Hello all,

I will be in Greece from the Spetember 2 - 16 and would like a little help. I will be spending time in Athens, Mykonos (2 days), Santorini (2 days), and Crete (5 days). The purpose of the trip is to see archaeological ruins and to experience greek culture.

I would like some advice on traditional greek locations (restaurants, villages etc...) to go to at the above mentioned locales.

Thanks in advance,
Jeremy

Other than Delos there's nothing of archaeological significance on Mykonos. I suggest you skip it and go to Paros or Naxos instead, both of which have more historical interest. You can take a daytrip excursion to Delos from either of these islands.

On Santorini go to Ancient Thera. Akrotiri is closed indefinitely. There's a historical museum in Fira. For an excellent meal try Katina's Fish Taverna on the wharf below Oia at Ammoudi. The taverna Santorini Mou in Oia offers traditional Greek music and dance.

I've got quite a lot of stuff on Crete (and our focus tends to involve the archaeology, too), and it's all on here; but if you email me, I'll send it direct to you

Are you also interested in local food/wine specialties? We consider that part of the culture, too.

If you are not going to the Peloponnese you are missing most of the classical period ruins, so at least take a day trip out of Athens to Delphi. It is spectacular.

Vera

In Crete there is a village named Vamos (between Hania and Rethymnon). It is sort of heritage village that specializes in authentic Cretan (note:: not Greek, CRETAN) cuisine. You can also stay in the village in old restaured houses.

Last year we took the high speed cat from Santorini to Iraklio, which arrives in the evening. Stayed at the Lato (smallish rooms but great breakfast included) and went to the museum in the morning. (In May it was only open till 2 and that may also be the case in Sept. Also, on Mondays most museums are closed everywhere, though I think some of the more important ruins like Phaestos may be open on some islands. They are in Athens, anyway.) After lunch we took the (#2, I believe) bus to Knossos for the rest of the day. Some people are not big fans of Iraklio but we thought it was fine for our purpose - and had one of the best meals of the trip at Ippocampus on the waterfront.

The next day we picked up our rental car in town and drove to Phaestos. Due to a few "digressions" en route and spending more time at Phaestos than we planned, we were reluctant to try to get to Agia Triada or Gortyna that day. Would like to have made a quick stop by Matala to see the caves, too. If I had it to do over again, I'd have spent an extra night on Crete (we only had 4) and stayed in Matala so we could finish up the rest of the Minoan ruins in that area. But since we had to drive through the mountains to get back to the nat'l highway and to Chania that night, we hit the road. Probably just as well since the roads aren't marked - just directional arrows to towns and you don't know which of several routes you're taking. Alas, we ended up on a less direct route than I planned, though the views were beautiful. Made it to Chania in time to find our hotel before dark, though.

Had a great dinner at Ela. Enjoyed the ambiance, music, and food so much that we went back our 2nd night, something we rarely do. We originally considered the Samara Gorge for our first day in Chania, then decided to play it by ear. Chania is a much more charming town and we spent our first day just walking around enjoying the shops, cafes, views. Since we had a flight out the night of the second day, we decided to go to Aptera, then check out some of the small seaside towns and, finally, the monasteries on the Akrotiri Penninsula on the way to the airport for our evening flight. (Airport is on the penninsula.)

There are plenty of people who can suggest ruins in other areas I haven't seen, but I was pleased with what we chose. Only thing I'd have done differently (other than staying a week or two, which we didn't have) would have been spend the night in the south central Iraklio region so we'd have had more archeological time there, as I said before.

Check out www.apokoronas.net to see an area of small mountain villages near Chania. Have a meal at the taverna in Vamos, on the left entering town.

Brotherleelove'04 has some great advice (again). Naxos or Paros would be great fits. I'm a little partial (surprise to regular readers!) to Naxos.

In a lot of ways, it's Greece in miniature. It's definitely got the island feel, but it's also got an agricultural heart, it's not totally dependent on tourism, it's got variety topography including Mt. Zas. There are some excellent historic areas, including the Temple of Demeter and the Koros. There's the Venetian influence.

And there are easy excursions to Delos.

Seems a nice fit for the OP.

Since you are interested in Archaelogy sites, you should perhaps visit Ancient Korinthos in Peloponese. It is 1 hour trip from Athens and there are many local tavernas on the area of the site with nice food!

I just got back 10 days ago.Definitely don't miss Delphi (though an entire day trip) on the way back we stopped at the still operating Monastary Lucas. It was amazing! We also went to Ancient Corinth in the Peloponese and passed over the Canal on the way...They were highlights of the trip. I agree with the other poster...Mykononos is great if you want to lay on the beaches and have the nightlife (mostly alternative lifestyle). 2 Days on Santorini is not enough----trust me! It's unbelievable!