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Mykonos, roughly halfway. Still speaking to each other. Still eating.
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Three weeks, five countries, one ship, and an alarming amount of butter.
Every so often the Staches plan a trip that sounds, on paper, like we’re showing off. This is one of those. An overnight to New York, three days eating our way across Paris with foodie friends, 36 hours in Athens, fourteen nights on the Explora II from Athens to Venice, and one final night on a private island across the lagoon from a city we’ve already done twice.
Planes, a ship, tenders, taxis, a bus we’d rather forget and more water taxis than is strictly reasonable. Hence the name. It was spectacular. It was also, in places, a masterclass in our own mistakes — a hotel booked against expert advice, a $45 bottle of water, and two ship excursions we’d happily throw overboard. We tell you about all of it. That’s the deal.
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| Stop | Dates | How We Got There |
|---|---|---|
| New York | Apr 28 | Overnight flight, sleep optional |
| Paris | Apr 29 – May 1 | Plane, then mostly on foot, between meals |
| Athens | May 3 – 4 | A delayed flight that landed after midnight |
| Explora II: 13 ports | May 4 – 18 | Ship, tenders, taxis, one regrettable bus |
| Venice | May 18 – 19 | Private water taxi, straight past the bridges |
When you’ve already done the Louvre line and the Eiffel Tower selfie, you travel with foodie friends, book the restaurant reservations first, and build the trip around them. Two rules: no Tire Company stars, and locals-only haunts. We ate our way through the quiet arrondissements, got gloriously lost on May Day, and stumbled into our best meal of the trip at La Petite Lune.
The flaw was all ours: our most experienced Paris hand said stay in Le Marais, She-Stache overruled her, and the “five-star” hotel near the Champs-Élysées had no drawers and an AstroTurf garden. We walked off the cheese, at least.
A delayed flight, a post-midnight arrival, a medicinal welcome drink, and then the Acropolis with Rick Steves in our ears — late morning, because shoulder season is a gift. It lived up to two and a half thousand years of hype, scaffolding and all.
Then we sat down for lunch on the Mnisikleous Stairs and paid roughly $45 for a bottle of water. Photograph the stairs. Eat anywhere else. Next time, we’re skipping the city entirely and sleeping on the Athens Riviera.
The centerpiece, and the reason for everything else. Fourteen nights from Athens to Venice on a ship with about 900 guests and over 600 crew, rerouted away from Turkey into a string of small Greek harbors the megaships can’t squeeze into. We walked off the gangway officially ruined for mass-market cruising.
It wasn’t flawless. Anthology’s wine pairing was a minor miss. The ship’s excursions were a major one: four missing passengers, one phantom café, zero coffee. Plan your own port days.
We’ve done Venice twice, including five bridges and 264 steps with suitcases. So She-Stache redeemed her Paris hotel choice by dragging the group to the JW Marriott on its own island across the lagoon: a James Bond boat entrance, picnics on the lawn, the best Sazerac our crew has ever had, and the skyline from a safe and civilized distance.
The flaw: you’re not in Venice. For a first-timer, that’s the wrong hotel. For us, it was the whole point.
Stached, thoroughly. Fourteen nights, every bar, every restaurant, sorry liver. We always tell you to book direct, and you should. But we’re confident enough in this ship that if you’d like us to find and book your sailing, we will, and the 10% commission goes straight to our volunteerism scholarships. We will not book you a single ship excursion.
Strung together, this trip shouldn’t have worked. Too many hotels, too many transfers, too many dinners. But stitching a city break, a ship and an island resort together let each part do what it does best: Paris fed us, Athens humbled us, the Explora II spoiled us, and Venice asked absolutely nothing of us. We came home overfed, overwalked, slightly tanned and fully aware of every mistake we made along the way.
We’d make most of them again. Except the bottle of water.
Book the tables. Skip the excursions. Take the water taxi.
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Explora Journeys
Fourteen nights, Athens to Venice, on the Explora II.
Official site →
La Petite Lune, Paris
Our best meal in Paris. Found it by getting lost.
Find it on the map →
Moxy Athens City
Low cost, small rooms, an easy stroll to the Acropolis.
Find it on the map →
Official site →
The Acropolis
Timed entry. Allow a few hours, wear real shoes.
Find it on the map →
Official tickets: Hellenic Heritage →
JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa
Private island, James Bond boat entrance, five star-staches.
Find it on the map →
Official site →
Paris with Foodie Friends → or back to the Wander Brag index →