DRoch

Looking for suggestions on a trip in November. I was able to get award flights over to Europe and wanted to see something new so I initially was just going to Istanbul but I wanted to see a little more. I can still change my Flights if a better suggestions comes up.

I am getting into Athens on the 14th of November and Fly out of Istanbul on the 24th.
Was thinking 2 days to see things in Athens then maybe one island then off to Turkey.

Im sure people will chime in with suggestions. My wife and I are not ones to spend hours in Museums, we like to see the sights and move on. We will take more time later in life to spend days exploring the places we liked the most.

Any help is appreciated

propertravel

Athens two days might be a bit much unless you go Sunion or near by other attractions. Or ofcourse enjoy the city without rushing the time.
If you want to go to one island Hydra closest to Athens a small and pretty one. From Pireus you can take ferry. Otherwise you may fly to Rhodos and cross Turkey from Rhodos.

But would be wise to check ferry connections for November.

Happy travelling,

Murat

clausar

Athens needs at least 3 full days, it has many things to see and do....
There are not only many nice places to go, but also the Acropolis and the New Acropolis Museum which is a must IMO.
( even though you say that you don't like Museums)
Now November can be really cold and rainy... it is not a good time to visit the islands, with the exception of soime nearby islands, such as Hydra, Poros or Spetses that are alive especially during the weekends.

You can forget all the cyclades such as Mykonos paros etc, with the exception of Syros that is the capital if the Cyclades and has a large permanent population.
Shops , restaurants and hotels will be closed on these islands, with very few exceptions, as November is off season.

It makes more sense to me to explore the Peloponnese, and visit some great villages and cities, such as Nafplio, Mycenae and Epidavros, and perhaps the nearby Vytina, a nice traditional mountain village in Arcadia.

A rental car would be the best way to explore the Peloponnese

Tommmo

This is our plan for Sept/Oct that may help?
Arrive Athens,ferry Sifnos,Paros and Santorini,fly back to Athens, fly to Rhodes,ferry to Fethiye (Turkey) travel to Samos ferry back to Kusadasi (Ephesus etc.) and finish at Istanbul.This is over 5 weeks. Can help with further info....

clausar

Tommmo

I wouldn't want to be on any of these islands in the middle of November.... with the exception of Rhodes.
Everything will be closed on Sifnos Paros and Santorini, there will be just a few restaurants and shops open , for the locals.

The Mainland would be a far better recommendation !!

Heimdall

I agree with clausar on both the number of days in Athens and for the islands in November. After the middle of September Sifnos and Paros get very quiet, and that is fine for some, but too slow for me, and I am in my 60s!

Last September, after Paros and Antiparos, I spent my last week in Athens and southern Peloponnese, finding it much better for late season, as everything was still open, temperatures warm, with little wind. I even found some beaches that were better than those on the islands. DRoch, for your trip the area around Nafplio that clausar described should be perfect. It's only about 2-3 hours by road from Athens, with no worries about getting back to the mainland before your flight to Istanbul.

Abbyo

We are going on a 7 day cruise; Istanbul to Athens. We will be in Myrina,Nisos Limnos on Nov4, Kos on Nov 7, Santorini Nov 8 and Crete Nov 9. What should we expect for weather and things like restaurants and sights being closed??

mariha2912

Myrina has 2 small pretty harbors, a ruined Byzantine castle at the top that hosts deer(!) and a small archeological museum. There are 2-3 very important archeological sites in the island, Ancient Poliochni is considered among scholars as the oldest settlement of Europe.Ifestia and Kavirio are interesting too. That said, those sites do not contain not very impressive buildings or finds for the eye of a random visitor and some feedback before hand is necessary to appreciate them. I am not absolutely sure that sites will be open, but they are not very safely fenced to be honest, so not hard to get in... Many people head for Lemnos, especially Moudros area for facts related to WWI and WWII , I may be wrong but I think there is a cemetery of interests to Australian navies etc. Moudros is a pleasant harbor town, the largest village after Myrina in size. Lemnos has some gorgeous beaches too, but November it gets quite cool, often rainy and windy. Public transport is nearly non-existent on the island, so if you want to go outside Myrina, taxi or private transport is a must. This is a not very touristy island, November is off season, and permanent population is not huge. There are many many army bases all over the isalnd due to its proximity to Turkey, so many people are still around, but mostly a quiet daily life feeling rather than tourist-friendly on November. People are very hospitable but there is not so much to do there in November. I haven't been in Lemnos for some years, so someone else might provide more accurate/up to date info. Note the Lemnos is a quite large islan and although road system is not particularly bad, it gets some time to go from A to B .
Kos is southern/eastern and along with Crete will hopefully be the warmer destinations of your trip. Many many charter flights from all over Europe last till middle to end October, maybe even start November, and it has a relatively large pernament population too. Many nice beaches on Kos, November of course is ot summer, but if you avoid rainy day, you may sunbath or something. There are remains of a Roman House in Kos Town, a tiny Odium and a few other unfenced ruins, plus a very interesting small Archeological museum by the main Square. A couple of Mosques and a pleasant harbor, and a very good public town bus system to connect at two beaches a few kms outside town, plus an attached beach to the harbor. About 3 kms(?) out of town there is the Asclipion, an ancient "medical" center, very interesting to visit (Kos is the island of Hippocrates anyway!), in season there is a tout-tout train connecting town to there, not sure about November. There are other places of interest on the island, such as Antimacheia Castle, Kefalos, Zia and the like, but depends how long you have available to explore. Kos is a very bicycle friendly island with a good bikes' lane network around town and even till Tigaki. Town will not be extremely vibrant but not quiet either. Most places will be still up and running.
Santorini is a very popular island, an cruises are up and running often till end of November, it is a tiny island without many permanent citizens though. Fira, its main town, and Oia, maybe the most picturesque and popular village of the island, will have plenty of shops and restaurants available to cater for cruise ship passengers and those end-of-the-season vacationers. But rest of the island will quite possible feel somehow isolated. Akrotiri site will be open, quite likely ancient Thira too. There are 2 or 3 small museums in Fira worth checking too. Santorini has a good bus system, obviously schedules will not be as frequent as in season, but they still might come handy. Island is small, so hiring a car and exploring around might be a good idea, always depending on how many hours you have available. Note that cruise ships use tender boats to transfer their passengers on shore, then there is quite a climb up to Fira town or an aerial cable car (Donkeys are an alternative and this has been discussed extensively on the forums and there are contradictory opinions, but people in the know agree that in general the majority of donkeys are mistreated by their owners so it might be wise NOT to use them!)Anyway, my point is that it might be time consuming to move from cruise ship to Santorini and v.v. and you need to time that in when planning.
Crete is a huuuuge island with large permanent population, but advice depends on specifics. A guess is that quite possibly you'll dock in Hiraklion(?) This is one of the largest cities in GREECE, so always "open" and very busy. Knossos archeological site outside town is a must . The Archeological museum in town was closed for maintenance work, and 2 rooms opened again a few weeks ago. So maybe there will be more to see on November, but we have to wait and see....