Italy & Greece Vacations with Travel Mom Robyn

Travel Mom Robyn shares her family’s extensive summer adventures across Europe, including Kalmar, Sweden; Hamburg, Germany, for a Taylor Swift concert; Hydra, Athens, and Santorini, Greece; and Lake Como, Italy.

I am based in the Bay Area, California. I have three children: my 14-year-old daughter, who just started high school, and my two sons, who are 13 and 7. I also own Bae Boats, an electric boat charter business based in Alameda and Sausalito.

We had some wonderful adventures. Last summer the five of us went to London, Paris, and Italy in a week and a half. Then this summer we thought we’d expand and bring extended family.

We went to Sweden, Greece and Italy. We’re there for three and a half weeks in total. It was the longest vacation that my husband has taken in probably 17 years.

We flew into Copenhagen as our first stop. We arrived and got to our hotel that night. The next morning, my daughter and I left for Hamburg, Germany, to see the Taylor Swift concert. We left my husband and two boys with my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and nephew in Stockholm.

We flew to Hamburg, arrived at our hotel, and walked around the city. It was beautiful, right on the water. You can go and take boats out on a great little lake. We only had about an hour, so we just explored there, then headed back to the hotel and got ready for the concert.

The concert was incredible, and my daughter had a great time. Getting back to the hotel was a little stressful. The public transportation was difficult afterward, and there were so many people, so we shoved our way onto the subway car at one o’clock in the morning. We returned to the hotel, got up early the next morning, ordered room service, and returned to Sweden.

We took the ferry to Kalmar, a little village on the water in Sweden, where we reunited with our family.

My husband’s mom’s family is originally from there, and his great-great-grandmother immigrated to the Carpathia. My mother-in-law had always wanted to return and learn about her family history there. So, through 23andMe, she found distant relatives, connected with them, and they took us all around.

Kalmar is right across from a little island called Ölland. You can take a little ferry across or drive across. It’s a 20-minute drive. It’s very small. After we arrived in Kalmar, we rented a car and drove over, and then the distant relatives showed us around. They took us to the church where my husband’s great-great-grandmother was baptized and the home that she grew up in. It was cool for my mother-in-law and the kids to see where part of their family was originally from.

One night, they hosted a barbecue at their home. I learned about this wonderful Swedish tradition called Fika, which is getting together for coffee and dessert for a couple of hours. They take it very seriously, and businesses shut down for it.

We took the train back to Copenhagen and flew to Athens. We took everyone with us and met up with my mom, dad, and sister in Athens. We stayed at a hotel near the ferry building so we could easily access the ferry the next day.

The next morning, we got up and walked to the ferry. Pro tip: Get your ferry tickets ahead of time. We got our tickets for Santorini ahead of time but not for Hydra. So the ferry was boarding, and my husband had 11 passports in his hand, trying to buy the tickets. We made it onto the ferry, but it was a little stressful.

We took the ferry to Hydra, and it’s a great way to see the different little islands. I recommend stopping and getting fresh food or sandwiches at a bakery, just because the food on the ferry is always hit or miss.

Hydra is a little fishing village. My husband and I got engaged on a sailing trip 16 years ago in Greece. And I wanted to go back as it was one of my favorite little islands. There are no cars, so transportation is by donkey, which is cool. It’s more touristy now. It used to be an artist’s escape as it was an off-the-beaten-path island.

We stayed at a great Airbnb called Live-in L-I-V-I-N. It was three different apartment buildings with two bedrooms each, and the hosts were fantastic. It was right in the middle of the village. The host did laundry for us and had food in the fridge. My 13-year-old was sick one day, and she went and got medicine. She was just amazing.

They have a little outdoor theater that shows old movies at night and good restaurants. There’s a beach club you can walk to with the kids, and then there’s a restaurant right there, and you can get beach chairs.

We left Hydra and took the ferry back to Athens.

