Weddingbee

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 . 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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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