chitowntraveler

My fiancé and I are going to Greece. We are definitely going to santoriri but are debating between Crete and Mykonos based upon Recos. Thoughts?

iris1745

Hi much time do you have for C or M??

brotherleelove2004

Crete is huge. It takes a minimum of a week with a rental car just to barely scratch the surface. Aside from a daytrip excursion to the island of Delos there's not too much else to see and do on Mykonos besides shop, swim and party at night in expensive bars. There are several islands close to Santorini that are worth your consideration, 2 of which offer daytrip excursions to Delos (Naxos and Paros).

traveller1959

No comparison between both.

Crete is in fact a huge islands with a lot of archeological sites.

Mykonos is a party island with beaches and clubs, a very strong gay scene and some nudist beaches.

I do not know what your interests are but if you want to combine fantastic beaches with scenery, history and archeology, you may consider Peloponnes.

PetrosB3

Mykonos is the most cosmopolitan place in the Aegean. It retains its Cycladic aroma, but is very luxurious with great shops, top notch restaurants, amazing hotels and a very glitzy atmosphere in general. It has the luxury of a Metropolis, but it's an island. It is the greatest rival of Ibiza, that means huge party scenes, famous beaches etc. And it does has cultural attractions. Delos, an uninhabited island just across the Mykonian shores is a UNESCO site, once a great ancient metropolis and the birthplace of Apollo.

Crete is a whole different world. First of all it's not a random island, it's the Megalonesos, the Great Island. It has the size of the Peloponnese and has amazing cities and towns, amazing cuisine, amazing beaches, amazing museums and archaeological sites. Oh, and don't forget the nature.

iris1745

We spent 4 days on Crete and mostly was a waste, as we needed a week or more as suggested.

We loved Mykonos and 3 days was OK.

We stayed at the www.mykonosgrand.gr

Of course we loved the atmosphere, as I was a very young 75 and wife a younger 72 at the time we visited.

If you ever considered the Mykonos Grand, make sure you have a sea view and not a garden view.

HappyTrvlr

How much time do you have? We enjoyed our three days on Mykonos but loved our two weeks on Crete.I preferred both of them to Santorini.

chitowntraveler

We are thinking 3 nights in Santorini and then 3-4 nights on the other location such as Crete or Mykonos as I stated below. I am so confused now from all these comments.

Is Crete silly if under a week and we are not huge into archaeological sites? A day yes, a week no. I have heard M is more than just a party.

And Santorini is happening and so please do not try to change my mind

traveller1959

We can give you proper advice only if you specify your interests. Okay, you said you are not huge into archaeological sites. So what elso does you attract?

- Beaches?
- Scenery?
- Traditional villages?
- Sitting in cafés and eating olives?

These activities can be done on many islands. And of course it is not mandatory to spend at least a week on Crete - especially if you are not programmed to see everything. You can easily spend three or four days in a seaside resort and explore a fraction of the island if you like doing it.

The only point is that Mykonos has a special atmosphere. It is the partying capital of Greece if not of the whole Mediterranean. Either you like it or not.

Again, do not rule out Peloponnes. It has more to offer than a small island.

travelerjan

Chitown you are confused because you are tryin to learn all you need to know from forum comments, rather than doing some research of your own. If you use some excellent well-regarded guide books, they "tell it like it is," and you can tell which destinations are best for you, at your budgetary level, and level of interest (i.e. mainly beaches vs. history/culture etc). I would recommend the ROUGH GUIDE to GREECE plus FODORs and FROMMERS -- and also, CADOGAN GUIDE to Greek islands (somewhat outdated, but insightful). All of these are readily available at your excellent Chicago library; if not at your local branch they can be obtained quickly on Interlibarary loan. You can also go to a large bookstore, browse the guides (over a cup of coffee in some branches) and see which appeals to you. THese are also available USED for low prices at Amazon, at your door in days.

Don't rely only on the comments of Forum contributors who may try to be helpful but who may be coming from a very different place from you, as regards budget, age, education, level of interests, and standards of luxury (i.e. Gus' suggestion). Only you & partner can know what will suit you best

docdan

travelerjan is corect. Your original question is akin to "I'm doing DisneyWorld, and one other US destination. help me decide: Washington DC or Grand Canyon?" How do you answer that? Both, or neither, are great depending on what you're looking for.
Research an on-line guide (or the old way, at a library) to Greece and get the overviews to both places. Then this forum can help answer more specific qustisons.

and I concur with traveler1959. People who travel to Greece often overlook how cool some of the options on the Mainland can be - Athens - the Peloponnese - Delphi - Thessaly.
Suggest you re-phrase your question: "We are going to Santorini and then we'd like to experience ____." Describe the experience you are looking for, and we'll suggest the geography.

docdan

Oh, and it may also inform your decision to actually plan out the flights/ferry rides US-Sant-Crete-US, and then
US-Sant-MYK-US. You may find that the actual logistics of one of those combos is less doable in a week than you would prefer - AND - from the US, it is possible your connections may go through Athens - Oh, by the way - you may find just doing Athens and Santorini allows you more time actually enjoying Greece. Athens is a very cool city. We can also share cool day trip ideas, which basically can give you a "Crete" like experience.