sydney_k

I am taking a group of girls on a HS graduation trip. The girls have selected Santorini , Mykonos, and Athens. We are flying in to Santorini from London . We will have 3 nights on each island and 2 nights in Athens.

We are looking for 4-5 star hotels in great locations/close to action ( easier to monitor) . Suggestions?

Should I plan with a travel agent in Greece or can I do the ferry , flight, and hotel reservations on my own.

How easy is it to get a Day tour in Athens arranged? or side trips to Delos /sunset tours?

Are Taxi's easy to get for a party of 5?

Thanks, Sydney

HappyTrvlr

We never use travel agents but found using one in Greece very helpful coorinating ferries, flights, hotels, guides.Fantasy Travel in Athens is well respected. Write Litsa@ fantasy.gr. Another agency is Dolphin-Hellas.gr

WWK

This is a simple itinerary to arrange, so I don't really think you need a travel agent. You'll get plenty of help from the excellent Greek experts on this forum!

I don't really have recommendations for Santorini or Mykonos, but for Athens, my favorite hotel is AVA HOTEL AND SUITES. It's a four-star boutique hotel located right in The Plaka, and only about a 10 minute walk from The Acropolis, if that.

If you are going this summer, you need to make reservations ASAP.

About tours: There are plenty of companies that run day tours to Delphi, Temple of Poseidon and other sites from Athens. If you want a private driver, I can highly recommend PK Travel, based in Athens. They will use a van to transport you and back and forth, but are drivers only, not licensed guides.

Lastly, regular taxis will NOT accommodate five people in addition to the driver. If you need this kind of transfer, you need to arrange ahead.

greg

You need pre-booked private or shared transfer instead of a "taxi." In fact, even if I asked for a taxi for less number of people, I often got shared transfer large vans on islands. For example, my hotel asked if I wanted a taxi arranged upon ferry arrival at Santorini. What was arranged was a shared large van carrying people going the same direction. These were priced by group as a unit at the similar price as the real taxis with taxi signs on their roofs. In Greece, even a real taxi you thought was all yours might still pick up passengers going the same direction charging each "group" as if they were the only passengers to benefit the driver. After a while, you get used to this kind of arrangement. It was actually quite interesting being squeezed into the back seat of a Mercedes Taxi with strangers. We would strike up conversations.

Mimar

In Athens there's a modern subway between the airport and city and between Piraeus, the port, and the city. Might be easier and certainly cheaper than a shuttle.

It's best to fly on to Santorini upon arrival at the Athens airport, then take a ferry between Santorini and Mykonos, and another ferry back to Piraeus. Leaving your time in Athens to the end allows for any in-trip delays. Santorini flights can fill up so book it early.

Regarding hotels, what kind of room configuration do you want? a double and a triple? 2 doubles and a single? A single large family room? (Don't know the availability of these last in Greece.)

Heimdall

For day tours in Athens I recommend http://www.athens-walks.com. The owner, Kostas, is a former Evzone (palace guard) and his tours get rave reviews. The bike tour and food tour are very popular, and he has private tours in taxis and minibuses, the latter holding up to 14 people.