I was speaking to my Dad in Australia today about how warm it's getting there. As I'm snuggled up on the couch watching the snow and getting ready for a cold Christmas, he's moving into an Australian summer. This got me thinking about the amazing summer I had this year. We crammed in so many incredible things, including a trip to the Greek Islands. So before I get caught up in the Nordic winter I thought I'd take a look back on our two weeks in Greece.

It was so hard to choose which beautiful Greek Islands we wanted to go to. We asked friends, looked at Trip Advisor, read blogs, and watched reviews on YouTube. If you're looking for your next summer getaway, I hope that my little recap of our summer in Paros and Santorini helps!

Paros

After landing in Santorini at 3 am, without our luggage, because the airline managed to lose it, we hired a car and jumped on the early morning ferry to Paros. If you are looking for somewhere beautiful and quiet to relax at the beach then this is the place for you. Even without our luggage for the entire week, I was able to truly relax for the first time in a long time.

One of my favourite parts of Paros was the little town of Naoussa. We stayed in an Airbnb walking distance into the little laneways full of shops, restaurants, and bars. I managed to get a bikini, sundress, and sandals to get me through the week without my luggage!

Around every corner, there was something beautiful for Giordie and I to take photos of.

I love the Greek Island lifestyle. We spent our mornings sleeping in, the days at the beach, and the evenings wandering the village and sampling all the yummy food. Everything in Paros was just so picturesque! We spent a lot of time just wandering the beautiful streets, looking at the small market shops, and of course, sipping Greek Iced Coffee, so yum!

Around every corner in the Greek Islands, there is an amazing doorway. Here are a few of my favourites.

Paros is a small island with a lot of beaches and I think we managed to visit every one of them. The island does have public transport, however, it's much easier to get around with a car, so I'm glad we had hired one. Some days we would drive to one beach, swim, lay in the sun to dry off, and then drive along to the next beach and repeat. Another advantage of the car was that we could choose the beach for the day depending on the wind direction. It was a great way to enjoy the warm days and the water was some of the clearest I've ever seen! Some of the beaches got pretty busy during the day, but others were almost empty.

The only downside to hiring a car and driving around the islands is the potholes. The roads are terrible and we ended up with a flat tire. So check you have a spare and your insurance before you drive away in a hire car!

Santorini

Our second stop was Santorini. I'm glad we went, however if I'm honest, I enjoyed the peace and quiet of Paros more than the touristy hustle and bustle of Santorini. It's a beautiful island and the views are spectacular, but if you are looking for nice beaches it doesn't have as many to offer as Paros.

Instead of staying in the over populated Oia, we found an incredible hotel on the Santorini Caldera called Grand View. It's one of the most amazing hotels I've ever stayed at and the pool was insane!

Instead of going out for dinner each evening, we stayed in to eat by the pool and watch the beautiful sunsets over the cliffs of the caldera.

Santorini Bike Tour

When we weren't laying by our ridiculously incredible pool we did some exploring of Santorini. Of course, we went to Oia, but after the peacefulness of Paros it was too crowded for my liking. I can see why everyone finds the cliffs amazing, but it's so crowded that you can barely move. So to really explore and get away from the crowds we went on a bike tour. I'm so glad that we did. It lasted all day, but we were lucky enough to have the help of electric-assisted bikes. It was definitely one of the best ways to see Santorini and if I was to do it again knowing what I know now I would skip Oia and just do the bike tour. The guides were so friendly and knowledgeable about the area and took some really great photos of us!

The other magical little village we visited on Santorini was Megalochori. As one of the most traditional villages on the island, it had all the charm and history but without the crowds. It was only a short walk from our hotel and had some great little restaurants.

If you made it through all of my holiday snaps then you must love photos like me. I'll leave you with one more. My new favourite light summer meal, Dakos! I think I ate it almost every day and I can't wait for next summer to make it again.

Thanks again for reading.

Cheers, Jess :)