Greece Itinerary
 

Hi all- Planning a trip to Greece with my husband and 2 teen/pre-teen kids. Have not previously been and would love your thoughts on the itinerary I have outlined:
Arrive in Athens
2 nights in Athens
Fly to Paros
2 nights in Paros
ferry to santorini
2 nights in Santorini
ferry to crete
4 nights in Crete
Fly back to Athens
1 night in Athens
Fly back to US

I think your plans are way too rushed, especially when you consider that 2 nights only yields one full day for sightseeing. In particular, Crete is a large island and with only 3+ days you'll have to be very selective about what you choose to see.

If you decide to keep Crete in your plans, you could perhaps fly to Crete on arrival in Greece and wind your way back to Athens by ferry. Ferries are a quintessential part of the experience of travelling in Greece.

Dreamon is right.

Wouldn't it make more sense to put all nights in Athens at the end of your trip and, on the day your plane arrives in Athens, without first spending a night in Athens, take a ferry or another flight to Paros, Santorini, or Crete? It looks like you have 11 nights total. Crete is too a big an Island to just say "4 nights in Crete). You could split your time between Heraklion and Chania. That is all you will have time for in 4 nights/3 full days. Heraklion and Chania are approximately a 3 hour bus ride apart. You will need to figure out how many nights in each city on Crete you will spend.

Last year we flew from Boston to Santorini with a layover in Zurich. I know that some people fly to Athens, and then fly to an island on a separate ticket. That means getting your luggage in Athens, and checking it again for your domestic flight. You have to make sure you have enough time before your flight to the island. I prefer the way we did it. Our flights were on one ticket. We didn’t see our luggage until we arrived in Santorini, and if we missed our connection in Zurich, the airline is responsible for putting us on the next available flight.

I think you have too many 2 night stays and too many destinations. I would save Crete for another trip. A possible itinerary could be:
Santorini - 3 nights
Paros - 4 nights
Athens - 4 nights

This will be a more rewarding and more relaxing trip.

Try to fly from ATH or any other European airport) to Paros, Santorini, Heraklion or Cahnia a few hrs after arrival.
You waste way too much time if you go first to the center of Atehns and 2 days later again back to the airport.
Stay only once in the city of Athens, at the end of the trip, as suggested above.

Another vote for slowing down. KarenWoo's plan looks good to me. Especially with kids, you need to slow it down a bit. It will be more enjoyable for all if there is less rushing around.

Ditto to the plan KarenWoo suggests. Your itinerary is moving very quickly and you won’t be able to experience much of the locations at that rate. I would also eliminate Crete and focus on enjoying the other places at a more comfortable pace.