mist

Hi

My husband and I are planning to go to Greece at the end of September 2007. We are arriving and leaving from Athens.

The first week is already all organized (we will rent a car for that week and tour inland)

We would like to see the Islands and Ephesus on the second week. Must see island would be Santorini but we need suggestions on wich other islands we should visit and on which islands we should spend the night.

We like history and nature. We also like to see pictoresque places. We are in shape and visit very fast. We can take in a lot in one day!

We intend to use the ferries and possibly fly if it's more convenient

Thanks in advance for all the help you can give us

L.

brotherleelove2004

Trying to get to Ephesus by ferry and then on to Santorini by ferry will cut into your one week way too much. I suggest you fly from Athens directly to Samos and join an excursion that will take you to Ephesus and then bring you back to Samos. Fly back to Athens and catch a plane to Santorini. Trying to get to Ephesus by ferry and then on to Santorini by ferry will cut into your one week way too much. Aegean Airlines has very inexpensive flights to the islands if you purchase them before they're all gone. http://www.aegean-air.gr/aegeanen/home/

mist

Thanks for your suggestion brotherleelove2004. What if I fly to Patmos from Athens, spend the day there, then take an overnight ferry to Samos and go to Ephesus from there. Spend the night in Samos and go from there to another beautiful island?

mist

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mist

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mist

Here is an itinerary that I'm thinking of. Please let me know if you think that it's possible to do:

Day 1- fly from Athens to Patmos
Day 2 - Patmos
Day 3 - ferry to Samos
Day 4 - Day trip to Ephesus then ferry to Santorini
Day 5 - Santorini
Day 6 - Santorini
Day 7 - ferry to Paros
Day 8 - day trip to Mykonos, Delos & Naxos by ferry
Day 9 - Paros
Day 10 - ferry to Athens, rent a car and drive to Nafplio
Day 11 - drive to Sparte
Day 12 - drive to Olympia
Day 13 - drive to Itea
Day 14 - drive to Kalambaka
Day 15 - drive to Athens
Day 16 - Athens
Day 17 - Athens
Day 18 - early flight home

Eleni

Nafplio - Southwest of Athens
Sparta - Southwest of Nauplio
Olympia - Northwest of Sparta (due west of Nauplio)
Itea - west of Athens of the sea
Kalambaka - by Meteora
Athens

It's hard to comment on your itineray because people are so different. For me, assuming you are changing hotels every night on the Peloponesus which is how I read your plan, I would be desparately unhappy with your plan. It involves way to much time packing and unpacking, and checking in and checking out, for my taste, for a reason that escapes me.

If it were me, I would need to greatly simplify your itinerary. On the Peloponesus leg of your trip, I would pick one place to stay - Nauplio would be an excellent choice -- and use that as the base for exploring the region (and if you want, going to all of the places you have on your list). This would allow you to see every place that you want without wasting the time needed to change hotels.

I would also bypass Itea and drive straight from Nauplio to Kalambaka, with a stop at Delphi along the way. I would stay two nights in Kalambaka(which would give you a full day to explore Meteora, one of the wonders of the world that shouldn't be missed). Especially if you are in shape, Meteora is an incredible place to visit.

mist

Thanks for your input on my inland itinerary.

Itea is a place to spend the night, we intend to visit Olympia, cross the Corinth canal towards Patras and sleep in Itea then off to Delphi and Meteora

Kalambaka was also just a place to spend the night since we intend to visit Meteora.

Maybe I over-estimated the driving time to Meteora?

travelerjan

Day 4 puzzles me ... is there a night boat to Santorini that I don't know about? That's a loooong ferry trip.

Also, your Day 8 -- there's a one-day excursion to Delos, starts at north part of Paros, stops at Naxos just to pick up other customers, then goes to Delos & stays a few hours (3?) then goes back. I don't recall that it goes to Mykonos, or else if it does, you can't do both that AND Delos. You CAN see a lot of Delos in 3 hours but not both islands.

Tell me about this Samos-Santorini transportation -- is it "beam me up, Scotty"??

