Heimdall

Incidentally, Highspeed 5/7 was built in Australia, by Austal Ships in Fremantle.

aliced

Hopefully you're flying Emirates? We were lucky to get an unbelievably low r/t nonstop from Newark Liberty to Athens for $550, at least their economy has more legroom and a slide-out seat to provide comfort. Anyway, we really got into the antiquity that defines Greece, and LOVED Mycenae along w Napflio and Corinth on our day tour into Pelopponese; do then see the Nat'l Archaeology Museum in Athens for all the gold that was removed from the site in Mycenae, it put it all together so well in our heads. Anyway, spend time in lovely, clean Athens up on Mt. Lybettus, wander through the interesting and different Benaki Museum, the Lalaounis Jewelry Museum, along with the Acropolis Museum. We loved Mykonos and Rhodes particularly, but our day in Chania was wonderful too. We did the islands via a quick in-and-out island cruise. Santorini was as beautiful as expected up in Oia, but it is time-consuming to get there, and I would not want to be up there longer than a day, while the charms of Mykonos can entertain you for many days; check out Paradise Beach just a short drive out of the main town.

Can this forum JUST answer questions of the OP and not resort to immature squabbling between posters??? Really......

Heimdall

Apparently Hellenic Seaways have just sold Highspeed 7 to Minoan Lines, so the ferries.gr link I gave you two days ago is no longer valid. Just shows you how quickly things change with Greek ferries, and how important it is to keep checking the timetables.

It remains to be seen whether Minoan Lines will continue operating Highspeed 7 on the Crete - Cyclades route, or if it will be deployed elsewhere. Minoan Lines currently operates conventional ferries between Piraeus & Heraklion, and on the international route between Greece & Italy.

I would say there is still an excellent chance of highspeed ferries between Santorini and Crete in early April, even if it's left only to Sea Jets Consortium.

Heimdall

The announcement about the sale of Highspeed 7 was made today (Oct 26th) at the Athens Stock Exchange:
https://www.minoan.gr/en/financial-a...xchange-market

dgunbug

We have spent 6 weeks in Greece. The first 3 week trip was in late March/April and we spent 3 days in Athens, 12 days traveling around the Peloponnesus, crossing over to Delos and returning to Pareus where we took the ferry to paros for 2 nights and then onto santorini for 3 days. We loved our time on the mainland as well as the islands. The weather was perfect unless you want to swim - it was cool and comfortable. The islands were not crowded and the Greek people were very welcoming as it was the beginning of their season. Santorini is heavenly and very interesting. Beware though that if you go to the islands too early, you will find them painting the streets white and the houses blue, preparing for their season. It is best to visit the islands at the end of the trip.

On our second trip we traveled to the islands of Rhodes, Mykonos and Crete, all of which were lovely. My favorite of the islands are Santorini and Mykonos, however when we were there, it was a problem getting to both islands logistically. I do recommend spending some time in the Peloponnesus.

I also highly recommend Matt baron’s website which is referred to above. He is a wonderful source of information on Greece.

aussiedreamer

OK, so here's another thought.

Not wanting to spend too much time in transit, maybe leave the Islands for a summer trip in the future....

Spend most of our time driving/touring/site seeing around the mainland as far up as Thessaloniki. Fly in and out of Santorini (I can't go to Greece and not see Santorini) for a few days at either end of the trip. Probably on arrival for a bit of R&R then making it up to Thessaloniki for Easter.

kja

I thoroughly enjoyed Thessaloniki!
I was not enamored of Santorini.
You already know how to find my trip report.

aussiedreamer

Been back a week now from a really great Christmas in the Uk and hunting (albeit mostly unsuccessfully) for the Northern lights in Finland and have to get serious about this Greek adventure. We've narrowed down a few choices.......still struggling with accommodation on Santorini........everything I research and love is sold out.

Our plan 'so far' is arrive into Athens at 8.20pm and catch the last Ryanair flight to Santorini arriving at about midnight. Long day we know, but at least when we hit the pillow, we are at our first destination. Three nights Santorini, fly back to Athens collect car and drive to Delphi for one night. I've tried to plan the drive 'sensibly' but I know there is still a lot of driving involved but as I've previously said, we quite enjoy that. Thessaloniki was high on 'my' list of must do, so we will have a big driving day after Delphi and go there for two nights (maybe 3) then onto the Epirus area for two nights, Olympia for one night before the drive back to Athens. We have a couple of days we can play with, depending how long we want in Athens before our flight to Dubai. We're thinking we may keep the car and use it to do a day trip out of Athens, time allowing, and also for the airport run.

