Best Greece Family Vacation: Athens, Santorini, Crete

The itinerary is not the best for the price we paid and for a family with two children. We thought we could come back to Greece, but after this trip, we might not come back or even use Zicasso again. Here are the reasons: 1. The hotels are subpar for the price we paid for this tour. Our hotel in Athens felt like a 2-star. Our hotel in Santorini has a great view, but it's just a view, no pool, etc. nearby. Our hotel in Crete is not near a beach, a 20-minute walk. 2. Too much time was wasted on travel from one location to the next (Santorini to Crete and Crete to Athens). 3. Four nights in Santorini with two children is overkill since there is not much to do other than take photos, hike, and that's basically it. 4. Some of the tours are okay but nothing special, i.e., the hiking tour in Crete where they call the "little forest" is merely just for the name. It has nothing to do with the tour guides. All tour guides are great. However, we feel the tour company is crafting ordinary tours, labels it special, and calls it private. 5. In Delphi, we could have had more time to look around after the two hours. If any of the tours were great, it was the tours we had in Athens and Delphi. If we had known this type of tour we received, we could have done an all-inclusive resort in Greece and done our own without having to go through Zicasso and the tour company.

It was our family's first time visiting Greece. We've always wanted to see the country and there were so many good things we'd heard about Greece.

There were a couple of things that made this trip very special. First, our youngest daughter's request for her 16th birthday was to go as a family and celebrate it in Greece. Second, none of us had ever been to Greece (on our previous trips, either my husband and/or I had been there or it was our family's second time there), so experiencing it together for the first time was really special.

Zicasso gave us two very good Greek travel companies. Both presented interesting itineraries to us. It was a year of planning and I'd gone back and forth with both travel companies with revisions of itineraries and, of course, the cost.

What made us choose this travel company was that the specialist was very honest, upfront, and very accommodating. He gave his honest opinion when I asked him about certain excursion activities or even restaurants (social media makes it really look good, especially for people who have not been there), and he did not pressure or force us into doing activities that did not interest us. He wanted to make sure we got to experience the best, but he was also very mindful of the costs. I had many back and forth conversations with him via texts, emails, or phone calls. He wanted to get to know our family. When I told him about our daughter's 16th birthday requests, he made sure he got every detail of what would make her birthday special. He also asked me about the interests of our eldest daughter because he wanted to surprise her with something special from Greece. That says a lot about the travel specialist and his company; they are personal and it's not just pure business for them.

A few days before we left the US, he called us so we could reschedule our flights (Santorini to Athens) to an earlier time going back home because he was concerned we may miss our connecting flights. Who does that? This just shows he checks every detail and wanted to make sure that even before we left the US, up to the time we arrived back home, everything was taken care of.

We had the best vacation in Greece. We did not worry about anything the entire time. The travel company was in constant communication with us. They created a WhatsApp group chat which made it so much easier. They gave us daily reminders and they arranged everything for us. We felt that the entire trip was customized for our family. The "Mamma Mia" island tour and birthday celebration for our daughter was perfect. The restaurant in Kolios was a great recommendation, and when I asked him to reserve the specific table and have a little birthday decoration for my daughter, it was accomplished.

Chania was amazing; both me and my husband loved this place. The view from our hotel room on Zampeliou Street, overlooking the old harbour and the Cretan Sea with the lighthouse, was breathtaking. We enjoyed walking through the streets of the Old Town of Chania.

We thought Santorini would be overcrowded, but we had a great tour guide who knew where to take us first to avoid crowds, and he gave us really helpful advice to go around the island. He took us to the little hidden alleys and showed how locals live. We ended up really loving the island.

We enjoyed every activity planned for us. We enjoyed our stay at our hotels. Mine and my husband's favorite were the hotel in Kalamata and the one in Chania. We really liked the view of the Acropolis from our rooms at the hotel in Athina, and that hotel was very convenient. We also enjoyed their breakfast there. The girls enjoyed the hotel in Skiathos because of how close it was to the beach, and they loved the "Mamma Mia" boat tour.

We each have our own favorite activities/tour/tour guides, but overall, our family had an amazing time in Greece – the way the travel agent and the entire team did a phenomenal job. The way the itinerary was put together and the timing for each place/island was just perfect for us. They exceeded our expectations. We fell in love with Greece, the culture, and the people, who were all so kind, nice, and very hospitable (not once did we have a bad encounter). We will definitely go back; there is so much more to explore and we'll definitely be working with this travel company in the future.

We only have good things to say about our Greece vacation and we highly recommend this travel agency. We've been to other countries and worked with other travel companies. In our opinion, this one was the best travel company we've ever worked with.

Hello, Zicasso and our travel company. We cannot say enough good things about our trip to Greece and the excellent service from you!

Our travel agent was our primary contact for the majority of the planning of the trip and we had excellent assistance from her team. All of them were fantastic in every way, providing us assurance that we were listened to for what we wanted. They also provided us well-informed guidance on what we did not know, but needed to make the best decisions for our trip. They were genuinely invested in us having a memorable experience with their caring tone and patience, especially being available to answer our questions, and always doing it promptly and thoroughly.

Our trip was absolutely seamless! We had a daily update the day prior via WhatsApp for the next day's agenda. All transfers were on time and courteous hosts educated us about Greece and got to know us personally. They supported us throughout the trip with restaurant recommendations and coordinating any other interests we had. For example, on our free day in Santorini, they helped us coordinate a day at the black-sand beach, which was relaxing and beautiful.

We absolutely loved Greece, from the charming streets of Chania to the deep, navy blue Aegean Sea on our day boat trip seeing all of Santorini and the bustling city of Athens, with the Acropolis and its rich history dating back to 2500 BC. And of course, the delicious fresh food wherever we were!

It was a fantastic, memorable experience for our family in a beautiful place that we will cherish. Thanks for all your team's work in making it so enjoyable and easy for our family! We will be sharing the experience we had with you with our friends, family, and co-workers, encouraging them to use your excellent services!

Thanks again.

Our 18-day trip from Athens to Santorini to Crete was wonderful! Zicasso’s travel consultant listened to our desires for the trip, thoughtfully applied her knowledge and resources to recommend (and periodically modify) an itinerary for us, and delivered the wonderful end product for us! The arranged tours, lodging, and restaurant recommendations were spot-on. I wouldn’t change a thing!

We had a wonderful experience with our Zicasso travel specialist while planning our vacation in Greece. We had a group that consisted of two families; in total, eight people. Our travel specialist gave us recommendations based on the types of activities we wanted to do and the types of islands we were hoping to experience.

We stayed two nights in Athens, three nights on Naxos, and three nights in Santorini. The accommodations were fantastic! Every tour guide and driver was helpful and so kind.

When we wanted to add a stop in Naxos for an impromptu lunch, our guide was happy to detour and bring us to a place with the best gyros that the locals really enjoy! Everyone made us feel at home. Thank you for a beautiful trip and all the lovely memories!

My husband and I had the most amazing honeymoon and owe it all to Zicasso’s travel specialists. We visited Athens, Crete, Santorini, and Naxos. We had an amazing experience in each location and were constantly in awe of the hotels and experiences that had been booked for us. Zicasso’s travel specialist responded to messages almost immediately and sent us our ferry/plane boarding passes before we had even thought of them. We only got home a few days ago and are already looking forward to planning another trip with Zicasso.