Eleni

If you stayed in Nafplio, it's about a 3 1/2 hour drive to Delphi, and then another 3 hour drive to Kalampaka from Delphi. If you left in the am from Nafplio, you could see Delphi, then have lunch, then drive to Kalampaka for an overnight. Then you could spend an entire day exploring Meteora, stay again in Kalampaka, and leave in the am for Athens.

worldinabag

Hi

What about flying to Istanbul from Athens on Day 1. Or fly direct to Istanbul and return home from Athens, if you haven't booked your ticket yet. Spend a couple of nights there. Verrry interesting city. Then bus or flight(?) to Kusadasi (Ephesus). Otherwise leave Ephesus for another trip to Turkey - a country really worth seeing too.

If it helps, Aegean Air has flights to Samos but not Patmos.

If you need to prune your itinerary you won't miss much if you leave Sparta out. If you don't go to Ephesus try to include Epidaurus and Mystras in your itinerary.

Heimdall

Mist, your itinerary has about one destination per day until you return to Athens at the end of the trip. Assuming it is even possible to make all those island connections, there will be little time left for sightseeing.

You have allowed yourself only one breather with two days on Santorini, and that will probably be used up just getting there from Samos. The only ferry I could find from Samos to the Cyclades is twice weekly stopping at Naxos and Paros, where you will have to change to another ferry for Santorini.

Recommend you drastically cut the number of islands you plan to visit. Fly to Samos and back if that's where you want to go, then you will have enough time to fly to Santorini.

The only way ferries make sense for one week on the islands would be to stay in the Cyclades, then do a few days on Santorini and a few days on Paros or Naxos. That would give you enough time to do the day trip to Mykonos and Delos. BTW, I believe the Alexander does half a day on Delos and half a day on Mykonos.

mist

Thanks to all of you. I am flying in and out of Athens because I'm using my airmiles and it's as far as I can go with the points that I have accumulated so far.

We have a total of 17 days= We arrive on September 19 and return October 6th (early morning). To save on airport trips, we will do the first part of our trip in the islands and the last part of our trip inland (rent a car for one week)

I wanted to go to Samos mainly to visit Ephesus (in Turkey).

I will never have the opportunity to go back to Greece so, as you can see, I'm trying to see as much as I can.

As you probably noticed, I'm having a lot of difficulties figuring out the ferry system because they give the names of Ports (not always the name of the islands).

Heimdall, you seem to be very good with finding information about the ferries. Do they have overnight ferries from Samos to Santorini which would save us a hotel room and time?

I would prefer to arrive in Santorini by sea as I heard that it's the most incredible way to first encounter this island.

We have a total of 8-9 days for the islands, which ones do you recommend in order to be able to keep both Santorini and Samos and still see as much as possible?

brotherleelove2004

There is no ferry from Samos to Santorini, but there is one to Naxos, which is as close as you can get.

Use this website to see what's available when you want to go. Vathi is the port name for Samos Island.

http://www.openseas.gr/OPENSEAS/serv...amp;show=index

There isn't anything decided yet for next September, you'll have to wait until at least May for those listings.

Heimdall

Mist, actually brotherleelove is better at finding ferries than me, but neither of us can predict accurately what will be running in September until much later this year.

If you look at brotherleelove's other posts, you will find a link to the Open Seas website where you can go back to Sep 06 to see what was running then, and hope that the same schedule will apply in Sep 07.

I have a copy of Greek Island Hopping 2007, which I understand hasn't been published in the US yet. It shows the Express Athina departing Vathi at 1800, then Karlovassi at 1900 on Wed and Saturday. It shows the same ferry departing Naxos for Paros and Piraeus at 2315 on the same days, so assume it arrives at Naxos around 2245. You would then have to wait until the next morning to catch a ferry to Santorini.

Please understand that this is only guesswork, because ferry schedules for September won't be published until next summer. Also understand that ferry service between different island chains (eg Dodecanese and Cyclades) is patchy at best. In your case you are relying on twice per week service on a ferry that doesn't get very good reviews in Greek Island Hopping. I quote: "...her major fault is a propensity to bob around like a cork in even calm conditions: this is one Greek ferry on which you could end up feeling seasick the moment she leaves harbour."

You say you want to see as much as possible, but I fear with your itinerary you will be seeing mostly ferry ports and long stretches of the Aegean. Flying is more expensive, but not as much as you might think. Considering how much more time you have available for sightseeing and relaxing on the islands, it may well be worth it.

