2025 Trip To Greece

Our October 2025 trip to Greece was divided into three parts: first, exploring Athens, then driving through the ancient Peloponnese (including a side trip to the startling Meteora Monasteries), and finally, flying off for a relaxing visit to the Greek island of Santorini. Wherever we went, we encountered the remnants of a storied history, reminding us that Greece is an important (essential?) place to visit for our understanding of where we came from and its effects on the course of history.

Besides its heavy historic implications, we found that Greece was an enjoyable place to spend our time. We were greeted warmly wherever we went, accommodations were extremely comfortable (and reasonably priced), the driving was remarkably easy and we ate well.

Athens

Athens is the obvious starting point for any serious visit to Greece. It is the largest Greek city (wholly ½ the country’s population resides there!), an iconic hub of the ancient world, an enduring symbol of democracy and the lead actor in an enduring historical epic. We were determined to grasp the enormity of the Greek story, so we engaged personal tours of the Acropolis, the Acropolis Museum and a full day tour of the city, with its unique contributions to street food. (For more on Athens click the button below.)

The Peloponnese

We wanted to understand modern Greek life and not just visit the usual tourist destinations. We were hoping that by driving through the country we would get to know Greece a little better, but in truth, these routes told little and the historic tourist attractions had a lot more to offer. Outside of Athens, the population seemed sparse and the roads seemed to skirt the towns where we might see local life. Our route took us to the cliffside monasteries at Meteora (in the town of Kalabaka), Dephi (Delphoi), Olympia, Monemvasia (photo below) and Napflio. Each stop held fascinating stories, revealed in the following pages. (For more on Peloponnese click the button below.)

Santorini

We flew to Santorini to experience life in the Greek islands. Santorini is known as a honeymoon destination and an island with iconic architecture and beautiful sunsets. It exists as a caldera, a semicircular land mass that was once part of a volcanic crater, and has a history of enduring thousands earthquakes and aftershocks, including some notable ones this past year. On first glance, it looks like the many honeymoon hotels and dwelling are lining up to topple into the sea, and yet it endures. We had a wonderful visit, touring the island and experiencing a sunset sail by catamaran, but we were relieved not to feel any temblors. (For more on Santorini click the button https://goldingfam.blog/santorini/.)