Hi There,

We are three ladies aged in our late 20's and mid 30's staying for 4 nights in Santorini & 3 nights in Mykonos in July. We need some advice as to where the best locations to book our hotels at both. We want to be close enough to the beach, restaurants and night life...but do not want to be in the thick of it in either locations if at all possible. Where would be the ideal locations be?

Thanks!

Seems that you can't have it all on both islands...

In Mykonos, night life and restaurants are concentrated in Mykonos town, all the nice beaches are elsewhere, mainly in the south of the island.
If you stay in Mykonos town, you will take the bus to Platy Gialos, and from there a boat to one of the beaches. ( like most people do)
Otherwise you could try to stay in either Agios Stefanos or Ornos, both have a nice beach and enough restaurants but still you would have to go to the town for the nightlife.

In Santorini the nighlife and the restaurants are concentrated in Fira, where there is no beach at all... as Fira is on caldera side.
You can find a combination of beach, restaurants and bars in either Kamari or Perissa, both are on the flat side of the island.
I have stayed in Kamari, and i liked it, but for me nothing can beat the caldera side, for which Santorini is famous.
My favorite village is Oia in the north of the island, but if you want to be in walking distance to the nightlife, i recommend staying either in Fira or Firostefani.
You can go to the beaches with public transportation, which on both islands is excellent.

You have chosen two of the most expensive Greek islands, keeping that in mind can you give us a budget so that we can recommend suitable hotels?

On Mykonos, stay in town so you can walk back to your hotel after clubbing. It's easy to catch a bus to a beach from there, and nice to be able to choose a different one every day if you wish. Several beaches are only a 15-20 min bus ride away.

On Santorini you have a choice of the beach side (e.g. Kamari, Perissa), or the caldera side (e.g. Fira, Oia). Fira has more nightlife, and is also the hub for buses to other parts of the island.

thank you for both your assistance with this. Our budget is around $300-$320 US per night. Any hotel recommendations is much apprecited.

Take a look at Mykonos Princess..out at Agios Stephanos..Lovely, newer, location, location, location. Triples available (we had a quad) was resonable 2 years ago and we loved it. Brkfst included then and had a shuttle from the ferry. We rented a car and parking was no problem.Short walk to the bus at Ag. St. into town..Well worth the looksee.

I will be traveling with my daughter in September. We will have been on Crete for a week, mainly seeing the historical sites, and are stopping on Santorini for a couple of days en route home to the US. We are interested in seeing Akrotiri and soaking up a bit of Santorini atmosphere. Where should we stay? I have been to Oia and love it and don't want to stay in the middle of busy Fira but want a good location. Can anyone help?

If you don't want to stay in Fira your options with a caldera view are Firostefani, Imerovigli and Oia. If you want some hotel recommendations tell us which village you choose and what your maximum daily room budget will be.

Armileni, your budget will allow the following: Scirocco Apartments, Caldera Butterfly Villas, Loucas Hotel, Villa Ilias, Olympic Villas, Rimida Villas and Maryloujohn Villas. These all have swimming pools, which you will be happy to have in July.

Also take a look at http://www.booking.com There is an excellent filter system to help you choose what you require.