jetsetmom

Hello All,

I am traveling to Greece for the first time in June with my husband, two teen-aged sons, and mother-in-law. We have considered visiting Athens, Santorini and Mykonos, but would love other suggestions and thoughts for the nine days. We have considered The Athens Gate Hotel in Athens, The Hilton Athens and the Canaves in Santorini.

Any pointers, suggestions for accommodations, etc. would be wonderful!

Thank you!

travelerjan

In Trip Advisor recent announcement of the Best 10 Islands in the World, Naxos is the only Greek Island listed ... You might consider it instead of Mykonos, which is famous with Americans, in my belief, mainly because it is a cruise ship stop, and is heavily promoted by US travel agents. Both the isles you name are the most heavily touristed and most expensive (and crowded) of the islands ... but you may have special reasons for wanting to do both.... the nightclubbing certainly is more intense in both.

mariha2912

Random Thoughts:

Links among said places on June are quite straightforward. Flights from/to either island on Aegean Air or ferries from Rafina or Piraeus ports, ferries among the islands.
Many people rush from one island to the other and allow limited time on islands their selves and Athens, nothing new here, but please do note that even if those 9 days are on the ground, every day you move from A to B is more or less lost in transit and practicalities. So at least 3 days or 1/3 of your trip lost. On my cards this is far too mach waste of time on a limited trip and far too tiring, packing/unpacking all the time. Given your demographics, do consider how your mother in law and teens will respond to such moving around and if you will go ahead with your original plan or take it more slowly.

you do not mention what your interests are and what you want to see/do on each destination... But do note that contrary to what travel brochures advertise, 3 nights in a destination is not 4 days, it is actually 2 days -plus if you are lucky 2 parts of days-. On my opinion even tiny Santorini deserves at very least least 4 nights/3 FULL days but how long to spend where is up top you.

You do not provide much to work with in reality, budget, interests, traveling style and so on... The hotels you mention get all good feedback. On my opinion on such a quick trip location is more important than facilities.
Do note that Hilton in Athens is located on a busy island of traffic in an interesting district if you are a resident or repeat visitor in Athens, but rather dull and not interesting if you are a first time visitor. It is only 5-10 minutes walk from Hilton to Evagelismos metro stop, 2 metro stops away from the very historical center though or a 30-40 minutes walk to the very center through not so nice route...
Athens Gate is located opposite Temple of Olympian Zeus across a very busy avenue, Acropolis and Acropolis metro stop is only 5-10 minutes walk away and most sightseen places are in an easy and more pleasant walking distance.
Canaves is located on Oia and it is a popular hotel for honeymooners and couples.I am not sure if it is suitable for your demographic or if this specific hotel accepts kids (some hotels don't). There is a brotherlee, a Fodors member who is very familiar with Santorini hotels and might advice further on that one. Oia is in general popular place to stay to all kind of visitors but mostly to honeymooners, it offers those post-card like views and architecture and huge crowds go there to take photos and enjoy the sunset but it is a quiet-ish place at night.

sdtravels

We were in Greece this year. We absolutely loved Santorini. We were there for 4 nights and did just about everything we wanted to do. I've never been to Naxos, but agree Mykonos was over rated compared to Santorini. We'd return to Santorini but probably not Mykonos. With 9 days you might want to stick to only one island and spend the rest of the time in Athens maybe even taking a day trip to Delphi to see more ruins.

Heimdall

Good points from sdtravels! IMO Santorini is a must, as is Athens.

Naxos is a wonderful family island where you can turn your teens loose on their own with absolutely no worries. If you don't have the time or inclination for a trip on the mainland to see Delphi, highly recommend a day trip to Delos, near Mykonos. It's easiest to reach Delos from Mykonos itself, while there are day trips three times per week from Naxos. The trips from Naxos also include a few hours on Mykonos, so you can get a taste of that island too.

jetsetmom

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts. Based on the feedback shared, I will divide our trip between Athens and one island. A day trip to Delos is a great idea as well. mariha2912 thank you for the detailed response. I appreciate you sharing the location of the hotels, etc. I plan to take some time to do a bit more planning.

