Trip planning advice

Old Feb 19th, 2011, 06:55 AM
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Trip planning advice

My husband and I are planning a trip to Greece in September2011. I have booked our flights for Sept. and have been on the internet looking at accomodations since then . Plan is two nights Athens, 3 nights Mykonos, 5 nights Santorini, 4 nights Naxos and then back to Athens for two nights for our return home. I had been reading Matt Barretts website and found it to be a wealth of information. He suggested to book with a Greek travel agency for the best service. I emailed Fantasy travel and got a quick response but they seem to have arrangements with limited hotels and with limited accomodations there. After doing so much searching online I find it frustrating to have so few choices After all, this will not be a cheap trip and thats ok but I want it to be within my choice range and not to be so limiting. Friendly as the agent is, there is a pressure to book quickly and that makes me uneasy. I wanted to book with a local agent because they can arrange the ferries and hotels so we at least know where we are going to sleep at night. After all, it is our experience. Any advice on what to do would be helpful. Should I try Dolphin Hellas? Are they going to be any better? Should I book directly with the hotels which I am very tempted to do. But then I have to arrange ferries myself and I find that task daunting. Also there is some security with booking with an agent and they know the area better than I do.
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Old Feb 19th, 2011, 07:39 AM
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Hi Bucketlist
You are going to enjoy Greece. Your plan gives you sufficient time to really enjoy each stop and explore.
We have used Dolphin Hellas when we first started to go to Greece and their service was excellent.
I did see a Fantasy Travel agent siting with a family on the rooftop bar at Attalos Hotel and I was shocked at the high pressure sales pitch that was going on. I certainly never experienced that with Dolphin Hellas. Having said that Fantasy does have goods recommendations on the forums.
Both agencies have a limited number of hotels that they book regularly and over the years I have found smaller hotels on the internet and when I asked Dolphin to book they had no association and told me I was better off booking myself. Where a travel agent brings good value is in Athens. Dolphin has always been able to get us hotels at a far lower price than I have been able to find on the internet.
I might make a comment on your planned itinerary.
If you can arrange it plan to catch a flight to your first island on the day you arrive in Athens. There can be no better place to unwind from a flight than on an Island. Both Olympic and Aegean have several flights a day to Santorini and Mykonos. You can easily book your own flights directly with the websites. Aegean often has special fares.
So for example, fly to Santorini when you arrive. From Santorini take the ferry to Naxos and from Naxos ferry to Mykonos. That is the logical progression as you head back toward Athens. From Mykonos you can fly back to Athens or take the ferry. It is better to spend a block of time in Athens at the end of your trip. Each hop to a new location will eat up at least half a day so the right sequence is important.
As for booking hotels and ferries you certainly do not need a travel agent to do that for you. Once you decide on a budget and where you want to stay on each island let us know and there will be lots of help on this forum with suggestions for accommodation. Once you are on an Island there are lots of travel agents where you can purchase ferry tickets for your next hop.
With respect to the amount of time you are planning on each Island some people love Santorini so much they can spend 6 weeks ther. Others say that after 2 days you have seen the Caldera view and it is time to move on. Personally I think 3 days is enough but everyone is different. Many of us just stay on an Island until we decide to move on so stay flexable you can always get a ticket for the ferry the day it departs ( in September anyway).
Hotels will not be full in September either. We love to just arrive at an island and wander around and walk into hotels looking for a room. The owners are generally willing to cut the price for a walk up. This is not for everybody but it does work in the shoulder season. Alternatively if you do want to book ahead contacting the hotels directly is easy. I have actually had great success using Booking.com which appears to have good prices and a variety of classes of hotels. We got our accommodation in Santorini in May using that web site.
Greece is just made for do it yourself and you should have no worries at all about not using a travel agent.
Hopefully I have given you something to think about.
Have fun planning
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Old Feb 19th, 2011, 07:50 AM
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Dolphin-Hellas has an excellent reputation.

Booking ferries is easy now since you can do it online. If you book with Amphitrion Holidays on their website you can pick up your ferry tickets right at the airport when you first arrive from their travel desk in the Arrivals Hall between Doors 2&3 and not have to deal with finding a ticket office anywhere else along your route. They're open 24/7/365. Or since you plan to spend the first 2 nights in Athens, just go into any travel agency near your hotel for assistance. The ferries won't be full in September so you won't run into any problems waiting until you're in Athens.

Some hotels offer a private transfer service, and most charge for this.

Other methods of Transfer from the Santorini port to your hotel can be by taxi or pre-arranged shuttle. http://www.santorinitransfer.com

The shuttle van won't be able to take you directly to your hotel unless the hotel is along the route they take, which isn't too likely. A taxi can't go many other places either but the driver can call ahead for someone from your hotel to meet you.

There is also a port bus that takes passengers into Fira for €2 where you can either stay or take another bus to your village of choice.
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Old Feb 19th, 2011, 07:51 AM
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Ferries are the easy part. The islands you mention are all well connected by at least 2-3 daily ferries, and for September you don't have to prebook. Just buy your tickets one-by-one when you get to Greece — there are always spare seats in September.

Some may question your allocation of days per destination, but I see nothing wrong with what you have planned. Even the order you have listed the destinations makes sense. Flight or ferry to Mykonos; FlyingCat 4 from Mykonos to Santorini; Blue Star from Santorini to Naxos; flight or ferry from Naxos back to Athens.

So, you see, you have already made big steps in planning the holiday yourself. Use the resources of Fodor's and Trip Advisor to choose your hotels.

The Matt Barrett website indeed has a wealth of information, but it is by no means the only way to plan your holiday. I don't know how adventurous you are, but for travel in September you don't even need to book anything, except maybe your hotel in Athens. ;-)
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Old Feb 19th, 2011, 08:16 AM
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Thank you all for your quick replies and great advice. I should have joined this forum sooner.
I use trip advisor regularly to book my caribbean holidays and have found it to be very reliable. I also purchased a greek island hopping book which lead me to choose one ferry line and go from there.
Any suggestions for caldera view hotels/villas in Santorini. I see good reviews for Sunny Villas in Imerovigli and Chelidonia Villas in Oia. I thought Imerovigli might be quieter but how well connected is it? Looking for a small hotel with a more personal connection
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Old Feb 19th, 2011, 08:43 AM
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It would still be helpful if you provide a budget for hotels.
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Old Feb 19th, 2011, 11:29 AM
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Imerovigli is definitely quieter and it has the best overall views of both the caldera and sunset. The tradeoff is that there are very few shops and restaurants there. It's at least a mile from Fira where you can find restaurants and shops but the walk back to Imerovigli is all uphill.

Chelidonia is a very good choice in the heart of Oia just below the village square.

I don't know what you mean by 'well connected'.
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Old Feb 19th, 2011, 12:09 PM
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By well connected I mean how frequent is the bus service.As far as budget is concerned, I realize that rooms on the caldera are pricier but I would like to keep it under 200 euros per night.
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Old Feb 19th, 2011, 03:10 PM
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The bus between Oia and Fira, which passes through Imerovigli and Firostefani, makes that trip at least once an hour. During the peak summer weeks it's even more frequent and runs later into the night.

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