we appreciated their attention to detail. Overall the accommodations onboard were great. If you’re curious about what our room looked like you can check out this video. Once we figured out what our favorite eating and drinking spots were on the ship we were set. We skipped the buffet and ate at the more formal restaurants. We also took advantage of room service for most breakfasts so we could eat while we were getting ready to head out on our daily excursions.
We were impressed with the quality of the excursions and guides. Viking offers a complementary excursion at each port but we opted to select activities that had an extra fee and were longer. What I didn’t anticipate about going on a cruise was how much time we would spend riding around in charter buses. Overall, though, it was time well-spent as we got to see more of each country that we visited, plus we got to do and see things that we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to. We also opted to extend our trip on either end so we had two extra days when we arrived in Athens and two extra days in Venice at the end of the cruise. Viking took care of all of the details of our trip, so we basically just had to show up at the airport. It made our trip super simple and stress-free which was great for first-timers like us.
One of the upgrades that we are really glad we splurged on was business class for our flights. We had lay-flat seats for both flights and they were game-changers. Just being able to elevate your legs and recline makes a world of difference. Another tip I learned is to wear compression socks. They will save you from having “cankles” when you arrive at your destination, especially on long-haul flights. We bought some from Bombas. They were comfortable and worked great.
Our Itinerary
We flew into Athens and stayed at a hotel for two nights prior to our cruise. There were Viking representatives in the lobby of our hotel for the duration of our stay and they helped us sign up for an excursion to visit the Acropolis and Parthenon, which were high on our bucket list. While we were in town we also visited the site of the first modern Olympic games, toured the Plaka, which is an old extremely (and touristy) shopping district, and spent some time visiting the remains of the Temple of Zeus. We also visited the Temple of Delphi, which was a two hour bus ride away but totally worth the trip.
I must say though, nothing really prepares you for seeing the Acropolis and Parthenon in person. It is spectacular. I took way more pictures than I could ever post, or that you’d ever care to look at for that matter. The Parthenon is being carefully restored by the Greek government after being blown up at one point (yes really…it’s a long story.) They are allowed to replace missing parts so long as the total replacement pieces aren’t more than about 30% of the original structure. It fascinating to see how they have laid out and identified all of the pieces. There are also several other structures on the Acropolis besides the Parthenon which are worth taking in. I also highly recommend visiting the Acropolis Museum located near the base of the Acropolis. The modern design of the building itself is stunning. We had a nice lunch there looking up at the Parthenon.The top floor of the building is scaled to represent the actual size of the Parthenon and is rotated to face the Acropolis.
The Temple of Delphi was another amazing place to visit. It is located in the mountains north of Athens. On the way there we drove past the town of Marathon, the birthplace of the modern marathon. Delphi was an ancient religious sanctuary dedicated to the Greek god Apollo. It was also the place where the Oracle of Delphi resided along with the priestess Pythia, known for giving advice to kings and others who made the pilgrimage to see her. The site of the remains is truly stunning and is worth the trip. There is also an interesting museum next to the site which holds other important relics from Delphi.
After Athens our ship set sail for the Greek island of Thira. We were looking forward to visiting the town of Santorini with its beautiful blue-roofed buildings. Unfortunately on the day of our visit the weather wasn’t cooperating. It was hazy and foggy, partly due to dust from the Sahara Desert in the atmosphere. It was strange to think that we were so close to Africa that it was affecting the weather on our trip. We couldn’t see the water from the town which was a bummer because the contrast between the white and blue buildings and the blue of the Aegean sea is part of what makes this place so beautiful. As a result the pictures I took were disappointing. The second half of the day was definitely more fun though. We toured the town of Pyrgos and then did some wine tasting at a local winery, complete with a Greek buffet lunch and some dancing and plate-breaking. Opa!
The sea was also pretty rough that day and this was the one port on our trip that required a tender. I’m very glad I decided to use seasickness patches for the first time. It was a rough trip to shore. Once we got there we did get to see a good portion of the island including Santorini which was SO crowded with tourists. We had a short time to look around the tiny town and take pictures and then we left. One of the drawbacks of the planned excursions was that we were on a schedule and had limited time at each place. We were ready to leave Santorini pretty quickly though because it was really crowded even though this was the “off-season”. We said more than once to each other on this trip that we were glad not to be visiting during the summer months. At the end of our day on the island we ended up having to take a funicular down to the old port on the opposite side of the island in order to tender back to our ship in calmer waters. Since ours was not the only ship visiting the island that day the lines to get on the funicular and the tender were long. It was a relief when we finally made it back to the ship. Our ship actually left the island much later than scheduled because of all the passengers having trouble getting off of the island. Fortunately this was the only time we experienced extreme over-crowding at one of our port stops.
After leaving the island of Thira we were scheduled to visit two more Greek ports: Katakolon, where we visited the site of the ancient Olympic games and had lunch at an olive oil farm, and the island of Corfu, where we toured the port city of Kerkyra and its Old Town.
Visiting Olympia the next day was amazing. Even if you’re not that into ancient Greek history, everyone has heard of the ancient Olympic games and standing in the very place where they occurred is a must-do. Our guide mentioned several times that the Greek government intends to continue to restore the remains of the buildings at the site, but it’s an expensive and time-consuming process. I hope they succeed in their restoration efforts because it’s a site that’s so important in world history. My favorite part of the tour was walking through the original tunnel into the Olympic Stadium and seeing the original marble starting blocks.
The tour of the olive farm was very interesting and fun. We listened to a presentation – aka a sales pitch – about the health benefits of olive oil and then were given a tour of their facility. We tasted lots of different flavored olive oils and then were treated to a lunch and Greek dancing. I did end up buying lots of olive oil products to bring home.
On the day we docked in Corfu we started our tour in a local market where we were treated to some ouzo and a snack consisting of whole anchovies, olives and cucumbers. It was about 9:15 am so it was a little early for ouzo, plus it’s not really my favorite drink, but when in Rome (or Corfu) you roll with it. We next visited a local soap maker who is still producing olive oil soaps the way his family has for generations. Afterward we had time to stroll through the town and explore. I bought a couple of cute Greek-style dresses to bring home.
That’s all for now. I’ll add more memories of our adventures in future posts. If you missed my last post Wine Country Weekend at Stanly Ranch in Napa you can find it here. I’m excited to visit the Flower Fields in Carlsbad this Sunday for Mother’s Day! It’s the last day they’re open. Looking forward to sharing about it here. Hope they saved me a few blooms!
