lbuajvc

Hello -- My husband and I will be arriving into Athens on May 22, 2007 (around 5:30 pm)and are hoping to go directly to either Mykonos or Santorini (no preference which we see first, be we definitely want to stay on both islands). We then plan to return to Athens on either May 28th or 29th, flying home to the US on the 30th (leaving Athens around 12:30 pm).

Question -- What is the best way for us to get from place to place? Ferries or Airplane? We also would prefer to keep the cost reasonable as much as possible.

I've heard that Ferries can take a long time, and considering we are getting into Athens in the evening, we really just want to get to either island as soon as possible.

I checked out Aegean Airlines website and could only finds flights between Athens and Santorini, nothing to or from Mykonos whatsoever, which seemed odd. Are there any other airlines that fly between the islands?

Any advice you can provide would be GREATLY appreciated!

brotherleelove2004

I think the Aegean website isn't working proplerly, that's all. They definitely fly to Mykonos. So does Olympic Airlines, but they are more expensive. If you fly to Santorini first you can then take the highspeed ferry to Mykonos and either fly from there or take another ferry back to the mainland. From Mykonos you'd have your choice of mainland (ferry) destinations, either Piraeus or Rafina. Timewise the highspeed ferry takes about 2.5 hours between Satorini and Mykonos.

lbuajvc

Thanks for the response. If we were taking the ferry from Santorini to Mykonos, do you know if it is direct or if it stops at an island(s) in-between?

brotherleelove2004

The Hellenic Seaways Flying Cat 4 stops at Ios and Paros before getting to Mykonos.

http://www.ferries.gr/hfd/

tod

lbuajvc - I have recently bought the book GREEK ISLAND HOPPING by Frewin Poffley(Thomas Cook Publishing) It has absolutely everything you want to know in great detail, but I suggest you go to www.greekislandhopping.com
and do a little research on their site.

Heimdall

I picked up a summer 2006 airport timetable at Athens in September. The 2007 schedule may be different, so use the following only as a guide:

Last summer Aegean flight A3360 left Athens for Santorini at 8:20pm on Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri, and Sun. Olympic flight OA560 left Athens for Santorini at 8:50pm daily. I note that 22 May 2007 is a Tue, so you will probably have to fly Olympic to Santorini. The last Aegean flight on a Tue left at 6:00pm.

For Mykonos there was Olympic flight OA660, which left Athens daily at 8:05pm. The last Aegean flight left Athens for Mykonos at 7:00pm, too early for your 5:30pm arrival.

Another alternative would be to spend the night at the Athens Airport Sofitel (expensive, but you can get discounts on the internet) and catch an early morning flight to Santorini. The Sofitel is a five minute walk from check-in desks in the trerminal.

I agree with brotherleelove's suggestion of going to Santorini first, taking the highspeed from there to Mykonos, and then the ferry from Mykonos back to the mainland. You could also fly back from Mykonos if you wish, and there are several flights throughout the day with both Aegean and Olympic.

lbuajvc

Heimdall -- thank you for the e-mail. I actually went onto the Olympic & Aegean airlines websites and checked out the flights available for May 22, 2007. Looks like Aegean has a flight (#358)from Athens leaving at 7 p.m. that night. We arrive into Athens at 5:35 to be exact. We are trul considering purchasing tickets for this flight, but I only hesitate since you mentioned in your posting that 7 p.m. would be too early for us. How long would it generally take us to get through customs, etc? I called Delta and they thought we had more than enough time to make the 7 p.m. Aegean flight.
Thanks!

brotherleelove2004

If your Delta flight arrives in Athens no later than 5:30 I think you should have enough time, but you need to consider whether or not you want to risk an unforseen delay somewhere along the way. Keep in mind that you still will need to collect your bags from Delta and re-check yourselves in with Aegean. What about a later Olympic Flight?

Richard1148

If you decide to spend the night and go the next morning, there is also a new Holiday Inn by the airport that gets good reviews and is much cheaper than the Sofitel. They have a complimentary shutlle busto take you to/from the hotel and airport.

lbuajvc

We considered staying in Athens for the first night or two, but we were trying to use my husband's Marriott points, and the only days we could was on the back-end of the trip. I heard there is some sort of festival going on the 22nd of May, so the hotels are mostly booked.

To answer the question about taking a later Olympic flight, yes, we did consider this as well, but it will not get us into Santorini until a couple hours later, and we will just want to get settled in as soon as possible, knowing us! THe Olympic flgiht was also MUCH more expensive than the Aegean flight.

What would you do? Would you risk it and take the 7 p.m. Aegean flight if you were arriving into Athens at 5:35? Is there anyway we could have our luggage checked all the way through you think?

brotherleelove2004

I'm pretty sure no outside airlines will check bags through to the Greek domestic airlines, but you can ask. That would certainly make things a lot easier.

Would I risk it? Yes, I would, but that's just me. I've made tighter connections than that a lot of times, even in Paris at CDG where the terminals are far apart and getting from one to the other is very confusing.

Timing is everything. If your tickets are being booked through an international carrier and include ATH>JTR, they are required to put you up in a hotel if you miss your plane, then put you on the next available flight. If you're doing it on your own then you have no recourse for a missed flight due to a late arrival. What will you do? Spending the extra money on a later Olympic flight might not be such a bad idea.......

lbuajvc

Funny you should mention Paris, because we actually have a layover there! We are using our Delta airlines, so we unfortunately have 2 layovers: JFK NYC and Paris, with the layover in Paris being only 1.5 hours. Is that ok? We've never had a layover in Europe, so I'm unsure of when we will need to go through customs, either in Paris or Athens?

brotherleelove2004

Assuming your bags are being checked through from Paris to Athens, and IF you arrive on time, 1.5 hours is plenty of time.

If you're flying on Delta all the way through to Athens then in Paris you'll probably just be ushered into a transit lounge where you'll wait for your onward flight. They might also usher you onto a shuttle bus to the transit lounge in the appropriate terminal. Regardless, if you are delayed to the extent that you miss your plane, they're responsible to take care of you until they can get you on the next available flight.

lbuajvc

We are actually flying Detla into JFK, then AIr France the rest of the way (JFK - Paris and Paris - Athens). Since Airfrance is a skymiles partner of Delta, I believe our baggage should be checked the whole way through.

cjacob

I didn't read the other posts in detail, but do not fly aegean airlines... i had the worst experience. first they postponed my flight from athens to mykonos, then they all together cancelled it, they didn't say why, they didn't do anything to help, just make us sit around for hours thinking we'd take off and then never doing so. apparently this happens alot. when the flight was cancelled i switched to an olympic flight that took off on time and was quite an enjoyable flight... i also took a ferry between mykonos and santorini, it was about a 3 hour ride, i bought tickets in mykonos town, don't remember the cost though, but very easy to do.

brotherleelove2004

Interesting. Most people make these sort of complaints about Olympic, not Aegean. It just goes proves that every business can have a bad day. Aegean's record for on-time departures and arrivals is much better than Olympic's, don't worry.

The cost of an Economy ticket on the highspeed ferry between Mykonos and Santorini is 28 Euro.

Heimdall

Well, 1.5 hours may be enough time, but I personally would rather not have to worry about making my connection the whole way to Athens. When you get off your international flight, you will have to go through immigration, collect your bags, dash to the Aegean check-in counter, get your boarding pass, and then go to the gate in the domestic departures area. Can that all be done in 1.5 hours? Maybe. Should you decide to chance it, suggest you get flexible tickets that can be changed if you miss the flight.