mike

hi, <BR>i'm planning a trip to the greek islands starting from mykonos to santorini and in-between i'm thinking about adding paros or naxos but i have some questions i hope the knowledgable "fodorites" in this forum can help: <BR> <BR>1. firstly, which islands do you recommend? i 'm leaning on paros just because ferry connections to santorini are more numerous and this leads to the second question... <BR> <BR>2. since i'm traveling in early june, do you need to book the ferries/hydrofoils in going from myk to paros/naxos in advance? i prefer to do it in advance since i'm traveling with my parents...who do i nend to contact to make the reservations or should i solicit help from locals or hotels once i got there? <BR> <BR>3. lastly, is a car rental feasible or recommended for santorini, mykonos, naxos or paros? i'm leaning a rental on only santorini and naxos or paros...finally, are international drivers license required? i'm getting mixed opinions from people and guide books... <BR>thanks in advance for any assistnnace!! <BR>mike

marsha

Mike, <BR>We've not been to Greece in June. In late August and Oct. reservations were not necessary. <BR>Do by all means rent cars in on Santorini and Myknos. You'll want to explore the islands. We found cars easy to rent and a plus to our vacations. We've not been to the other two islands so I'm not sure about them.

scurry

<BR>In May '98, my wife & I went to Santorini, Naxos, Paros & Mykonos. We rented scooters in Naxos and a car for a day on Paros. <BR> <BR>Here are my thoughts on your questions: <BR> <BR>Santorini & Mykonos are must-sees. We felt that Naxos & Paros were six of one, half-dozen of the other. We enjoyed both. If pressed, here are the differences: Naxos is more compact so you probably don't need a car. That said, there is a fair amount of walking if you want to see what the town has to offer. Naxos' old town is probably more quaint than anything on Paros. Paros has more to see outside of the main city so you probably would want to rent a car. You probably would want to stay in Naoussa, which is a fishing village/beach resort that has a lot more atmosphere than Parrikia. <BR> <BR>When we travelled in Mid-May, we were always able to book reservations on the next day's ferry without problem. Don't know how June would be. Every town that you stay in has travel agents/currency exchange places on the main drags where you can book ferry travel, rent cars and find acommodations. <BR> <BR>We didn't need international drivers licences -- just California DL, credit card and a passport. <BR> <BR>Renting a car in Santorini is probably a good idea. <BR> <BR>Hope this helps ...

mike

thanks for all replies...when i checked the greek tourist website, i was surprised to see that there is only a single (albeit daily) departure for mykonos to paros route and paros to santorini; i thought paros being a big hub would offer more than one departure/day... <BR> <BR>

Susan

I guess I disagree with Steve on this one - while I liked Santorini and am glad I saw it, I don't consider it a must see - it is very touristy. Stunning visually, but not very Greek. We rented a car and covered most of the island. We also rented a car in Naxos - again I disagree with Steve - I think there's a lot to see outside of the port town. I was surprised at how inexpensive car rental was - about $30 Canadian. Beaches were also nicer than on Santorini. <BR> <BR>It's been so many years since I was on Paros that I can't really comment. However, you can see Paros from Naxos - they're that close. You might want to start on one and if you get bored, you can always move on.