Getting to Mykonos & Santorini
 

After many discussions and going back and forth we've decided to go to Greece instead of Eastern Europe. After doing a preliminary check on flights, I'm feeling complelled to book my flights this week as the prices are so high. Any inputs on this itinerary would be apprecaited. We have a total of 9 nights (finalizing the dates, but either the end of June or beginning of July)and not sure of how to break down the number of nights in each city (suggestions welcome). After flying into Athens from the US we'll go directly to one of the islands and stay in Athens at the later part of the trip.

Mykonos: 2 or 3 nights
Santorini: 2 or 3 nights
Athens: 3 or 4 nights

Inbound: US to Athens and then either fly or take the ferry to either Mykonos or Santorini.
a. Does it matter much which island we go to first? We were thinking which ever one we decide to stay the 3 nights in as it will give us time to adjust to the time before having to leave so soon.

b. Also, it seems to take one hour by flight from Athens to either island, but how long do the ferry or other water transport take and pricing (if there's a link pls. pass it along)? I'm sure we'll have to coordinate each of these with our inbound flight.

c. Water transport between the islands

d. Should we fly from either one of the islands back to Athens or water transport?

e. Any suggestions you'd like to give for Mykonos or Santorini hotels would be apprecaited. Luckily, we have points we'll use at the Athens Ledra Marriott. Anyone stayed here & how was your expierence?

Thank you :-)

You can reach both islands in about the same time. I recommend you spend the extra time on Santorini, it's a very relaxing island, especially the most timeless village of Oia. I truly think that 3 days in Athens is more than enough time.

There is a highspeed ferry that will take you between these two islands.
http://www.ferries.gr/hfd/. The trip takes about 2 hours, so it's actually a shorter time than it would take you to go from one island to the other by flying back through Athens. The schedule for next June is not available, but it will be similar to the one on this website.

On Santorini I suggest you stay in Oia at either the Aspaki Suites or the Oia Castle. The suites has a fantastic view of the caldera and the Castle has a spectacular view of the sunset. www.artmaisons.gr

Aegean Airlines has very inexpensive flights to these islands on sale now. Check their website to see if there are any 19 euro tickets left for your chosen days of travel.

http://www.aegean-air.gr/aegeanen/home/

Thanks for the great info. My hesitation was to fly between the island and you've reconfirmed that it's best to Ferry it.

This I'm sure is a silly question, but can I purchase the discounted fares from the US? I know I had issues with train tickets last year for Trenitalia so our hotel purchased it for us.

How far in advance do you need to purchae the Ferry tickets and get to the Ferry "dock" for the trip to and from Mykonos & Santorini and to check-in at the airport for the flight to get from one of the islands back to Athens?


I'm sure there are more questions, but have to get ready for work. :-(

By discounted fares if you mean the airline tickets, yes, you can using the Aegean website. I just did this myself and have done it before. Just keep an eye out for schedule changes. This just happened to me. Yesterday I noticed that my flight departure time from Athens to Santorini had changed, so I contacted Aegean to request a different departure time and they accomodated me with no argument.

I've never done this, but I know that you can also book from the US using Hellenic Seaways' website for ferry tickets: http://www.hellenicseaways.gr/index.asp?a_id=209. Because of your arrival dates it's probably a good idea to do so. With ticket in hand you only need to be at the ferry port before boarding begins.

For a domestic flight it's a good idea to give yourself at least an hour before check-in. Aegean's tickets are E-tickets, so when you arrive you just give your paperwork to the ticket agent and they will give you a boarding pass.

I went to the Hellenic Seaways' site and wanted to check the schedule, but I don't see Santorini or Thia as an option. Would it be under a different name.

Can a travel agent book the discounted fares or would it be for direct. purchase? This way, they can monitor it if I miss any changes.

Is Olympic Airlines as bad as I've read? They don't have the discounted rate, but may offer more flexible with connections.

This website shows the pertinent schedules (under Cyclades), but understand that booking for next year will not be possible for awhile because the schedules are not yet decided upon.

http://www.hellenicseaways.gr/index.asp?a_id=209

Here's another:

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

I think the airfares a travel agency can find will be the same as what you can find online. As far as I know the only way they can book tickets for you is by doing it online as well. If you do this through a travel agency be sure to check for yourself for schedule changes, don't leave it 100% up to a travel agency, they might not catch it until the last minute. Also, be sure you're getting the lowest price from your agent. If they quote you more than 19 Euro plus applicable taxes and you see that there are still 19 euro tickets available on the website, buy them yourself.

Although many visitors to Greece use Olympic as often as Aegean, their reputation is a negative one for higher prices, late arrivals and departures, lost baggage and cancelled flights. For some islands you don't have a choice, Olympic is the only airlines servicing certain islands, and to be fair, some travellers don't have any problems with them at all.

Ferry schedules aren't released until around March. I found it easier to book my ferry tickets through a Greece-based travel agent, who also did my hotel bookings and got me a slightly better rate than I could have gotten myself. That's not always true, though.

