Our Spring Break Europe Itinerary: Athens, Santorini & Paris (Family of 5 + How We Booked It for $0)

Destinations
Written By Annie Hall

We took our family of 5 to Athens, Santorini, and Paris for spring break — and paid $0 for our flights to Europe and hotels using points and miles. ✈️

This was such a fun family trip — a mix of history, relaxing views, incredible food, and just enough “kid fun” to keep everyone happy.

In this post, I’m sharing our full spring break Europe itinerary (Athens, Santorini & Paris), exactly what we did each day, where we stayed, and how we used points and miles to make a trip like this actually affordable.

If you’ve ever wondered how to plan a Europe trip like this for your own family… keep reading 👇

Our Spring Break Europe Itinerary (Family of 5)

  • 3 nights in Athens

  • 2 nights in Santorini

  • 3 nights in Paris

Flights to Europe (What We Did + How You Can Book This on Points)

I booked roundtrip direct flights from Phoenix to Paris on Air France using courtesy vouchers from a previously canceled flight we had booked on points to Italy last year. Basically… we booked one spring break to Europe on points last year and ended up getting a second one for free 😉

If I didn’t have vouchers, Air France is still one of my favorite airlines to book to Europe using points. All major banks (Chase, American Express, Capital One, and Citi) transfer to Flying Blue (Air France/KLM’s loyalty program).

If you’re flexible, you can often find flights to Europe for around 25,000 Flying Blue miles one way + taxes and fees — and kids under 12 get a 25% discount on the miles required, which is amazing for families!

Flights to Greece:

I booked our flights from Athens to Satorini and from Santorini to Paris on Sky Express Airlines with cash.

Hotels:

Athens:

I booked two rooms (traveling as a family of 5 makes hotel rooms… tricky 😅) for 3 nights at the Grand Hyatt Athens with Hyatt points. The Grand Hyatt Athens is a Category 3 Property and at the time of booking, I booked 3 nights in a standard room that sleeps up to 3 using 2 free night certificates and 12,000 Hyatt Points for the last night. I also booked a suite that slept up to 4 for 12,000 points per night plus applied a suite upgrade award. Without the suite upgrade award, I could have booked the suite for 20,000 Hyatt points per night.

Santorini:

March is off season for Santorini and hotels that you can book with points are still closed. (They usually open from late April to October) Instead, we booked two nights at this amazing Airbnb with cash. It was a splurge, but the views were AMAZING and since we booked it in the off season it was half the price compared to summer prices. If you want to know how to use points for vacation rentals, read here!

Paris:

I booked 2 rooms for 3 nights at the Hyatt Regency Etoile with Hyatt points. The Hyatt Regency Etoile is a Category 5 Property and at the time of booking, I booked each room for 21,000 Hyatt points per night. For one room, I applied a suite upgrade award for a room that sleeps 4.


Day 1: Traveling to Athens

Flight:

We survived the red-eye flight!

I may be the only person who intentionally books seats in the very back of the plane because the last row only had two seats instead of 3 so we could have the whole row to ourselves 😂

We had row 44 and row 45 and didn’t mind it because the bathroom was further behind vs right next to our row like on the other side of the plane!

I didn’t realize how much space there would be between the seat and the window — my daughter basically created her own “lie-flat seat” on the floor and loved it. 🙈

Grand Hyatt Athens:

We took a taxi from the Athens airport to the Grand Hyatt Athens. This is the nicest Hyatt Category 3 property I’ve stayed at!

Grand Hyatt Athens Pros: rooms were beautiful, it had an amazing club lounge, complimentary breakfast buffet for Globalists, and gorgeous rooftop pool (it was closed while we were there) and an amazing indoor pool with a sauna, ice bath and steam room. Our rooms had a view of the Acropolis!

Grand Hyatt Athens Cons: the location is about a mile away from most of the main tourist attractions. Plan on walking or taking a taxi! (Taxis only fit 4!) This is actually a complaint of hotels in general - but the suite we booked was HUGE and could have easily fit a 5th person with a rollaway bed - but nope, family of 5 problems - we had to book two rooms and they didn’t end up being connecting rooms.

Day 2: Athens

Breakfast: We are globalists so we had breakfast at the buffet at their beautiful rooftop restaurant, the Grand! They also had breakfast available with more limited options at the Club Lounge as well. This is a great property to apply a Club Access award or Guest of Honor award!

Scooter Tour: Bike tours are a HUGE win with our family. It’s a great first day activity to get your bearings and beat jet lag and our kids never complain! We switched it up this trip and booked an Athens Acropolis Official E-Scooter Guided Tourand loved it - it was a group tour but it ended up being just our family on the tour which was so nice!

After the tour, we grabbed some Gyros for lunch, watched the Changing of the Guard, and wandered the National Garden before headed back to the hotel to swim and relax!

We walked to Indian Chef Restaurant nearby and headed to bed early!

Day 3: Athens

We booked a kid friendly Percy Jackson Acropolis and Food Tour this tour and really liked it! They had us download their Percy Jackson Acropolis app and it made touring the Acropolis a lot more fun and engaging for our kids! Afterwards, we tried Greek yogurt, spanakopita, loukoumades, and traditional meze dishes. We lucked out again - booked a group tour but it ended up just being our family! The food was all in the cute Plaka area - highly recommend walking through it!

