MYOBlady

This trip, we are going to Greece with my daughter, son-in-law and one year old granddaughter. We are Australians, in our 60s, and will have a 24 hour flight to Athens. We are planning to spend October there.

Our interests are a mixture of sight-seeing historical sites, relaxing, natural beauty and good eating. With a one year old, some of this might not be as achievable in the past – we certainly won’t be doing any long hikes, for example as she will need to either be carried or in a stroller. She will also need day time sleeps.

We are willing to forego some important sights/sites in order to spend more time in some locations, especially as we have the baby with us. For example we would love to Meteora and Delphi, but it adds a huge amount of driving to the trip, so we are thinking of leaving that to a future trip (or maybe going to Delphi for a day trip from Athens)

At present, this is our itinerary. I would love some feedback on what you think of it.
Thursday 1st Athens Airport – arrive at night, sleep over and recover. Maybe buy a baby stroller
Friday 2nd Naxos
Saturday3rd Naxos
Sunday 4th Naxos
Monday 5th Naxos
Tuesday 6th Naxos
Wednesday 7th Santorini
Thursday 8th Santorini
Friday 9th Crete
Saturday10th Crete
Sunday 11th Crete
Monday 12th Crete
Tuesday 13th Crete
Wednesday 14th Crete
Thursday 15th Crete
Friday 16th Napflion
Saturday 17th Napflion
Sunday 18th Napflion
Monday 19th Napflion
Tuesday 20th Kardamyli
Wednesday 21st Kardamyli
Thursday 22nd Kardamyli
Friday 23rd Monemvasia
Saturday 24th Monemvasia
Sunday 25th Monemvasia
Monday 26th Athens
Tuesday 27th Athens – possible day trip to Delphi
Wednesday 28th Athens
Thursday 29th Athens

Many thanks!
Pam

mariha2912

I am not very fond of Santorini but I feel that it still deserves more than the one full day.
Crete needs some clarification. I am not expert on this island but you mention you do not want to drive a lot and so Crete might be a good idea or a bad idea depending on what you plan to do and see while on the island. Ferries from Santorini arrive on Heraklion. Do you plan to stick with this area or head further away? Changing bases or pick on spot and make side trips? How long those side trips might be?
Crete to Nafplion means a looong ferry ride or a flight back to Attica area, then a 2 hours drive I guess. I am not extremely familiar with Peloponnesse but I believe Nafpoion to Kardamyli is 3 and a half hours driving, Kardamyli to Monemvasia ditto, then Monemvasia to Athens a good 5 hours drive, Thus, I do not see how Delphi or Meteora is more driving than the places you have planed for. If it is a question of one area or another, I agree it is wise to chose one and not add both.

MYOBlady

Thanks for your reply Mariha.

We intend hiring a car in Crete and will probably stay in Heralkion for 3 nights and Chania for 3 nights.

On the mainland, we thought we either go to the peninsula or go north. Perhaps we should only stay in one spot on the Peloponnesus and just do tours around?

We are now thinking that when we fly back from Crete that we might spend 2 or 3 nights in Athens before heading south, rather than spending time in Athens at the end of the trip.

What do you think of these changes?

Sassafrass

Of course people live there and have babies, but I would not enjoy a trip to Santorini with a one year old. A stroller will be difficult. You will have to carry the baby most of the time in areas where walking is a bit rough. If you are used to that kind of walking, great. Otherwise, it might be uncomfortable. Just IMHO. Others may think differently.

mariha2912

Personaly I think what makes the trick when traveling with babies and toddlers is that family should be ready to adjust on baby's needs and decide that sometimes it might be necessary for some members of the family to follow sheparate program than the rest of the family. For example I can not see the point to drag the baby with you while taking a long boat trip or go hiking under the scorching sun, maybe one or two people should stay back and babysit in the room or put baby in the stroller and head to the nearest park rather than trek the sites. Some adjusting around feeding and napping times will be necessary too..

I think traveling with as a group of 5 and with all baby parafernalia, packing and getting organised and checking out of hotels, moving to a different location and repeat procedure in reverse might be longer and more tiring that you think, so I would try to avoid moving around too often. Some areas might merit a longer stay anyway, 3 nights=only 2 full days. Heraklion is a very busy port and the 4rth larger city in Greece, so be aware if you have on mind a rural setting, on the other hand it features some nice corners and there is a very good archeological museum and of course Knossos on close distance.
Chania is again a large place but features a more scenic harbour and architecture. My understanding is that driving between the two is about 3 hours? There are flights from Chania to Athens and I would decide on the itinerary and book those as soon as possible.

Someone more familiar on Peloponnese could advice better but I would pick one or two spots rather than three. For example on Argolis, Nafplion town is a very scenic town that usually serves as a base to explore mostly Mykines and Epidaurus, but the area offers lots to see and do, including many less known archeological sites, nice beaches and tiny villages than the longer you stay the more you could explore and having a car is a great opportunity to go on places visitors don't often get to know. Driving on one of the ports such as Hermioni or Porto Heli, it will be possible to take a side trip to Spetses or Hydra or Poros islands too!

