Need Advice with Athens/Islands Itinerary
 

Hi everyone!

I will be going on my honeymoon in July/August for 11 nights and will visit Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Crete, and back to Athens.

We decided to stay in Athens 2 nights in the beginning since we have a long flight coming from LAX with 2 stopovers before arriving to Athens at 6pm. But after reading a lot of posts on here about Athens, I am now questioning my decision and am wondering if we should immediately fly to Mykonos to unwind.

Here's my itinerary as of now:

Athens (Grande Bretagne) - 2 nights
Mykonos (Vencia) - 3 nights
Santorini (Aspaki Suites) - 3 nights
Crete (Blue Palace) - 2 nights
Athens (Grande Bretagne) - 1 night

Should we fly straight to Mykonos once we arrive in Athens? And spend 2 nights at the end of our trip in Athens instead? This would leave us with an extra night that I could use at the Blue Palace in Crete.

What do you all think? Will we be exhausted from our trip and not want to get on another flight to the island?

Also, does the time spent at each location look ok? We want a little bit of everything, history, nightlife, relaxation..

Thanks!!

Although it will be tiring, yes, I'd definitely recommend going straight from Athens to Mykonos. You'll waste less time that way, and avoid a 2-night stay in Crete.

Just a FYI about The Grande Bretagne. We've stayed there many times ( most recently last May), and it certainly has a fantastic, central location. And it's one of the grande dames of Europe- opulent lobby, unbelievable service. However, depending on the category of your room, you may feel like you've spent a lot of $$ for cramped quarters.

To give you an idea, we were in a classic room last May which cost over $700/night. We had a lovely view (NOT!) of the interior courtyard, and very little space around the bed for our suitcases or anything else.

We've also stayed as non-paying guests in one of the suites. I can only imagine what that cost,(!!) but it was absolutely one of the most beautiful, extravagant rooms we've every stayed at in Europe.

Anyway, thought you might like to know that the rooms vary widely before you reserve. Unfortunately, the King George, right next door, has even SMALLER rooms for about the same price.

I don't know where else to suggest in Athens, but thought you should know.

Have fun!

I would ALSO suggest saving Athens for last, IF you can get a Mykonos flight after arriving so late (6pm). (It's nice to provide the DATE of arrival, so we would know the possibility, even, of such a flight).

Aegean is not possible because its last flite is 6pm but olympic has flights at 1840(6:40;still too early) and 21:20 arriving 2200 (10pm). Get "flexible" tickets for the 21:20 & if the 6:40 flt is delayed u might get lucky & get on that!

You'll get there at 10pm, but your body will still be on US time, i.e., 3 pm, so you can check in & have a snack before you crash. And u will have saved that extra in-out trip to Athens.

You would be exhausted anyway, and not able to focus on the awesome sites that Athens offers... an island is a much more serene place to recuperate. Nine nights later, you will be MUCH more mellow -- and especially after a Crete experience, you will resonate more deeply to the 4,000-yr history that Athens represents.

I will be arriving into Athens on July 27.

I will be using SPG cash + points for my stays at the Grande Bretagne and Blue Palace, so I am not worried about spending too much since each night is only $150 :)

I am definitely going to change my itinerary. I think I would reget not spending an extra night at the Blue Palace after seeing the pictures and reading all the reviews.

You guys are great!

Hi and congratulations,

I just checked the Aegean Airlines website, and they have a flight to Mykonos departing at 9:30PM on July 27th. Either that, or the Olympic flight suggested by travelerjan, would get you to Mykonos that evening. There is no better place to recover from a long flight than the Greek Islands.

If you feel that is too much flying in one day, recommend you stay at the airport Sofitel that night and take an early flight the next morning. I have done that myself, and it's really nice to check out of the hotel and walk straight to the airline check-in counter.

Before you decide, though, take a hard look at your itinerary. You have only eleven nights, and plan, in that time, to visit three islands and split Athens into two stays. That is four transfers, and you will spend the better part of a day in travel, checking in & out of hotels, etc. with each. All the more reason to head straight to the islands, and save Athens for last.

Also, think seriously about dropping one of the islands and spending more time on just two. Since you seem to have your heart set upon Blue Palace, suggest skipping Mykonos and add the time to Santorini and Crete. You could stay at Sofitel and get an early morning flight to Santorini, and from there the FlyingCat 4 catamaran to Crete. :-)

Ok here's my new itinerary:

Fly into Athens at 6:30pm then take the Aegean 9:35pm flight to Mykonos.. I figure whats another 30 minute flight right?! :)

Mykonos (Vencia) - 3 nights
Santorini (Aspaki Suites) - 3 nights
Crete (Blue Palace) - 3 nights
Athens (Grande Bretagne) - 2 nights

I think this is much better as it will give us more of a feeling of being able to unwind.

Thanks to you all for all your help :)