After our tour, we went to the Acropolis museum and then walked back to our hotel to relax, swim, and then grabbed dinner at Masina just a short distance from the hotel - it ended up being our favorite meal in Athens! I could eat a gyro and greek salad every day and be a happy camper!

One thing we’ve learned with kids: our best “city days” are when we do something in the morning, build in downtime in the afternoon, and then head back out for dinner.

Day 4 Athens/Santorini

We left in the morning for our flight to Santorini! It was a quick flight and our Airbnb arranged a driver for us to take us to Oia!

Because we travel so much, it can sometimes take a bit to really really impress my kids… and this Airbnb absolutely did! We all loved it so much!!!

It was 50-60 degrees and overcast and it rained a little bit, but thankfully not consistently. We LOVED coming in the off season with cooler weather and no crowds! Some shops and restaurants were closed but we still felt like we had enough options and things to do for a 2 night stay!

Day 5 Santorini

We had an open day in Santorini to relax and explore!

We had breakfast at Vitrin Cafe Creperie with donkeys passing by, walked and shopped around town, hiked down to the water, counted all the cute cats (my daughter’s favorite 🐱), and spent time in the hot tub!

We loved our gyros at Santol Souvlaki, and the Greek salad at KooKoo Bar was my favorite of the entire trip (and I had at least one every day in Greece 🤤).

Our kids unanimously voted this the best day of the trip — and I agree! Santorini was magical!

Day 6 Santorini/Paris

We left early in the morning to catch our flight to Paris and arrived at the Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile.

If you’re looking for a great hotel to book with points in Paris, this is such a solid option — especially for families.

Our rooms were on the same floor but not connected — another “family of 5” struggle. We booked two rooms, but ended up all sleeping comfortably in the suite that sleeps four because we wanted to be together. My daughter took the couch!

I really don’t love occupancy rules for bigger families — it felt like a waste of both points and a second room. (And this definitely isn’t the first time we’ve booked two rooms and squeezed into one 😅)

That said, the rooms were really nice and bright, and we were upgraded to an Eiffel Tower view 😍

We really liked this hotel! The club lounge has great options for both breakfast and evening hors d’oeuvres, and the views of the city and Eiffel Tower are incredible. For the points price, it’s hard to beat this hotel.

Once we got settled, we had dinner at Le Hameau just down the street. I LOVED the French onion soup and crème brûlée! Then we walked to the Arc de Triomphe and bought tickets to go to the top at sunset — such a perfect arrival day activity.

Day 7 Disneyland Paris

We only had two full days in Paris, and we chose to spend one of them at Disneyland Paris. And honestly… we have zero regrets!

This was our second visit, and I’ve come to really love mixing something familiar like Disney into an international trip with kids. After several busy travel days, it gave our kids something they instantly recognized and could fully enjoy without the adjustment that sometimes comes with big cities.

Another big reason we keep going back? Disneyland Paris is significantly more affordable than the U.S. parks.

We purchased park hopper tickets so we could visit both parks in one day. If you’re not trying to do every single ride or dealing with rider switch for younger kids, I think one day is plenty to experience the highlights.

Disneyland Paris Tips

Consider Premier Access if it fits your budget
Unlike Genie+ in the U.S., there’s no need to schedule return times or constantly check your phone. You can simply skip the line once per ride, which makes the day feel much more relaxed and efficient.

Don’t miss these rides

  • Big Thunder Mountain — one of the best versions we’ve ridden

  • Space Mountain — completely different than the U.S. (and goes upside down!)

  • Avengers Assemble Flight Force

  • Crush’s Coaster (one of the most unique rides in the park)

Take time to explore the castle
Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Paris is beautiful—and there’s actually a dragon underneath that you can walk through, which my kids loved.

Make time for the shows

  • Together: A Pixar Musical Adventure is so cute

  • Mickey and the Magician is absolutely worth seeing

  • And the fireworks show at the end of the night is incredible

Day 8 Versailles

I booked timed entry to the Versailles Palace at 1:30 pm so we could have a slower morning (spoiler: this was not the move).

Versailles was extremely crowded (we went on a Saturday), and the crowds never really died down in the later afternoon like I expected. By the time we got inside, we were already tired—and honestly, we just do better in the mornings!

I’ll also say this for full transparency: this stop didn’t quite match my expectations at first. Versailles was one of my favorite places when I studied abroad in college, so I had a very specific vision in mind… and the reality was tired kids, a tired me and big crowds. But—we rallied!!!

Renting bikes ended up turning the day around. Once we got out onto the grounds, everything felt more relaxed, and we had such a fun time riding around and exploring at our own pace. It ended up being one of those “rough start, strong finish” kind of days! 🤣

Other Paris Ideas (Especially with Kids)

We’ve actually been to Paris with our kids before and spent five nights in the city, so we didn’t feel pressure to fit everything in on this trip.

If it’s your first time visiting (or if you have more time), here are a few things we loved from our previous trip:

Day 9 Flight Home

We had an early flight home, and everything went smoothly!

This Spring Break trip was such a good reminder of why I’m so passionate about points and miles. Getting to take our family to places like Athens, Santorini, and Paris without paying full price for flights and hotels is something I don’t take for granted.

If trips like this feel out of reach, I promise—they don’t have to be. Learning how to earn and use points can completely change what’s possible for your family’s travel.

FREE Beginner’s Guide to Points and Miles

Want to travel for free?! ✈️ Grab a FREE Beginner's Guide to Travel Hacking and learn how to redeem FREE TRAVEL this year! CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD.

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