We are 2 couples traveling for the first time to Greece in late Sept./early October. We've been re-working our itinerary for weeks, trying to find the right balance of antiquities, history, culture, landscape and island R&R and think we might finally have it. But first we'd love feedback from you experts on Greece, including which island to choose after Santrini. Saving Mykonos and Ephesus for our next trip, probably a cruise.
1 Fly to Athens
2 Ar Athens a.m., rent car, drive to Delphi (3 hrs.)
3 Delphi
4 Drive to Meteora early a.m. (4 hrs.)
5 Meteora
6 Car drop at airport, late flight to Santorini
7 Santorini
8 Santorini
9 Ferry to Naxos, Hydra or other island
10 Other Island
11 Other island
12 Ferry to Piraeus, rent car, drive to Nafplio
13 Nafplio - drive to Mycenae
14 Nafplio - drive to Epidavros
15 Return car to Piraeus, bus to Athens
16 Athens
17 Athens
18 early metro to airport, fly home 12:50 p.m.

You can't get to Hydra by ferry from NAXOS. Here's a link to a ferry route map that will help you figure out your itinerary.

http://www.greeceathensaegeaninfo.co...erry-chart.htm

It's a packed itinerary, no doubt. In what is basically 16 days of vacation, you have 8 days of travel, and are staying in at least 6 hotels. It's doable, but a bit rushed imho.

Have you flown internationally before? If not, you may be underestimating the effects of jet lag. After a transatlantic flight, I would never be able to rent a car and drive 3 hours. I would be dead because I would fall asleep and drive the car off the cliff. So I would not do that unless the driver is a very experienced traveler who has done it before and he/she knows that jet lag doesn't bother him/her much.

For the "other island," I visited Naxos and Santorini on the same trip, and really liked that combination. The islands are very different and I loved the green mountainous villages in the interior of Naxos. Plus, there are close and there are frequent ferries between them that makes transport easy.

I am assuming that you are flying nonstop from the US? If that is the case then you might want to rethink the driving to Delphi as soon as you arrive? I work the nonstop flights from the US to Athens alot in the summer and it is a LONG flight for most people-at least 10 and 1/2 hours going and almost 12 hours or longer if having to deal with air controller strikes and the volcano of Iceland.If you are not used to sleeping on planes or haven't driven in Europe before it might be too much for the first day.

Nafplio-one of my favorite places in Greece mainland.Stay at the Hotel Letos for a wonderful view and reasonable price.The town is a great place to just wander around.

Brotherleelove is our resident expert on Greece travel so I would go to him for all questions as he has helped me immensely in the past. Have fun!

I am no 'resident expert.' I can help with some of the islands, the ferry system and Athens but I'm all but useless for the rest of the mainland.

I think you should cut back some on the number of stops, and spend more time in each of your destinations. Limiting your islands to two nearby ones is just right. It seems more sensible to combine Nafplion on the same car trip as Delphi and Meteora. Even though it is doable, I would nix Meteora on this trip, adding more time to your island of choice. Two nights in Santorini is fine. The second island should be on the Santorini ferry route. Naxos is a perfect choice as lovely, relaxing and only a short ferry trip from Santorini. Paros may be a better choice if you do not arrive on the islands until October. yYou may have more choices of accomodation once the season winds down. You can also reverse the order of travel, by flying directly to Naxos, Paros or Santorini the day of your arrival. It would certainly be more restful than driving afer such a long plane trip.

One week of car travel on the Mainland, and one week on the islands is my recommendation--Always end the island portion with 2 days in Athens.

By the way, a delightful village to overnight in between Delphi and Nafplion is Galaxidi.

I appreciate all of your input (and humor!) -- what a huge help this is. We will now rework our our itinerary, starting with eliminating Meteora on this first trip and trying to find a flight to one of the islands on arrival day, among other changes. To be continued....

You're on the right track. For what it's worth, here's how I would set up the itinerary. Upon arrival, I would spend 2-3 days in Athens to see the major sights - after all you are in Greece for the first time - how can you not go directly to the Acropolis, the Agora, the National Museum, walk in the Plaka? Then you'll be post-jet-lagged and ready for a week in the islands - limit it to two - for instance, fly to Santorini and ferry to Paros or Naxos. Returning to the mainland: save 2-3 days for Naufplion (definitely go to Mycenae and Epidaurus) and 1 for Delphi (drive up leisurely spend the night and get to the ancient site early in am), and at least 1 back in Athens before the flight home. Or better yet, do the mainland loop first, then chill out in the islands. Save at least one night in Athens at the end to allow for connection problems. Enjoy!

If you can arrange a flight out to Santorini the day you arrive it would be better.
Day 2-arrive at Athens airport,fly to Santorini
Day 3-4 Santorini
Day 5-7 Paros or Naxos
Day8-ferry to Pireaus,drive to Nauplio (visit Ancient Corinth on the way)
Day9-11 Nauplio (with day trips)
Day 12-Drive to Olympia and onto Delphi for the night(or stay overnight in Nafpaktos or Galaxidi)
Day 13-Delphi morning & afternoon and drive to Kalambaka(4.5h drive) for the night
Day 14-Meteora in the morning and drive to Athens
Day 15-17 Athens

Thank you all again for your very helpful suggestions. My brother, the volunteer driver, and his wife have opted to rent a car after 2 nights in Athens and do the drive to Delphi, then Meteora. Here's the itinerary they have come up with, with the islands following Santorini yet to be decided (Naxos, Paros - Andros and Spetses also come highly recommended). We're undecided. Here's their plan:

Sept. 20 Fly to Athens
2 Arrive Athens
3 Athens
4 Rent Car, drive to Delphi
5 Drive to Meteora
6 Meteora / Drive to Nafplio late p.m. (7 hrs.?)
7 Nafplio/Epidvros a.m.
8 Drive to Monenvasia (3-4 hrs.?)
9 Monemvasia to Mycenae, Corinth (3.5 hrs.)
10 Corinth to Airport/drop car/fly Santorini
11 Santorini
12 Other Island - Paros or Naxos
13 Other Island - Paros or Naxos
14 More island time
15 More island time
16 Ferry to Piraeus, Athens
17 Athens
Oct. 7 Return flight

If you don't mind reviewing this latest itinerary, I'd love your feedback. I've printed out all of your suggestions for
sightseeing, hotels, etc., and will no doubt have more questions as we get closer. Despite all our travel books, including Rick Steves!, there's nothing like hearing from real people doing real travel. When it's all over, we promise to submit a travel report and photos. Brotherleelove, I know I'll be contacting you for ferry help, despite all the info. that's available on-line!

And one other thought: The drive from Meteora to Nafplio is 7 hrs. Does anyone know of an intersting over-night stop about halfway to break up the long car trip?