lisamarie_25

I need some travel advice on how to travel between islands. My husband and I are going to Greece April 14-25 and I will be 5 months pregnant. When we went to Paris and Italy we booked our flight and when we got there we booked everything else day by day and I wanted to know if Greece will be just as easy. I want some advice on were to stay in Athens, Crete, Santorini, and Rhodes and the best way to travel to each. I have no idea what the Greek ferry system is like and what to expect. Any and all advice is welcome!!!
Thanks-Lisa

Weadles

lisamarie25,

I visited all the places on your itinerary last July. I'd be happy to make some suggestions, but what's your budget?

I would suggest maximizing your time by connecting straight through Athens to Rhodes. It's about an hour flight.

From Rhodes, you can fly to Heraklion,Crete. You could overnight there to visit the archaeological museum ( if it's open right now??), or take a car/bus to Chania, about a two hour drive.

Chania is an old port city that dates from Venetian times. There's a wonderful mix of cultures- Greek, Turkish, Italian- a covered bazaar, a WW2 museum, and a lively harbor to explore. Day trips could include visits to some of Crete's best beaches, ruins, as well as the famous Samaria Gorge.

Unfortunately, you can't fly or ferry from Chania to Santorini, so you have to go back to Herkalion. From Heraklion, there's a morning ( in the summer, anyway!) hydrofoil to Santorini. Trip time is just under 2 hours.

From Santorini, you can either take the ferry to Piraeus, the port in Athens, or fly. The ferry takes, I think, about 7 hours, so I'd recommend the flight which is about 45 minutes!

brotherleelove2004

It's not necessary to book ahead in the islands in April. With a little advance research so you know where on the island you might want to stay you will have the option of booking through one of the room-finders businesses at the ports or from those locals meeting the ferries. You can also call ahead from wherever you are to a hotel you've researched to see if they have room for you (use an OTE phone card and public phone for this). It's also possible just to go to the village of your choice and look for "domatia" and "rooms to let" signs or ask around in the various shops for rooms.

lisamarie_25

I am not sure what our budget is. We would like to spend about 100/night. How are the buses from Heraklion to Chania. Costs? I looked into flights and they are about 100/per person. My main question is will we be fine getting to Crete from Athens and figuring out our travel from there or do we need to book ahead?

brotherleelove2004

Again yes, you'll be fine not booking ahead in April. Getting from Athens to Chania should pose no problems. In April there's a daily Helennic Seaways Highspeed ferry departing Athens/Piraeus at 3:45 PM, arriving at 8:15 PM, and a daily Anek Lines overnight car ferry departing at 9:00 PM and arriving at 5:30 AM.

to get from Chania to Heraklion requires a bus change in Rethymnon.

Chania>Rethymnon: 6 Euro, 1 hour.

Rethymnon>Heraklion: 6.5 euro, 1.5 hours.

http://www.bus-service-crete-ktel.com/timetables2.html

Take the bus from Chania to Heraklion sometime the day before your ferry to Santorini so you have time in Heraklion to go to the Palace of Knossos. Unfortuately the archaeological museum won't be open.

VAZ

Hi, can someone also tell me more information on the bus services from Heraklion to Chania? We feel that Chania is more interesting than Heraklion,plus nicer beaches, so we'd like to get there. What do you think?

Thanks for any information you can provide on this.

Regards

Weadles

Actually Chania itself doesn't have nice beaches, but there is at least one that is about an hour away by bus. ( I've forgotten the name!!).

Chania's definitely worth a visit, though. It's a charming port city with a great mix of cultures ( Venetian, Turkish, Greek) and lovely harbour area.

KayF

Aegean Air fly direct from Athens to Chania/Hania (same place). We are going there early Oct.

I'm no expert, but you could look at flying into Athens, fly to Chania on Crete, catch a ferry to Santorini then another ferry to Rhodes then fly back to Athens.

From what I've read about the Samaria Gorge, I wouldn't do it if you are 5 months pregnant. Sounds quite a difficult hike.

In Rhodes we stayed in the Old Town which we loved, so much atmosphere. If you can afford to stay somewhere on Santorini with a caldera view, go for it. We stayed at a hotel without a view and were sorry afterwards we didn't splash out a bit and get the view. There are loads of bars and cafes with the view though, so you won't miss out.

Kay

sheila

You can fly from Athens to Chania, or get a ferry to Souda, a few miles outside.

Buses from Iraklion to Chania are frequent and cheap.

In April you need not book ahead.

But you won't be needing the beaches, except to look at. Not in April

brotherleelove2004

Sheila and KayF, look at the date of the original posting as well as the travel dates. Lisamarie has been a mommie for a month now.

KayF

Thanks brotherleelove, those American style dates always confuse me. I thought she meant next year. Maybe it will help someone else doing some planning.

KarenKM

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