Thinking about where to spend your holidays? Here is a suggestion for you. Spend your holidays in Greece, first of all, take a look at the top 10 best places to visit in Greece. Even though the economic condition of Greece has taken a battering, Greece still remains as one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. There are numerous exciting places to visit in Greece. With over sixty inhabited islands, idyllic beaches and towering mountain ranges, historic sites that span four millennia; there is a wide variety of tourist attractions in Greece to explore.
Greece tourist attractions include historical ruins, magnificent landscape, beautiful scenery and exciting islands. So you will never be short of things to do in Greece. A list of the best places to visit in Greece is given here to make your holidays in Greece more comfortable and exciting.
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Best Places to Visit in Greece:
10. Mount Athos
If you are male, than one of the most interesting places to visit in Greece for you is Mount Athos. Locally known as Agion Oros, Mount Athos is the oldest surviving monastic community in the world. It occupies the best part of the Athos peninsula in Halkidiki. Inhabited since the ancient time, Mount Athos is known for its nearly 1,800-year continuous Christian presence and its long historical monastic traditions that date back to at least 800 A.D. and the Byzantine era. It is the center of Eastern Christian Orthodox Monasticism which, although part of Greece, is governed by its own local administration.
Spend your holidays in Greece and visit Mount Athos. Mount Athos is simply one of the most beautiful places on earth. As one of the best places to visit in Greece, Mount Athos is more like a fantasy than what we know of as reality. Shrouded by gorgeous chestnut and other types of Mediterranean forest, the precipitous slopes of Mount Athos are punctuated by twenty magnificent monasteries and their subsidiary establishments.
Mount Athos is commonly referred to as the Holy Mountain and it is very hard to get in there. You will have to manage the necessary papers. It’s a hassle but if you can manage it, you are in for the experience of a lifetime.
Because of its isolation, Mount Athos has remained one of the most unspoiled parts of Greece. The myth is entwined with history and miracles mingle with reality in this land. As a result, it is among the most beautiful places to visit in Greece. The landscape is stunning and wild, well-wooded peaks interspersed with precipitous ravines, with small green valleys and gorges and an inaccessible coastline. Under the deep shade of the chestnut trees, small streams of crystal clear water run free. Mount Athos is one of the best Greece tourist attractions.
There are virgin forests and animals that are found nowhere but the Holy Mountain. Enormous monasteries, like castles or fortresses, dot the coast and appear on the mountain slopes with every bend in the road. There are incredible gardens cared for with a love of nature and of God.
Concealed among the greenery and the treacherous gorges, hovering in the most unanticipated positions is the white speckle of a little hut where a hermit spends his days in solitude and contemplation. The seashore is perhaps the most beautiful in the Aegean, immaculate and rarely used for swimming since monks don’t generally go to the beach.
9. Mystras
Mystras is another one of the best places to visit in Greece. Mystras in Greece is an archaeological site close to Sparti. The Castle Town of Mystras was very strong in the Byzantine times and this was the second most important town after Constantinople in the last decades of the Byzantine period. Mystras is one of the most exciting and dramatic historic sites that the Peloponnese can offer. Visiting this historical site is one of the most exciting things to do in Greece.
Your holidays in Greece will be fulfilled by wandering around this beautiful castle city. You can sense the sheer grandeur of the city through silence. You can see the famous Palace of the Despots or stroll leisurely through the Kástro (the Frankish Castle), whose architecture creates a dreamy setting.
The Houses of Laskaris and Frangopoulos, the impressive Monasteries of Our Lady Pantánassa and of Our Lady Perivleptos, the beautiful Cathedral of Saint Dimitrios all these sites make Mystras one of the most fascinating places to visit in Greece.
8. Lindos
Holidays in Greece can be very exciting. There are many beautiful places to visit in Greece. One of them is Lindos. Nestling at the foot of a steep rock and beautifully surrounded by the sea lies the traditional settlement of Líndos. It is a famous Greece tourist attraction located on the island of Rhodes. Whitewashed houses, ambling donkeys and car-free cobbled streets are the order of the day at Lindos. Above the town rises the acropolis of Lindos. You can have a spectacular view of the surrounding harbors and coastline from here. The view of Líndos village with its cubic houses sprawling down the hillside under the Acropolis is one of the most photographed scenes in Greece.