You can book a flight on Aegean anytime, but hey do tend to add more flights as the season progresses. I bought my tickets for May travel in February and snagged one of the last 19-euro tickets for the May flights. Just be aware that your "19-euro" ticket actually ends up costly about 40 euros with all the taxes.

Just in the past week Aegean Air changed its flight schedule from Athens to Santorini for next summer. I am traveling in late June 07 and for the last couple of months whenever I checked the schedule to Santorini there were two flights daily one at 1120 and one at 1800. The earlier one was still 19 Euros, but the later one was 54 Euros. But, when I checked on Nov 30 for late June 07 there were now 4 flights daily and they were all 19 Euros. There was no flight at 1800, but there was one at 1900, which I booked. The lesson is to always keep checking, but also book the 19 Euros fares when you can. I looked today and for my travel date of June 26 one of the four flights is no longer available at that fare.

What is the procedure proper procedure to follow if a flight you've booked has been either cancelled or rescheduled?

I've also been trying to find a number for Aegean Airlines for the states, but only have found one in Greece. Does one exist?

"What is the procedure proper procedure to follow if a flight you've booked has been either cancelled or rescheduled?"

If you mean with Aegean, the first time it happened to me I sent them an email telling them my reservation code and E-Ticket number, informing them that my flight had been cancelled. But before I wrote to them I chose an alternative flight. In my email I asked to be booked on that flight, and in just a few days they sent me an email confirming the change. They were very efficient and did not charge me anything.

Just 2 days ago I noticed the same thing on my upcoming flight but this time I called them last night and gave them all of the same information and asked them to change my flight to the one I chose to replace the original. In about 12 hours I received an email confirming the change, again at no charge to me.

Aegean has no office in the U.S. You'll have to either call them in Athens or send them an email. Look under "Contact Info" on their website.

http://www.aegean-air.gr/aegeanen/home/

Rohani,
I am in California, so when I had to call the Aegean Airline customer service in Athens, I called at around midnight to 011302106261000 and they took care the reservation I had difficulty with on their website. It took few e-mails before they replied to me, however, I found it to be easier to call them.

Thank you all again! I've just sent my email to our travel agent and hope that those flights work out with the Aegean flights available. Fingers crossed.

I too am in CA so midnight should be fine to call.

We stayed at the Belvedere Hotel in Mykonos in late September. Great pool, view, clean and beautiful property. I'm sure you know this but Mykonos can get party crazy during the summer so book way in advance.

http://www.belvederehotel.com/main.htm

Rohani,
For our upcoming trip to Greece(Easter vacation), I planned everything with all the suggestions I got here plus these two sites. They are very complete and helpful:
www.athensguide.com
www.greecetravel.com

Thank you for the hotel info. I will surely look into it. I did some research on some of the hotels that got raves from this site and they are very pricey or had mixed reviews on Trip Advisor. We don't want to go cheap, but I certainly don't want to sell my house. If possible, I'd like to have my cake and eat it too! :-)

Does 200E to 250E seem reasonable for these destinations?

We also can't decide between Fria and Oia. I've read the comments and aware that Fria tends to be nosier, touristy, etc.. but still can't decide. It seems that Oia is more expensive. Is this correct?

We stayed at the Albergo Senato right by the Pantheon in Rome last year for those that are familir with the hotel and it's right by the Pantheon and the nose and liveliness didn't bother us.

There are plenty of less-expensive accomodations on Santorini. In Oia take a look at the Delfini Hotel, Anemomilos Hotel, Musses Studios, Thea Studios, Studios Margarita and Olympic Villas.

brotherleelove: Without having looked into the hotels you've just suggested they sound as they may have kitchenettes. Is this true?

Any suggestions for Fira and Mykonos?

I'm not sure about all of them, but Musses, Delfini, Thea's and Anemomilos all do.

Right next to Fira is Firostefani, just a short stroll from everything. Check out the Blue Dolphins Apartments there.

3 Days Santorini, 2 Mykonos and the rest in Athens is fine as brotherleelove2004 suggested.
I may add one more hotel suggestion in Mykonos; Apanema Resort. (17 bedroom hotel by Tagoo, close to town center and away from the noise :-)

While travelling in Greece, 1 time I had the opportunity to travel light with a briefcase only for a day trip, arrived Kavala and found out only by the taxi driver my return flight with Olympic was cancelled due to strike. Becouse my arrival flight was Aegean and my travel agent could not reach me on my mobile. Was OK and I managed to continue my scedule without loosing much time. Imaret in Kavala was worth missimg the flight :-) I found Aegean very comfortable, efficient and dynamic. Overall ferry & flight system in Greece works pretty good. I still prefer to use a travel agent to compile all the travel itinerary I have. (probably becouse I am from the industry and use travel agent services often)
I like travelling in Greece and its people probably becouse I am Turkish :-)

Happy Travelling

Murat