Planning Greece . . .
 

So, we spontaneously booked a trip to Greece. Coming off of a travel high from our recent trip to Morocco, we panicked when we realized that we had no future travel plans so we just couldn’t resist. To date, we have avoided Greece for numerous reasons but it is finally time for a cursory visit.

So, please tell me if I have booked a sensible trip or if changes should occur. Note: We are older & not particularly fond of beaches or strenuous hikes etc (no gorge walks for us). We always like a private balcony or veranda at our hotel.

-- Arrive Athens airport
Athens – 2 nights – Hilton with balcony (free) – see the usual greatest hits
-- Fly to Chania, Crete
Chania - 3 nights – Alcanea Hotel – room with veranda overlooking port - explore town, shop, eat
-- Rent a car & drive southeast to southern Heraklion province
Kamilari - 3 nights – Niriida Guest House (inland near Phaistos) – explore the area with car – ancient sites & villages
-- Drive to Heraklion – visiting Knossos on the drive in
Heraklion – drop car & spend one night @ port (Lato, Megaron or Marin Dream are potentials) – see museum if time permits
-- Ferry to Santorini
Artemis Villas (Imerovigli ) – 4 nights – stare at the crater, eat, rent car & visit sites on island, stare at the crater some more, drink wine on the veranda of the suite that we are paying dearly for . . .
-- Fly to Athens
Athens – 2 nights in the Plaka area – shop & wrap up of any sites
-- Depart Athens airport

Overall, I think it will be nice slowish relaxing travel. Any suggestions? Criticisms?

Ian

And this is for early June 2014.

Ian

Crete seems a bit rushed but at lea not manic. Other than that I think it's fine.

Sorry, I meant "at least it's not manic".

Your itinerary looks fine to me and 6 nights on Crete with a car are enough to see the highlights of the island.

Personally i 'd like to be somewhere on the sea, instead of an inland village. ( even though Niriides looks nice ).
Spending 3 nights in that part of Crete might be a bit long too, what have you planned to see in the area?

From the hotels that you mentioned in Heraklion the Megaron is i think the best one. :)

>Spending 3 nights in that part of Crete might be a bit long too, what have you planned to see in the area?

The ruins - Phaistos, Gortyna, Hagia Triada, caves in Matala, aimlessly wander some villages, see the ethnology museum in Vori, etc etc. But in a leisurely way.

Thanks to you both.

Ian

Ian
You can see all that in a day....
Have you considered spending perhaps 2-3 days in the East of the island?