EvDog

After 8 days in Northern Italy, will be flying from Milan to Greece in late July and planning to spend 5 nights in islands and then finishing with 2 nights in Athens.

I would appreciate comments on the best allocation of my days in the islands, the order to hit them in, and recommendations of great hotel experiences. Assume that I only want to hit 2 or 3 islands. Thanks.

wanderlust5

which set of Islands are you planning on visiting? and how? a sailboat? a structured cruise/sail thing with a group? In the Argo-Saronics, I loved Hydra, Poros - In the Cyclades I lovedSantorini (of course!) and Mykonos, as well as Delos (I love archaeology!). If this is your first trip, I'd try and see Santornini and Mykonos, if it were me. Enjoy!

brotherleelove2004

Santorini is wonderful and of course full of very good hotels. Take a look at this list. Kamari and Perissa are the two main beach areas. Fira is the hub of the island with the most development. Firostephani and Imerovigli are nearby Fira and are mostly for accomodations. Oia is my favorite, is the most beautiful and timeless of all the villages. July will be a very busy month.

From Santorini many islands can be reached by ferry including Ios, Naxos, Paros, Mykonos, Folegandros, Sikinos, Anafi and Crete.

Here is a website with many hotels on Santorini:

http://www.santorinihotels.com/hotels.php

natty22

I loved Santorini and Rhodes (mykonos not as much)

I used the following website to get more information http://www.greektravel.com/
He gives a great description of the islands. I would stick to 2 islands at the most any more would be too much.

scottk

I have been to Greece three times and charted a boat for a week each time, so I've had a chance to visit a number of isalnds. Since you only have 3 days, I would recommend spending all 3 in Santorini. The island is absolutely beautiful. My wife and I have done it in a day and spent several days there. I definately prefer the later. You can check out the red beach and the black beach (both amazing), and a trip to Santorini wouldn't be complete without seeing the sunset. Santorini is a ways from Athens, so we got an inexpensive flight from Athens to Santorini. If you want to see anther island, you could take a flying dolphin (hydrofoil) to Mykonos. We thought it was beautiful and had a good night life scene. Have a wonderful time.

sheinberg

I am planning trip to Greece and The islands to include an agean cruise in late Feb early Mar 2006. How is theweather this time of year?

Diane60030

The islands are so up to your personal taste. I loved Rhodes, thought Mykonos was okay to good, and couldn't stant Santorini. (I am not an archologist and as far as I was concerned there wasn't anything else really interesting there - pretty only gets me so far), Crete I liked - lots of things to see. If I only had three days I would go to Mykonos and do a day trip to Delos. Spend a day or two relaxing and then enjoy the flight to the US.