Hello! We are planning a 10 night trip to Greece mid to late September. We have a list of places we would like to see, but would like a little guidance/feedback on the order of our travels. Here is what we have so far:

day 1: Athens
day 2: fly/ferry to santorini
day 3: santorini
day 4: santorini
day 5: take ferry to naxus
day 6: naxus
day 7: ferry to mykanos
day 8: mykanos
day 9:mykanos/ back to athens
day 10: athens, possible day trip to Delphi (any advice on the best way to get there?)

Is this too much for 10 nights? Should we choose between Mykanos and Naxus, and if so, which one would you recommend? It looks like Naxus is only a 2 hr ride from Santorini by traditional ferry. Is this a possibility for a day trip?

Thank you in advance for your feedback!

Overall it looks fine but a daytrip to Naxos is probably a waste of time since you'll only have a couple ofhours there before you'll have to be back at the port for the return to Santorini, IF there's even a workable connection in September!

Thanks for the response! Do you think it makes sense to split time between mykanos and naxus, or should we just pick one? Also, would you recommend Santorini or Mykanos as the first island (if it makes a difference)?

I'd eliminate Mykonos and focus on Santorini and Naxos. You can fly or ferry to both so it really doesn't matter which one you start with.

Hi Tannie,
I'm planning the same trip for Sept! Thanks to the all the help I got from here, we decided to go to santorini for 3 nights, and Naxos (or paros) for 4 night, and 2 nights at Athens at the end of the trip, just to make sure we will make our return flights to the states, in case there's a strike or something.

I haven't finalized my itinerary yet, but most likely we are flying straight to santorini after arriving in athen from US, then ferry from Santorini to Naxos, 4 nights there, with maybe 1 day trip to the near by island. then taking the morning ferry from Naxos to Athens.

Does this sound ok?
now I have to start looking for hotels......

I always recommend spending more time on an Island so you can really get into the mood of the place. So I would agree that in such a short time you choose two islands and really take the time to enjoy them. Santorini and Naxos are great companion islands, Santorini for its wonderful views and nightlife and Naxos for its laid back attitude, old town and Kastro area, mountain villages and very good beaches.
Here is an album of Naxos pictures to give you an idea of what to expect.
http://travel.webshots.com/album/570719132pdjjHG

Thanks so much for the responses, and the beautiful pictures. They are all a great help! We are also considering another option: Istanbul 3 nights, Santorini 4 nights, Athens 3 nights (day trip to Delphi). Has anyone does a similar trip to this? What are your thoughts?

If your budget allows for flying to these 3 destinations then your other option is fine. Otherwise you'll lose too much time taking ferries, and there's no ferry to Istanbul anyway which means entering Turkey somewhere else where you can make a ferry connection then taking a bus or flying the rest of the way to Istanbul.

Save Turkey for another vacation. Spend this one in Greece. Traveling between Istanbul and Santorini is difficult, and even if you go by air, ( through Athens, then connect back down to Santorini on another plane) you're going to lose almost an entire day of your vacation time.

I agree with Weadles. If you want the true experience than save the 10 days for Greece. If you're not really the party type than you could maybe consider switching Mykonos with something like Milos, or Kythnos (Kythnos is enough for 2 days, but its relaxing. Thermal springs, gorgeous beaches, and the whole nine).

Thanks everybody will be visiting in August Santorini, Rhodes and Mitylene but missing Mykonos, but reading all of the above suggestions, now I dont feel bad of missing Mykonos and going to Santorini instead. Thanks!

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Just to complicate things, I'd vote for Mykonos instead of Naxos. Especially in late September the hordes of tourists will not be a problem and the old town of Mykonos is the most beautiful in Greece, period. Naxos may be beautiful but is nowhere near as scenic, and if you only have 1 day you can't see all the beauties of Naxos, eg its mountain villages. But you can certainly spend a day walking in the Mykonos town.

I used to avoid Mykonos because I thought it was too crowded and commercialized, and to a certain extend it is, but when I first visited it I realized why it's the most famous among the Greek islands.

I have to disagree with micmic after just getting back from the gorgeous port town of Nauossa on Paros. Now that has got to be one of the most picturesque towns in Greece. Right up there with Oia on Santorini!

Wait... I talked about Naxos vs Mykonos and you mentioned Paros, so how do we disagree ? Anyway, it's nice that different opinions exist and of course even Greeks can't agree on which island is a must-see and which is not. For example, today there is the final of a TV show where Greeks have been voting their favorite places all over Greece. Among the top-10 there are 7 islands: Samos, Psara, Kalymnos, Kimolos, Syros, Paxi and Kefalonia. Not exactly the most popular destinations among tourists