nosaj

Hi.

We have about 10 days in Greece in early or mid July. I am looking for help making the most of the time.

rough current plan is to;

Fly into Athens and immediately make our way to Chania.

Stay in Chania a day or so (partly business and a must for the trip) then visit other parts of Crete, including hiking the canyon.

Then from there go to santorini and other areas if time allows.

Go back to Athens for 3 or so days, finishing out the trip.

Also, we haven't booked lodging.....is lodging an issue? Should we plan in advance or do it on the go?



Any advice on places or amount of time to spend in an area would be GREATLY appreciated!!!!

Not sure what the s the fastest way to get around to take advantage of the short time me period

THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!

***business part should only be an afternoon and it doesn't matter when in the 10 days that we go...so, we could easily re arrange the order of the visits.

HappyTrvlr

You can easily get to the Samaria Gorge for hiking from Chania. I would use Chania as your base, a beautiful and historic town.

travelerjan

In July which is High Season, you DEFINITELY need to book lodgings... you do not have room-renters meeting the planes waving signs... and besides, the last-minute walk-ups in high season only get the least-desirable if on a budget or the MOST expensive.


For CHANIA -- Go go booking.com and look for pllaces in "Chania Old Town" (be aware that "Chania" is also an area (county/township) so some things listed as Chania could be miles away. For SANTORINI - ditto, and look at Firostephani (you avoid FIra Town mob scene, but it's walkable for sights & nightlife, also you've a handy bus stop to take EARLY AM bus to Oia for sightseeeing before Cruise/Package Tour crowds cram the lanes).

In Chania itself, the most enjoyable area in Old Town to stay is near the west Wall (look on a map) ... on or just off the no-cars flagstoned lane called Theotokopoulu (that's the real Greek name of El Greco). You say you will GREATLY appreciate tips on places, but you don't give us a range per night (tsk tsk), so how can we judge? You may be a budgeteer or a Luxe Type, how can we know??? Some good moderate-level places in that area include (despite its name) Hotel Palazzo, Hotel Hera(or Hera Studios), Casa di Pietra, Pension Nora, Anemones Apts, Jason Studios.

As for your Itinerary, you are Wildly over-ambitious, and with your short visit, every HOUR matters. In that case you really shouldn't count day of arrival or Day of departure (unless you are arriving before 9 am, and/or leaving after 6 pm). It also matters if you're coming from Europe or N. America - Europeans arrive faster, less tired, US often arrive late in day, exhausted from a trip of as much as 17hrs flight + 10 hr clock-chang.

I don't think in 10 days you can do more than 4 days Crete, 2.5 days Santorini and 2.5 days Athens (leave it for last -more time-efficient). If you arrive by noonish; immediately take domestic flight to Chania Greece.
DAY 2 - Business, AND exploring Old Town Chania (gorgeous)
DAY 3 - rent car to explore rest of Crete ... I don't advise Samaria Gorge in HOT HOT HOT days of July + 1 day of sore-legs after)
DAY 6 - 9:45 am ferry to Santorini, arrive 12 noon
DAY 8 - early AM flight to Athens airport
DAY 10 - departure.

LODGING for ATHENS - w. SHORT time, Walkability is KEY. My Secret. Use booking.com and sort by "Landmark" and from that menu pick "Acropolis" -- then you'll see hotels listing their distance from Acropolis. Choos ONLYL hotels that are under 1 Km from Acropolis -- this also helps you avoid dicey neighborhoods like "Omonia" (Tip: if neighborhood is NOT listed, only "central athens" its usually Omonia).

PS: if you need to make most of your time, you can't learn all you need to know from Internat FOrums. Run over to the bookstore (or Library if u are FrugalMaster) and browse some guides ... too many websites only give you the "rosy picture" not the downside (cf Samaria, and Omonia).

nosaj

Thank you so much!

That is about what we were thinking but we haven't reached that level of detail yet.

Is Crete really worth the largest chunk of time?

I'm not sure what to expect as far as pricing. We aren't really on a budget but not looking for the best of everything. I'm guessing about 100$ US per night??? I'm not even sure if that's considered budget or not....what does that get me?

How flexible can our trip be? If we planned for 4 days in Crete but stayed 3 to "jump" on the ferry to santorini, is it that easy? -I suppose the lodgings would present a snag. I will be traveling with my wife and 4 year old daughter. Sleeping in the street isn't n option. LOL

i have a few books on my phone that I've been browsing over but it's always good to chat to someone in this forum.

My guess was to spend an additional day in Athens and less in Crete, but you think crete is the way to go?

nosaj

I guess a range might be 100-150 US per night. But again we really haven't set a buget. I suppose a few cheaper nights or a few more expensive wouldn't matter.

travelerjan

ALLOCATION of TIME - This is not the time for a back-and-forth of keyboarding about which is the best place to spend most of your days. That time was February. I just went with yr stated plan. As for allocation, if you can't do at least 4 days in crete, hard to get a sense of it. If you rush around, in Athens you can see a lot in 2 full days. BTW, you still have not said if the 10 days includes arrival-departure days in which case it is really 8 - 8.5 days. You really have to allot at least 1/2 day for each major change of venue.

PRICES -- If you then are looking for a "triple" in high season, it was available for 125 - 150E in a well-located budget hotel in athens, if booked earlier -- those good buys may be gone now. if you want 2 rooms, more. In Chania, some of those "studios" have a BR + main room w. 1-2 "daybeds" (as couches). And the prices are lower than Athens. BTW, if you want happy helpers on a forum, don't quote in $$, look up the exchange rate and quote your budget range in Euros so we do not have to do the conversion.

