Day 1: Arrival via Athens and first impressions of Ikaria and Armenistis

Sunday 17th May 2026

Introduction

A Familiar Journey to Manchester Airport

After a very short night’s sleep, my alarm dragged me out of bed at 12:15am. Somehow, after only about four hours of sleep, I actually felt okay. A quick shower, a cup of tea, and I was out of the door by 12:40am — ahead of schedule as usual.

By 2:30am I’d arrived at Manchester Airport, and around 3am I made my way into Terminal 2. I was slightly surprised to find the security area completely shuttered off, which I suppose is a side effect of taking one of the first flights of the day. In hindsight, I was very glad I hadn’t arrived any earlier. Thankfully the barriers opened at about 3:10am, and I somehow managed to become the first person through the boarding pass scanner.

Breezing Through the Airport

Being first through security should have meant a completely seamless experience… although my camera bag had other ideas. It was pulled aside after apparently “not going through the x-ray machine” — despite me very clearly watching it disappear into the machine on the conveyor belt. After a quick re-scan and a short delay, I was finally through into departures.

Not for the last time that morning, I also ended up being first into a restaurant. This time it wasn’t Bar MCR — which I’m not even sure exists in this terminal — but a place called The Bridgewater. I settled in with a surprisingly good full English breakfast and a latte, although at £17 for the breakfast and another £4 for the coffee, I’m hoping it won’t be the cheapest meal I’ll have on this trip!

I lingered there until just after 4am, having noticed the departure boards saying gate information for my flight would appear at 4:10am. Once gate C3 flashed onto the screen, I wandered down and briefly sat near the gate before deciding to just join the queue instead. I’d paid for Speedy Boarding and, in very typical fashion for me, I wanted to make absolutely sure I’d get space in the overhead locker near my seat.

Boarding itself was smooth enough. By around 5am we were ready to taxi, although we sat briefly due to air traffic restrictions. We eventually took off at around 5:35am — only about 15 minutes behind schedule, which feels positively punctual these days (do planes ever take off on time?).

One benefit of the early departure was getting to fly over mainland Greece late morning. The sky was very clear and I managed to make out the recognisable shape of Piraeus port as we passed overhead.

Athens Arrival and Hand Luggage Anxiety

Thanks to a strong tailwind, the flight time ended up being just three and a half hours, and we landed in Athens ahead of schedule at around 11am Greek time (9am back in the UK). In a pleasant surprise, we parked directly outside the terminal and were able to walk straight into the building rather than being crammed onto one of the airport buses that some Greek airports seem determined to use no matter how short the walk is.

With the new EES border system being such a big talking point recently, I was curious to see what the arrival experience would be like for UK travellers. Passport control was fairly busy thanks to several arrivals landing around the same time — two other easyJet flights plus an Air Transat arrival from Canada — so it took around 30 minutes to reach the front of the queue.

While waiting, I watched plenty of passengers having fingerprints scanned and photos taken, so I assumed we were all being enrolled into the system. When my turn finally came, though, the officer simply scanned my passport and waved me through. Slightly confused, I asked about the fingerprints and photos. Her response:

“No, you’re European — you don’t get them.”

After the familiar marathon walk from the EU/Schengen arrivals area through Athens Airport, I headed back upstairs towards departures ready for my domestic flight to Ikaria. My original plan had been to check in my larger camera/equipment backpack, mainly because I assumed it would be too big for the smaller Sky Express aircraft cabins. But, standing in the bag drop queue, I suddenly realised this plan had one fairly major flaw…

My laptop, travel money, and pretty much every lithium battery I owned were all inside that bag.

I wanted to use the laptop during my five-hour layover, and I could see signs everywhere confirming that lithium batteries couldn’t go in hold luggage. My smaller backpack was absolutely crammed with clothes, leaving no room to move anything across.

For a while, I considered awkwardly carrying the laptop separately by hand, but the battery issue still remained. When I eventually reached the desk, the check-in agent couldn’t even find my booking because I was more than three hours early for the flight. She explained I’d need to come back later if I wanted to check a bag.

I asked whether the backpack might be acceptable as cabin luggage after all. She looked it over and seemed to think it would probably fit onboard, so in the end I decided to take the gamble and keep both bags with me. At the very least, it solved the immediate laptop-and-batteries problem. I just had to hope I didn’t get stopped at the gate and asked to put one of the bags in the hold.

Finding the Sky Express executive lounge — one of the “free” perks included with my hold luggage ticket — proved slightly harder than expected. I managed to walk straight past it on my first attempt before eventually doubling back and finding the entrance.

