limamyangel

How many days should I stay in these place to see historical places and have time to swim?

My current plan:

Thessaloniki - 3 days (including the trip to see Vergina and Palla)
Rhodes - 2 days
Crete - 3 days
Santorini - 2 dasy
Mykonos - 1 day

Is it too long times or too short? should I forego Mykonos and just stay in Santorni?

iris1745

If it were me, I would forget Ctete. The island is too large for just three days. I would add another day in Rhodes and another day in Mykonos.

Gina_07

From your list, I have been to Crete and Santorini only. 2 days is not too much for Santorini and 3 days is too short for Crete. I suggest that you leave Crete for another time. We were there for a week and wished we had more time.

clausar

Thessaloniki is an amazing city, 2 days there plus 1 day for Pella and Vergina are enough.
Northern Greece is a very beautiful part of Greece full of history and natural beauty...

Crete in 3 days is simply too short, this is the largest Greek island, distance from West to East is 350 km....
It would be wiser to either skip Crete entirely.

You have alloted 1 day to Mykonos and 2 to Santorini...
What about the traveling time? Checking out from your hotel, getting to the port/airport, getting to the new hotel, is very time consuming.... Have you taken this into consideration?

Every time you change location, you will lose at least half day... which would make 1 day on Mykonos pretty much not possible...

When will you be visiting Greece? Have you done a research on transportation between the places you want to visit?

limamyangel

I am visiting Greece in September. I am mainly going to fly between my destinations because it would take a long time otherwise. I am thinking of skipping Mykonos.

limamyangel

Do I need 2 days in Thessaloniki itself or one day is good enough to see the city itself?

Pepper_von_snoot

What hotel are you staying at in Thessaloniki?

We stayed at the Makadonia Palace and they have a very beautiful swimming pool overlooking the harbour.

There is a very nice Starbuck's in Thessaloniki. You will see all the young people hanging out here.

The Archaeological Museum is wonderful, chock full of gorgeous gold
jewellery.

In Rhodes Town, we stayed at the Rodos Park Hotel which is situated just outside the Amboise Gate to the walled city. The hotel also has a beautiful swimming pool.

For a really nice beach in Rhodes Town, head out towards the Aquarium.

Thin

KayF

We have been to all these places except Thessaloniki and think the time is too short everywhere. You won't see much, especially once you take off the time spent arriving at the island, getting transport to your hotel, checking in and getting your bearings. Then doing the reverse on departure.

It's your trip though so it's important to do what you want, not what we want. We had 6 days on Santorini on our last trip there (second time to that island) but that's too long for some people.

If you skip Crete and Mykonos, then how about 5 days on Rhodes and 3 on Santorini. We did a great day trip from Rhodes to Symi, it was reasonably priced and just included the boat transportation to and from Symi. There is a lot more of historical significance to see on Rhodes than on Santorini but Santorini does have sublime views.

Kay

Odin

<<There is a lot more of historical significance to see on Rhodes than on Santorini>> Guess that depends on your point of view. Akrotiri is supposed to a very important archaelogical sites of the Aegean and also being the site of the one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history would seem to indicate otherwise?

KayF

Odin - have you been to Akrotiri? We were there years ago and thought it was dreadful. I realised others may have loved it. We enjoyed the historical sites of Rhodes a million times more.

Kay

clausar

KayF
Akrotiri is one of the most important archaeological sites of Greece, and the fact that it is that well preserved makes it even more interesting.

When it comes to archaeological sites in Greece, IMO there is no competition of which one is the nicest, as they all have a great importance.

Akrotiri re opened after 7 years of total silence and they have changed a lot of things there, in order to make it more appealing to visitors.

Heimdall

Santorini also has Ancient Thera, which I was able to see while Akrotiri was closed. Some people aren't impressed with it, either, but the views from there are spectacular.

Limamyangel, even if you fly between some of the destinations, each transfer will take the better part of a day when you add up checking in and out of hotels, transfers to/from the airport, airline check-in, security, and waiting for bags. There are no flights between Crete, Santorini, and Mykonos, but the high speed ferries are reasonably quick, assuming you are travelling during the time of year they are operating.

If the number of days you have allocated for each island include those days of travel, you need to think again. For 11 days I would limit myself to 2 or 3 destinations.

limamyangel

Thank you very much, everybody. I am thinking of not going to Mykonos for 1 day only. I am thinking of flying to Rhodes from Thessaloniki, from Rhodes to Crete, and from Crete to Santorini. Then I am thinking of taking a tour around the island on one day on each island and relax and swim on the other day. Is this still too much?

How long should I stay in Thessaloniki? Is 2 days good enough to see the city or do I need 3 days?

Pepper_von_snoot

Two days in Thessaloniki should be enough.

Thin

HappyTrvlr

Skipping Delos? Easy trip from Mykonos.

Delaine

I think 2 days in Thessaloniki itself should be good.

I would recommend the Electra Palace on Plateía Aristotélous. The hotel is lovely, and the rooms have a beautiful view of the Thermaic Gulf.

Also, while you are there, make sure to go to the pastry shop Terklenis, http://www.terkenlis.gr/ENG/Stores.aspx. There is an easy one to get to on Aristotelous, but there are others around town. They have the most fabulous pastries, especially the trigonakia kremas (sweet, flaky triangular cones filled with cool and unbelievably tasty cream); they also have savory food for a quick lunch. I went every day.

clausar

Speaking of Hotels, i find the Electra Palace to have a great location, but i think it is a bit dated......

I would absolutely recommend one the newest hotels of Thessaloniki, The Met Hotel, which in my opinion is one the top 2 hotels of the city.
It is not in the city centre, but in walking distane.

I think 2 days in Thessaloniki are enough to see the Museums and the Byzantines churches....

One more thing : Thessaloniki is known in Greece for amazing food......

Giakomo

I would skip Crete at all and try to visit on a next trip dedicated to this island. (10 days in Crete would be nice)

I would add one more day to Mykonos (or skip to give more days to Rhodes)

Regarding Hotels, Santorini has a top hotel with super view which is called Astra Suites.

in Rhodes you will find good deals, like Ixian five star.

If you stay in Mykono and not skip, try to stay on a Platys Gialos beach. "Petinos Beach" is a good four star solution.

For Thessaloniki, Electra is a great hotel. Or for better prices have a look at Daios.

Have a nice Trip