GUIDES - Books on the phone are not the same. Just like maps on the phone are not ... they are very narrow-focus "strip approach", you don't get the big picture. The maps show the road, but not the country. Same w. books.

GETTING HELP - It is rather late in the game to be just now moving toward "that level of detail," especially since you're not going with the plain-vanilla booking of 1 double room, but have a young child to boot. By now, Many thousands have planned for your exact lodging needs at your time... you may be frustrated when you get around to looking, and find few options.

Because I don't sense from your writing the sense of urgency and focus that is needed a successful D-I-Y planning At this stage... I really think you might do better by getting help through an online travel agency based in Greece. A really good one, Dolphin-Hellas, is used to dealing w. people via e-mail. It has very good reviews on Trip-Advisor. I do suggest you email them TODAY and give EXACT dates, and wishes and budget range and they will spring into action. And they won't push you into unaffordable hotels just to get a bigger commission; they'll try to stick to the budget range you specify. (and to keep costs down, tell them you don't need them to supply "transfer" arrangements ... you'll do better by waving your own hand for a taxi).

nosaj

Yes we will be there at least 10 full days. That does not include our travel time.

I apologize, I was quoting dollars Because you're from the US. I thought I'd keep it simple and worry about Euros when I converse with the Greeks.

Thanks again! You've been a tremendous help!

KayF

Another option you could look at is the overnight ferry from Chania to Piraeus (Athens). You'd need to see if this would work for you, just an idea - fly into Athens, fly straight out to Santorini, catamaran/ferry to Chania, then overnight ferry to Piraeus, time in Athens before flying home.

As travelerjan emphasises, you don't have a lot of time to visit 3 places and time spent travelling between places counts for a lot. Write down on paper how long each sector takes and how much time you will actually have in each place, once the plane/ferry arrives, you get your bags, transfer to accommodation etc. It all takes longer than you expect.

We loved this place in Chania where we stayed, two mins walk to the cafes, shops etc. A lot of places will be already booked, try to do your accommodation as quickly as possible.

http://chania-pandorasuites.clickhere.gr/

I also don't think hiking the canyon with a 4 year old sounds like a good idea. From what I've read it's a pretty tough walk.

Kay

nosaj

Thanks Kay!

Is there a benefit in reversing the order of destinations?

I have been considering taking nightime Ferries between destination. It only seems logical to use that time wisely that would otherwise be wasted. The ferries I looked at were only 150$ or so for a private cabin. Another reason for considering a night ferry, Having never been there, i am concerned that transition on and off of the plane would be very time consuming...check in, security, wait, boarding, and more on the arrival side.

I will look into the link that you sent!

I emailed dolphin-Hellas last night so hopefully I will hear something from them soon. They will be very helpful in locating and reserving rooms.


Thanks again!!!!

nosaj

In regards to the hike. I was going to play it by ear. Jan was worried about the heat so I checked the temperatures for June/July. Averages are 84f for highs. Compared to Texas that will feel like a nice spring day.....it's HOT in Texas. We've already had a few near 100 days this year with nearly 100% humidity...

Hiking with my daughter is a concern though. She would most likely do most of it on my back. Easy enough for me, maybe not so much for her.

I really want to dig up a bit more info in the trial conditions. If it's like the Grand Canyon (I've done twice) then the roughness of the trail might not make it a reasonable excursion.

Over all I think he hike is losing probity as a plan forms. It sounds like our time could be better spent elsewhere.

Thanks again.

travelerjan

When I left Greece last year on June 15, the midday temp was 94°F and I was wiped out ... and July is the hottest month of the year, not August.

I had advised against Samaria Gorge even before I knew about the daughter. NO. If you do insist upon a gorge there is a "green" and lush gorge on the NORTH short of the island, just east of Rethymnon, has waterfalls thru out ... not wellknown. you walk thru tothe coast, there's a taverna, you get a taxi there. Of course it's not as spectacular as Samaria. On south coast thre is the Imbros Gorge which I loved, only 3-4 hrs vist 7 or 8 for slow-goers. However, the big obstacle in these Gorges as you say is the trail -- ALL boulders & rocks, from softball size to Volleyball... constant balancing is what wrecks the knees... your 4 year old just plain couldn't do it. Grand Canyon nothing like. When there's no time to do research on something like this, don't jump into it.. you'll be sorry.

Heimdall

The overnight ferry to Chania may be a timesaver (travel while you are sleeping), but not if you arrive at Athens in the morning and have to wait until late afternoon to board. My inclination is to head for the islands as soon as possible after arriving in Greece, and that often means a flight.

isabel

We will be in Crete this July as well. We are staying at Hanim Studios in Chania, which was recommended by at least a couple people on this forum. http://www.chaniastudios.com/ They are also on booking.com. Looks like they are full some dates in July but has some availability. We booked back in February. 77€ for a double but most of the rooms looked like they had a sofa or someplace that a four year old could sleep. There are a lot of places on booking.com in your price range but it is getting late, I'd get right on it or they will all be sold out.

We decided against hiking the gorge not so much because of heat but crowds. I'd read that in July you pretty much don't see anything but the back of the person in front of you. Not sure if that's ture, but..... Anyway, we are planning on taking a bus down to the south coast (Sfakion) and taking a boat to Agia Roumeli which is the bottom of the gorge. Apparently you can hike up a bit of it from there if you want but you spend most of the day on a pleasant boat ride and coastal areas and not in a crowded gorge. Then boat and bus back to Chania. Rethymnon also looks wonderful. We are spending three nights there (and five in Chania town) but if we had limited time I would certainly do a day trip there.

I've been to Santorini and Athens on previous trips and agree you can hit the highlights of them in a couple of days (each).