My wife and I are going to Greece this July. The first three days that we are there are for business, so we will be starting off in Athens. We have been given the opportunity to extend on our own dime. Should we stay in Athens or go elsewhere? I have been looking at maybe going to Crete, Mykonos, Rhodes, or Santorini. Would love to go everywhere! But I'm only going to extend our trip for 6 additional nights, so it may make more sense to stay in one other and then go home, but I'm open to suggestions. My wife and I are in our mid 30's, we love exploring new places, we would prefer to stay away from heavy crowds. What island should we head over to and what cities should we hit?
Greece in July for business and pleasure
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If you want to avoid heavy crowds you'll have to avoid Crete, Mykonos, Rhodes and Santorini. In fact, all the islands will be super-busy then relative to what they have to offer, so either accept the situation for what it is or limit yourself to an island that is very basic with almost no tourist infrastructure. Sikinos comes to mind.
Or maybe a road trip on the mainland.
Why just islands? In July the islands will be overrun with vacationers there for beach holidays, hence the crowds. Greece has a huge mainland where most of the important historical sights are located. Travelling around by road is easy, either by KTEL bus or car. From Athens you could rent a car and drive around the Peloponnese or northern Greece, leaving the crowds behind (for the most part). Some of the coastal beach resorts will be crowded, but these are easily avoided.
Another suggestion would be to drive to Western Greece, and to Epirus and also the island of Lefkas, which is connected to Mainland Greece via a bridge.
Some of the most beautiful beaches of the Mediterranean are on Lefkas, and the coastline on the Mainland from Preveza to Igoumenitsa is full of nices villages and great beaches
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What may be true for some of the outer regions of Crete certainly does NOT hold true for Santorini in July. Every nook and cranny of the island will be crowded. All the main attractions will be overrun with your fellow visitors.
Jess_Er's posting reads suspiciously like spam/self-promotion/advertising.