My first time camping in Greece

Summer is one of my favourite seasons in the year. It is warm, sunny and people tend to be more active and to spend more time outside. It is also the time when most of the people go on summer vacations with their friends or families. This time, I wanted to spend my summer vacation in Greece for the first time, since I have never been there, but have heard that it is awesome.

Thus, me and my friends planned our trip very carefully, so we can spend some days on the beach and also explore further what Greece has to offer. In general, we stayed most of the time in Chalkidiki and more specifically on Sithonia peninsula. It is considered to be one of the most visited places in Greece during the summer months and a great place to spend your vacation. Sithonia was located between two gulfs, the Singitic Gulf and the Toronean Gulf and was also set between the other two peninsulas that were part of the bigger peninsula Chalkidiki.

Although Sithonia was a separate peninsula, it was also and a municipality in Greece. The main seat of this Sithonia’s municipality was the city of Nikiti, which was set at the beginning of the peninsula. It was also the city where most of the people on vacation were buying food and drinks, before going to the south of the peninsula.

During our stay there we managed to visit many places, among which were many beaches with turquoise waters. Those types of views with golden beaches and turquoise waters were typical for the Aegean Sea and Greece. Thus, if you have the chance to go there, be prepared to be stunned everywhere you go.

However, I will share with you how we spend most of our days on our vacation in Greece. Along with that, I will share with you some useful tips and places to visit.  

Day One in Chalkidiki

On our first day, we travelled a lot to get to our camping, which was in the middle of Sithonia. The camping had all the necessities like showers, designated areas for cooking, a cinema, bar, restaurant and playgrounds on the beach.

It took us around three hours or more to get there and we made a stop in Thessaloniki, which was on our way, so we can rest a bit. Then, we continued on our way to the camping but stopped at Nikiti’s Lidl, so we can buy some food and refreshing drinks for the next couple of days that we would spend there.

Eventually, when we arrived at our camping we had to check in there and pay the rest of the money for our stay. This also included a fridge to put our things inside and the electricity and water we would use. We have booked a place for two tents, so it was not that expensive and cost us around fifteen euros per person per day. Then, after we paid the rest we were supposed to find our place inside the camping, which was quite hard, as there were many people with tents around and the camping was quite huge. However, in the end, we found our place and we had to prepare our tent for the evening.

When we finished, we decided to go to the restaurant at camping so we can have a decent dinner and enjoy the sunset there. We ordered some grilled seafood like octopuses and fish, which was quite fresh and very tasty. This too was quite cheap and cost us around ten euros per person.

After dinner, we went to watch the sunset on the beach at the camping, which was right next to the restaurant. It was the first sunset I would ever witness in Greece, so I was quite excited, because I love watching sunsets and sunrises whenever I can. To me, they are the most peaceful times of the day.

When the sunset, we went to the bar of the camping where there was a jazz concert, so we had some fun that night dancing around until early in the morning.

Day Two in Chalkidiki

On our second day, we woke up later in the day and decided to go to the nearby city of Sarti, where we spend some time strolling around it and buying souvenirs from the local shops. The city also had a very nice small city center and exactly in its main square, there was a huge statue with a heart, where it was written "Sarti" and lots of people were taking pictures there. We also climbed the Agios Antonios hill in the city, which was overlooking the whole coastline of the city. Honestly, I have never seen a city before with such a large coastline of which one could not see its end. This spot in Sarti was very nice, but since it was very hot and the sun was quite burning us, we decided to go back to the city and to the car.

While going back to the car, we saw a fish shop, thus we decided to buy some fresh fish for dinner and cook it at the barbeque in the camping. There were many fishes and seafood to choose from like shrimps, Fagri, Red mullets, anchovies, clams, squids, small types of sharks and many more. However, we bought some Fagri, which is a sort of redfish and not so big in size and a couple of squids to try them on the grill. Then, we went back to the car, put them in the cooler and headed back to our camping in the middle of Sithonia.

However, while travelling back we wanted to stay a bit by the beach and stopped by Mega Portokali Beach, which was a very nice beach, but there was no place. Thus, we walked to the beach that was next to it, the Kavourotripes beach, which was a beach with lots of rocks.

Although, at Kavourotripes beach the sea level was not so high, thus we could dive and look around for small colourful fishes or other small sea creatures swimming around. Thus, we spent the next couple of hours diving and swimming around looking for the most beautiful sea creatures. Eventually, when we got tired we would just lay at the rocks and rest, drink some water to hydrate and then again continue exploring the beautiful sea of Greece. However, at some point, we went to the nearby bar, the Orange Beach bar to get some iced coffee and went back to the rocks overlooking the nice environment around.

Finally, when it was about to get dark, we went back to the car, so we can go back to the camping and cook the fish and the squids, which we have left into the cooler. When we arrived in less than an hour we went straight to the barbeque, so we can prepare the dinner, which was done in no time, as it did not need lots of time to be grilled. We made some salad with the vegetables we bought from the supermarket at the camping and were ready to eat. 

Day Three in Chalkidiki

On our third day in Chalkidiki, we decided to go to Vourvourou to rent a boat and explore around the island of Diaporos. However, since it was the high season in Chalkidiki, we had to call a couple of days before we wanted to rent the boat, so they can place a reservation on it. Thus, since we did that a couple of days before, now we just had to go to Vourvourou, where our rent a boat firm was and get our boat. Luckily, we got there quite quickly and got a brand new boat, equipped with everything needed. The price of the boat was around 25 euros per person for the day, without including the price of the fuel.

Thus, after they instructed us where to sail with the boat and where not to, how to drive it and how to be safe, we were ready to go. Once in the open sea, we could study a bit the map they have provided us with the island. It was very nice that they have marked every place where you could stop, the places full with passages of fishes, lagoons and many more.

While looking at the map, we decided to go to the White beach, which was on the east side of the island. We sailed for around ten minutes before we arrived at this mesmerizing beach and secluded coast. We docked there and went on to explore a bit the beach and the rocks spread around it. Eventually, we went diving and snorkelling again, chasing colourful small fishes for ours.

After an hour we decided to head to the Blue Lagoon, which was a bit deeper and not so nice to swim in, as there was huge seagrass spread around, so we did not spend a lot of time there and continued to the next spots that were put on the map. We visited the Natural Bay, which was a big area with a long beach, but not so wide. Next to it, there was a private property surrounded by think forests, so we could not go any further, thus we decided to go back to the White beach and snorkel a bit more, until the time to return the boat comes. We found all kinds of small fishes in different colours swimming in passages or alone.

Now that we returned a bit later, the sea level has increased, which allowed us to swim a bit deeper and find some sea urchins next to the rocks. However, we had to be very careful with them, because if you step on them it was quite dangerous and you could end up in a hospital. Among the fishes, we also saw some jellyfishes swimming around, which we tried to avoid, as they were quite dangerous and could leave some serious burns on us.

In the end, we packed our things and sadly had to go back to the office of the rent a boat, where we had to return the boat and pay for the fuel. Honestly, this day sailing around the Diaporos island was quite exhausting but full of good vibes.

The next couple of days we spent our time on the beach in our camping, where we were sunbathing, swimming and snorkelling again. Sometimes we were exploring the surrounding hills on the two sides of the beach and relaxing in the evening with some good food prepared by ourselves. Then, we would go for a walk around the camping or go to the cinema of the camping and watch a movie before going to our tents to sleep.

This was my first time camping for so long and if I have to be completely honest, it was the best experience ever! I felt completely free and managed to rest and relax the whole time.

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