Greek Destination: Places to Visit for your Greece Vacation

Greece is located in the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula.  It has been attracting tourists from all over the world throughout the year.  Its culture, history and landscape has been constantly drawing visitors.  There are numerous places to go to, too many sights to see.  Let’s map out the places that you need to visit to complete your Greece vacation.

Greece is the destination of lovers, honeymooners, family or individuals that would like to experience a one of a kind vacation.  Greece is very diverse.  It has rocky coasts, sand dunes, golden beaches, gorges, natural waterfalls, caves, rivers.  Generally, Greece is mountainous with extensive coastlines and islands.

There are major cities that also house different tourist hit spot like Athens, Crete, Attica, Santorini, Mikonos, Coorfu, Olumpia, Tessaloniki, Rhodes, Chania, Kos, Thessaloniki, Petras, Heraklion.

The capital of Greece, Athens is a place of cultural, political and touristic importance.  Athens offers a variety of top tourist attractions like Acropolis and the Parthenon, the Agora, National Archeological Museum, Sntagma Square, the Plaka, Cape Souniou and the Temple of Poseidon.

Located  about three hours from Athens by bus is Delphi.  Delphi is a seaside town with historic sites such as Temple of Apollo. The Mykonos, the jewel of the Cycladic Islands, has a beautiful harbor with white-washed houses.  The warm Mediterranean climate, it is nice place for scuba diving, windsurfing and other water sports.

Aside from the sights in Athens, the monasteries of Meteora are also popular and one of the famous places with visitors in the world.  Rhodes has always been an important port through history.  Crete presents visitor myths, legends and history with a beautiful landscape.
Santorini is a romantic place that offers visitors beaches and breathtaking cliff top town named Fira.  Beautiful beaches run for many kilometers.  In summer, the beaches in Greece are considered to be one of the top beaches in the world.  Some of the most popular beaches can be found in Crete, Corfu, Amorgos, Ios, Milos, Paros, Serifos and Kithnos.
As reflection of Greece’s history, there are monuments and temples for the gods and goddesses.  Some of the temples that are worth seeing are the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae, Archaeological Site of Delphi, Mount Athos, Monasteries of Meteora, Mystras, Delos, Corfu, The Palace of Knossos, White Tower, Archeological Museum of Thessaloniki, Byzantine Museum, Ancient Thira, Ancient Akrotiri, The Museum of Prehistoric Thera,  and Acropolis of Lindos.

Vacation can never be complete without shopping.  There are some wonderful Greek memorabilia that can be bought in the Plaka area in Athens.  Greek airports also have shops were last-minute shopping can be done.

Greece is also a mountainous country.  Mount Olympus, known as the home of the Gods in Greek mythology, is the highest mountain in the country.  Hiking and climbing activities are available.

Here are some other archaeological finds, museums and monuments that are worth visiting:

• Vrayrona Temple- a beautiful site in Attica, not far  from the Athens International Airport.

• Mycenae, Fortress of Time – Mycenen fortress that still looms over the Peloponesian planes.

• Advanced American School of Classical Studies at Athens- involved in advanced archaeological studies and programs in Athens.

A vacation, a Greece vacation in particular, will be like a hollow one if we did not get to see the best places.  Greece is a mix of all the great places and will help every tourist build their vacation in a unique way.