We are in the beginning stages for our first trip to Greece. We plan to fly in/out of Athens. We want to see the Acropolis and Agora, and National Archaeological Museum.
We then want to visit a couple of the Greek Islands. We are middle age travelers and leisurely enjoy natural beauty and historical places.
We will have 9 or 10 days for the entire trip. We would like your suggestions about
what islands to visit. Do you recommend using a Greek travel agent for cruising and hotels? Should we stay onboard a cruise ship to explore the islands, or stay in a hotel?
Thanks much for the help.

Mnj, we can give you better advice if you would share a bit more.

I gather (or rather hope) you are not talking about this july-Aug but instead something later in '08, or in 2009. Can you give a "guesstimate" of your preferred trip dates i.e. June 1-10, 2009. ALSO, does that 9-10 days include the "Take-off" day and the departure day?? (in which case subtract 2).

A regular cruise ship will not allow u to "explore the islands" because it is actually a sea voyage, with only 4-7 hours on shore at an island. Easycruise gives you longer on shore...but it has its drawbacks (more of a floating rooming house than a cruise).

Once u decide which islands you prefer and what your hotel budget is, a Greek agency can do hotel and ferry bookings if u are timorous about this -- or if you have a bit of time, u can do it yourself. It may give u more choices in small hotels, since they don't usually list w. agencies.

Share a bit more info, and we'll get you started on planning...it can be such fun!

Hi, travelerjan.
This trip will for 2009 and we are thinking about spring. I went to weather.com and printed out the temp averages for Athens---spring seemed to be cooler and we don't enjoy really hot weather. Which is kind of funny because we live in the humid hot South !

We are flexible on the number of nights in Greece----probably up to 12 nights


Can you direct us to a web site that discusses the differences among the Greek Islands? We would like your thoughts about the islands.

Thanks

Tripadvisor.com
G

We used Uli with Dolphin-Hellas travel agency for our 2 week trip to Greece in 2006 and she was fabulous. We are using her again for our trip in May 2009. If you search on her name, or the Dolphin Hellas travel agency name, you will find many reviews from other Fodorites

My suggestion would be to head to your local library and check out a couple of travel books that cover Greece as well as the islands. Each island is uniquely different and there are certain islands that attract certain types of travellers.

If you plan on spending 9-12 days, I'd take 3-4 for Athens and divide up the rest with the islands. However, travelling between places does take up a large chunk of your day so you need to factor in travelling time and method.

There are many posts on the Greek islands. Doing a search would also yield good results! Good luck!

P.S. Don't travel around Easter. If you want to go to the islands, best time is May because the ferry lines will start running a lot more than early spring.

And be sure to get the dates for Orthodox Easter, which is often a different date than the day Easter is celebrated in the west

Late-May through June is the best time to go.

Guidebooks will give you the most complete information about Greece and the islands. If you don't want to purchase one go to your library and check one out.

http://www.greekislandhopping.com/Ho...guidebook.html

Hi MnJ!

Late Spring is ideal.... actually I would advise the last half of May. Do not worry it will be too hot -- it will range between 65 - 80. And "humid" is a word unknown in Greece.

Here's another weather thing --
http://search.weather.yahoo.com/regional/GRXX.html
IT lists all the major Greece sites, islands, and in many not only gives 10 day forecast but annual averages. For Instance, in May Crete has average hi of only 74, low of 59
Most isles are 5-10° cooler than Athens; for instance it is just 79° in Naxos, tho it is 86° in Athens.

Easter is April 19 in 2009, so things will be open and happening by mid-may but NO crowds. Perfect. Water will be "brisk" but I always swim.

Go to library & check out Eyewitness Guide to Greek Isles/Mainland -- look at the Cycladic islands.
If you want history & scenery, Naxos fills the bill. Crete is great but not for your short trip.

Nafplio on the mainland (just 2.5 hrs from Athens on A/C bus) has both history & incredible charm.Also an ideal base to visit ancient sites like Epidaurus, Mycenae Tiryns in just a day. Look at these 2 slide shows from a Fodorite Regular, on Naxos and Nafplio & ancient sites
http://travel.webshots.com/slideshow/552001505EYxVYT
http://travel.webshots.com/slideshow/551991579dJbWvh

Do some reading & get back to us!

From Athens, take Aegean Air to Rhodes. Stay at the Rodos Park Hotel right outside the Amboise Gate to the Old City.

Rhodes Town has nice beaches and there are historical sites--the Palace of the Grand Knight, Arch. Museum, Walled City--for you to explore.

A cute little island not far from Athens is HYDRA. You can get there by boat from Pireaus. Hydra is part of the Saronic Islands.

Thingorjus

There is a website, Matt Barrett's www.greektravel.com with lots of information to help you plan your trip.

We use Uli at Dolphin Hellas as well.
Normally we use her to book hotels in Athens as she seems to be able to get better rates that the internet posted rates from the hotel We also use her to book flights and ferries. We arrive at the hotel and a package with our vouchers and tickets are waiting for us.
having said that we do not use her once we get out of Athens. It is fun arriving somewhere that looks nice and just deciding to stay. We just walk up to a pension or studio that looks good and bargain for price. This works particularly well in May as the hotels have been without much cash flow for 6 months.

Hey Texas Aggie I remember you. We too are planning to head back to Greece in May 2009. The place just calls you back doesn't it.

I agree with Proenza Preschooler's great advice. We love Rhodes ( have visted a few times) and just got back from Hydra,( it's only 1.5 hours on the hydrofoil, so could be an excellent daytrip out of Athens) which is my new obsession.

Other islands I might suggest for a first-timer are: Santorini (Oia!) and Crete (Chania!), but with ten days, you probably need to pick two islands at most plus Athens.

And to maximize your time, I'd suggest flying straight from Athens to your first island stop. Visit Athens for a few days at the end of your trip.

We use John Terrell, an American living in Athens, as our agent. He's at [email protected]. We tell him exactly what we want, type of hotels, etc. or you can ask for suggestions. He's a delightful gentleman that has lived in Greece for many years. He used to be the man who set up all the tours for Royal Carribian Cruise lines before he retired and does this now. Absolutely a charming man with mega knowledge of Greece and excellent suggestions to make your trip wonderful and exactly what you want.

Hi stanbr!
Yes, Greece really did get into our system and we can't wait to go back. 10 months and 3 days, but who's counting? ;-)
I remember all the helpful info you provided and thank you again for it. I'm looking forward to comparing notes after our respective trips