abs004

Greetings. Starting to work on our first trip to Greece (13 days total). Thinking of flying into Athens, spending 3-5 nights, hitting up a couple islands (Mikonos, Santorini, Rhodes are on the initial list), then heading to Naples. We would love to get back to Italy after going to Rome, Flor., Venice several years ago. We are thinking Naples as it is a major city (with airport) and has access to smaller towns/islands nearby.

For those who have traveled to Greece, would you recommend skipping Naples and focusing solely on Greece, or would it be feasible (and more importantly, enjoyable) to leave Greece after 9 days for Italy? Are these specific Greek islands vastly different or is it more of a seen-one-seen-them-all sort of scene?

We are active couple in our 30s who enjoy beaches, good food and exploring new towns/cities on foot. Any personal insights, experiences and recommendations welcome...thanks much.

sandralist

Combining Greece with Naples is tremendously rewarding if you are very interested in history, because Naples began life as a Greek colony (Neapolis). It is fantastic to visit the underground footprint of the city plus nearby Paestum as part of a package of visiting the outstanding sights of ancient Greece. Plus there is the archeology museum of Naples and Pompei.

But for beaches, good food and exploring towns on foot? Trying to combine Greek islands and the rather remote areas of the Amalfi in 13 days seems like a self-defeating proposition. If you think you would enjoy seeing Naples (and eating its exceptional food), might be a lot of fun to puddle jump to Naples for a finale to the trip. It is a place like no other. But I wouldn't rush through idyllic Greece to get to the tourist villages of the Amalfi coast.

greg

Be sure to look at how you connect Greece to Naples. Except for Athens to Rome where there are frequent daily year round flights, Somewhere else in Greece to places others than Rome involve layover(s) especially during the off season.
There are many ways to look at different Greek islands depending on what you value. Some islands have good beaches while others have good views but so so beaches, some are overflowing with cruise boat tourists during the day while others are not, etc.

abs004

Thank you Sandralist. We are thinking of not leaving Naples, but rather exploring and staying in that city the whole time (if we were to leave Greece). Your comments on the history is appreciated.

I suppose if we were to do that, we'd look at something along the lines of:

Arrive Athens, 3 nights
Plane/ferry to 1st island, 3 nights
Ferry/plane to 2nd island, 3 nights
Fly to Naples, 4 nights

The tough decision is deciding whether to just stay in Greece and add a 3rd island, or head to Naples. Your comment on the food of Naples really strikes a chord.

Anyone with advice/experience, please chime in.

abs004

Great point Greg. I've begun researching flights to Naples and noticed that. I'm sure we would have to choose the final island based on it's flights to Naples, or loop back to Athens, which would kill valuable time. I've also begun researching the islands and there seems to be so much beauty and charm to each of them (in different ways). But Naples...and that Italian food...such a siren song.

mariha2912

I think you underestimate time needed to connect dots in Greece. Reading your original post re Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes in 9 days, I thought wow, those guys might have a flying carpet. I feel those popular islands and how to connect among them has be beatten to death at the very Fodors one and other travelers forums... so make some research on previous posts to get an idea on the practicalities... And please do remeber: Contrary to what travel agents advertise, 3 nights somewhere does not equal 4 days but only 2 full days plus some hours on either end if you are lucky. Does it worth the money and time spent to go all the way somewhere to allow only 2 days on the spot? Personal call I guess...

abs004

Hello and thank you Mariha2912. I hear what you are saying...we definitely don't want our relaxing Greek vacation to become a rushed, city/island packed whirlwind. I've started the research process but I figured best to talk with travelers experienced with this region of the world as well. 3 nights/2 full days at a location seems rushed but I wasn't sure if that would be plenty of time for the islands. Sounds like not, particularly with ferry transport between islands. It's just that we fell in love with Italy so it's hard to not "pop in" for a visit when we are so near, but perhaps it's best to save that for another trip.

mariha2912

I think if you are more or less set on X or Y Greek Islands for a honeymoon, you must have your reasons for doing so and not go just by name throwing. In this case, I hope you have an idea what is there to see and do on each specific destination and what of all things offered is of interest specificaly to you. Envisioning how you plan to spend your days and building an itineary around some specific activities/sites/whatever which are a must for you, will help you allocate so and so days on so and so destination and after figuring out the logistics of getting there, your itinerary will more or less come to shape.
Bit if you decide your focus is Greece, I find trying to decide on Naples first a wrong approach while planning. See how your Greek trip plan goes, then decide on the Naples part.

mariha2912

"I think if you are more or less set on X or Y Greek Islands for a HOLIDAY" that should read...

thursdaysd

It is usually advised here to put Athens at end, not the beginning, to make sure you don't miss your flight out. Plus, there is more to Greece than islands and Athens, there are worthwhile sights on the mainland, too.

abs004

Fair enough. I was looking at it the other way around...first determine how many days we'd be in Greece, and whether to include Naples, then pick islands/cities based on our time. But I see what you are saying. The more I read, and chat with folks, it seems like going to Naples would put too much of a rush on the whole trip unless we only went to Athens and 1 island. Given that there seems to be so many wonderful islands that offer unique experiences, we are starting to lean towards visiting only Greece.

Of course if someone has done Italy and Greece in ~13 days and loved it, I wouldn't mind hearing their tale.

abs004

Good point Thursdaysd. If we stick to only Greece, that would definitely open up more time to explore the mainland.

Yes, holiday, not honeymoon...I was curious about that.

mariha2912

Sometimes I wish we had an edit button here, it is easy to make typos or forget to aff something on a post,but then it is difficult or impossible to do anything about it other than to issue a new post...

