snowchick

Hello, I'm trying to finalize my trip to Greece. I have 10 days, 9 nights total excluding travel days. I want to spent 4 nights in Naxos, 3 nights in Santorini, and 2 nights in Athens. I know it's really not enough time to see everything in Athens, but im sure we will be back, everytime coming to greece we always have to fly into athens anyway.

Now the question is do I go to Naxos first or Santorini? I was always told be travel agents to save the best part of your vacation last, once you have experience the "best of the best", then go to somewhere "good", you might be disappointed. I'm sure I will love Naxos too, but the view in Santorini is unbeatable.

With that said, how do I get from Athens to Naxos first? I land at athens at 9am ish. If I fly to santorini right after, there is a flight at 11am. is that enough time?

I'm leaning towards, taking the ferry into Naxos, after arriving in athens at 9am, then ferry from Naxos to santorini, then fly from Santorini to athens. (there is an 8pm flight)

If I go to Naxos, what time ferry should I book? how much time do I need from airport to the port?

thanks

Heimdall

Hi snowchick,

If you arrive in Athens at 9am, the next available ferry to Naxos will probably be at 5:30pm (no mid-day ferries). You will be too late for the daily flight to Naxos, except on Saturday, when there is a second flight at 2:45pm. Unless you want to hang around Athens all day, your best option would be the 11am flight to Santorini. Two hours layover should be enough time, as long as your inbound flight runs to schedule.

Heimdall

To add to my last post, there may be a highspeed leaving Piraeus at 4:30pm, arriving on Naxos at 8pm, but that will be the earliest available.

IMHO, if you go to Santorini first, then Naxos, you <i>will be saving the best for last.</i> Others may disagree. ;-)

travelerjan

I agree with Heimdall -- get that Santorini flight! Nothing more deadening than having to hang around an airport for Hours.

I also believe in seeing Santorini first ... it prepares you for the contrast between a highly- touricized island (tho beautiful caldera view) beseiged with cruise ships & package tours, and an isle that luckily has almost none of the above.

there are several daily sailings from Santorini to naxos, take an enjoyable "regular" ferry with outside decks, like a 'mini-cruise'.

THen your only decision would be: how to get back to Athens most expeditiously. There are 2 daily Blue Star ferries; they each take 5+ hours. Either 9:45-3pm or 6pm - 11:30 pm. In the latter case, get in the taxi line taxi to a Plaka area hotel. In earlier case, you could catch the metro for €1 each. Advantage of the 2nd sailing is it gives you a final afternoon on the beach... Your hotel probably would allow you a late check-out, or at least a bathroom to freshen up before going to the ferry dock.

OR -- you could take the one daily flight from Naxos-Athens; 87€ 9 am-9:45... this would give you a full day in Athens, to check out the Acropolis & Acropolis Museum, at least.

Now, snowchick, I may be missing something but I checked your other 2 postings as well and nowhere do you tell us when your trip is. September?? August? Is it a secret? The dates could make a difference in our advice.

snowchick

I actually will be in athen on a Sat. Another option is to stay in athens the 1st night, walk around do some siteseeing, find a hotel near the port, then take the 7am ferry to Naxos.
Or, after leaving the airport, find a place to check our bags, walk around athens till 5pm, then take the ferry.

Where do you find flight info from athens to naxos? I looked around it says only 3 flights a week. maybe im not looking at the correct place.

snowchick

Hi travelerjan and heimdall, thanks for your replies.
I will arrive in athens on Sat 9/4 and leave on 9/13 monday. On our way back, I plan to get into athen late at night, then have a full day to walk around, then flying out early morning on the 13th.

Some friends were telling me 1 day might not be enough at athens, that's why i came up with the idea of maybe spending half day in the beginning of the trip there too.

