My fiance and I are traveling to the Greek Islands for our honeymoon for 12 days in September. We're planning to spend the first 4-5 days in Santorini. We are trying to decide how to spend the remaining 5 days in the islands before heading back to Athens. Straight from Santorini to Crete? Or perhaps Crete and Paros? Are there any other islands we should consider, aside from Mykynos? We are predominantly looking for relaxation and nice beaches. We would love to see three islands but don't want to feel rushed. Any advice would be appreciated!

Crete is huge. It takes a minimum of a week with a rental car just to barely scratch the surface. I think you'll have a much better time and be able to experience the diversity of the islands if you stick with Santorini and another island close by such as Naxos or Paros. Both have excellent beaches.

I agree with brotherlee.
Crete is simply too big to just spend a couple of relaxed days.
It would be better to combine Santorini with Naxos, Mykonos or Paros. Save at least 2 full days for Athens !!

Thank you! We'll head to Naxos and Paros - any recommendation on which of the two we should spend more time?

You can't go wrong with either. Naxos is a beautiful island, with great beaches, a beautiful main town, and some interesting inland villages.

Paros has all that as well, plus the little island of Antiparos only 30 minutes away. One popular activity is the Antiparos round-island boat trips, which pick up passengers at Pounta on Paros. Pounta is only 15 minutes by bus from Parikia, the Paros port. The boat trips stop for swims on uninhabited islets and include a bbq lunch with wine and ouzo. This private website is getting a little dated, but you can see photos on the "Boattrip around Antiparos" page of http://islandstrolling.com/english/index.htm

Naxos is a large enough island that you can go inland with a car and explore the villages and in town you can explore the many shops and sites with restaurants and a nice town beach at your footstep. I would recommend Naxos.