I'm pretty sure that we flew Aegean from Naxos to Athens two summers ago, and there are only a few flights a day, so I'd look into that soon.

As far as day trips from Naxos, yes, they're doable, but it's a lot of traveling IMHO. Two hours each way to Santorini, depending on the boat. But only about an hour between Naxos and Paros. Check out the whygogreece website. I believe it has the ferry/boat times posted at the bottom of the page.

Good luck!

Some of the ferry and flight schedules for 2012 are out, but not many, so you may have to wait a little longer (say January) before they show online. The other annoyance is that some routes (flights and ferries) don't run until 1st June 2010, but this is only minimal so hopefully clausar or brotherleelove will have some answers when they see your post.

1. Airline schedules for next May will appear sometime after the first of the year. Sign up for the Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines email newsletters and you'll be notified when they release their discount fares for that time period.

2. The schedule for the Hellenic Seaways highspeed catamaran will be posted sometime in February or March. http://www.ferries.gr/hfd/ You can either get off at Santorini and wait for the next ferry to Naxos or get off at Paros to do the same.

3. Daytrips to other islands from Naxos is difficult at best because of the ferry schedules. You won't have much time ashore before you have to return to the port for the ferry back to Naxos, _IF_ there's one available at all. It's best not to plan that now, just wait until you're on Naxos to check what's scheduled.

Once the ferry schedules are fixed for the season you'll be able to see all of them here: http://www.gtp.gr Expect the schedules for next May to appear sometim in March or April.

Weadles, you did NOT fly from Naxos to Athens on Aegean Airlines. Only Olympic serves Naxos.

As BLL wrote, Olympic Air is the sole carrier for flights between Naxos and Athens. A reliable source tells me that summer timetables will be out in January.

Recommend you fly directly to Crete upon arrival in Greece, then spend the last 2/3 days in Athens. That avoids the uncertainties of weather and industrial action which occasionally crop up and cause people to miss their flights home.

Likewise, recommend you stop off at Santorini for a couple of days between Crete and Naxos rather than trying to backtrack. You will lose a whole day travelling from Herakliion to Naxos, and another day getting back to Santorini on a day trip, so that makes no sense to me. The day trip from Naxos to Santorini takes 12 hours, 6 of them at sea.

The excursion boats Alexander and Naxos Star do day trips to Mykonos/Delos, Santorini, and Iraklia/Koufonissi. Mykonos/Delos would be my choice of the three. You can do a day trip by regular ferry to Paros, or ask to be dropped off and picked up on Paros by Alexander or Naxos Star when they stop there en route to their excursion destinations.

greecetravel.com

greekislands.com

ferries.gr

Info shows up a couple of months B4 usually

ikies.com oia my fav fly to Crete wiser usually

euroheapo.com/athens great tips intercontinental.com my fav

bidding priceline.com from $55 or so

Greece fianacially collapsing right now so insuremytrip.com

many complex issues there right now so stay flexible.

qwovadis,

apart from your usual copy/paste advice.... where does your info come from about << Greece fianacially collapsing right now>> ??

I see you telling this to everyone the whole summer long, and yet nothing happened, what is the meaning of posting it over and over again? Is it an advice or rather a wish?

Given the fact of the current crisis in the eurozone, shouldn't you give the same advice for every eurozone country?

Thanks everyone for your advise. We have a late flight into Athens. Do not arrive until 11 pm. Thus unable to make any connections. So Athens is at the beginning of the trip. But we did allow a day to arrive back in Athens at the end of the trip. So I guess it would be recommended to book an early flight out of Naxos and in case of problems we could take the ferry?

It is sounding like it may be a good idea to stop in Santorini overnight. Then take the ferry the rest of the way to Naxos the next day. Mainly we just want to take some pictures. ANy suggestions for a hotel close to the ferry. We do have alot of luggage as my husband has camera equipment. We need an easy on easy off.. Also may point of Naxos is windsurfing for my husband.

If you can tough it out at the airport terminal, you could catch a flight to Crete early the next morning and save yourself a night's hotel bill. First flights to Crete depart around 5:30 am, and these are usually cheaper than flights later in the day, so you will save there as well. I realise this idea may not appeal to you, but I have done that myself, albeit arriving a little later than 11 pm.

Hotels closest to the ferry are located in the Megalochori area, but your choices will be very limited. Fira is just 15 minutes away by port bus and you'll have a lot more to photograph as well as a huge selection of shops, galleries, hotels and restaurants within easy walking distance. The HS catamaran from Crete will arrive at Santorini around Noon so you'll have plenty of time to check it all out. When it's time to go to Naxos the next day you can catch the port bus in Fira about an hour before departure.

FYI-Paros is very popular amongst windsurfers in the Cyclades island group. Golden Beach is a well-known windsurfer's destination.