Anyway, some sites you may want to have a look for inspiration:
http://visitgreece.gr/
http://www.greeka.com/
http://www.greek-islands.us/

Travel logistics:
https://www.aia.gr/traveler/flight-info/direct-flights/
https://www.gtp.gr/RoutesForm.asp

All kind of issues including strikes' updates, transport tips, local mentality observations.... :
http://livingingreece.gr/

If you have any specific interests, you may want to share them, for example:
Information, timetables, history of most archeological sites and museums in Greece:
http://odysseus.culture.gr/index_en.html
Hiking on Cyclades:
http://www.cycladen.be/

and so on....

Enjoy : )

Heimdall

Hi abs004,

If you mentioned what month you are travelling I missed it. That's a very important consideration when using Greek ferries, because timetables vary according to season. For example, it is very easy to get between Mykonos and Santorini in summer, but impossible without going back to Athens from November through March.

Santorini or Mykonos to Rhodes is another link you need to plan carefully. In winter there is only one ferry per week between the two islands, and it makes multiple stops on the way. In summer Blue Star Ferries also serves that route three times per week.

I'm not seeing any ferries at all on the timetables between Mykonos and Rhodes, but there may be some added for the summer. If not, you would have to go via a third island (Syros) or via Athens.

Tomsd

I think it would be great to include both Greece and Italy at the end of you can do it - and rather than stay in Naples - why not base on the beautiful Amalfi coast - which is something akin to staying on a Greek island.

Actually - you could use historic Sorrento as a base (an hour by fast train south of Naples) and day trips to Naples for a history tour, see some of the towns on the Amalfi coast made famous by the "jet set" - or even base at an Amalfi town not that far from Sorrento.

You could have your fill of great Italian cuisine wherever you choose - and fly back from Naples? - and this Rick Steeves review can get you started.

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-rea...e-amalfi-coast

And while I love seeing as much as possible and a few hours at the beach is enuff to get me recharged - for a honeymoon you many want to kick back more and visit say two
Greek isles v. three. And while I have never been to Santorini - my wife and a girl friend are going there - combining it with a work trip of sorts to Istanbul - and some travelers like visiting a more "glitzy" well-known Greek island such as Santorini (or Rhodes - further over by Turkey - or Myknos) - and then settling back on something more authentic/slower paced (even less expensive) - such as Naxos or Paxos, etc.

Also prefer to start in the more congested locales - easier to get to - such as Athens (also adjusting for any jeg lag, etc) - and then head out early on the 4th? day - to the more relaxing islands.

Tomsd

Ok - just to clarify - the fast train takes an hour to get down to the southern end of the famous Amalfi coast road - at Salerno - which is also historic and you might consider making your way partway up the coast to say Ravello for a place to stay?

Sorrento is at the other end - and has connections to Naples also. see: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com...ast-italy-map/ Sorrento was a famous base for US troops during WWII when our guys drove up the boot to liberate Italy.

Any way you choose it though - it would be a stunning way to end your trip to Athens and a couple of Greek isles. It would take a little more travel time/connections - but IMO - certainly worth it.

Tomsd

Dang - need my second cup of coffee - as it's Salerno at the south end of the Amalfi Coast.

Ok - here is a page for Salerno in general - which as Sorrento to the North - would be a good base for 3 days (not as congested/busy as staying in Naples - and safer) -- and the second one is a bit of the history of the staging point for the Allied invasion of Italy during WWII.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salerno and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_invasion_of_Italy

WWK

Hi abs004,

We took the trip you're proposing two years ago, but it's more complicated than it looks. Don't underestimate how much time you lose every time you change destinations.

Unless things have changed, there are no commercial flights between the islands and Naples, which means you have to backtrack through Athens.

We also found very few ( there was only one on Alitalia) flights between Athens and Naples. Which meant we had to fly to Rome, then take the fast train down to Naples.

Would I do it again? Hmmm.... We loved Naples, but probably would skip it on a 13 day trip that was primarily to Greece and the islands.

WWK

Sorry- that should have read, "would've skipped it on a trip to Athens and the islands."

abs004

We are planning to travel at the end of August or early Sept. Leaning towards early Sept as I've read many locals are on holiday in August, and lots of kids go back to school in Sept.

mariha2912 - thank you for the info/links. I will be sure to chew through them. I enjoy the research part of the trip and they will be very helpful.

heimdall - good point about ferry schedules. I can see how that could limit travel options. I'm seeing that there aren't direct flights and that is worrisome.

tomsd - we were thinking that the slower pace of life on the islands would satisfy that itch, and Naples and Athens would give us the exposure to large cities that we love exploring. So while I've heard the Amalfi Coast is incredible, we were thinking of skipping it (on this trip) and focusing on the more accessible Naples (hoping we could get there faster so more time to explore, less time in planes/trains/cars). I will be sure to check out your links, and Steeves site. BTW, just finished my second cup of coffee.

wwk - excellent, thank you for sharing. I'm worried that including Naples sounds great on paper but then turns into a logistical nightmare that eats up a lot of time and costs a lot more money. We recently had a wonderful trip to London/Paris and this trip to Greece is supposed to be more along the lines of "slow down, relax, hit the beaches, strolls through towns/cities."

I'll continue to research possible options of getting to Naples (or the coast) and see if anything is feasible (without taking too much time, causing too much stress). If not, after reading these comments, I'm starting to think that flying into Athens, then head out to the 2-3 islands for ~9 nights, then return to Athens for 4 nights to explore before flying home. Thanks all, keep the experiences and advice coming...