Please comment on this brief itinerary
 

Here is our general itinerary. Can anyone comment if it seems like the right amount of time in each of the islands and if we are situated in the right areas as far as our hotel is concerned.
2 full days in Athens, staying at Hotel Philippos
2 days in Naxos, staying at Hotel Alkyoni
4 nights in Santorini, staying at Volcano View Villas
3 nights in Crete at Hotel Pantheon Palace near Iraklion. would Chania area be a better choice?

Absolutely YES to your last question!

You'd get more responses if you reposted this query with "Greece" in the title.

Can only comment on the Santorini part of your Itinerary:
Author: hawaiihoneymoon
Date: 04/08/2005, 01:05 pm
Message: Hi - My husband and I will be staying in Santorini for 3 days. Ditto for Mykonos. As usual, I am trying to come up with some sort of agenda of activities, things to do, places to see. We are not a "die-hard stick to the itinerary" type of travellers - but like having an idea of what possibilities we have to explore and take it from there based on what we are enjoying once we are there.

From what I have been able to research, I feel we will run out of things to do. So can you all recommend some things we should do while in Santorini.

Some ideas I had were:
- 1 day we could walk from Firostefani to Oia (heard it will take 3 hours) - once there spend the day in Oia
- Explore Fira
- Maybe go to Akroti (not really int ruins)

WHAT ELSE??.....




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Author: Steve_James
Date: 04/08/2005, 01:32 pm
Message: HH - Take the boat trip ... and climb the volcano!

Steve



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Author: marshacarlin
Date: 04/08/2005, 01:48 pm
Message: We spent a wonderful 2 day in Oia at the far end of Santorini. It was the BEST! Oia is less touristy that Fira (Thera) and you can get everywhere by walking. Be sure to walk all over and explore the cave houses and up to where the bells hang, you'll recognize them from all of the pictures of Santorini.

In Oia "1800" was a very good restaurant to eat in and picking up cheese, tdziki (yogurt, cucumbers and mint) and crackers at the small grocery store in town was perfect for lunches. I've also heard that The Blue and White restaurant which is down on the water front is very good. It's a little out door restaurant. They have fresh fish they cut it up and throw it on the b-bque. Great for watching the sunsets also

We rented a car for one day and went to the archeological dig at the other end of the island which is still active I think and gives you an idea of how they excavate, etc with out being very large, Can do it in 1-2 hours.

Fira is lots of bars and everyone gets together to watch the sunset. I've read about taking a cable car down from there to the shore or walking down and taking the cable car up!
We hated to leave after 2 days so maybe just relaxing on one of the black sand beaches will take up your 3red day. Good Luck...we loved it there.

Can we take the fast boat from Santorini right into the Chania area of Crete or would we need to come into the Iraklion area and then get to Chania? (and how?)

To my knowledge you'd need to come into Iraklion by boat. Crete is one place I'd definitely rent a car to get around on.

The fast boat only goes to Heraklion, not to Chania. It leaves Santorini at 5:30pm and arrives at 7:15pm, too late to catch a bus to Chania.

http://www.bus-service-crete-ktel.com/timetables2.html

There is, however, a car ferry that leaves Santorini at 9:30, arriving in Heraklion at 1:15, giving you plenty of time to get to Chania. _BUT_ according to www.gtp.gr this particular departure is only on Wednesdays. Here's a link to the whole timetable:

http://www.gtp.gr/RoutesResults.asp?...0HCRHCR,1417,8

You might have to rent a car in Heraklion to give yourselves some flexibility and independence.