I am starting to plan an 8 night trip to Greece...probably in May or June 2007. (8 nights in hotels) The first 2 nights we will spend in Athens. On past trips, we've toured the mainland of Greece. But we have never been to the islands.

I've spent the last couple of hours reading the messages here about the different islands. We definitely want to go to Santorini.

And I'd like to add one more island.

We are 50-ish. In good shape. We like to explore and see nice scenery, history, culture, looking at local handicrafts. Sitting on a beach is NOT our thing....although we do appreciate beautiful views of water and the sea.

We plan to use public transportation. We will not be renting a car. So whatever islands we go to must have some way for us to get around...bus, taxi, walking.

For nightlife, we like leisurely dinners of great local food with nice people in beautiful and peaceful surroundings.

On this message board I have been reading about Paros, Naxos, Mykonos, Amorgos, and Crete. I'd appreciate opinions about planning an itinerary.

Does anyone know about a Greek tour company called "Tourlite"?

THANK YOU.

Please do not spend your first 2 nights in Athens -- spend your LAST 2 nights in Athens -- with such a short stay, don't waste the time going into the city & back TWICE from the airport.

Instead, as soon as you clear customs, walk down the hallway to Domestic Airlines area and take a flight to your first island.

Your sequence then can be 3 nights (2.5 days) in Santorini, Ferry to Naxos for 3 nights ferry at 9:45 am (arrive 2:45 pm) in Piraeus, taxi to hotel in the Plaka area. Spend afternoon & evening sightseeing plus full day the next day. Home the following am?

If you stay in or near Fira in Santorini, you can walk to most things, take a bus to Oia (NOT for the sunset please it's a mob scene - and the sun sets on the west seen from anywhere on the Caldera).

In Naxos, if you stay in Naxos town or the adjacent St. George beach, you can walk to most places of cultural interest, and take a 1-day bus tour of the landscape and beautiful mountain villages of the island. Good food. good sunsets. good views.
Paros has much interest too, but I think the port town isn't as attractive and gettting around via bus isn't as convenient. Amorgos is a hassle to get to for a short trip like yours. You have to go to naxos & then take a looong trip on a rust-bucket ferry.

Enjoy your trip! But you'd better start booking now, because flights/rooms are fillnig up for both isles. And watch out for the weekend of May 25-28 -- it's the Greek equivalent of our getaway Memorial Day long weekend and transport/hotels will be jammed.

WOW....travlerjan....

THANK YOU so much for all of these suggestions and DETAILED information. It is really appreciated. I will take all of your advice seriously.

I am planning a trip to Greece/Crete in mid-April and would appreciate some advice.

My plan is to go to Crete first (following travelerjan's advice, we thus would avoid having to go back & forth into Athens twice).
I was thinking about taking an overnight ferry from Piraeus to Chania, using Chania as a base to explore western Crete and if possible hike the Samaria Gorge (will that be OK in mid-April?) and visit Knossos. Then we would depart from either Chania or Heraklion back to the mainland (not sure yet whether by ferry or flying), and finish up with a few days in Athens.

Any thoughts on the above itinerary, including pros & cons of ferry vs. flying, as well as suggestions of mid-priced, kid-friendly accommodations in Chania? thanks!

This message is for the final poster (NOTE: to get more responses, you really should post this inquiry separately with your own heading "ie Crete Hols with child: Ferries,Hotel,Hiking??"--and in message state age of child)

Re FERRY: I've always wanted to take the overnight ferry--it's a big liner, if u are a couple plus child u can get a cabin for 4. A plus is that since ferry leaves about 9pm you can arrive in Ath airport in late afternoon -- thus you can snag a cheaper flight (w. connect in Europe)than those arriving before noon.
When u get in, take direct express bus to Piraeus, have a nice meal at port & embark. when considering cost, factor in that the ticket INCLUDES hotel cost for a nights lodging.

CHANIA: First! - GET A MAP! if you don't have a guidebook (library? photocopy?) you can download one. Makes it easiere to understand suggestions.

Some families choose to stay at a near beach area West of town & take bus in. If you want IN old town, look at West side right by old wall;Theotokopolou St area--a no-cars street, picturesque. One place near there is Iason Studios (u can Google it); they have 2-room studios w. double bed/studio couch + kitchenette. Latter lets u to feed child when he/she is hungry... u can dine later while he or she has a dessert. Also good for quick breakfasts, packing lunches etc.

A hotel on that strip that's more mid- range is El Greco, I've stayed there, they have triples or suites, breakfast included, no kit. facilities I know of.

About Samaria, since you give no clue about child I cannot advise. Will you end up carrying him/her for 4 of the 7 or 8 hours? Footing is very wearisome.

Fly back to Athens.

If u want more info, post separately.

Suntraveler - well we were going to go to the Greek Islands, and I posted a similar question here. Our demographics and interests are about the same as yours. After some responses and other research, we decided to go to Istanbul instead. We will be leaving next week.

Any special reason for the change of plans?

Enjoy Istanbul.

Thanks, travelerjan. I will start a new post as you suggested. Just to answer your question, my child is an 11 year old boy with lots of strength & energy. My main concern was weather conditions; I read somewhere that the gorge is sometimes closed in springtime because of flash-flood threats. I hiked it once myself years ago, but it was in summer and very dry.

suntravler -

Well we have been to Greece, 30 years ago – Corfu, and the responses on this site and the internet sites tended to indicate mostly beachy stuff. With planning on 7 nights given 1 or 2 in Athens how many islands can you do? You need at least 2 nights on each inland to get a full day, this leads to only 2 or maybe 3 islands, and a lot of time on ferries. They all sounded about the same, which ones do you do? We may not be as discriminating as some on this site as to the subtle differences between islands. Plus, we wanted something different and exotic. Hong Kong was a possibility, but too far. So we started looking at Istanbul, maybe a totally different culture.

Well, we found out that not only was Istanbul different but cheaper, no ferry fares, plane fare and hotels cheaper. Lots to see, from one hotel, and they gave us 7 nights for the price of 6. Plus, we may get to go to Asia.

Finally, in the middle of all this discussion we went to Malta. Where we toured the sites and where in 1565 the Ottoman Turks laid an unsuccessful siege. We read the book “The Sword and the Scimitar” since Malta, which takes place in Malta and Istanbul. So, also thought it would be neat (that a 50-ish word) to visit the other city.

Very interesting, bktport. Hope you have a wonderful trip.