There are also two beautiful beaches here. Located to the north, Pallas is a sandy spot that features a water sports center and a jetty, from where you can hop on a glass-bottomed boat. St Paul is on the south side. Both beaches have bars and cafés. You will have a great time by coming to Lindos, one of the great places to visit in Greece.
7. Samaria Gorge
The Samaria Gorge is one of the best places to visit in Greece for those who love hiking. Located in west Crete, in the White Mountains, the Samaria Gorge is a 16 km (10 miles) long canyon and one of the most popular Greece tourist attractions. Walking the Samaria Gorge is one of the extremely popular things to do in Greece and more than a quarter million tourists do so each year.
Visitors can descend into the gorge and walk for about 6 to 8 hours. At the end of the path, swimming, taverna lunches, and picnics under a canopy of trees within full view of the Mediterranean Sea, all of these will make the best holidays in Greece.
The protected environment, plenty of water, the geography and the climate that ranges from alpine to subtropical, all of these make Samaria a paradise for wildlife. From century old trees to wildflowers and herbs, there are plenty of plant species. Some of them are very rare like the Cretan maple, dittany, orchids, and others. There are also many rare species of birds like eagles and vultures, and mammals like the Cretan ibex known as Kri-Kri.
It is a soothing place and among the best places to visit in Greece. You can have the time of your life by hiking through this gorgeous gorge. The walk passes through forests of ancient cypresses and pines, then cuts between vertical cliffs through the mountains to emerge at Agia Roumeli on the Libyan sea.
6. Myrtos Beach
Because there are many magnificent places to visit in Greece, holidays in Greece is never boring. One of the world famous places to visit in Greece is the Myrtos Beach. Myrtos is often lauded as one of the most dramatic beaches in Greece with its mile-and-a-half long arc of dazzling white pebbles that cuts deep into a sheer cliff on the island’s northwest coast. This famous beach is located in the north-west of Kefalonia.
The beach has a semi-circular shape surrounded by impressive white rocky cliffs with lush vegetation on top of them creating a spectacular setting. The beach is ideal for total isolation. The natural beauty of Myrtos is the trademark of Kefalonia and one of the most photographed places in Greece. You can enjoy spectacular sunset views from the western coast of Myrtos. While descending the beach, you will enjoy some amazing views from above.
The blue and turquoise colors of the sea contrast sharply with the bright white of the smooth marble pebbles of the beach. For all these reasons Myrtos has previously been voted 12 times as the best beach in Greece. So pack your bags and have a nice trip to one of the most beautiful places to visit in Greece.
5. Delphi Theater
Delphi Theater is one of the best places to visit in Greece. The theater of Delphi is located inside the temenos of Apollo and against the north-east corner of its peribolos or enclosure wall. It builds further up the hill from the Temple of Apollo and it presented the seated audience with a spectacular view of the entire sanctuary below and the valley beyond. The first stone-built theater was built in the fourth century BC and was subsequently refurbished several times.
The theater was constructed using the limestone of Mount Parnassus. In ancient times Delphi was the most important site in ancient Greek religion, home to the sanctuary and oracle of Apollo. And now it is one of the most popular Greece tourist attractions. Your holidays in Greece will not be complete without a trip to Delphi Theater.
Its 35 rows can accommodate around five thousand spectators who in ancient times enjoyed plays, poetry readings, and musical events during the various festivals that took place periodically at Delphi. During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, the lower tiers of seats were built. It is one of the exciting places to visit in Greece.
4. Meteora
One of the most exciting things to do in Greece is traveling to “in the heavens above”. Well, what we are talking about is Metéora (“suspended in the air”), one of the most beautiful and dramatic places to visit in Greece. Meteora is the biggest and most important group of monasteries in Greece after those in Mount Athos. It is one of the famous tourist attractions in Greece.
