Greece Itinerary -suggestions please
 

My boyfriend and I (both 27) are going on our first trip to Europe together this fall (Aug 26 - Sept 11). This is his first trip outside North America and my 5th to Europe but first to Greece.

We both love archeology, beautiful scenery, good food, being outside etc. We have no real interest in partying or bars. We will be doing this cheap (hostels, 2* hotels etc) and do not want to rent a car. We will be doing buses and train.

Here is our tentative plan:

Day 1: Arrive Athens Aug 27 (having taken overnight flight) - 1/2 day to orient ourselves
Day 2: Athens
Day 3: Athens
Day 4: Day trip - Delphi
Day 5: Day trip - where to on mainland?
Day 6: Day trip - mainland - where?
Day 7: Crete
Day 8: Crete
Day 9: Crete
Day 10: Crete
Day 11: Santorini (Thira)
Day 12: Santorini (Thira)
Day 13: Santorini (Thira)
Day 14: ?
Day 15: ? - evening return to Athens
Day 16: Fly home to Toronto

As you can see there is some opennings still.

Mainland - We have two days (Day 5 & 6) to either go elsewhere or day trips from Athens. What would you recommend? Mystra? Mt Olympus - this would be over night but is it worth it to go and try to climb?

Islands - Day 14 & 15 should we be spending more time in Crete and Santorini or should we try going to another island. Recommendations?

As you can see this is still very rough, but I"m so excited!

Thank you in advance.

Because of the unpredictability of the weather on the islands which effects the ferry timetables and sometimes stops the ferries altogether for a day or two with high winds, I suggest you rearrange your itinerary to leave Athens and the mainland for the end of your trip. This will give you plenty of time to re-adjust yours plans if you get hung up on an island somewhere and not put any stress on you to get back to Athens for your flight out. That being said, you can take a bus right from the airport to Piraeus then get the overnight ferry from Piraeus to Crete, then take the Flying Dolphin fast boat up to Santorini in 2 hours from Heraklion. When you're finished with these two islands you can easily go on to Ios, Paros, Naxos or Mykonos before returning to Athens for your exploration of the mainland.

On Santorini I can recommend the Youth Hostel Oia in the most beautiful and traditional village of Oia. It's the only hostel on the island with a fantastic sunset view. The rooms are clean and the whole hostel is very pleasant. There's a rooftop gazebo area for watching the sunset. If you want to see a couple of photos email me at [email protected] and make a reference to santorini or the youth hostel on the subject line so I don't delete as SPAM.

Here's a link to the ferry websites, but the schedules for the summer aren't posted yet:

http://www.gtp.gr/

http://www.greekislands.gr/hfd/

Thank you so much for reviewing my itinerary. I will definitely be taking your advice and we will do the islands first and the mainland after so that we have flexibility.

If you had a choice between visiting Mystra and Mount Olympus which would you go to? Or would you recommend neither?

Thanks again!

How about Meteora? I took a short tour, two nights to both Delphi and Meteora. Really enjoyed it. Another choice would be the hydrofoil to Aegina. There are wondeful ruins on top of the mountain and you're likely to have them all to yourself.

I've also seen 3 day bus tours advertised in the past. I recall one was Delphi, Olympia and Nafplion (Mycenae & Epidavros) and there are others like grasshopper mentioned.
I'm not a fan of bus tours but if you don't want to rent a car this might be an easier option than 3 seperate daytrips for Day 4, 5 & 6. Regards, Walter
p.s. Do a Search for socrates at the top of the page, I've written a post on the location of his prison and cell in the Athens' Agora that might interest you.

hi mat,

since you have not a lot of time available for crete, stay in chania and explore the western half of the island (rethymnon, samaria, elafonissi) . Allow yourself just an one (or even half) day trip to Knossos and Heraklion museum .

i also second brotherleelove to leave the athens/mainland part of your trip for the end . also, if you could rent a car then exploring the eastern and southern peloponnese would have been my suggestion, since its a fine combination of first class archeological sights and very scenic landscapes and small towns . i personally find mystras spectacular for the byzantine archtitecture and the pre-renaissance wall paintings . but it is quite difficult to enjoy your trip in the peloponnese without a car since you will probably miss the best attractions (nafplion, the mani and monemvassia) .

if you finally choose to do daytrips from athens then going the island of hydra must not be missed . it has a lovely small harbour, really picturesque and relaxing atmosphere there . it is an one hour and a half trip from piraeus by hydrofoil or catamaran . i wouldnt go for aegina , except if you want to visit the ancient temple of afaia, as grasshopper said, but in my opinion hydra is a clearly better destination .

enjoy...

on second thoughts i can understand that you might want to end your vacation in romantic santorini rather in athens, but in any case you should have an 1 or 2 day flexability at the end .

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. You've given us lots to think about. I'll betalking it all over with bf. It's much appreciated.

Do we have enough time allotted to th islands or will we be rushed?

Mount Olympus is not much...except that it's called Mt. Olympus. Try to continue to Meteora from Delphi. Oustanding. Good sights on the mainland are mostly in the Pelopones. Stay in Nafplio and visit Mystras, Monemvassia, Mycenae and Epidavros. You can't miss with any of these.

I agree with the recommendation for Nafplio. From here you can also visit the ancient citadel at Tiryns which is only a few kilometres.

For a daytrip from Athens i can suggest the island of Hydra. It's 1hour and a half from Pireus (which is 15min from downtown Athens) and i'm sure you'll enjoy it very much!