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Greece Travel Beyond Athens: Crete & the Greek Islands

Locations in this article:  Athens, Greece

In part one of his report from Greece, Kevin Bleyer, Emmy Award-winning writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, showed how travelers can reap the benefits of visiting a hard-hit country. In part two, he goes beyond Athens to find more surprises and special experiences on the Greek islands.

I had expected the ruins. I hadn’t expected the caves.

“Two days in Athens, then head to the islands.”

That’s what I had been told, and although I spent three days in Athens (and gladly would have spent a week more) exploring the famed ruins of the Acropolis, the Old Olympic Stadium, and the Plaka between, I had a full agenda still to attend: Santorini, Crete, and then back to the mainland for a few days on the Peloponnese.

Santorini GreeceThere are, of course, the required preliminaries. Everyone raves about the sunset over the island of Santorini. For good reason.

It’s no wonder that the throngs assemble in the northern city of Oia to take it in. Even for the most agoraphobic tourist, it’s more than worth a half hour of braving the tourist hordes perched on every conceivable rooftop.

On even the relatively small island on Santorini – just over 12 miles from top to bottom – there’s much to see, but only from one spot can you truly see it all: after a short (albeit gravity-defying) drive up a winding road, the Monastery at the highest point in the island offers panoramic views of Oia in the North, Fira and the famed Caldera in the West, and the lighthouse at the very Southern tip. Go early in the morning, and there’s a good chance you’ll have this view all to yourself.

Even though you know it’s an island, Crete feels like a country. So it’s vital to bite off an appropriately-sized piece for your visit. I chose the Northeast corner of Crete – near Elounda – and found three unforgettable experiences within easy reach …

Spinalonga Island is an old Venetian fort that has had many uses over the centuries, from a Christian refuge in the 18th century to one of the last surviving leper colonies in the early 1900s. A 5-minute boat trip sends you back hundreds of years. (Quick tip: after getting back to the mainland but before heading back to Elounda, take a short drive up the hill. A sand road brings you around the bend, right into a spectacular array of modern windmills – a neat contrast to the cloth-sailed windmills of Santorini. They’re huge, impressive, and somehow cleverly hidden behind the mountaintop. You’ll feel like it’s your own discovery, because it will be.)

Get more advice in our Italy & Greece travel section. 

Old Fortress - Rethymnon City CreteThen, the caves… The Lasithi Plateau toward the center of Crete offers anyone willing to do a little spelunking the unique experience of climbing down into the Ideon Andron Cave, also known as the birthplace of Zeus. Yes, you heard me: the birthplace of Zeus. In a cave. The temperature drops precipitously – as do you – as you venture deep into an otherworldly obstacle course of stalactites and stalagmites. The perfect place for a myth to begin.

In the summer, the Peloponnese (the southwestern-most section of the Greece mainland) doesn’t have the tourist draw of the islands, but it should. Mycenaean temples, the ancient city of Olympia, and Voidokilia, a beach formed in the shape of a perfect Greek Omega-perhaps the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. Take a short climb up the southern end of the beach and enter Nestor’s Cave, where Hermes hid the cattle he had stolen from Apollo.

But again, the biggest surprise came while on the road less traveled: the drive from Kalamata to Sparta is about 30 miles of some of the most exciting terrain (and breathtaking hairpin turns) this side of the Tour de France. And if you’re wondering …

… yes, that’s a cave. And yes, you drive right into it.

By Kevin Bleyer for PeterGreenberg.com. Kevin Bleyer is an Emmy Award-winning writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. His book, Me The People: An Order To Form A More Perfect Union will be published by Random House in 2011.

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