Best Travel Experiences in Greece and Europe 2015

I’ve been blessed to have some of the best travel experiences in Greece and in Europe this past year.  I found myself among wild horses, racing through a Greek island,  admiring beautiful but endangered sea turtles, exploring the cobbled streets of a fantastic lesser-known Italian city, discovering the beautiful walled city where much of the Game of Thrones is shot and experiencing fantastic luxury boutique stays.

 

Best Travel Experiences in Greece Posts

Serifos: Racing Through a Greek Island

I covered the growing organized racing circuit craze in the Greek islands and how it is helping the tourism sector here for CNN. I also posted a first-hand experience of running my second Serifos Sunset Race 2015 on the blog here.  There’s nothing like finishing a race on a breathtaking island beach at sunset.

 

Kefalonia: Among Wild Horses

I absolutely love horses for their character and beauty.  It was amazing to learn that the only Greek island mountain range has a whole wild and free community of them! Yes, wild horses. The awesome part was finding myself among them as they roamed free in Mt. Ainos. You can check out the blog post and video about that lucky timing experience here.

 

Zakynthos: Sea Caves, Turtles and Dreamy Beaches

With my awesome fellow travel blogger buddies from Travel Bloggers Greece, I had the opportunity to travel and write about the beauties of Zakynthos.  There is so much to write about that to this day I still have stories to post about that summer trip courtesy of ZanteHotels4u. One great memory was our private boating trip to Marathonissi, a small island just off the island’s coast.  I saw an endangered sea turtle up close!  Such clear, amazing and strikingly blue waters.  It was a like a turquoise blue dream and you can read about it here.

 

Top Europe Travel Posts

Dubrovnik: Game of Thrones Tour

I wasn’t a fan of Game of Thrones when my sister “dragged” me on this tour.  That was because I hadn’t watched it yet. Oh, that changed fast.  I quickly watched all of the seasons upon returning to Athens and can’t wait for it to come out again.  Looking back on the private tour with Dubrovnik Day Tours, I was really happy with the supply of historical nerdy insights I was provided. I still remember all the awesome Game of Thrones trivia that makes sense to me – now. Read about what it was like to see this amazing walled city where much of the Game or Thrones is filmed here.

 

Bergamo:  Old World Europe

I traveled to Italy once again, a country I absolutely love, but this time it was a trip dedicated to discovering beautiful Bergamo.  I left thinking it was like a tale of two cities. There was an old town and a new town, and both were so fun to explore.  I have a penchant for cobblestone streets and castle walls so my first post was dedicated to Bergamo’s Old Town.  I’d love to return to the city which is a convenient two-hour direct flight from Athens on RyanAir.

 

Montenegro: Sveti Stefan Beach

I arrived on the this beach before the official tourist season started. That meant it was empty! The coastline was breathtaking from afar and so beautiful up close. Take me back to relaxing on that pink pebbled sand any day.  A few hours stop on Sveti Stefan beach during my road trip through Montenegro was a travel highlight of 2015 for sure. Check out more pics and video on my blog post.

 

Best Review Experiences

Petani Bay Hotel

I loved staying at the Petani Bay Hotel, a luxury boutique hotel located in the western corner of Kefalonia, an island in the Ionian Sea.  Built on a cliff, the hotel’s views were amazing (especially from the infinity pool) and the hospitality was great.  I still remember smelling all of those roses that were blooming on the path to the rooms.

 

Montanema Handmade Village

I blogged about the Lake Plastiras in northern Greece and all of the great outdoorsy experiences you can have there like hiking, horseback riding and local food touring. The other fantastic memory of my time there was my stay experience at the new five-star resort set right in the Pindos Mountains called Montanema Handmade Village. The location boasted such lush views of sloping cliffs filled with fragrant pine trees, the opposite of the beaches and islands Greece is famous for among tourists. The architecture of the resort incorporated locally inspired element of nature and culture. It was a unique experience, another beautiful view of Greece’s diverse landscape.

 

Discover Neoclassical Athens Tour

What was Athens like under a king’s rule?  I had a great Athenian tour experience with Discover Greek Culture to find out just that.  As a local, I found the information, factoids and stories pretty interesting. It was a perfect tour for history buffs! It even ended in a “royal tea” at the former royal family’s residence, now a city museum in Athens.  Check out the experience here.

 

Have you been to any of these destinations or had similar experiences in your travels throughout Greece or Europe?  I’d love to know.

I’d also like to thank you for reading and following My Greece, My Travels and my social media channels for my writing and this blog. I appreciate it so much. Efharisto para poly! The blog will be getting a new look soon in 2016… so, stay tuned.

I’ll sign off saying,”Happy new year!” All the best for 2016!  The world is full of so much beauty. May the lovelist and best travel experiences in Greece and Europe continue…