Help with Greece itinerary
 

Hi friends..... getting closer to our journey and having some second thoughts on itinerary and need input. As of now we have 5 nites Santorini, 3 nites Naxos, 3 nites Nafplio and just 1 nite in Athens before we leave. I know Athens is way too short of a stay but our journey was cut short a couple of days but I can fix the other part of the itinerary... now I'm considering taking a day away from Santorini and Nafplio and adding them to Naxos.... would that be wise? Thus leaving us with 4 nites Santorini... 5 nites Naxos... 2 nites Nafplios.. 1 nite Athens. The more I read of Naxos, the more I seem to think that you get more of the Greek culture and there's more to do... beaches, sightseeing, etc... Any input would be great. Thank you in advance.

I consider Santorini to be a must see destination for a first time visitor because of its spectacular views. Having said that 2 or 3 nights has always been enough for us. Others can spend 3 weeks there and be sad to leave.
We are big fans of Naxos and would always recommend that 3 nights there is way too little. Having said that are you not committed to specific hotel booking and are just planni9ng to arrive and find a hotel you have a whole world of options available to you. Why don't you just arrive in Santorin and just stay as long as you like. You may decide to spend your whole vacation there, but when the spirit moves you can hop the ferry and head over to Naxos.
Here are some pictures of our day trip to the mountain villages of Naxos from June this year.
Up in the mountains you will find Greece as it used to be
http://travel.webshots.com/album/577950188puzxSj
Here is a new album of images of Naxos town
http://travel.webshots.com/album/577942756YgKLfl

Hi, Stan,
Any hope that you might write up your recent visit to Naxos? I'm planning a visit next June (4 days) and I've been scouring (and saving) your suggestions and driving recommendations.

Your photos capture beautifully an other-worldly place that is far from the well-traveled path.

Paule

Santorini is one of the most beautiful destinations in the world. And Naxos deserves several nights, too. But since this is your first visit to Athens, I would highly recommend spending at least two nights there. That way you won't have to rush- as much- to get your sightseeing done. Besides, once you get a "taste" of Greece, you'll want to come back again and again. At least that's what happened to us!

So my suggestion for your itinerary would be: Santorini-3 nights, Naxos- 3 nights, Napflion- 3 nights, Athens- 2 nights.

progol you are going to have a great time on Naxos, June is such a wonderful time it is warm (low 80's) but cooler in the evening. There are enough people to make it interesting but not crowded at all. We have been to Naxos 7 times with a minimum stay of a week each time and we keep finding new things to see
For instance that mountain village trip, we had only one goal in mind to see Demeters Temple, primarily because I somehow lost all the photos from a couple of previous visits. After that we just went in the direction the car was pointing. We found a bunch of places we have never been to before and thoroughly enjoyed just doing exploration by wandering. In those mountain villages you step back into the past where the lanes are narrow and steep and the only way to pass is by donkey or on foot.
On this trip we stopped at Koronos which is a village running down the sides of two separate mountains. We just kept walking down following distant music and found a delightful taverna where all they served was grown fresh on their farm, including the soft cheese on our village salad. Well the Mythos probably was not grown on their farm.
Naxos takes at lest two to 3 days just to do any justice to the mountain. It takes 2 days to explore the maze of tiny back alleys in Naxos Town and then there are the beaches. Beautiful Golden sand. Not as good a Caribbean beaches but Greece is more about history and thousands of years of lives lived with the beaches thrown in as a bonus.
Over the years we have always done a trip report but by the time we get then completed it is mud July and virtually everyone planning a Greek trip this year is already booked and we have had minimal comments on the reports and they quickly fade into oblivion. So we concentrate on getting the photo albums ready. They speak the Naxos story better than we can.

Stan, I can understand not wanting to write a trip report and having it fall to oblivion, but I can promise you that I'm at least one Fodorite who IS (obsessively) planning next year's trip to Greece. And I LOVE to read the details.

Also, the reports may fall to "oblivion", but I know I do search for older reports when I plan a trip, and yours are invaluable for planning (this is a pitch not to give up on reports, even if they're brief).

I love the description of your mountain village trip. Those are the places I want to hear about and will help me make my own itinerary in my (brief) 4 days next June.

So while a "picture may say a thousand words", your words describe an experience that ties those photos together and really, it's a case of the 'whole is greater than the sum of its parts'.

Paule

progol
We have hijacked Hans thread.
If you would like some additional thoughts on specific questions go to Tripadviser and look me up. There is a function there that allows private messages.