Again, thanks all!

WWK

Great advice above. I'm not a fan of The Hilton Athens. We stayed there once and weren't thrilled with the neighborhood. I would choose Athen's Gate, or our favorite, Ava Hotel and Suites over the Hilton any day. Either of these two hotels is very well-located for exploring Athens.

Now about the islands... I think Santorini is a must for a first-time visitor, but Mykonos does nothing for me especially in the busy summer months when it's overrun with mostly young, partying tourists.

I loved Naxos and am returning to Paros for the third time this summer. In Naxos, we stayed at The Nissaki Beach Hotel in St George, which is right on the edge of the town beach, and only about a 10-15 minute walk from the center of town.

jetsetmom

Thank you WWK for sharing! I have canceled our reservation at the Hilton and booked at the Athens Gate. I took at look at the Ava Hotel online. It is beautiful and received great reviews. It was however, completely sold out for the dates that I need. Based on the feedback I have received, we will visit to Athens and Santorini. I hope to visit Naxos on another visit.

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and pointers!

Heimdall

Jetsetmom, you can do a day trip to Delos/Mykonos from Naxos but not from Santorini. So if you want to see Delos (and I highly recommend it) you must take it from Naxos. My photos of Delos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/heimda...7627791957268/

WWK

Jetsetmom, Great choice for the hotel. It's a very short walk to both The Acropolis Museum and The Acropolis.

I just wanted to mention that last spring we had a really fantastic and reasonable dinner at ATTIKOS GREEK HOUSE, which is on a street just behind The Acropolis Museum.

The restaurant has excellent food, and a great view of The Acropolis lit up at night.

Also... see if you can buy ATHENS EXPERIENCE tickets through your hotel before your visit. It will save you some time on the sometimes very long lines to get into the museum and Acropolis etc. Also it comes with a "traditional Greek food tasting". We enjoyed it all last year!

PetrosB3

As a Greek my advise is, not to underestimate Athens. Spend 3 days in the capital, there are loads of things to do and see, from the world-famous museums and monuments, to chic neighborhoods and top notch gastronomic scene . Another advise is to skip Mykonos and visit an off the beaten track island. Yes Mykonos is one of the most famous destinations in the world yet it has lost its charm and it's not what it used to be 50 years ago, a calm Cycladic island. I would choose Sifnos instead, one of the most charming and picturesque islands of the Cyclades. Medieval towns, sandy beaches, excellent cuisine, elegant shops and bars, and most importantly a much better type of tourism than the Mykonian. A gorgeous place, I personally visit it every summer and as an Athenian it's convenient, not far from the capital.

sdtravels

jetsetmom, I forgot to mention that you can see my photos Greece from June of this this year at www.garyandsusan.shutterfly.com. There is a tab for Greece. There are about 50 albums on the page. The top one is our favorite photos, scroll down to view other albums of places in more detail. I got lazy editing this time, there are a lot of photos. I don't expect anyone will get through them all

WWK

I agree with PetrosB3. I do love some of the islands we've visited, but Athens has grown on me over the years, and now I really enjoy spending at least a few days there when possible. The museums and restaurants are fantastic, but so is simply wandering through the neighborhoods- The Plaka, The Antique Market, Chinatown, Kolonaki.

jetsetmom

Thank you all for the great information! I am very excited about my upcoming trip! Sdtravels and Heimdall, thank you for sharing your photographs. It looks like you all had a great trip...awesome pics! PetrosB3, I was glad to see that Athens should not be overlooked. We are going to spend three days in Athens, take a flight to Santorini spend two days and return to Athens on the ferry for our flight out the next day. We plan to make another trip to Greece one day and will have to keep the other islands mentioned at the top of the list.

Have a great day!