Putting Athens in the middle of the trip might make sense as a break from driving around but does not make much sense on a logistics point of view. It means heading down town from the aiport and possiby backtracking in Athens twice, adding one more packing/unpacking, checking in/out of hotels session, as you wouldn't want to drive a very long distance from Peloponnese directly to the aiport for your flight home.

MYOBlady

Thank you Mariaha and Sassafrass...we are rethinking our trip altogether in light of your comments and our concerns. We think going anywhere where we have to fit in with ferry timetables, plane schedules etc is going to be difficult with an unpredictable toddler. We are going to discuss whether we should just pick 3 spots on the mainland and stay for a week or so in each area and rely on the car for getting around. We will leave the islands for another visit.
Many thanks for your input.
Pam

WWK

You could think about renting a house for a week long stay on one of the islands. We did this in Paros three years ago ( in Ambelis) and really enjoyed it. Of course you would need a car, but it's only a few minutes away from Naoussa, which is very beautiful and child-friendly.

Sassafrass

There are lots of pretty islands and places you could enjoy that might be easier. I am not familiar with most, and don't know offhand the logistics of getting to them, but I am sure others can make recs.

Two I thought were nice are Corfu and Rhodes.

mariha2912

There are thousands of itineraries and variations on a month's time frame but I think the original plan should work with some trimming around. For example, although I am not an expert on Crete, I think been there, most people would be tempted to try and explore all around, something not easy with the baby and not doable anyway. If one could stick only with the one location for a week to 10 days and decide to explore only the surrounding area, I think this is a nice option, especially on October when summer season would have end on many other islands. Crete is huge and sustains around 700 000 pernament population and remians warmer longer, thus having a longer tourist season too. Flights (~50 minutes) rather than a looooong ferry ride from Athens is recommended.

Paros and/or Naxos are nice options too but I would try to fit them at the very start of the trip as weather may get iffy the latter on the month you visit and some tourism infrustructure will close down. They are the larger islands of Cyclades along with Andros and they sustain a decent pernament population, makinga weeks stay absolutely feasible. Plenty to see and do. Paros comes with the added bonus of Antiparos which is only 7 minutes ferry ride from Pounta port or 30 minutes from Parikia. Moving this trip15-20 days earlier, Paros and Naxos offer a rare advantage for Greek islands, many options for side trips, as there are day trips to Mykonos/Delos, Santorini, Small Cyclades and so on. I doupt those will still run on October though.

Adding Santorini as a second island to the above could work if you really want to check this island. I would plan for at least 4-5 nights and fly back to Athens.
The slower but very stable and comfortable Blue Star ferry runs daily all year around the route Piraeus-Paros-Naxos-(Ios)-Santorini and v.v. , Paros is about 5 hours ferry ride from Piraeus, Naxos 45 minutes more and Santorini 2 hours further than Naxos.
Fast ferries between Heraklion (Crete) and Santorini last I think about 3 hours and they are a seasonal thing, usually running till middle October or so, so this needs some careful planning.

If you have to pick only one island, any of the above would do but I think Rhodes might be a good alternative. Not as overwhelming as Crete, but quite large to sustain about 120 000 population, again features a warmer climate, warmer season and plenty to see and do. On early October boat trips will possible still be on, so one could explore surrounding islands and Marmaris and possible Bordrun in Tutkey.

I like Corfu very much and again it is a larg-ish island with large permanent population and tons of things to see and do but October is often a rainy month on this side of Greece so I have a small hesitation to recommend it.

In any case, you could fly from the islands back to mainland and go on with your original plan, maybe allowing longer stays on two Peloponnese spots rather than three. I would try to spend a bit more on Athens on the tail end of the trip, I feel it is a great city under-rated by many and there are options for day trips anyway if you feel like it.

MYOBlady

Thank you again for your valuable suggestions. I will have a look into Rhodes and Corfu. They sound wonderful. I think we just need to focus on staying a week at a time at each location, and not necessarily explore everything, but just enjoy the ambience, the weather, the food and the culture. Anywhere that we can use a car or get around by foot and stroller will be a good location for us!!!

travelerjan

You should not choose Rhodes AND Corfu ... Rhodes OR Corfu ... have you looked at a map??? they are the farthest apart it is possible to be, and still be in Greece!! Far NW and Far SE -- 2 days and 3 modes of travel just to get from one to the other. MYO, you need to have a map in front of you as you plan.

And Listen to Mariha (a Greek travel professional) when she says Corfu can be rainy in October, she is not kidding. Rainy days with a baby??? Not fun!

Rhodes -- Fly to Mainland -- rental car for Peloponnese ...Athens at the end
OR
Driving in Pelopponese - car back to airport -- Fly to Rhodes -- Return to mainland either via overnight ferry or flight -- Athens at the end.