Greek islands
 

We will have 4 days to visit the Greek islands. We land in Athens early Oct 3 and will need to be back in Athens Saturday morning October 7. Any suggestions for the 4 days?
Thanks

There are numerous Greek Islands to go to, in addition to the areas of the mainland.

Most people (if possible) leave Athens for the end of their trip to make sure you get back in time for your return flight in case of strikes, weather, delays, etc.

I can make recommendations on islands but in the end it's up to your to decide what's best for you.

Since you'll be going off-season you'll have a more "Greek Experience" with less tourists, lower prices and still nice weather.

The Cyclades Islands are the ones everyone thinks about when going to a Greek Island.

However, there are many others in other groups of islands to consider.

Some of my favorite islands:
Sifnos
Milos
Naxos
Tinos
Amorgos
Astypalea
Skyros
Lemnos
Kythira
Ikaria/Fourni
Chios

Lots of others and off-season will be even better without the hordes of tourists, even on the smaller islands, making it hard to experience Greece in a more traditional manner.


Check out Matt's Greek Island Guide for help:
http://www.greektravel.com/greekislands/

First, consider just how much time you have.

If you land in Athens on Oct 3, you probably don't live in Athens. This seems to indicate you are flying out at some point.

After returning to Athens on Oct 7th morning, then what happens? Are you staying in Athens or are you flying out of Athens the same day?

If you are flying out of Athens on Oct 7, whatever transport you are taking back to Athens from an island would be uncoordinated with your return flight. Even if you are flying back to Athens from an island, you need many hours of buffer time to account for layover in Athens in case of flight delay. My last flight on Aegean in May was suddenly one hour late. To add protection, you need to be back to Athens on October 6 the latest. If this is your scenario, you only have three nights - 2 full days, Oct 3,4,5, which means you can visit only one island. Either very close by boat or an island with an airport preferably multiple flights a day.

Hi dnicholson,

Greg has given you some realistic advice. Forget the long list of islands given by crazyh, none of them are practical for your short visit. I would recommend an island with an airport large enough for regional jets, and as greg wrote: "multiple flights a day".

No Greek island is more than an hour away by air, so that opens up Santorini and Rhodes among others. Crete is another possibility, but the island is too big for a three day visit (which is all the time you will have).

I have gambled for many years on returning to Athens the same day as my flight home, and finally the odds caught up with me. That meant an extra day in Athens and a more expensive flight to London. No big deal, as I was travelling solo, and had no commitments waiting for me at home. For you I would recommend returning to Athens at least a day before your outbound flight.

Actually most of the islands I've mentioned have airports:

Milos
Naxos
Astypalea
Skyros
Lemnos
Kythira
Ikaria/Fourni
Chios

Flying can get you to islands faster than a ferry, especially the further out the islands are.

Don't overlook islands that appears to be to far to get to. If there is an airport you'll get there in less than 1 hour!

A short visit doesn't mean eliminating islands. If you can fly to Santorini, Rhodes and Crete (Big Name Islands) then you can certainly fly to a Lesser Known islands like Astypalea or Ikaria.

How many of those islands have you actually been to, crazyh? Less than half, I'd guess! Yes, I know you are planning to visit Chios this year.

I've been to:
Milos
Naxos
Astypalea

In addition to other islands I didn't mention.

Done lots of research on others not including ones I didn't recommend.

Whether I've been to every island I've mentioned here or elsewhere doesn't mean I don't have an idea on what they have to offer.

Dnicholson was asking for advice for the number of days she has to spend.

Whether you spend 4 days on a Big Name Island or Lesser Name Island really isn't the point. If you can get to any island in less time it will give you more time on the island whether I've been to it or not.

Yes, I'm off to Chios very soon. Never been before but research and correspondence with accommodation owners have indicated it's everything I want, especially off season.

Haven't you ever gone somewhere for the first time? What did you base your visit on?

Hi,
You have only 3 days which is so little it is a matter of choosing one sample island.
You maybe better off just staying in Athens and daytripping to say Aegina.

Another possibility is to some island with a lot of flights like Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Kos.

Considering how late in the season it is, probably a larger island would be preferred like say Rhodes.

For a quieter time you could use ferries to near islands like Syros, Andros(from Rafina), Tinos, maybe Kea(from Lavrion). However, you would only end up with 1 or 2 days due to ferry timings and their co-ordination with your flights.

Crazyh, you have not actually stayed on a lot of the islands you mention so how can they be your favourites. You have just made it all up, obsessively so, much the same as your endless repeats in other forums.