mvandermeid

Hello,
My family is planning on celebrating our daughter’s high school graduation this June with a family trip to Greece. This will be our first trip there, and so far, I booked four nights in Santorini, and our last two nights in Athens. I would love suggestions for the eight nights in the middle. We are traveling with our three daughters, 18yrs, 16 yrs and 13yrs. We are an active family- love hiking, biking, off the beaten path locations, beaches and gorgeous landscapes. I was
originally thinking we would do Santorini to Milos, then Paros then Athens. I’ve heard Nikos is amazing too and are we making a mistake not going to Crete? The girls are good travelers, but I also don’t want to push them too much. I’d rather make sure we really enjoy every moment of where we are..thank you in advance for all your suggestions! Would love anyone to share highlights from past trips- hidden beaches or hikes, restaurants ect! Thank you!!!

KarenWoo

I visited Greece in 1972, and my husband and I have reservations to return to Greece this May. So my recommendations really aren't based on first-hand experience (since my visit was 50 years ago). I have planned what I know will be an awesome trip with the help of people on this forum. So you might want to consider the island of Naxos and then visit Nafplio on the Pelopponese Peninsula. The order of our trip is Santorini (3 nights), Naxos (4 nights), Nafplio (5 nights) and Athens (4 nights).

Crete is a very large island and many experienced travelers recommend spending a week to 2 weeks on Crete. So you could go to Crete for a week after Santorini and before Athens. Another thing to keep in mind is traveling to the islands and how long it takes to get there.

Heimdall

Eight nights for Crete would be perfect, as there is so much to see and do on this huge island. Daily ferries from Santorini to Crete arrive at Heraklion, and there are flights back to Athens from there and from Chania at the other end of the island.

if you want to stay in the Cyclades you have enough time for two islands. Milos is very popular for its beaches, and would work well combined with either Folegandros or Sifnos. I prefer the Central Cyclades, especially Naxos and Paros/Antiparos. Both have excellent beaches, and Naxos has a larger interior with picturesque mountain villages. I’ve been to Naxos several times, but Paros always draws me back, where I stay on Antiparos, a little island only minutes by ferry from the larger Paros. I guess Antiparos also draws the actor Tom Hanks, because he owns a villa on the island and comes to stay every summer.

Paros has more choices than Naxos for seaside resorts, with good roads around the perimeter of the island. Parikia and Naoussa are the two largest settlements, Parikia being the capital and port town, Naoussa originally a fishing village now developed into a beautiful resort. Film crews often use Naoussa for their locations. Antiparos has sandy beaches, a stalactite cave, and access to Despotiko, an uninhabited island with an archeological site currently under excavation. Many visitors enjoy a day on the Captain Ben island cruise, which stops at the sea caves, remote beaches and has a BBQ lunch on Despotiko.
https://captainbenantiparos.com

if you choose Paros for your last island it has an excellent airport, and two Blue Star ferries each day back to Piraeus, the main Athens port. From Paros Blue Star takes only 4 hours to Piraeus, and has a choice of restaurants and snack bars, plus an open deck where you can stand for fresh air and views. There are also high speed catamarans from Paros, but they are more expensive, less comfortable, and save only about an hour on the journey to Piraeus.

mvandermeid

This is really helpful! Thank you! Would you recommend an Airbnb for Naxos and maybe a resort for Paros? I’m just thinking it might be fun to try to experience both options. Thanks!

Heimdall

For both Naxos and Paros I would recommend using booking.com for searches of hotels and booking directly with the hotel owners. Most have their own websites with contact addresses and telephone numbers. You can find the hotel’s own website by scrolling past the booking engine websites, which pay for their website to appear at the top of Google searches. You can use booking.com’s filter features to search for the type of accommodation you prefer, including studios, apartments, etc.

For seaside resorts on Paros I didn’t mean self contained resorts, I meant small seaside villages with good beaches and hotel rooms. In addition to Parikia and Naoussa there are Aliki on the south coast, Pounta (the port across from Antiparos) on the west, and on the east coast a string of villages with long sandy beaches including Santa Maria, Ambellas, Piso Livadi, Chrissi Akti (Golden Beach), and Drios.

Don’t overlook Antiparos either. It will be quiet in May, but Antiparos Town has five different beaches within easy walking distance, and a huge choice of cafes, bars and restaurants. For me Antiparos was love at first sight, and I have been going back ever since. Paros and Antiparos are so close to each other that high school students from Antiparos commute to Paros, and the Pounta-Antiparos ferry takes only 7 minutes to cross, running every 30 minutes during the day.

A good resource for hotel suggestions is a private website run by a Dutchman named Hans Huisman, who I met once on Antiparos. He has pages on most Cycladic islands, and here is the one for Antiparos hotels:
https://www.angelfire.com/super2/greece/antiparos.html

Heimdall

For Naxos, although it is the largest island in the Cyclades, nearly everyone stays in the small southwestern corner of Naxos Town and the three beach settlements of Agios Prokopios, Agia Anna and Plaka. Naxos Town has its own beach in the St George (Agios Georgios) part of town. That’s where I usually stay because I like walking into town in the evenings, strolling around the shops below the castle, and picking a restaurant for my evening meal.

The St George beach is very shallow, but that might be an advantage in May with slightly warmer water than the others. I usually stay near the St George beach but take the bus to Agios Prokopios or Plaka. The three beaches are contiguous, and it’s easy to walk from one to the other. Agia Anna is in the middle and has some hotels near the water, but the beach isn’t as good as Agios Prokopios or Plaka. Some hotels in Agios Prokopios are on the road back to Naxos Town, not along the beach.

zebec

Yo MV,
Heimdall mentions Folegandros and I concur. Its a great pairing with Santorini.
Hope all goes well!
I am done. the tzatziki