Love to hear any constructive thoughts or must do's in the areas we are going......sights, restaurants etc.

kja

Two nights is not much for Thessaloniki, but of course it depends on what you want to see and experience.

I'm sure you'll do research on parking availability and costs before committing to keeping the car while in Athens.

artsnletters

I suggest trying booking.com to look for hotels. Then you will see what's available, and you can research those and pick a great one. It might be easier than falling in love with hotels, then discovering they are full. Booking has the additional benefit of having reliable reviews, since you can only write one if you booked through the site and actually stayed there - anyone at all can post a review on TripAdvisor.

aussiedreamer

Thanks for input......I've played with the calendar and the map, found an extra night on the road for Meteora and an extra night in Thessaloniki. Also thanks for the advice re the car in Athens, we'll drop it off on arrival. I've also booked Aroma Suites on Santorini, seems a good location. artsnletters, thanks I do always use booking.com, invaluable in my opinion. Just need to concentrate on the end of the drive......from Epirus to Athens via Olympia and/or Corinth. Then the fun bit, restaurant and sight seeing research.

travelerjan

NOTE: I have tried 5 times to post this under "Quick reply" but it didn't post -- let's hope this posts. Aussie,what's going on? I'm with you as far as Delphi - but then you veer into Fantasy. You talk about 2 nights in Epirus, which is considerably NORTH (it's up by the Albanian border) and then talk about Olympia for a night, then back to Athens. To visualilze, here's a good MAP. http://euro-map.com/karty-grecii/pel...eloponnesa.jpg -- (clilck to enlarge, and use side bars to navigate). This shows the whole Attikia area, and all of the peloponnese And Yes, there's the RIO bridge, but Epirus is waaay north from there, and not on super-modern highways ... Is there a special reason you want to go there? Villages where family came from?? You may have mentioned this somewhere waaay back in this long thread, i don't know. If this is vital, OK, but do not then casually mention Olympia & back to Athens as a 2-day operations. Look at Michelin - https://www.viamichelin.com/web/Routes for a realistic driving Scenario. At LEAST a full day, maybe more, from anywhere in Epirus, to Rio Bridge then to Olympia, via the coastal road of Pelops. Then to get to Athens backtracking along the coastal road -- happen to know that's at least 5 hours, and not much of interest on the way. As for going slantwise across Peloponnese mountains... hmm. Of course it's your right to spin a scenario -- but if you present something (Epirus) that could require days of dawn-to-dark driving, at least tell us what the motive is.

Heimdall

Aussiedreamer, you wrote: “still struggling with accommodation on Santorini........everything I research and love is sold out.”

if if you are still travelling in early April nothing will be sold out. When you see “no availability” that means the hotel is still closed for the winter. Suggest you look on the hotels’ own websites, which you can find on Google by scrolling down past the booking engine entries.

aussiedreamer

I too am struggling with the new format......I do like the email notifications but thats about all........so far.

travelerjan, thanks for your input,

(although didn't love your terminology re veering into Fantasy....please can we keep it constructive? I almost want to stop reading when someone is a bit insulting, I've put this up so I can get realistic feedback which I got and am grateful for).

I see your point re Epirus and no, no 'special reason......I'd like to hear your suggestions before/after Thessaloniki?
Maybe going clockwise, Athens (will spend 2 nights before flight home),
Peloponnese 2 nights ??
Delphi 1 night,
Meteora 1 night,
Thessaloniki 3 nights and then back to Athens.......one night along the way...or lose a night in Thassaloniki and have 2 nights somewhere on the way back to Athens??

Thanks again.

aussiedreamer

Thanks Heimdall, I did figure that out thanks.

travelerjan

Regarding transportation & destinations -- I see a tremendous amount of driving in your plan. Also, you may want to re-think sightseeing in Athens at the end. Easter Sunday all "sights" will be closed ... a lot of them Easter Monday as well... and you Leave on Wednesday. Maybe you'd better slip in 2 days of Athens sightseeing (Sun-Mon) After Santorini, and then another on April 10, the day before departure.

