We have one week (or 8 days) to organize in the middle of May. Would the week in Mykonos be too much? (We are in our 60's). Should we choose 4 days in Mykonos and the other 4 in Naxos or Paros? We are looking at Mykonos Grand, Kavos in Naxos or Manis Inn in Paros and would appreciate any feed back from those "in the know"!!

Thanks

Mykonos has become an upscale 30-something party island. I think you might enjoy Naxos or Paros or Santorini more. Santorini is also upscale but with spectacular views and more to offer, and mid-May is the perfect time to go. I suggest the most beautiful and timeless village of Oia.

Thank you for your reply! We are spending our first week in Athens from where we will take day trips. Our last week will be in Santorini (at the Anastasis) . It's the week between that we are deciding upon. My husband has never been to Mykonos (I was there MANY years ago! I think it is worth a visit...and I have never been to Delos. Naxos looks good. So does Paros, but my husband thinks Naxos looks better. My concern is how much time and effort (shlepping luggage) is involved in adding an island. We will fly from Athens to Mykonos and we will fly from Santorini to Athens. But it will be some kind of boat from Mykonos to Santorini or Mykonos-Naxos-Santorini (or Paros!!) Boy, this is long!!

FYI--there's an express passenger-only catamaran between Mykonos-Santorini-Ios-Naxos-Paros-Crete that cuts the travel time between islands way down from what you'd have if you were to take the car ferry.

http://www.greekislands.gr/hfd/

The schedule for next May won't be available until sometime after the end of March.

Thank you for the website. According to this year's schedule, theydo not operate on Wed or Thurs. Assuming (is that too much???)it will be the same next year, we will have to travel on a Fri. from Mykonos to Naxos...that will give us 5 days in Mykonos and 3 in Naxos.

So...Athens....6 days
Mykonos...4 days
Naxos.....3 days
Santorini.7 days
Athens(airport)...1 day
Should we stay at the Sofitel since we fly in from Santorini and fly out the next day? I figure that if we include the taxis to town in both directions, we may as well stay there.

Oops! That should be ..Mykonos...5 days! Sorry about my math!!!

I'm pretty sure that by the middle of May the summer schedule will be in effect, which includes DAILY service between these islands. Again, for this you'll have to check back after the end of March. I can tell you, however, if the express catamaran isn't operating on the day you want to travel that as an alternative you can take one of the daily car ferry boats to Paros where you can catch another daily boat to Santorini, and also in the reverse direction from Santorini-Paros-Mykonos.

Just a suggestion. I'd cut take a few Santorini or Mykonos days and add them to Naxos.

The reason? Naxos is a much more diverse island. Santorini is wonderful and the setting is unparalleled, but beyond that is somewhat of a one-trick pony. There are so many different trips and settings on Naxos, that it really lends itself to exploring.

Driving through the mountains with stops at small villages like Halki and the marble streets of Apiranthos (sp?) is a great experience. The Venetian influence in Naxos from the Castro to the rural castles is also very cool.

As for the Sofitel -- for the premium that you pay for being close to the airport -- the cab fares aren't a deal. (Plus there are great subway, suburban rail and subway connections too.)

But the Sofitel is a great hotel and if you're main purpose is to recharge before the trip home, I'd do it.

Repete, thank you for your input. If my husband doesn't like to rent a car, how can we "tour" Naxos? Is it easy to take the local bus? He likes the look of Kavos...is the location condusive to sight-seeing? Do you know Naxos well? Do you know Paros? Is Naxos a better choice?

So many questions!

As for Sofitel...our flight is at 1:00 pm, so we could stay in Athens also. But we will be arriving by air from Santorini (I have no idea what time)...and have to check in at the airport by 10:00-10:30 in the morning, so unless we save $$$, I can't see going back and forth to Athens. (We won't take the metro with our luggage!!) By the way...how much is a taxi from the airport to the city?

As for shaving a day off another island...I would rather take it from Mykonos than Santorini. If the boat leaves from Mykonos to Naxos DAILY in May, we could do that. I hesitate to take a day away from Santorini, because we are so HYPED UP about that island!!

P.S. (I'm a little slow..just having my morning coffee!). I just looked at your other posts. Where is l'Olivier? Would you tell me more about it? It sounds like a great shop. I would love to buy some colourful pottery...although my husband has warned me...no way..he's not shlepping packages again!! (Does he think I take that seriously??!!)

hi babylene,

Naxos does have a decent bus system, but not nearly as frequent as Santorini. It really is more compatible for car exploration, so perhaps you're first plan is a better fit. You can, however, easily take the bus to Halki, where l'Olivier and the kitron distillery is.

http://www.fish-olive-creations.com/

You could probably combine that with Apiranthos, a lovely village in the hills, on a bus trip -- shopping in Halki and lunch in Apiranthos.

As for the island break, this is a real personal decision. For me -- and friends, family are all over the board on this one -- Santorini is stunningly beautiful, but after a few nights of those gorgeous sunsets and poking around Oia, Fira and the other attractions, I'm ready to leave the tourism ``buzz'' behind.

But I'm perfectly willing to admit many folks love coming back to that lovely scene night after night. It's all good.

My attraction to Naxos (and a few other islands) -- sorry to those who've heard this line before -- is that it doesn't live and die on tourism to the degrees Mykonos and Santorini do. Some of the edges can be a little rougher, i.e. not as many upscale lodging choices, but there are other rewards.

Neither is right or wrong and I can't presume what you'd like . . . just trying to shed a little light as best I can.

As for Sofitel, I just looked at the site and it looks a lot cheaper than what a friend of mine paid last year (nearly 400/night). If you can get it around 200, that's a pretty good price for the quality.

Not sure what a cab goes for these days -- wild guess is maybe 30-40E? Perhaps someone else can clarify.

One other option that you might consider is to have a look at Syros which is en route to any of the other islands you refer to. Syros has a very different character with its major town having been formerly very wealthy - so it has a selection of quite grand buildings and wandering through the streets is really very pleasant. Very untouristy for foreigners - still a lot of Greek tourists go and all our Greek friends really enjoyed it as somewhere different and often ignored until they were 30+ as they would go to the party islands through their 20s.
Agree with comment re:Naxos and variety.

My wife and I spent two weeks on Naxos in June this year. We decided not to rent a car and instead used the local bus system. It is inexpensive and quite comfortable with big Volvo buses. One can certainly explore the villages of Naxos using the bus system.
An other alternative is to take a bus tour from one of the local tour companies. These tours visit the highlights of the Island.

It is not necessary to have a car. If you want to visit the beaches on the West side of the island they leave every hour from the main bus depot.

But one of the major advantages of Naxos is there is a very good beach right in the town. You can spend your whole vacaton and never have to leave Naxos town. There is so much to do and see.

You are all so helpful. Do any of you know the Kavos in Naxos? According to Tripadvisor it is #1!!

I would spend less time in Athens and more time on the islands or exploring areas like Naflion and Olympia.
We enjoyed Athens and got our fill of it in just 3 nights.

I would reduce the Athens days. Spend 2 days on Santorini and then maybe go to another island...we like Crete. In our opinion, Mykonos is highly overated.