Winter Athens - Our honeymoon trip

So we got married on December 30th, 2019 by Special Marriage Act in Mumbai. As planned we headed to Athens for our honeymoon on 31st December. 

Day 1

Reached Athens airport by 1.00 pm. Never take a taxi from the airport as it will be heavy on pocket. However big luggage you have if you can pull it always take the metro or bus from the airport. Here is a tip for first-time visitors. Take a 3-day metro ticket which costs 22 Euros. This includes airport to city travel and 3-day unlimited travel in all means of transport in Athens. You will not find many instructions on the way and English will be a rare sight. 

As soon as you catch a metro be aware mostly you will have a change at syntagma station to most of the city homestays and hotels. Install the metro app for this information and OASA bus app prior hand. 

Once you check in to your stay, if you are not tired the first thing you should do is to take a sim card for local internet use. For this take a metro again and get down at Omonia station. Whichever exit you take you will get to see "Wind or Vodafone" agent waiting at the exit with a sim card. Mostly you will get a10 or 20 Euros sim card (30 days plan) with only internet or Internet, calls or SMS option. Latter will be good if you want to book a cab or use food delivery apps. Just a softcopy of the passport is enough for taking a sim. (Personal experience is WIND is an excellent connection with good plans and cheaper than Vodafone). 

Now start scheduling your day. 

Be aware that except Fridays and Saturdays the metro will run up to 12.30 am only. Only those two days it will extend up to 2.30am. Always check status in-app. 

Settle down and roam in the city if it's too late for visiting any tourist places. We roamed all around Omonia and syntagma on the very first day and learned the metro and bus route properly. 

Food is expensive in upscaled restaurants, but there are street foods always fr your help. Try Souvlaki and gyros from authentic street places. Most of them are hygienic and reasonably priced. Avoid eating from tourist locations like Plaka and Akropolis. Omonia is food heaven and all outlets are reasonably priced. 

We dined at Tpata restaurant. Also, don't forget to check the options of dessert of the day. Everything came around 20 Euros after a grant dinner without drinks. 

With our amazing bartender! 

                                            

Kalamari 

Grilled Sardines 

                        

Day x

After 3 days of Athens exploring, we headed to the ancient city of Trikala. I must say this was the most beautiful experience I had during these 10 days of the visit. Book your train tickets almost a week prior to departure. This is the link for booking. http://www.trainose.gr

Its almost a 4-hour journey and the route to Trikala/Kalambaka is very beautiful. There are some Airbnb options available for stay. I stayed at the Traditional Old house at Varousi (through Airbnb). It was an amazing property at a reasonable price. The city is very tourist-friendly even though no one speaks English, you won't find it difficult to commute or dine at. There is an info point at the Trikala square where you can get free bicycles for commuting through the town. Believe me, this is the best option. Buy local grocery and lots of feta cheese and herbs for trying your own dish at your place for dinner.

Bicycle Rides 

Ride through Byzantine church, Trikala square, Asclepius statue, Litheous river and Les Parapluies de Trikala (Umbrella street). People are so friendly and the food outlets are really delicious. Nightlife is literally the best in Trikala. With zero crime rates its a totally safe city and you can walk around at any time. You may feel the city to be haunted as you won't see many people outside and streets are so empty at peripheral parts of town, but Trikala square is always full. Try your luck at redressing store if you don't have much winter gadgets with you. You will get a really good piece of branded second-hand clothes at some redressing stores in the city. 
The most common thing you will find in Trikala will be a hairstylist. Try your style if you have time as this town is well known for hair styling. 

Day x

Kalambaka and Meteora 

We took a bus from Trikala to Kalambaka, which costs 5 Euros. The bus was really luxurious. Hardly it took 20 minutes to reach Kalambaka. We booked Hotel Galaxy. This town is really a budget town with lots of supermarkets and grocery stores. We dined at Panellenion. The food was mind-blowing. Their hospitality is remarkable.
Buffet breakfast at Hotel Galaxy was splendid with lots of English cuisines and pastries. Near to Kalambaka circle, there is a taxi booking station where you can book a taxi to Meteora for the next morning. Never book online sites which may charge you more. The bus starts at 9.00 am and Sunrise at Meteora is never an option if you don't have a car of your own. So the best option is to take a taxi up to Sunrise point and return by Bus. ( Fare- Cab fare 10 Euros one side and Bus fare 1.5 Euros one side). Ideally, there is no need to book a tour agency trip (which charges you around 25 Euros for visiting at least 4 Monastries). You can easily walk until the next monastery and get the last bus by around 5 pm. Check with the hotel reception or website whether monasteries are closed on that particular day. Remember to carry some ready to eat food and water in your bag when you visit Meteora. (Buy bottled water 12 piece pack for 1.5 Euros from grocery or supermarket as restaurant prices may be very much higher). Carry your tripod as there are plenty of photo points on the way. Its always good to hike to Monasteries if you can find a group in the Couch surfing community.

Sunrise point Meteora

Day X

One of the 6 monasteries 

Post monastery visit as we are back to Kalambaka, we decide to visit Holy Temple of Dormition of the Virgin Mary of the 11th century in Kalabamaka town. It's a pretty cool spot which is not much crowded. The entry fee is 2 euros per person. By evening we picked our train from Kalambaka to Athens. Remember to check out the onboard restaurant on the train, as they have good snack options but never taste their coffee.



























Day X
Reached our Airbnb house again. We have dropped the luggage there already and saved money for luggage storage by booking the same place again. The 10th day of our trip was dedicated to shopping.  Head to Zara and H&M; as their collections may be different from your city. You will also find good second-hand clothes stores near the Central market.

Our total expense for the trip was 97000 INR which includes shopping. We carried nearly 250 Euros as currency and Niyo Global Card for Pos transactions. Never use a credit card when you are abroad. Keep your morning workout even on the trip. I have used my Gold's Gym travel card for accessing gold's gym in Athens.

Last day take a 90 minutes ticket to the airport and take the airport Blue line.
Happy Journey and message me for any doubts or feedbacks.
Cheers!