What makes Meteora so special is a collection of six monasteries that are fabulously situated on top of several rock pillars. The area of Meteora was originally settled by monks who lived in caves within the rocks during the 11th Century. Access to the monasteries was deliberately difficult. There were long ladders or large nets that were used to haul up both goods and people.
The visitor encounters a breathtaking site of impressive monasteries “balanced” on massive detached stone pinnacles.
The “stone forest” of Meteora is a perfect combination of natural and man-made landscape, practically inducing a sense of the transcendent. Nature lovers should not miss the opportunity to hike through meandering stone paths and watch a unique geological phenomenon formed as a result of a chain of erosion and geological changes over a period of 15 million years.
Whether you are a believer, a spiritual seeker or a cultural traveler, this poignant place will offer you the chance to commune with nature, taking you on a memorable journey in the most philosophical sense of the word. Do not miss visiting one of the spiritual places to visit in Greece.
3. Mykonos
There are many things to do in Greece. You can travel all around the country. There will be no shortage of places to visit in Greece. Mykonos is one of them. Mykonos is renowned as a cosmopolitan destination amongst the Greek islands and widely accepted as one of the best tourist attractions in Greece. It is predominantly famous for the cosmopolitan atmosphere, the picturesque Cycladic architecture, the exciting nightlife and the outstanding beaches that make holidays in Greece a wonderful experience.
It is an island perfect for people of all ages. There are many things to do here. You can walk along the narrow streets of Chora or see the sunset from Little Venice. You can stay in luxurious hotels and swim in exotic beaches and spend a day under the hot sun. Mykonos truly is one of the fabulous places to visit in Greece.
2. Parthenon, Acropolis
Among the places to visit in Greece, the Parthenon is very popular. Standing atop the Acropolis of Athens, the Parthenon is one of the most famous Greece tourist attractions and a visit to Athens is not complete without visiting this temple. This famous temple was built to give thanks to the patron goddess of the city Athena. The building was officially called the Temple of Athena the Virgin.
The Acropolis of Athens and its monuments are universal symbols of the classical spirit and civilization and form the greatest architectural and artistic complex bequeathed by Greek Antiquity to the world. It is the most important and characteristic monument of the ancient Greek civilization and still retains its international symbol. The construction of the Parthenon started in 447 BC and completed in 432 BC. During its long life, the Parthenon has not only functioned as a Greek temple but also as a fortress, a church, a treasury, a mosque and even as a powder magazine.
Now it is one of the most recognizable icons and popular tourist attractions in Greece. Every year thousands of visitors come here to admire this symbol of Greek civilization. So join them and visit one of the most popular places to visit in Greece.
1. Santorini
If you are talking about places to visit in Greece, then Santorini will be on top the list. Your tour to Greece will not be completed without making a trip to Santorini, one of the most magnificent and charming places to visit in Greece. The precious gem of the Aegean, Santorini (or Thíra) is actually a group of islands consisting of Thíra, Nea Kaméni, Asproníssi, Thirassiá and Palea in the southernmost part of Cyclades. Santorini Island was the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in the world and what remains today are a submerged volcano and a caldera.
As one of the best places to visit in Greece, Santorini may well have conquered a corner of your imagination before you’ve even set eyes on it. Simply its name is more than enough to unfold in mind stunning sunsets and vista, white, red and black sand beaches, extraordinary traditional houses, balconies with view to the Volcano and lively nightlife. Firá is the scenic capital of the island. Firá, together with Oia, Firostefáni, and Imerovígli, make up the so-called “Caldera’s eyebrow”.
Santorini is considered to be the most sought-after place for a romantic getaway in Greece. As a result, the island has a growing reputation as a “wedding destination” for couples not only from Greece but from all over the world. After all, there are not many places in the world where you can enjoy elegant clear waters while perched on the edge of a massive active volcano in the middle of the sea! It also glides fluently into the future with expert artists, exceptional wineries, a matchless brewery, and some of the Cyclades finest dining experiences. So keep a long relaxing trip to one of the best places to visit in Greece, Santorini in your list of things to do in Greece.