We visited the Acropolis in the evening, as it’s hot in the summer. Make sure you bring lots of water. It’s really crowded, with lots of tourists, but it’s beautiful and spectacular. And get your tickets ahead of time for that as well.

We took the subway, and I will say some of the subway stops were beautiful. They have the old aqueducts and all the history of how they moved water through the city. It was cool.

After the Acropolis, we spent the night in the hotel again near the ferry and then walked back down the next morning and got on the ferry for Santorini.

The ferry to Santorini has business class or standard seating, and you can get a bedroom. I highly recommend that with little kids, like my three-year-old nephew, who needed a nap. It was great for him because it was a seven-hour ferry ride. There’s lots of room to run around, outdoor seating, and restaurants on board. However, I would also recommend stopping to get food on the way, as the food on the ferry is just okay.

We arrived in Santorini and stayed at a great Airbnb. We decided not to stay in Oia, the main town with the blue-topped buildings. We stayed in a little village outside of there.

The Airbnb had a pool and a restaurant we could walk to, which was cool. The one hard part is that if you don’t stay in Oia, you must get in a car or a bus to get to the activities.

In Oia, we took everyone to where my husband proposed 16 years ago. Then we went to the restaurant we had eaten at before he proposed.

Then, the highlight was that we probably took a catamaran out. There’s a wonderful company called Spiridakos that was great. We had an all-female crew and just had it for our family. It was the most magical day. There was music playing, and the kids were all laughing and singing. They brought drinks around to everyone. They had three different stops where you jump in the water and swim. And they had all the flotation devices you need. And they made a wonderful lunch with fresh fish, fruit, and all these side dishes. And it was just incredible. It was the most magical day.

My mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and nephew headed back to the States. Then we flew to Milan, where we met up with my aunt and friends. There were 18 of us who went to Lake Como in total.

One thing I recommend is when you fly into Milan, if you’re headed to Lake Como, stop at a grocery store and pick up your groceries and fresh food; that way, you have your fridge stocked when you get to wherever you’re staying. That’s what we did.

Lake Como was wonderful. It was beautiful. We went last summer, and the cool thing is all the swimming you can do. We rented boats and had a dock at the house where we were staying. They picked us up, and then all the other friends and kids at their house. So, we had a kid boat with my parents and an adult boat.

We stayed in Neso, which has a beautiful bridge you see in many photos. We would take the kids there, and they would jump off the bridge, and my 77-year-old father had to jump off the bridge with them.

There are also lots of little hiking trails hidden in the hills. In Neso, where we stayed, you had to walk down a steep hill, but then they had all these little hidden pathways. It was magical because you could walk to restaurants, through these back alleyways, and by these churches. It was beautiful. You would hear the bells from the church going off in the evening. And the sunsets are beautiful.

There are so many different little places to explore. It’s great to get a boat because you can take it around and get dropped off at restaurants on the water. There’s one with a jumping pad for kids while you’re eating lunch so they can jump in the water and play with the water toys.

Bellagio was great. They have a garden you can walk through that is wonderful with children. The other thing we did was rent e-bikes for the adults. So, every morning, we would bike ride around. It was just magical and fun.

My favorite part was the catamaran in Santorini. That was just a wonderful day. Everyone had a lot of fun. It was a magical day. And then, for the kids, Lake Como is always fun because they have their friends there. And for my husband, I think the catamaran too. Everyone had a different magical part of the trip.

It gives them a different perspective of the world and people and keeps them grounded. When my husband and I got married, we set a clear intention, as we had always traveled when we were dating, that when we started our family, we wanted to travel. We dreamed of sailing around the world with our kids until we discovered I get a little seasick out on the open water.

We have always traveled a lot, and our older two kids traveled internationally within the first year of their lives. It was crazy and stressful at times, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

It’s one of the best gifts you can give your children and yourself.

We would all love to go to Japan, so we’re starting to look at it. We would love to go during the Cherry Blossom season.