Jenn_Mitch

Hi all,
We're getting closer to planning the details of our two week trip to Greece in Sept '09. We've decided on an island itinerary of Athens- Mykonos-Paros-Naxos-Santorini-Athens, leaving a few days at the end in Athens prior to departure back to Canada. We will be arriving by plane in Athens and hope to immediately take a ferry to start on the island itinerary above (Mykonos-Paros-Naxos-Santorini) but it does not need to be in this order..these are just the islands we've decided on.
My problem has been trying to figure out the ferry schedules, as it seems that a ferry from Piraeus to Mykonos is possible, but getting from Mykonos to any other island above is not easily possible. Also, ferries from the other islands to Mykonos seem mysterious as well.
Does anyone have ay suggestions on the best sequence of the islands for 1) the least time spent on the ferries and 2)deciphering the ferry schedules. I've visited greekferries.com and ferries.gr and looked at one way and multi-leg trips but none allow Mykonos as part of the trip. I realize I must be missing some vital part of the ferry-scheduling knowledge as Mykonos is noted as one of "the" islands for tourists to visit, for various reasons, as is Santorini.
Any help and insight you can provide would be appreciated!
Jenn

brotherleelove2004

Your original island sequence is fine. There are several ferries from both Piraeus and Rafina to Mykonos, with the ones from Rafina being of shorter duration. From Mykonos there's a highspeed ferry to Paros, and from Paros you can take another ferry to Naxos where you will be able to catch another ferry the rest of the way to Santorini. Because, in terms of the ferry routes, Mykonos is in a separate region of the Cyclades from Paros, Naxos and Santorini, your confusion is understandable. These are very popular ferry routes and in September you won't have any problems at all making the connections you'll need, you'll just have to be patient. The ferry schedules for September are not yet fixed, so what you can find at this time is very limited. Blue Star Ferries has already published its timetables on their own website, which includes timetables for departures from both Piraeus and Rafina broken down into low, medium and high season:

http://www.bluestarferries.com.

You can also see one of the schedules for the highspeed ferry that connects Mykonos with Santorini here:

http://www.ferries.gr/hfd/

There will be more available for your consideration as the season progresses on both the following ferry schedule websites:

http://www.gtp.gr

http://www.openseas.gr/OPENSEAS/index_en.vm

If advance booking of these ferries is something you're concerned about, just know that you have plenty of time, and anyway it's not really critical to book in advance of your arrival in Greece for the month of September.

Heimdall

Most of the Mykonos ferries depart from Rafina, which is much closer to the airport anyway. Several ferries leave Rafina around 7:30-8:00am, and a few more in the afternoon. There are also several daily flights to Mykonos from Athens Airport, so you have lots of options.

I agree that the sequence of islands as listed is fine, and would choose exactly the same order myself. Don't worry about booking ferries in advance - there will be plenty of free seats - you just buy your tickets on each island a day or two before you move on. You can buy tickets to Mykonos at the airport, or wait until you get to the port.

Jenn_Mitch

Brotherleelove and Heimdall, your comments are very well received...we've booked our flights (7 months in advance - a first for me but the seat sale was good).
We've booked Sept 4th from Halifax which puts us in Athens mid afternoon Sept 5th, and return Sept 22. With your advice I'll look to booking accomodations first, with the caveat that we can be flexible with ferry schedules. I'd like to stick with the Mykonos-Paros-Naxos-Santorini schedule. I appreciate your posts - and no doubt will be sending more requests for help in the months to come!
Jenn

Heimdall

Congratulations on getting a good price for your tickets to Greece! Early-mid Sep is one of the best times of year - crowds are gone, and the water is perfect for swimming.

You are arriving mid-afternoon on a Saturday. Chances are you will be too late for the afternoon ferries to Mykonos, but there is another way to get there the same day - bear with me.

Looking at 2008 timetables, the last ferry to leave Rafina on the first Sat of Sep was at 5:00pm, and the last from Piraeus (a highspeed) was 5:45pm. You will need a minimum of two hours from landing to get to Rafina, and three to Piraeus. It is risky to plan from last year's timetables, and the Sep 2009 schedules won't be released until Jul or Aug.

Okay, your other option, and the best, IMO, is to fly to Mykonos with Aegean Airlines, and <i>you can book your seats right now</i>. Aegean has flights to Mykonos in the afternoon at 4:30, 6:00, and 9:30, taking 35 minutes. The Aegean website, http://www.aegeanair.com/, is showing Saver fares for the 6pm flight at only €68.48 inc taxes. You will need a minimum of two hours layover to safely make the connecting flight.

travelerjan

Heimdall is right; don't dither around, get er done.

travelerjan

Anybody notice that this Evi2009 person is reviving all kinds of old threads in order to plug this e-tourism website??? I have seen it on many questions, and on several forums. I think the Fodor's moderator should take a look at this promoting strategy.