Hi there.

2 friends and I are planning a trip which will include Greece for about 6 days. We are thinking of staying on one island and traveling by ferrie or plane to several others as jaunts....Santorini seems to be the one we are most liking the idea of, and we all want to see Crete and Patmos, but things are further apart than I realized!

If anyone has any suggestions or ideas for this or alternative suggestions I would love to hear them. I have never been to Greece and I will also be seeing Italy and France as part of my grand adventure. I am meeting my friends in France and we are heading to Greece from there.

First of all, there are no island-to-island flights from Santorini, you have to first fly back to Athens to change planes. From Santorini there are ferries to several islands including Ios, Naxos, Paros, Folegandros, Anafi and Amorgos, depending on your chosen days of travel. Some of these islands are covered by daily ferries, others only once or twice a week. Crete is only 75 miles south of Santorini so you can get there easily by ferry as well as long as it's during tourist season. Off-season presents a completely different set of challenges ferry-wise. Use www.gtp.gr to help you plan your ferry route, but be advised that schedules for next year are not posted and won't be until about a month before they're needed. It's a very good idea to allow for last-minute changes to the schedules due to high winds or mechanical breakdowns. Not everything goes according to plan when it comes to the Greek Ferry System!

Last summer there was a guy flying from Crete to Santorini with a little propeller plane. He might be doing it this summer too, I don't know -- but it might be worth keeping your ear out for.

That would be Sky Express, http://www.skyexpress.gr/

Daena is planning for 2007, not this year, but this might still be a good alternative.

Thanks for your responses....

We are having fun planning and since we are not going until June 2007 we have lots of tiem to figure out what we are going to do...and to allow for serendipity!

I am not a "lie on the beach" type of traveller, I want to experience ruins older than I can imagine, immerse myself in different cultures and see beauty in all its disguises. Plus I am looking forward to enjoying the company of my friends, so we don't want to make our trip a nightmare of schedules. We will go with the flow, I hope!

I would book it open jaw, which means fly into Santorini and fly out of either Crete or Mykonos. Take the ferry from one island to the other. The ferry is quick for these islands.

But try to stay at least two nights at each hotel.

You will be in Greece for 6 days, and express an interest in ruins rather than beaches. With that in mind, my recommendation would be to limit yourself to one island (Santorini would be a good choice) for two or three days, and spend the rest of your time in Athens and another mainland destination such as Delphi.

Fly between Athens and Santorini to get the most of your short stay in Greece.

I love what you can learn from this forum! Thanks!

We had a planning meeting on the weekend and have really firmed up our dates for 2007. The good news is that we are spending about 3 nights in Crete and at least 5 in Santorini and going back to Athens before we return to Canada. Because we are all flying out separately from Athens we have different amounts of time there but luckily I can stay for a few days, as will at least one of my friends. We will be in Greece from June 23 until July 2 at least.

The main catch right now is that we are going in 2007, so bookings are not possible as far as ferries and air flights go. We have to hope our planned itinerary can be accommodated when the time comes.

My trip will start with a packaged tour of Italy and then I am meeting one friend in Marseilles and we will travel to Avignon to meet our other friend and will be staying with her in Barjiac (sp?) for 4 days. From there will all go to Milan and fly to Athens....so far that's the plan!

I am ready to go today.... Sigh!