Greece mid-October?
 

Three couples in their early 60s want to travel to Greece mainland and islands. 5/6 have not been there. Is 10 days to two weeks a good amount of time? Any itinerary suggestions? All enjoy walking, food, culture and history. Any thoughts on hiring a guide/tour company? Side trip to Turkey?

I've no idea which islands you are interested in, so the following may not apply to you:

Every inhabited Greek island has year-round ferries, but not all are connected with one another. Just be aware that after the 20th of October all the ferry connections between Mykonos and Santorini have stopped for the winter. Catamaran service between Crete and Santorini ends on October 15th, leaving only one conventional ferry per week.

There will be no problem getting from Athens to Santorini on the daily Blue Star route, which also has stops on Paros and Naxos. There are also flights from Athens to Santorini and many other islands. Every Greek island with an airport is less than an hour's flying time from Athens, but flights <i>between</i> islands are few and far between.

I think your plan to include the mainland in your itinerary is a good one. Most of the important archaeological sites and museums are on the mainland.

I think it is very difficult to make plan with what you posted.

There are two approach to planning.

1. Have itinerary, determine number of days needed.
2. Have number of days, determine where you can go.

You have neither. You have no starting point.
Think of visiting a store without knowing how much money you have and without knowing what you want to buy.

A guide or not comes AFTER you have decided what you want to see. There is no such list of what to see, yet. Turkey or not comes AFTER you have determined if you have any days left after visiting Greece.

If you don't know where to start, asking different people what to do will make your head spin with even more confusions with different people advocating different do this and do thats.

I recommend you pick up a guide book at your library such as Rick Steves or Fodors which has sections on top attractions. Once you have some ideas on what to do, people like the previous posters can tell if what you have in mind is achievable and how to connect destinations.

We found that restaurants were closing for the season when we were visiting the Greek islands in October.

Thank you for your advice. We have decided to go mid-April, 2015. We be getting a tour book shortly.

Hi virginiafish,

Be advised that Greek Orthodox Easter is on April 12th in 2015. Easter is the most important holiday on the Greek calendar, even bigger than Christmas. Travel to the islands will be very busy in the weeks surrounding Easter, as many people return to their home villages to celebrate the holiday. It will be a wonderful time to observe the festivities, but if you are island-hopping during that period book your ferries well in advance. All the ferries are on a special Easter timetable for Easter week.

April is also a good time to see the islands at their greenest, and spring flowers should be in bloom. Temperatures are likely to be in the 50s and 60s, so insure you have warm clothing. Water will be far too cold for swimming. Most island shops, restaurants, and hotels don't open for the season until May, so apart from Easter it will be very quiet.

Were it me I would delay the holiday until mid-May when weather is warmer and more things open.