Hi Everyone - I am getting ready to plan my Greek honeymoon in September - I am so excited as I have always wanted to travel to Greece!

I will be leaving Thurs Sept 21st and returning to NY on Sun Oct 8th. So, if I am counting right, I believe that will leave us 16 days of sight seeing in Greece (not counting our flight to and from).

So, what would you do with 16 days in Greece??

I have no idea how long it takes to travel between islands and that is one of my big questions.

As a rough outline, right now, I am thinking of spending 2 days in Athens (maybe 1 upon arrival in Greece, and 1 day on our return), 3 full days in Santorini (is that enough?), 2-3 days in Mykonos, I would love to make it Naxos (is it worth it??), 3 days in Crete (is that enough??) and would love to fit another island in, but not sure which one (Rhodes, or another off the beaten path island)?? As you can see, I am early on in my planning, but wanted some tips from all of my Fodors experts. Let me know what you think is the best of the best. I am also up for going off the beaten path - my fiance and I love that stuff. Thanks so much!!

P.S. I usually plan all of my trips on my own - would you recommend using a travel agent for Greece? Particularly to book inter-island travel??

16 days will go quickly. Since it won't be very busy during your visit you can take it slow and move around at will. Go to your first island destination and stay until you feel like moving on. As long as you stick to one island group such as the Cyclades you'll be able to move easliy between them with no time lost. The ferry route between Athens/Piraeus, Paros, Naxos, Ios and Santorini is a daily occurrence all year long, so these islands would be my choices for you. You can also get to and from Antiparos daily (and frequently) from Paros. Getting to Mykonos can be a bit trickier since the highspeed ferry between Mykonos and Santorini is only running 5 days/week instead of daily, and only 4 days/week after Oct 2. http://www.ferries.gr/hfd/

If you plan to be travelling by ferry between the islands I recommend that you save Athens until the end of your trip so you can get back there 2 or 3 days before your flight home. That way if you're on an island and there's an unscheduled delay you will still have plenty of time to get back to Athens for that flight.

Also, prebooking ferries isn't necessary at that time of year, but if you want some assistance, contact Fantasy Travel in Athens. They'll be able to assist you in making your plans if you feel like you need to have it all on paper before you get there. The advantage of using an agency in Athens is that if there's a problem they'll be just a phone call away, not all the way back in the States. http://fantasytravelofgreece.com/english/index.html

Rhodes is a bit too far out of the way unless you fly there. Crete is close to Santorini but ferry service will be limited then (see the link I gave you).

The answer to the question in the heading is "go to Crete", although actually I might go to somewhere a bit more remote. But I woudn't move about.

Looking at the whole of your positing, whilst I, presonally, would still not move about, I'd do the following differently. Take 2 days in Athens together not separately- maybe even 3. I know there are people who love it. I'm not one of them, but there is certainly enough to see for 2 days, and you get no sense of a place if you dot in and out. 3 days on Crete is NOT enough. You need at least 4.

You don't need a travel agent. You just need to know where you want to go....

Thanks for the feedback!! The ferry schedule web site will be very helpful in my planning. Will definitely plan to spend more time in Crete - I would love to spend more time in Greece altogether, but since I only have 16 days, I think I will feel obliged to bounce around a bit and see as much as I can while I'm there. I don't want to short change myself too much in any one place, so if I have to cut an island or two out to do a place justice, I will. Thanks so much for your help!!

Any other suggestions on how much I can see with 16 days and where I should focus my time??

If you can tell wme, once you've sorted out your ferry schedules, where and when you will arrive and depart; and what times of day it'll be; and what you like seeing or doing, I'll try to give you some hints on Athens (although there are others who're better)and Crete.

Thanks Sheila. I have not sorted out my ferry departures/arrivals yet. I have to work on that since I am not sure the order in which to visit these islands in order to minimize travel time between places and maximize sightseeing. Any tips of that would be appreciated too...

In the meantime, as far as what I like, I love exploring quaint villages, wandering around fun neighborhoods with cobblestone streets, fun cafes and seeing how the locals live. I love beautiful scenery, beaches and the ocean. I love dining at little off the beaten path restaurants and experiencing the culture of a place. I also plan on visiting some of the major sites in each location, but I don't want to get bogged down in every museum or archeological site. I really want to "take in" Greece, if that makes sense....Hope this helps, I know it might be kind of generic right now, but I plan to buy a Fodors Greece book during the week and should be more specific for my next post Thanks!!