A Long(ish) Layover and Lost Kindle

Once inside the lounge, I ended up sitting at a window seat that I’m almost certain was the exact same spot I used back in 2020 before flying to Milos. Unsurprisingly, the lounge was far busier this time around than it had been during the Covid era.

To kill some of the 4+ hours I had until my 16:45 internal flight to Ikaria, I got my laptop out and started uploading the handful of photos and videos I’d already captured during the journey — mostly quick clips shot on my phone. I’d already created a new project in my editing software for the first vlog of the trip, so I imported everything and roughly laid the clips out chronologically on the timeline. There wasn’t really enough footage yet to form any sort of proper narrative structure, but I figured future me would appreciate not having to start completely from scratch later on.

A small setback occurred when I decided to put the laptop away and read my Kindle for a bit. I reached into my backpack only to discover the device was missing – I must’ve left it on the plane! It wasn’t anywhere in my luggage despite a thorough check. I remembered putting it in the seat pocket during the flight and couldn’t specifically remember retrieving it. Fortunately, it’s not new. I made some enquiries online as to how I might get it back, but decided it wasn’t worth chasing right now.

I tried to take advantage of the free food and drink in the lounge, but was conscious that I couldn’t drink much alcohol as I would be picking up a rental car from the airport on Ikaria. The food was okay, but mostly snack items so I didn’t eat a lot. I left the lounge a couple of times for toilet breaks and to stretch my legs, and finally departed for my boarding gate at 15:45 for the Ikaria flight.

Delayed Take Off, Short Flight, Interesting Conversation

I was surprised to see several passengers already waiting at the gate and, as the departure time got closer, even more people arrived. In my head, Ikaria was such an off-the-beaten-path destination, I expected the flight to be quiet but it was looking like it would actually be mostly full.

I was a bit worried about being able to take both my bags on board if the flight was at capacity, but I needn’t have been – nobody checked the size or weight, or questioned why I had two bags instead of one.

Once the boarding process began, we had our passports and boarding passes checked, followed by the usual Greek experience of being put onto a bus to get from the terminal to the plane (which is usually within easy walking distance). They seemed determined to fit everyone on a single bus, so it got rather hot and cramped and, worst still, the bus didn’t leave for ages as I think they were waiting for another passenger who never arrived.

By the time the bus departed (and, in fairness, our plane was quite a distance), we were behind schedule as it was past 5pm. Boarding was slow due to the plane’s small size. The flight itself was okay – a little bumpy on the ascent but otherwise quite smooth and it only took 30 minutes before we were back on the ground. I had a pleasant chat with an older lady whose cousin had family on the island and she herself had been visiting for many years, so we spoke about Ikaria and my YouTube channel for most of the journey.

Tiny Airport, Rental Car and Long Drive to Armenistis

We landed slightly after 6pm. I’d made the mistake of choosing a seat near the front of the plane thinking it would mean a faster exit, not realising that the smaller aircraft only has steps at the back. So instead of being one of the first off the plane, I was nearly last. 

With no hold luggage to collect, I walked straight through the tiny terminal in search of someone from LEMY, the car rental company I’d booked with. He had agreed to wait for me with a board holding my name on arrival. Unfortunately by the time I got to him there was already another passenger being dealt with so I had to wait around. After a few minutes it was my turn and he quickly sorted out my hire car and gave me instructions and a map on how to get safely across the island to Armenistis. After loading my luggage and enabling the sat nav on my phone I set off towards Agios Kirykos and then North across the island to Evdilos and finally West towards Armenistis.

The drive was very scenic, but quite long and much harder work that I had anticipated. I’ve driven on many Greek islands, so the slightly narrow and winding roads were no big surprise, but Ikaria is particularly mountainous and the roads through the villages very narrow in places. The drive took about 80 minutes, including a couple of brief photo stops.

By the time I arrived in the village it was almost 8:00 p.m. and nearly dark. Initially, I struggled to find the road leading up to the accommodation and found myself having to backtrack several times. I eventually admitted defeat and rang the accommodation owner to ask for directions. He quickly sorted me out and a few minutes later I was parked outside Pension Galini.

Usually, when I arrive at any accommodation in Greece a shower is top of my list. However, it wasn’t overly hot and I was keen to get out and find somewhere to eat so that I could get to bed and catch up on some sleep. I found a local taverna called Baido and had a simple meal of tzatziki, bread and filo pastry fried with cheese and honey. It was just the right amount of food and, naturally, I washed it down with a cold Mythos beer!

After eating, I walked down through the village, partly to get my bearings for the days ahead, but also to find the local supermarket to buy some water and biscuits for the room. Practical duties completed, I returned to my accommodation and straight to bed.