Hot Searches:
Mrs. Peony's Picture
Mrs. Peony, New York Age and Occupation: 27, Marketing Coordinator Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, QA Engineer Engagement Date: June 28, 2007 Wedding Date: April 18, 2008 Venue: The Fountainhead Blogging Since: August 7, 2007 About Me: Both Mr. Peony and I are huge computer nerds, and our conversations usually consist of the latest gadgets, programming languages, and video games. At the same time, I can also be very girly with an obsession with handbags, makeup, and high heels. And art! I've studied studio art extensively, almost majored in art history, and freelance as a web and graphics designer. Mr. Peony and I are having a ball of a time planning a wedding for 250(!) guests, doing our best to infuse our personalities (geeky chic) with the wishes of our very traditional Asian parents.
About Mrs. Peony

My Dream Vacation

November 30th, 2007 @ 5:17 pm by Mrs. Peony

Ever since my parents graciously offered to help pay for our honeymoon, I had been talking with various travel agencies. In addition, I exchanged several emails with Weddingbee reader Alys who gave us so much great information and recommendations (thank you!).

Because I had been dreaming of this vacation for so long, I really wanted to visit at least three islands, which meant at least a week-long trip. With the weak dollar and rising fuel costs, it was a bit tough. A couple of travel agencies flat out told me that they couldn’t work with our budget and suggested other places. There were some that completely ignored the budget and presented us with itineraries that were $2,000 more stunned016. To be honest, I was really surprised that so many agencies would ignore our parameters regarding the budget, length of stay, hotels, etc….. how do they stay in business?

In the end, we decided to go with Homeric Tours who not only created a custom itinerary for just slightly under our budget, but also met each and every one of our requests.

Here’s my dream honeymoon!!!

Day 1: Overnight flight from New York to Athens

Days 2-4: Arrival transfer from airport to hotel. Two nights stay at the Baby Grand Hotel. I love, LOVE their Graffiti Rooms! Each room was painted by a different artist and has a different theme - go to the hotel’s website and look at the pictures… they even have a Spiderman-themed room! However, since we wanted to save to splurge at Santorini, we’re going to stay at a standard room.

z120591

z12059101

From reading reviews at TripAdvisor, the main complaint about this hotel is that the rooms are very small. However, this is no problem for us and we expected as much from a European city hotel. While at Athens, Mr Peony’s friend, who is an archaeologist working in Athens(!), has offered to give us a tour. laughin073

Day 4: Departure transfer from hotel to airport. Flight from Athens to Mykonos. Arrival transfer from airport to hotel.

Days 4-7: Three nights stay at the San Marco Hotel.

z12059102

z120592

Again, from reading reviews on TripAdvisor, I found out that Mykonos is a party town with a nightlife that can get pretty loud. This hotel is located far enough from the center of the city so that it is quiet at night, but close enough to get to the city fairly easily.

Day 7: Departure transfer from hotel to port. Hydrofoil from Mykonos to Santorini. Arrival transfer from port to hotel.

Days 7-10: Three nights stay at the Santorini Princess. This is the hotel that Alys highly recommended. According to her, this is the best hotel she’s ever stayed at, and I continued to read praise after praise for this hotel. One reviewer said that the hotel looks exactly like the pictures on the website, which are amazing!

z12059201

z12059202

z12059203

z12059204

Day 10: Departure transport from hotel to airport. Flight from Santorini to Athens. Overnight flight from Athens to New York.

One good thing about Homeric Tours is that at each transport and arrival there will be a representative to meet us, answer any questions, and take us to our next destination. If anything bad happens, they have a local office in Athens who can assist as, as well as a 24-hour help line.

Thank you SOOOO much to Alys for your detailed explanations and recommendations! You should start your own travel agency!

20 Responses to “My Dream Vacation”

1.
Jennifer says:

This looks like a great itinerary! I’m glad you were able to stick to your budget and still plan out everything you want to do :)

2.
jnicholea says:

I love this honeymoon, and the hotels all look great. But I have to ask, what is that huge black thing in the last picture?

3.
jen says:

This is totally my dream vacation too! Thanks for the info. I’ll definitely contact this agency.

4.
tea says:

oooh it looks awesome! i want to go. you guys are going to have so much fun.