This would have you heading to Thessaloniki -- apparently a MUST on your list --on Tues April 5. Since this could be a true Drive-a-thon - have you at all considered FLYING round-trip to THessaloniki??? You could fly in 55 MINUTES vs. over a day driving. Fly early April 5, spend the day exploring city next day if you want to see Vergina (tombs of Philip the Great etc), there are tours and city busses. Fly BACK to ATH in 55 minutes early Thurs April 6, either 7:30 or 8:15 am. RT cost - €165 each -- but consider cost of car rental/tolls/gas/ staying overnight on the way.... it's probably a Wash.

At Airport may 6 grab rental car -- and here's a strategy ... if you MUST go to Meteora, go there first -- arriving Thursday night. See Monasteries Friday AM, Drive to Delphi in Afternoon. The Delphi site will be open Holy Saturday 8:30 - 3 pm, you can be done by noon. Where next, in this pell-mell dash of a trip?? You mentioned Peloponnese ... how about going to Nafplio? Hmmm? The traffic outbound from Athens could be tough in the stretch before the Corinth Canal ... after that, much less. You'd arrive in late afternoon Holy Saturday -- and you'd need to start now to book lodgings. I imagine a Holy Saturday midnight service in Nafplio could be wonderful! If you would be able to book a room for Saturday night, you could inquire in advance of the hotelier about Easter Celebrations on Easter Sunday. Easter is really a private and Family holiday for Greeks, but in a town like Nafplio, with SO many visitors, there will be provisions for festive Easter lunch. Of course, many Nafplio "official sites" (museums etc) will be closed Easter Sunday and some on Easter Monday, but the Old Town and surrounds are fascinating to explore.... the Sunsets, seen from the seafront promenade there (you sit on loveseats, in canopied cafes) are the best in GReece, IMHO. On Monday, head back to Athens --- OR, stay til early Tuesday AM, in order to visit the spectacular Ancient Epidaurus Theatre en route back to Athens. Then a final afternoon there, picking up souvenirs (I always wait until end for these -- avoids toting them around for 2 weeks).

kja

As I’ve already mentioned, 2 nights is very little for Thessaloniki, which you say is a priority.

I would think it difficult to see Delphi and Meteora meaningfully in 2 nights; you might consider adding a night to one or the other, depending on your overall plan.

2 nights is, IMO, very little for Athens.

2 nights is very little for the Pelopponese – but I think a meaningful comment about the Pelopponese, or how to spend your time there, would require knowing a bit more about what, exactly, you hope to accomplish there. You’ve mentioned Olympia, which is quite far from anything else you seem to be considering.

travelerjan

KJA, it would require an additional week's stay for Original Poster to allot the meaningful time you recommend for each of those destinations, time they will not have. The tickets are bought; it's a done deal. They arrive the Evening of March 29, and leave the morning of April 11-- that is 12 days on the ground for 6 destinations. it also isn't in the cards to advise pruning the list ... Her wants appear to be definite. My last effort was just to shorten travel time by suggesting flights vs. cross-country driving.

kja

@ travelerjan: I don't disagree, but don't presume that decisions are inflexible in the light of input from others -- why else post here? I choose to offer the information that I believe would be helpful to the OP, and the OP is free to continue ignoring me or not.

aussiedreamer

Thanks once again.....love a lively thread. Kja thanks for your last post it is all helpful....and I promise I'm not ignoring, I'm asking questions and getting great answers.

Again traveljan......thanks for all your suggestions, I am taking notice, promise. (did you really need to add........Where next, in this pell-mell dash of a trip?? ......how is that helpful or constructive...keep it polite.)

Latest thoughts and thanks to booking.com for great cancellation policies I'm making sure there is availability along the way.............

Arrive in Athens from Santorini Sunday May 1 9.10am, stay 3 nights
collect car, 1 night Delphi (I think for us, one night will be sufficient)
2 nights Meteora (inc. Good Friday)
2 nights to be determined ??? These two nights inc. Easter Saturday and Sunday.
2 nights Nafplio (inc. Easter Monday)
After leaving Nafplio, we will have the full day to get back to the Athens airport for our flight to Dubai at 6.05pm.

This 'feels' better, as for the amount of driving on this trip, for us, that's a part of the trip that we really enjoy. Remembering every drive is in a new place and interesting for that reason alone. Us Aussies do love to drive, we are doing a trip in August from Brisbane to Broome, return...approx. 6,000kms each way.