lgk627

Hi everyone!

My boyfriend and I are considering a trip to Greece for 10 days at the end of June 2017. I've been reading a lot of the forums, and I've gotten a lot of information from all of you already, so thank you!

We're looking for a vacation where we get to do some sightseeing yet have a good amount of time to relax as well. Last year, we roadtripped through France, Switzerland and Germany and while it was AMAZING, we could have used more time to rest and take it all in. That said, we want to spend the majority of our time on the islands. My preliminary itinerary has us flying into Athens, and spending 2 nights (one of which will be somewhat of a recovery day) to see the sights. Is this enough time (keep in mind I'm hoping you say yes)? We're not huge museum people, so we're looking to target the historical sites and take in some of the culture of the city before moving onto the islands.

I should probably also say that I know many of you have recommended going right to Santorini after landing in Athens, but as that's the part that I'm most looking forward to I'd rather save that for last!

After Athens, I thought we'd head to Naxos, I understand this is the more relaxing of either Naxos or Paros, but close enough to do ferries to Paros and Mykonos? We'd likely stay here for 3 nights before spending the rest of the time (5 nights) in Santorini.

I wish we had more time so we could see Crete and a few other islands, but logistically these seems to be the best way to go about it since everything is so spread out - would you agree? Any suggestions? Should we do 4 nights in Naxos since we plan to island hop and the remaining 4 in Santorini?

Thank you in advance for all the tips!

Heimdall

Nothing wrong with your plan, as long as you book a flight back from Santorini to Athens with sufficient layover before your flight home. The advice to save Athens for last is to insure you don't miss the flight home. Occasionally there are weather disruptions or industrial action, but that would be unusual for flights in late June.

Another plan could be to proceed directly to Naxos upon arrival in Greece, then a ferry to Santorini from there. This isn't quite as easy, because there are fewer seats on flights to Naxos, and ferries leave only first thing in the morning and again in late afternoon.

lgk627

Ah, ok good to know thank you! Yes, we were planning on taking the ferry from Naxos to Santorini after a few days in Naxos. How long is the ferry from Athens to Naxos? Or should we plan to fly there too?

stanbr

The conventional Blue Star ferry departs Athens at 8 or 8:30 and arrives at Naxos around 1. I always say that on vacation time is more precious than money. Catch the first flight out and you are in Naxos in the morning rather than mid afternoon. The only flaw in the flying thing right now is it won't be clear until April who will be flying the Naxos route. It was Olympic/Aegean but right now Sky express is flying it. As I recall it was normally around March that Naxos flights were on the schedule so waiting till then to book works fine.

yiassas

Aegean have the flights available for next summer, 3 flights most days.

kawh

santorini is worth seeing...but i found it so beyond-disneyland crowded that it was my least favorite island. i would plan less time there, and more time on another island. (my picture of Oia will always be one looking out towards the caldera with a huge drone 30 feet away...buzzing along the cliffs back and forth... i assume it was looking for the rich and famous?? they are downright weird when they stop right in front of you and seem to stare you down!!)

if you can possibly work it out, Meteora was my favorite site in Greece... and i am a total beach person. if you can work out a way to get there from Athens, do it. (I just took an overnight tour out of athens by bus. a boring 5 hour ride, but fun to see the beautiful mountain and farm areas of Greece.)

the swimming off the islands?? perfection!!!

Heimdall

If you decide to go to Naxos first, whether it's better to take a flight or ferry isn't always clearcut. Most times a flight is better, for the reasons pointed out by stanbr, but that depends upon timing of flights and ferries. Once I waited until late morning for a flight from Athens to Naxos, then found out I could have reached Naxos earlier had I taken an early morning high speed ferry instead.

Flights take only about 40 minutes, high speed ferries about 4 hrs, and Blue Star, the most comfortable ferry, about 5 hrs. Last June Hellenic Seaways Highspeed 4 left the Athens port of Piraeus at 07:15 and arrived on Naxos at 11:10. Blue Star Delos left Piraeus at 07:25 and arrived on Naxos at 12:30. In my case I arrived in Athens early enough to take either of those ferries instead of hanging around the airport for hours waiting for the flight.

My suggestion is to first determine your arrival time in Athens and decide if you wish to proceed directly to the islands. Then look for flights to Naxos that leave about 2-3 hours after your arrival. If that doesn't work, there are usually one or two afternoon ferries to Naxos, but they don't arrive until late in the evening.

In the end you may decide to proceed with your original plan to save Santorini for last, but that could mean spending another night in Athens before your flight home. If you go back to Athens the same day as your flight home, be very careful, as a delayed flight from Santorini could cause you to miss it.

Tabernash2

We were recently in Santorini for 5 nights, and loved it so much we could have stayed more nights.
Athens, was good for one full day, but we didn't really like it.

While there, a ferry strike stranded lots of tourists. If I were you, I might stay on Santorini, and not island hop.

On Santorini, the best views are from hotels at the top of the caldera, near the village Imerovigli. It's got good bus service, and is the perfect place to walk to charming restaurants on the caldera. Not too busy there, in September.

lgk627

Thanks everyone!

Yes, I'd love to see Crete, but I wasn't sure if it would be feasible bc of our limited time there. I'll have to look into ferry times

travelerjan

Only ferry from Santorini to Crete is 5:30 (17:50) daily, arrives !9:50 (7:30pm). I tend to agree w. you about Crete -- it's 170 miles long ... actually a country. I've visited Crete at least 5 x, either 5-6 days per tme, and haven't even got round to the Eastern 3rd of it yet. Stick to Naxos, more do-able.

Heimdall

I'd consider Crete if I had at least a week available to see the island, and were willing to rent a car to get around. Naxos is much more manageable for a short visit, and completely different from Santorini.