Fly to Samos and back, and you should have time to visit Ephesus. You could then decide between flying or taking the ferry to Santorini. It may even be possible to squeeze in a couple days on Naxos if you take the ferry from Santorini to there.

mist

Thank you Brotherleelove, sounds like I should not rely to much on the Greek ferries...

Thanks again Heimdall, My husband originally want us to take a cruise but I get seasick on big cruises and was told that ferries in Greece were much more fun anyway. We might just take the plane to Samos and back like you're suggesting. It's only 19 Eur each way by Aegian Airlines (cheaper then ferry)

Heimdall

Mist, I hope you don't think I was criticizing the Greek ferry system. They are great for getting back and forth from the islands to the mainland, and radiate from Piraeus and Rafina like spokes in a wheel. The problem is when you try to cross from one route (spoke) to another. There aren't many Greeks who need to travel from Samos to Santorini, so there isn't a ferry service between the two islands.

On the other hand, there are wonderful ferry connections between Piraeus and the central Cyclades. You have a choice between highspeed catamarans and huge car ferries offering daily services to Paros, Naxos, and Santorini. Perhaps you would enjoy taking a ferry back from Santorini, and stop off at Naxos, for example. Or you could take the Flying Cat 4 from Santorini to Mykonos, stay there a couple of days, and do your day trip to Delos from there.

mist

Thanks again Heimdall,

I did not think that you were criticizing the Greek ferry system. I just see that planning to much ahead with ferries is very difficult and that going from islands to islands which are not in the same district might be a bit complicated or take much longer that flying.

I might just decide to skip going in the Aegean Islands region. It's probably not worth all the extra time and money just to see Ephesus.

I heard that there was another place were you could see an ancient city which used to have running water and where houses were heated with fires burning underneath them. Have you heard of where that could be?

dgg

Hi Mist, Your post caught my eye because Patmos doesn't have an airport. There is one on a nearby island (Leros?) that you have to ferry from to Skala. I've done the Samos, Patmos, Ephesus trip. There are a few things you cannot do, or if you "can", it will be really, really painful. First off, fly to Samos, not Patmos. Spend the night in Samos, the next day, take the tour to Ephesus. It's an all day affair so you will return to Samos and spend the night. The next morning you can ferry to Patmos. I love Patmos. It's very quiet, but you will probably enjoy the historical/religious sights. Spend one or two nights on Patmos. I don't know about the ferry between Patmos and Santorini. Maybe someone else on the Boards has done that.

Santorini is worthy of two to three nights, but it is a "must" in my opinion. You cannot go to Mykonos, Delos AND Naxos on a day trip. Again, if you can logistically work it out, it will not be pleasant. The trips to Delos are limited as there are no residents on the island. Most people go on a 1/2 day tour sort of thing.

Returning to the mainland, you need to check your ferry schedule into Athens. By the time you get your car and drive to Napflion, it could be evening which won't leave much time for sightseeing around Napflion. EVERYONE loves Napflion. It is a wonderful place to stay and Epidavros and Mycenae are nearby. Don't sacrafice them for Sparta. It looks like you are driving from Napflion through Sparta to Olympia. I would spend two nights in Napflion and swing through Sparta to see Mystras (about 1 -2 hours) before going on to Olympia. My husband's family is from Sparta so for us it's nice to spend the night, but you're better off in Napflion for the night. It's a beautiful town on the sea. I've never been to Itea, so I cannot comment, but I would recommend Delphi as your next stop after Olympia. Delphi to Kalambaka is not such a bad drive. The drive from Meteora back to Athens will not be pleasant. Get an early start on the monasteries. If you leave by mid-afternoon you will not be back in Athens until mid-evening at best.

We're working on a Greece trip with the family this summer and we're struggling with the same thing as you, wanting to take the kids to so many of our favoritie places and see some new places (Crete) ourselves. It's so tempting to overschedule so be careful and HAVE FUN!

mist

Thanks dgg,

Your suggestions appeals to us. Only problem is the ferry betweek Patmos and Santorini. Maybe we should go to Naxos from Patmos, do the Mykonos, Delos half day on each island then off to Santorini the next day? (have to see if there is a ferry)

your suggestion for the inland part sounds great : Epidavros and Mycenae would be day trips from Napflion where we found a cute little pension.

On our way to Delphi we could visit the Acropole, Sparta (to visit Mystra), Olympia and the Corinth canal in one day?