10 day trip to Greece
 

We ( 2 couples ) are planning on visiting Greece end may ( 30th onwards )
We want to of course cover Athens well along with a few islands and looking at Santorini, Mykanos.
But i am a little lost as there are so many places that can be done in a day from athens ( delphi, Cape Sounio, Epidaurus , Mycenae etc ) soits not cler as to which places should be done and which are not so worth a visit.
Secondly, if we rent a car would that be a good idea or do we look at booking a private tour for us. We do not want a groupo tour for sure. We want flexibility and time to ourselves to explore the country as much as we can.
Any advice/ suggestions would be most appreciated.
Thanks

No need to book a private tour unless you want to -- it is very easy to explore Greece on your own.

You are right that you have an incredible array of options, all with their own draw. One of the hard things about planning a trip to Greece is deciding what to visit (and so what to skip).

If you haven't already seen it, you might find some useful information in my trip report:
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...-in-greece.cfm

Hope that helps!

"not cler as to which places should be done and which are not so worth a visit"

All depends on your interests. All the places you mention are interesting, but different. May be you will have a look at a guidebook (you may only load down the sections you are interested in) in order to learn more about them.

Alternatively you can book a classical tour like Daphni - Elefsis - Korinthos - Mycenae - Nafplio - Epidavros and back through your hotel reception desk and everything will be explained by the tour guides.

Thanks guys. Have begun reading your report Kja and will loook into this classical tour too Neckervd.

Someone even suggested we skip Santorini and mykanos as they are generally packed since more frequented. Instead to look at Poros, Hydra, Spestes and Crete.
We are fine with doing the off beat places instead of doing the normal touristy destinations.
Our flight tentatively lands on 31st afternoon.This means we have to stay in Athens at least till 3rd as I think 3 whole days in Athens is needed so we have 8 days left on hand to explore the other places.

Hi Priya,

You have only 10 days (do those include your arrival and departure days?) for Greece, so you need to choose carefully based upon your interests. The Greek Islands are mainly about beaches, and if you are, as I guess, from India, you have better beaches much closer to home. You will get lots of confusing advice from people on this forum, who all have their own interests. Perhaps a good guidebook would be the best place to start.

You expressed an interest in Delphi, Cape Sounio, Epidaurus and Mycenae. Athens has the largest concentration of ancient sites, and you could spend a couple of nights in Nafplio (2 hours by road from Athens) from where you can visit several major archeological sites: http://visitnafplio.com

If you rent a car you will need an International Driver's Permit (IDP) along with your regular driver's license, but that won't require a test and is easy to obtain in most countries. You won't need a car in Athens, but you could rent one to drive to Nafplio, and perhaps Delphi too.

Poros, Hydra and Spestes are small islands in the Saronic Gulf which you could visit on a day trip from Athens. Crete is the largest island in Greece, and would take a week on its own to explore. If you want to stay overnight on an island, recommend flying to/from Santorini, which has spectacular views and the Minoan ruins at Akrotiri. You would need at least 2 nights on Santorini minimum.