Virgin Voyages Cruise: Greek Island Glow Ports Guide
Athens
A great way to spend your first day in Athens is by using the hop-on, hop-off bus tour. We were pretty tired from traveling and this allowed us to see the major sights and outline areas we wanted to explore more. The stop at Monastiraki Square is close to Plaka Hotel so we were able to check it out while waiting for our bus.
We booked a combo ticket that included two days on the hop-on, hop-off bus and a tour down to Temple of Poseidon for sunset. The drive was a little over an hour but the temple area was really cool to see!
On Day 2 we had a boarding time for the ship of 2:30 which left us all morning to explore the Acropolis!
After exploring the Acropolis we grabbed a late lunch and then headed down to Piraeus Port. We decided to take the train down as it looks like the Piraeus stop lets you out right at the cruise boat. Don't make the same mistake we did! If you take the train, hop a taxi from there. Or opt for a direct transfer from your hotel. There are a ton of ports and the one for Virgin is the farthest away (2 miles).
Santorini
Once you get on the boat make sure you have your tender time slot booked for the next morning in Santorini! Virgin provides vouchers for the cable car and the line can get a bit long with other cruise ships also arriving via tender. So, make sure you allow enough time to arrive at the upper station on time for your excursion.
Santorini is a relatively small island and the best way to see it is by car so we booked a private sightseeing tour. Here are a few of the places we stopped before being dropped off near the cable car station:
A private guide really was the way to go. There's a lot of island to cover in just one day and having someone who knows where they're going alleviated a lot of stress for our group.
Rhodes
We noticed plenty of boat, ATV and kayak excursions but we've never been to Rhodes and I wanted to see the city. If you plan on sticking around the city like we did, you do not need a guide. The city is very walkable and you could easily fill the entire time in port exploring within the city.
We walked down to the end of the pier first to check out where the Colossus of Rhodes once stood. If you enjoy seeing all the cats of Greece, this is where I saw the most cats on our whole cruise!
*Pro tip: If you have plans to pet all the cats, carry around hand sanitizer. I may or may not have been sneezed on once or twice by a cat.
From there we walked towards the Palace of the Grand Master and wandered through a number of streets in Old Town to get there. We also got tickets to the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes which isn't too far from the Palace and worth checking out.
After the museum we wandered through Old Town and found a good little spot for lunch. We rounded out our afternoon with seeing all of the shops and ancient architecture within the walls of Old Town.
I was most surprised by our experience in Rhodes. It is a classic European city straight out of a fairy tale with its' medieval vibes and welcoming crowd.
Bodrum, Turkey
There are typically two directions visitors go when visiting Bodrum. They either stick around town or they venture to Ephesus. Ephesus is about a 3 hour drive from the Bodrum port which makes for a very long day and we debated on whether we wanted to commit to that.
Ultimately, we decided to do Ephesus and I don't regret it because the ruins were incredible! We booked the excursion through the cruise line and I was disappointed with everything the tour included outside of Ephesus. If I were to do it over again I would book a private tour like this one:
If you decide to stick around Bodrum here are some local spots to check out in town:
Mykonos
Virgin stops in Mykonos overnight so if you're wanting to experience the party aspect of Mykonos, you'll be able to do that. Our weather wasn't great the first day so I was thankful to have the next day to get to see the gorgeous neighborhoods in sparkling sunshine.
For exploring Mykonos I highly recommend wandering the streets and getting lost. It's not hard to do and it's amazing what you'll discover along the way. We walked into this bakery and picked up quite a few tasty treats to keep us going until lunch.
On our first day we headed out to Ano Mera for a tour at Vioma Organic Farm. They do a couple of free tours daily where you get to see the vineyard, the farm and the farm animals that come along with it. They offer wine tastings and a selection of true Mediterranean farm-to-table dishes.
We took the bus but honestly, I don't recommend it. If you're going to venture out to Ano Mera, rent a car. Taxis are hard to come by and the bus only comes every hour and a half. It's easy to find by car and parking in Ano Mera is plentiful.
Athens
You can book an airport transfer directly through the cruise line but we opted to book a private transfer as we had an earlier departure time and were a little concerned about time. We confirmed an early disembarkation time slow through the app but we also opted to carry off our luggage which made the transition seamless. I booked this transfer and highly recommend it:
Hopefully you find your trip to Greece as amazing and breathtaking as I did!
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