First time in Greece
 

Although we are seasoned travelers, we have never been to Greece. Both 65 and active, we would like to go for 2-3 weeks in late Sept. or Oct. Any thoughts on a skeletal itinerary, with which we could start and research further? Thank you in advance!!

Hello!
I'm affraid your question is far far too general. What your interests are? Are you willing to hire a car? On what kind of pace you move around usually on your trips? Budget concerns? Mainland or islands or a combo? Any generic ideas/pointers such as "I'd like to hike a 3-4 hours trail every few days" or " Viting X is a must for us" or "I'd like to attend a cooking or sailing lesson" or "A spa hotel or sandy beach would be nice for a couple of days" or "I do not want to drive more than 4 hours per day" or "I get seasick easily and want to avoid long ferry rides" or ...? whatever really....

We just returned from two weeks in Greece. We visited Athens, ancient Corinth, Naxos and Santorini. We are a group of 4 siblings and spouses ranging in age from 65-75 and fairly active. We planned the trip on our own with my sister in law doing most of the arranging - ferry tickets, vacation rentals, etc. She did a great job and the trip was marvelous!

We spent two full days in Athens visiting the Acropolis and Parthenon and the new Acropolis Museum for one full day and taking a short tour of Athens on the second day.

We took the ferry (Blue Star) to Naxos and thoroughly enjoyed the trip We spent 5 nights on Naxos which we loved. We stayed at Paradise VIlla in the village of Orcas. The rental was beautiful, overlooking the sea and a couple of minutes walk to a very nice beach. We had a rental van which was necessary for us as we were fairly remotely located. We hiked, explored Naxos town, drove through a series of small villages, mostly in the interior and really loved this experience. We took a day trip to Paros and were happy we had chosed Naxos.

We took the ferry to Santorini where we stayed for 6 nights at Fava Ecoresidence, a lovely old villa in Finikia, outside or Oia, overlooking the ssea. We did not use a car on Santorini as the rental was a 5-10 minute walk from a road and not an easy walk at that with a lot of rough cobbled paths and steep steps. But we loved our rental. While on Oia, we walked a lot, visited ancient Akrotiri, where we had a superb guide. We also visited a nice winery about 25-30 minute hike from our rental. We had very good wine and delicious food there.

We loved Greece - the beauty, the weather and the people were amazing. Despite their problems, the Greeks could not have been more welcoming or charming. In fact, it was difficult to discern the economic problems unless we asked. All were very happy to talk about the financial woes. While some in our group were a bit concerned in advance about the acceptance of credit cards and the availability of ATMs, we did not have a single issue with the use of cards.

A couple of surprises. I did a lot of research before departure on restaurants. We all love good food and were looking forward to Greek food. All in all, the food was OK but we never had a really good meal. We were also looking forward to the legendary sunsets. We had perfect weather the entire 2 weeks but never saw a really good sunset, let alone a spectacular one.

We flew back to Athens the day before our departure and took a tour of ancient Corinth. Thanks to my sister in law and the flexibility of all of us, the trip went off without a major hitch and we all enjoyed it tremendously.
Not sure what the weather will be like in the fall but I would suggest that you let us know a little more of your interests so we can be of some help.

Thank you for your responses. mamcalice: very helpful. We will look at your itinerary in more detail and get back with you.
mariha2912: we appreciate your questions and will be back with more information shortly.

It would be best if you get hold of a guide book that includes a summary of what the authors think are the highlights of Greece. There are several areas between which are not necessarily easy to connect without backtracking to Athens requiring you to chose which areas you want to focus on. Mamcalice just described Cyclades and to the beginning of Peloponnese. There are also Dodecanese islands in the Aegean, Ionian islands on Italian side. Beyond Corinth remain the main part of Peloponnese and finally to the north including Meterora, Delphi, Thessaloniki, King Philip II and Alexander the Great tombs at Vergina, and other. If you ask a general question, you get recommendation on perhaps one or two of these areas.

Mamcalice what a great post and very helpful for the rest of us also planning trips to Greece.

There is also Epirus, the Sporades islands, the islands of North East Aegean ( Lesvos, Samos, Chios ,Lemnos) Chalkidiki, Crete, the list is endless.

It would be advisable to do some basic research first to see what is more aqppealing to you, and then ask for help in the forum sharing as many details about your interests and likes as possible, so that you can get recommendations in the right direction. :)

We are doing our research and will be back in touch. Thanks for now!

Don't forget the Peloponnes.

Take a look at Matt Barretts website on Greeece. He has been around for awhile & has a wealth of information
We are going on our 3rd trip to Greece in September & I love the weather at that time.

I was in Greece in October and the weather was sunny, hot and a little muggy. I think I would have preferred to go in November when it cools down a little. Two days in Athens is perfect and then I'd hire a car and travel around the Pelopponese for 4 to 5 days then fly to Santorini for 4 days.

virginiafish,
In 2011, we went to Greece from mid-September to early October for 2 1/2 weeks. We spent 6 nights on Crete, staying in Chania (4nights), Matala (1 night), and Iraklion (1 night). We then took a ferry to Santorini for 3 nights, staying in Oia, and, from there, Naxos for 4 nights. I had planned to do a day trip to Delos & Mykonos, but the ferries were canceled because of rough water. We ended in Athens for 3 nights.

We were pleased with the itinerary; it was a good selection of very different islands. If you're interested, here is my trip report/diary from 2011:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...tober-2011.cfm

Paule

More thanks. Life and work have gotten in the way, but this weekend, will read the trip reports, etc.

Hi Virginia, why don't you get a hold of a virtual guide, something like www.greekguide.com, which will give you a quick overview of the best places to see where you go and ideas for trips? Hope you enjoy your trip, Greece is still great to visit despite the scary economy!