First Timers to Greece - Need some Help
 

After much flip-flopping, my husband and I finally got tix to Greece. We were going back and forth between Italy and Greece, but got some great tix with our ff miles that we couldn't pass up.

Here is our itinerary:

Arrive in Athens - 9 a.m. Monday May 28th
Monday, May 28th - take flight to Santorini
Stay at Musses Studios for 2 nights in Oia

Wednesday, May 30th - catch a ferry to Folegandros
Stay at Anemomilos apartments for 4 nights

Sunday, June 3rd - catch a ferry back to Santorini. Stay one night in Endless Blue at Aspaki.

Monday, June 4th - catch a flight back to Athens and spend last night in Athens

Tuesday, June 5th - catch 11 a.m. flight back to US

My first question is whether this itinerary makes sense. I hadn't thought of splitting Santorini up until I talked with Cornelia at Anemomilos. She told me that there were daily connections between Santorini and Folegandros and that this would make planning much easier.

The reason for staying at Aspaki only one night (I don't see anything on there website about minimum stays, so hopefully this is doable) is mainly price. The prices rise on June 1st and they are booked the week before. We are trying to keep our prices down where possible - without doing a total budget trip. Is Aspaki worth the splurge for a night? We thought it would be a good way to cap off the end of our Islands visit.

My husband and I are in our mid-late twenties and are looking for a relaxing vacation that will allow us to see some culture and for him to take some great pictures. He is a big photographer. We are pretty active, though, and wanted to be places that would allow us the opportunity to so some active things, also.

Does it seem like our itinerary is allowing this?

Brotherleelove - I have read a bunch of your posts and your info has really helped me with the Santorini choices. Do you still have the pics of Musses? I haven't found anything online.

Also, any recs for hotel in Athens the night before we leave that is safe and convenient?

Thanks,
Jenny

Hi Jenny-

Yes, I do have some 'so-so' pics of the Musses Studios, let me have your email address and I'll send them to you.

The itinerary you've laid out is a bit fragmented for such a short trip, but understandable if you need to return to Santorini for your flight. The idea of spending your last night at the Endless Blue is great, you won't regret the decision. I agree, it's an excellent way to cap off your island experience.

Just curious: any reason why you can't fly to Santorini on the first morning plane and go directly to the ferry port to catch a ride to Folegandros, then return to Santorini to split your time between Musses and Endless Blue? The Santorini>Folegandros ferry has a 9:00 or 10:00 departure time, and there's an early-morning Aegean Airlines plane from Athens that will get you to Santorini with plenty of time to spare to get a taxi to the ferry port. AND the ticket is only 19 Euro plus taxes (approx. 40 Euro total). Just a thought.........

http://www.aegeanair.com/aegeanen/home/index.asp

I forgot to mention that there are several hotels nearby to Syntagma Square, within easy walking distance, so you could catch the Airport Express bus to make it to that early flight. The bus leaves from next to Syntagma every half hour all night long.

Check the Pan Hotel, Arethusa Hotel, Electra Hotel, Magna Grecia Hotel and the Hotel Plaka.

Thanks BLL. My email is [email protected]

I'm not totally following you on getting to Folegandros the first day. We arrive at 9 a.m. and then looking at Aegean it seems we'll grab the 11 a.m. flight to Santorini. Was your suggestion of grabbing the early morning flight, assuming that we would stay in Athens that first night and actually go to Santorini on Tuesday?

on your request for a hotel in Athens that is safe and convenient, here are a few that are clean and pleasant and well-located:

Amazon Hotel - close to Syndagma with buses and metro to airport

AVA Hotel - inside Plaka, a few minutes walk to the Akropoli metro station, larger rooms than many Athens hotel

Adrian Hotel - love the rooms with Acropolis views. nothing like lying in bed at night having the lit-up Akropolis be one of your last memories of Greece. Inside Plaka and a short walk to the Monastiraki metro station.

Attalos Hotel - budget hotel that has no charm but is well-located with cheap rooms. Close to Monastiraki metro station.

Cypria Hotel - on a quiet street, a few rooms have Acropolis views from their balconies, close to Syndagma with buses and metro to airport

Yes, sorry, I didn't read your first posting close enough to realize you were going to santorini the same day of your arrival in Greece.

Check your email.

Thanks for all the directions. This sounds great. I'm going to go ahead and get our Aegean tix. I heard that Monday, May 28th is a holy day. Flights seem to be available, do I need to worry about taxis or transportation on Santorini, though?

There should be no problem with transportation. There will be taxis waiting at the airport. Not knowing how many taxis will be available when you arrive, one of you should go outside to secure a taxi while the other collects your bags. Or, to be on the "safe side" since it is a relgious holiday, ask your hotel to arrange an airport pickup. Usually this costs just 5 euro more than the normal taxi fare.

Thanks BLL. One more question. Our hostess in Folegandros had mentioned that there is daily service between Santorini and Folegandros (thus planning the itinerary as we have). You also mentioned times for the ferry out of Santorini to Folegandros. Which website do I need to look at for Santorini to Folegandros? The one I'm looking at shows a Wednesday connection and return on Saturday - but I don't see daily. Do the dailies start as we getter closer to high season or am I just looking at the wrong service?

If there aren't dailies already they will begin as soon as demand dictates. I'm not sure when that is.

These two websites will tell you, as soon as those schedules are available.

www.gtp.gr

www.openseas.gr

I have been to Folegandros 5 times in May/June, there were never daily ferries to Santorini.
There is a local rust bucket ferry that 'might' offer daily services in recent years, but you can never rely on these sort of boats. The larger car ferries are not very regular with gaps of up to 3 days to 'anywhere' from Folegandros. Thus I worry about your itinerary, you should have some flexibility to catch a ferry directly from Folegandros to Piraeus it would save a lot of dodging around on the ferries.
You need to contact the ferry agents on the islands concerned about ferries, it's not a problem they all have boards outside showing the services.
I hope you find this useful, I have stayed on over 20 Cyladic islands so have considerable practical experience of ferry travel in the area.

We've booked our hotel in Santorini for the Sunday night. We'll play the ferries by year as we get closer. I think we'll go ahead and book our flight from athens to Santorini on Monday and then back the following MOnday - figuring out exactly which days we'll go to Folegandros once the ferry schedules are posted. Thanks everyone.

So I double checked with Cornelia at Anemomilos and she again said that right now they have daily connections to Santorini, and that in May they will have still have a lot more connections through Santorini than Athens (for what it is worth).

We've also been slowly booking the flights to Santorini and the Aegean website is the wierdest one I've ever used. I found that it was much cheaper to book two single tickets for my husband and I, rather than booking two at the same time. I also found that within 2 minutes the prices would change. The same flight went from 56E last night, to 75 a few minutes later and then down to 37 today. So far we have 3 of the 4 tickets booked as I'm waiting for the last one to come back down. Quite strange.

Thanks for all the travel help.