Athens First of Last
 

Hello! My fiance and I are planning our honeymoon in the Greek Islands for September '06. We would like to spend a couple days in Athens and were wondering if anyone could offer advice on whether we should do so at the beginning or end of the trip. We understand flights to Athens from the islands can be unpredictable due to the weather so we're leaning towards playing it safe and reserving a couple days towards the end of the trip. Any thoughts? Thanks,
Dan

Hey! Just went for our Honeymoon to Greek Islands also. Spend and stay at the GB - use the spa facilities daily (you do not need to pay for the spa...you'll see..amazing!!) Hit Athens first..stay max 2 days unless you have family there or stay in the beach area. (glyfada). Hit a bouzakia - best experience ever! It's very very very very hot in Aug - at times, we couldn't handle being outdoors! Pay the extra for the HOneymoon package on the GB website. very very worth it! (includes breakfast in bed, etc.)
Go first, go home with a tan. Airlines are reliable, but only fly Aegean. Best of luck!

It's not the flights that are so unpredictable, it's the ferries. High winds and mechanical breakdowns are not uncommon, whereas a commercial jet can take off and land even if the wind is up (to a point, obviously).

I agree with jamesandi, stick with Aegean Airlines, they're much more reliable not to mention less expensive.

If you're going to fly in and out of the islands it really doesn't matter when you explore Athens, but if you choose to see it first give yourself a day there at the end just in case there is an unexpected delay in the islands.

thank you both for the info. Jamesandi, what islands did you visit? we definitely want to make it to Santorini and Mykonos but are still up in the air with crete and others.

We just went to Santorini and Mykonos. We had also visited Venice, Florence and Rome, which were pretty incredible also. We are thinking of doing Crete and the Cote D'Azur this year...
FYI - max 4 days in Santorini. 3 is even good. I could have stayed a week in Mykonos...and yes, just check out Paradise beach...it's not that crazy! Let me know if you need anything else!

We did Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Crete, Athens in September last year. The weather was perfect and there was no problem with our flight from Crete to Athens. If you decide to do ferries, make sure you actually reserve a seat, it's worth the extra. We learned this after our very first ferry from Athens to Mykonos where we were lucky to get hard plastic chairs on the open deck. We stayed one night in Athens at each end of the trip but would recommend an extra day at the start as we were exhausted when we left via ferry the very next day for Mykonos. Luckily we found Mykonos to be so beautiful and relaxing we spent most of our daylight hours at the pool/beach. The Mykonos Grand was fantastic. Two nights in Santorini would be more than enough. The value and facilities at the Mythos Palace in Crete were wonderful but the people at the hotel and the people on the island were not friendly or helpful. Greece is well worth the time, enjoy.

One of the reasons I fly from the islands is just what Brotherleelove pointed out - they are more reliable than the ferries.

As for Aegean vs Olympic, so far I have had 100% reliability with Olympic, and you can't get better than that. I'm not saying they are better than Aegean, but they do fly to many more destinations in the Greek islands. Aegean, being a private fleet, can cherrypick the best routes.