Bluelark

My adult daughter and I have decided to spend a week in Greece and a couple of days in Istanbul in May. We'll be coming from New York City. I know it's a short time frame to see a lot, but it's what we have available. We are traveling from New York City.
We are trying to figure out how to make the most of our admittedly limited time.
1. Would it be better to start in Istanbul and end in Athens or the other way around?
2. What to see in Greece. Athens of course, but how much time there? Then Santorini and/or Crete? And best ideas for transportation between these places and how best ot see the without a car?
Thanks to all in advance for your help! We have gotten wonderful advice here for past trips!

Heimdall

I don't think it makes much difference whether you do Istanbul or Athens first — probably whichever works out best with the flights. Either way, on such a short holiday, you will have to fly between the two.

One possible itinerary would be Istanbul first, then connecting flights straight through from there to Santorini. If you wish to experience a Greek ferry, you could go from Santorini to Piraeus and round out your trip with two or three days in Athens. How to allocate time in Greece depends upon your interests. If you want to see the museums and all the major ancient sites, I would recommend at least three days in Athens.

I've never found a car to be necessary on the smaller islands, e.g. Santorini, or in Athens. Public transport is very good in Greece, and much of the centre of Athens is pedestrianised.

Heimdall

To be clear, connecting flights from Istanbul to Santorini will be via Athens. With any luck you can find flights with a 2-3 hour layover, so won't even have to leave Athens Airport.

Bluelark

Thanks Heimdall! Would you recommend Santorini and Crete or just one? If so, which one? We are looking for culture and for an experience with a Greek island. Also hopefully somewhere not packed with tourists.

excited_confused

Hi Bluelark, I was in Santorini with my daughter in July & loved it even though it was very hot! The scenery is amazing, the sunsets were breathtaking & I will never forget the "blueness" of the sea & sky! However if you are looking for a historical /cultural aspect, maybe Crete would be better but since we did not go there, I really cannot say. We did not regret our choice of Santorini. We spent only a day in Athens which was enough for walking around the Plaka area & seeing the Acropolis. We did want to go to the Temple of Poseidon during the 5-6 hours we had on our way back but were nervous about not making it back in time so regretfully decided against it & went to the new Acropolis museum instead.
BTW, DD went to Istanbul on her own with friends & said it was the most amazing place she has ever been to! Enjoy!

Heimdall

With only a week in Greece, and your preference to not have a car, I would recommend Santorini. With a travel day in-between, you have time only for a 3/3 or 4/2 day split between island and Athens. Crete is a huge island, and you need a car to conveniently get around. Santorini is smaller, with a good bus system. Three or four days there would be enough to see most of the sights, leaving you time to relax and gaze at the beautiful scenery.

Bluelark

Thank you all so much! This is really helpful advice. I think we're leaning more towards Santorini, especially since we won't have a car and also since this will be a relatively quick trip and it would be nie to have some relaxing time. Would you recommend plane or ferry to/from Santorini - or maybe best plane one way and ferry the other. I am also concerned that we have reliable schedules so we don't get caught missing connections to other places, esp planes.

Any recommendations for places to stay in Athens and/or Santorini? We like authentic places, moderately priced. Good and convenient locations are important too, esp in Athens

Happy New year all! And thanks for taking the time to help with our planning, even on a holiday.

Bluelark

Also, I had only mentioned Santorini and/or Crete because we have such limited time. However, if we just want to visit one island (or two at most) in addition to Athens, in order to get the feeling of the Greek Islands, are there other islands we should consider instead of these two? Like Hydra perhaps? Thanks again.

Heimdall

There is so much more to Athens than Plaka and the Acropolis! If you enjoy museums, there is also the National Archaeological, Benaki, Byzantine, and Goulandris museums to name a few. It wasn't until I walked up Apostlou Pavlou past the Ancient Agora one evening that I began to appreciate how much Athens has to offer. Sitting at a sidewalk cafe and drinking a cappuccino freddo while watching the sun set on the Acropolis was an absolute delight. Since then I have discovered other neighbourhoods in Athens where you can get away from the tourist crowds.

Heimdall

We are all cross-posting! ;-)

Whether you do Istanbul or Athens first, I would recommend a connecting upon arrival in Athens directly to Santorini. Ferries to Santorini take over 7 hours, and leave mostly in early morning, while flights take about 50 minutes and are spread throughout the day. If brotherleelove sees this post, he may have some suggestions on flights to Santorini.

On the way back to Athens, if you want to experience a ride on a Greek ferry, take Blue Star from Santorini to Piraeus. The views are stunning, starting as the ship sails through the caldera, with stops at Naxos and Paros on the way. If you want to save time, a flight back to Athens would be better.

When in Athens I like to stay at Cypria Hotel, which is moderately priced and just off Syntagma Square. It doesn't have a view, but is very convenient and has rooms with generous sized bathrooms (many Athens hotels have tiny bathrooms). There are many other good hotels near Monastiraki Square and the Acropolis. I'm sure you will get other suggestions.

Bluelark

This forum is so wonderful; thank you!
I am curious as to why you would recommend going to Santorini directly from Istanbul, and then on to Athens and home, versus Istanbul to Athens and then Santorini and home. (Hope that wasn't too confusing.)

Also, thoughts about Hydra instead of Santorini? And places to stay in Santorini and how to go about seeing whatever island we stay on?

