We have booked an around the world trip and will start in Athens in May 2008. We need 1 or 2 nights accommodation in Athens and will be ferry hopping around the Greek Islands for 10 days. We are thinking of seeing Mykonos,Naxos, Paros and Santorini. We need accommodation on these islands also. We are on a budget as our whole trip will be for 4 months as we are travelling Europe, United Kingdom, Canada, America then home to Sydney via New Zealand. We leave Australia on 28th April 2007 and return on 29th August 2008. We are both in our 60's and we have travelled around Europe for a month in a Campervan last year, but found the roads very narrow in some parts.
Any help and advice on accommodation, ferries, and how to book would be appreciated.

Your trip sounds wonderful. I see this is your first post here. There are many experts on Greece and if you punch in Athens or any of the islands, you will get lots of info on accommodation, etc. I am also planning a trip to Greece and so far my itinerary includes Athens, Nafplio, Santorini and Naxos. I found hotel recommendations at reasonable prices from other posters and booked them online. FYI we are staying at Hotel Amazon in Athens, Hotel Leto in Nafplio, Delfini Villas in Santorini and Hotel Galini in Naxos. We will bus to Nafplio, fly to Santorini, ferry to Naxos and ferry back to Athens. May add a trip to Istanbul on the end but undecided as yet. Good luck planning your trip - planning is a good part of the fun for me!

Thankyou Lily, It is so much fun planning our trip. I notice you are ferry hopping also. Do you book the ferry ahead or just buy a ticket at the wharf when you arrive? Thankyou for the accomodation details. Sounds like you are going to have a great time too. All the best and thanks again for your reply

The islands you've chosen are well connected by ferries, and you will be arriving in Greece just after the busy Orthodox Easter weekend. You sound like an adventurous and energetic 60s couple (I am that age myself). What I am going to say won't appeal to those who like to have everything planned in advance to the last detail, or who are very particular about where they stay.

Since you are on a budget, you can save lots of money by finding accommodation when you arrive on each island. There are always people waiting at each port with rooms available at about half the price they charge for advance bookings. Early May is a time when there is a huge surplus of rooms on the islands, so hotel owners are willing to negotiate prices.

It would be a good idea to advance book for Athens, though, and perhaps also for Santorini. Do a search here on Fodor's and you will find many, many posts on accommodation in those two places.

You won't need to advance book ferry tickets in May. There are several ferries each day departing Piraeus and Rafina for the Cyclades, most leaving around 0700-0730. Likewise, Paros, Naxos, and Santorini, all on the Central Cyclades ferry route, are well connected. Mykonos is on a different ferry route, but in May will have connections to the others, mostly by passenger-only catamarans. Ferry timetables are usually published only a few weeks in advance, but one, Blue Star, is already out: http://tinyurl.com/y4gsfk and http://tinyurl.com/cj2lc.

hello wotuno

Once agian, I cannot say more than Heimdall. He gives you very good information.

In May we have thousands of students visiting us on Myconos one weekend. It is not good if you want a peacful few days here.

I will try and get details today when students visit us in 2008.

thanos

Thankyou all for your help. I will post more questions soon
Thanks again