Marsh

For my trip to Greece last fall, I planned to fly to Naxos two hours after arriving in Athens. BUT, our flight out of Atlanta was delayed for six hours. So, we were lucky to get the last ferry going to Naxos & arrived there at midnight! The ferry ride was great. We took the bus (very cheap) from the airport and it took about an hour to get to the port. On arrival there it was confusing to figure out where to go for our ferry, so we got a taxi to take us to it with minutes to spare! We really enjoyed Naxos & took a day trip to Delos & Mykonos. Also, we did the bus tour of Naxos & that was enjoyable. Arriving by ferry into Santorini was a beautiful view! We took the bus up from the port to the bus station & another bus to Oia. It worked very well. We had four nights each in Naxos & Santorini. The fact that Santorini is a popular place for tourists did not bother me. On leaving Athens, we took the bus to the airport (very cheap) & got there with not problem. Hope you have a great trip!

Heimdall

There are lots of different ways to plan your itinerary, and what works best for me may not work for you. Personally, and I go to Greece once or twice a year, I like to head straight for the islands rather than split my time in Athens between beginning and end. Think of it this way: if you take the 11am flight to Santorini, you will be there before 12 noon. That's almost as quick as getting from the airport to central Athens, checking into your hotel, etc. That also means checking in and out of an Athens hotel only once instead of twice.

If you do decide to spend the first night in Athens, recommend finding a hotel near Syntagma Sq or Monastiraki. It's a safe area, even at night, and there is lots to see around the Plaka area. The metro from there to Piraeus takes only about 20 minutes, and the metro station is near the Cyclades docks. Walk over a flyover, and you are where the Blue Star and Hellenic Seaways ferries depart.

travelerjan

LIke he said. Totally agree. With your VERY short trip, every hour saved is vitl.

BTW, a "fly-over" refers to a walkway that bridges over a VERY busy road bordering the waterfront.

You could split your trip this way. SANTORINI - Half of Sat, then Sun & Mon and Tuesday til 2 pm; (i.e., 3 days total) -- take 3pm Blue star to Naxos, arrive 5:30pm & Tues night in Naxos, plus Wed, Thurs, Friday (3 days + an evening) -- Catch Sat 9 am Flight to Athens arrive 9:45 am -- Metro to Plaka-area hotel by 11, have rest of Sat and all day sunday for Athens.

Why just 3 nights in Santorini?? Well, once u have seen the Caldera View and taken pictures of it, what else do you have to see there?? Naxos IMHO has much more to explore ... PLUS golden sandy beaches if those appeal.

travelerjan

Whoops!! Yes there ARE daily flights from Naxos to Athens... b ut the reason you did not see them on the Olympic schedule is --- they are SOLD OUT for Fri Sp 10 & Sat Sep 11! We warn people, this once-daily plane is VERY small... 50 pass... savvy people book Months ahead. So what now? I suggest taking the 6 PM Friday Blue Star, arrives about midnight, then a taxi to a plaka-area hotel.

Taking that "dinner ferry" as I call it, allows you a last afternoon to swim ... you can arrange for a late check-out at your hotel, or if not, then they'll have a spare bathroom where you can shower & change after a beach time, before going to the pier at 5:30. You can enjoy the sunset on deck, get something to eat in a cafe, then find an inside seat whre you can snooze until Pireaus.

BeachGirl247

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Jonb127

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Heimdall

Yes, that's it! When I wrote 'flyover' I meant a pedestrian bridge or walkway! I've been living in the UK too long, and sometimes get my English and American mixed up! ;-)

Incidentally, the planes that fly to Naxos and Paros are even smaller than suggested by travelerjan. A Dash 8-100 has only 37 seats, and sometimes flies with a partial load due to takeoff weight restrictions. A friend on Paros once accused Olympic of lying to him when they said all the seats were sold, but the plane took off with half the seats empty! Flights leaving Paros can take only about 18-20 passengers, due to it's very short 2,600 ft runway. Naxos is a little better off - it's runway is 2,900 ft.

disi3

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