5.
Miss Emerald says:

oh.my.gosh, this definitely qualifies as a “DREAM” honeymoon. I’m jealous!!

6.
Nancy says:

Can I ask what your budget was? Or at least an approximate?

7.
pinkz says:

Can I ask how much your budget is for this honeymoon? We won a bid on an auction for a pretty sweet package, but I’m starting to get a bit jittery when thinking about how much the flight is going to cost.

Beautiful hotels though! I’m so glad you guys get to go on a honeymoon after all.

8.
Bee Icon
Miss Peony says:

jnicholea - I think the black thing is some sort of wall hanging? Maybe it’s a part of the volcanic formations that surround the Greek isles.

Nancy & pinkz - I just sent you both emails about my budget!

Thanks everyone for sharing in my excitement! I’ve been dreaming of this vacation for more than 10 years and I’m so happy that I finally get to take it! :-D

9.
veebug says:

Can i ask you how much your budget was as well? I’m amazed and wowed that this trip was put together under $2,000 !! Seriously, that gives me hope. I’m not yet engaged but I’m already mentally planning and I already know that we probably can’t afford a honeymoon right after paying for a wedding. But this really makes me feel a little better about it.

Thank you for sharing this !

10.
cindy says:

hi miss peony! glad to hear that your dream vacation is turning into reality!! :) can you please send me your budget too? i’ve always, always wanted to go to greece, and $2000 sounds like such a good deal!! (i will be flying out of SFO though - does homeric tours allow that?)

thanks! :)

11.
Bee Icon
Miss Peony says:

Hi veebug & cindy - to clarify, the agencies that were too expensive quoted $2,000 OVER my budget, not just $2,000. The roundtrip flights alone were $2,000 so the entire trip is definitely more than that.

12.
Mrs. Apple says:

what a dream it is! I heart tripadvisor and your itinerary looks fab. Take plenty of pics!

13.
David G. Lopez says:

I would love to take all this great stuff and record a podcast for everyone to listen to.

14.
alys says:

Miss Peony - I am so happy you were able to plan such a fabulous Honeymoon and so glad I was able to help. I think you and Mr Peony will have an amazing time!!! If anyone else is planning a trip to Greece, feel free to email me at alysonschwartz at gmail dot com

15.
AZLaw says:

You will have a great time in Greece. I spent a month touring the islands two summers ago and it was so romantic. Santorini will take your breath away! Make sure to stock up on swimsuits and cute summer dresses for dinner :) Have fun.

16.
kate says:

Hi miss Peony, your trip looks great!!!!! I been to Greece many years ago with my friend and now want to take my husband there. Do you mind sending me e-mail with your budget too? :-) Thanks!!! Kate

17.
Cassidy says:

That looks like an amazing trip!! Can I ask how much the budget was? Thanks!

18.
Anne says:

Hi Peony,

Would you mind providing me with your package pricing. I’m too will leave out of NY. Oh, also, could you please give me the travel agent information. Thank you.

19.
hanna says:

Hi miss peony, would you mind emailing me your package budget as well? my fiance and i are trying to plan a trip to the greek islands on a tight budget and it would be a big help to know what you were able to do. thank you!

20.
eveline says:

Hello! I love your hotels. We’re also going to Greece as our dream honeymoon. May I ask what the budget was? I’ve gone quotes from several travel agencies that are like the cost of a car…..so crazy! Any info would help. Thanks for sharing your info with us!


You can also just...

Copyright 2004-2008, eHarmony, Inc., Advertise

Tags on this Entry

 

 

 
 
 
Mrs. Peony Mrs. Peony, New York Age and Occupation: 27, Marketing Coordinator Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, QA Engineer Engagement Date: June 28, 2007 Wedding Date: April 18, 2008 Venue: The Fountainhead Blogging Since: August 7, 2007 About Me: Both Mr. Peony and I are huge computer nerds, and our conversations usually consist of the latest gadgets, programming languages, and video games. At the same time, I can also be very girly with an obsession with handbags, makeup, and high heels. And art! I've studied studio art extensively, almost majored in art history, and freelance as a web and graphics designer. Mr. Peony and I are having a ball of a time planning a wedding for 250(!) guests, doing our best to infuse our personalities (geeky chic) with the wishes of our very traditional Asian parents.