MinnBeef

Hi Bluelark. I did almost this exact trip in September, spending 7 days in Greece and 3 1/2 days in Istanbul. Here would be my input to your questions:

1. If you were spending more than just 2 days in Istanbul, it probably wouldn't matter which you did first. However, you will jet lagged at least one day and maybe 2 upon arrival, so if you were to do Istanbul first, I'd be concerned you might spend you entire time jet lagged in this amazing city. I LOVED Istanbul, but it is the most chaotic, non stop city I've ever visited (in a good way!) Due to your extremely short amount of time in Istanbul, I would recommend saving it for last.

2. My 7 days in Greece were roughtly spent as 2 1/2 days in Athens (PLENTY!), a day trip to Delphi and 3 days on Santorini. Santorini is everything you see in posters and more. If you can, stay in Oia. It is the prettiest town on the island (stucco houses in the cliffs and blue domed churches) + the Oia sunsets just a short walk from your hotel. I also booked a 5 hour catamaran cruise around the caldera. The scenery is beautiful, you can swim in the Med if you like or in my case, just lie on deck and soak up some rays. I did not visit Crete but I can say, Santorini was my favorite part of Greece that I visited.

3. In Athens, I stayed at the Central Hotel, recommended by a friend. Very nice hotel in the Plaka, just a 5 minute walk from Syntagma metro station, with a good breakfast.

4. Aside from the Acropolis/Parthenon, I also visited the New Acropolis Museum, the Byzantine/Christian Museum, and walked up Lyvitticus (major sp??) hill. The New Acropolis is large. I visited it on the day I landed, so was dead tired and consequently, found it a bit overwhelming. I LOVED the Byzantine Museum. If you appreciate icons, vestments, etc. you will enjoy it also.

One other suggestion for Athens. If you enjoy fine dining, I recommend a restaurant called Spondi. The only restaurant in Greece with two Michelin stars. It's in an outer neighborhood so you'll want to take a taxi from your hotel. Delicious, artfully prepared food with a very nice wine list. Not cheap, of course, but I'm a big foodie/wino and thought it was good value.

Anyway, hope this helps and that you and your daughter have as wonderul a trip as I did.

Weadles

Hydra is lovely, but I think it's best done as a day trip from Athens ( Piraeus). The hydrofoil takes about two hours. It's a tiny island, (carless) and you can walk much of it in a day.

Santorini really deserves a few days. The scenery is breathtaking, and you will need at least half a day to do a tour of the caldera and sulphur springs. There's also gorgeous beaches ( Red Beach and others), wineries, and wonderful fish restaurants down at Amoudi Bay, close to the heart of Oia.

BTW, I agree with the post above. Istanbul is an incredible, one-of-a-kind city, but it demands your full attention, and you won't have much of that left after the long flight from the U.S. I'd try to head to Santorini first, where you can recover on one of the most beautiful and relaxing islands on the world. Then go on to Istanbul ( connect through Athens) and finally, Athens for the last leg of your trip.

Have a great trip!

Weadles

Just wanted to add that May ( especially toward the end of the month when it's a bit warmer) is our favorite time to visit Greece. You may find the water cold for swimming, but you'll be avoiding most of the heavy crowds that start in June.

Heimdall

Good points from MinnBeef and Weadles about jet lag, and that would apply equally to Istanbul or Athens. Couldn't you squeeze an extra day into Istanbul? I think it would be worth it, even at the expense of a day on Santorini or in Athens.

The reasons I suggested "a connecting upon arrival in Athens directly to Santorini" is: a) you will already be at Athens Airport, and Santorini is only another 50 minutes flying time, about the same it would take to travel to central Athens by taxi, metro, or bus; b) you won't have to waste time transferring into Athens & checking in/out of a hotel, then doing it all over again when you return to Athens after Santorini; c) there is a slim chance that weather or industrial action could delay your return from the islands, so Santorini first is a sensible precaution; and, if you save Istanbul for last, I can add d) It will allow you to de-lag on a quiet, beautiful island rather than a busy city.

jamikins

Just to answer your question about why Athens last - to be in Athens a day before your flight home is a smart idea. Weather, strikes etc could make it very difficult/impossible to get to Athens the day of your international flight home. So to avoid the stress most people recommend putting the days in Athens at the end.

We just spent a week on Naxos and just loved it!

Enjoy your trip!

Bluelark

Thanks again to all, and jamikins thanks for the explanation on why to do Athens last. However, just looking at it I'm wondering how much time and trouble it would be to start with Santorini, then bak to Athens and on to Istanbul, then back to Athens for a few days and then back to NYC. I too am concerned about the effect of the strikes and potential strikes, but also want to try to keep it fairly simple. You all are far more knowledgeable on this than I am so I'll go with your recommendations.

Heimdall

Can you fly open jaw, into Istanbul and out from Athens or vice-versa? That would eliminate some back-tracking. Then you would only be in Athens at the beginning or end of your trip, and at the airport for a few hours waiting for the connecting flight to Santorini.

The only other way you could avoid going through Athens so many times would be to fly direct to Santorini from another European city, which would still require connecting flights. If you had more time, you could travel through Turkey to a port connecting with Kos or Rhodes, then take a ferry from there to Santorini.

clausar

You should start with Greece, by flying to Santorini, then spend a few days in Athens, before you fly to Istanbul and return home from there. There is no need to fly home from Athens.

As for strikes etc, i don't think that we can seriously predict how the the summer season will develop. Greece will have to make some very crucial economical decisions before March 2012, decisions that will affect the future of many Greeks for the next decade. This will bring hopefully a certain stability in the country, so that the strikes of 2011 won't happen again. ( regarding strikes, 2011 has been a record year in Greek history).

Just think positive and keep in mind that during 2011 Greece received 15 Mi. tourists....

clausar

Heimdall.. piase kokkino... lol