If you had 9 or 10 days to dedicate to visiting the islands, which would you chose taking into account both ambiance and ease of transition?

to summarize the thinking so far....

Thanks to all who have helped me so far on our plans for next summer in Greece and Turkey. As we have played with the itinerary I realized that usually we only do close to home beaches - and I am intrigued by the idea of enjoying the classic Greek island experience as portrayed in novels and film - quaint villages, white sand beaches, clear waters, etc. On the other hand we are always pulled by history so I find myself looking at Rhodes, Crete and Corfu - but then wondering if they are too far apart and whether we might enjoy something smaller. Also still contemplating Samos as a transition to Turkey.
In a recent trip report (Stanbr I think or travelerjan?) you mentioned that Crete, Naxos and Paros are your favorites...would you mind elaborating why?

others...your advice is most appreciated.

9 or 10 days will not be enough for Rhodes, Crete and Corfu. As you suspect, they're too far apart for your short time frame. If Crete appeals the most, combine it with the closest group of islands, the Cyclades. You can easily avoid the more popular ones of Santorini and Mykonos and focus your time on either Paros or Naxos. I say "either" and not "both" because Crete is huge and takes a minimum of a week with a rental car just to barely scratch the surface. You don't have time for 3 islands, especially if you plan on getting to Turkey according to a set itinerary. I prefer Paros. It's easily reached by daily ferry from Heraklion, Crete during the summer months, as is Naxos. There are plenty of nice beaches there and you can take an easy daytrip excursion to nearby Antiparos and/or to the UNESCO historical island of Delos.

If Rhodes is more to your liking there are many islands nearby worth a visit, and if you're heading into Turkey that's a good place to make the crossing.

Same goes for Samos (and some of the nearby islands) so you can get to Ephesus without wasting time.

I recommend you fly to your first island instead of using the ferry system to use your time to the best advantage.

thanks so much brotherleelove2004 (you're not from Philly by any chance - our prior home before we moved out west?) Have you been to all of the above? and if so, do you have favorites? If you had to choose between Rhodes and Crete which would you go for?

Of the 3 you're considering I've only been to Crete. I have no basis for making a choice.

Upon further consideration, if Ephesus and Turkey are on the itnerary then I'd choose Samos.

Hi Laura --
BrotherleeLove is the Guy from the West (around Seattle), Stanbr is Vancouver Isl ... and I am the one from Philly. All of us have been going almost every year we can, to Greece. Brotherlee is probably the Western Hemisphere's greatest expert on Santorini - I bet he's been there 25 times, plus some ventures to Paros, kythnos Crete and several other islands ... Stanbr & spouse have been to many Islands plus the Peloponnese ... same with me, about 25 islands 5x to crete, plus Rhodes, Patmos, 2x Samos etc etc. But Stanbr & my favorite is Naxos... and we both have held forth at length on why, so I don't feel up to repeating it all here. However Trip Advisor just issued its 2015 Ten Best Islands in the World ... and the only one on the List in the entire Mediterranean was -- NAXOS.

As for your overly ambitious list, Brotherlee made a start on helping you be more realistic. Skip Corfu (the Corfu you may have read about in the Durrell books is no longer to be found). Rhodes is a possibility if you work it right and are content with a mainly Rhodes Old Town & LIndos -- and are comfortable with the knowledge that much of it was " restored" (really re-imagined) by Mussolini's Fascisti in the 1930s.. (but the city walls are real, and medieval).

You've posted several times without any "recap" on your timetable, so I don't remember what you mean by "summer." I do hope it's not in the super-hot, super-crowded months of July-August (are you aware that it's been 105-115 the past few weeks??). I urge June as the ideal month, early june rather than late. If you say you have 9 days, my thought would be:

DAY 1 - Land in AM if possible & Take small plane (just 1 flight a day, 35 pp) to NAXOS ... or PAROS.

DAY 2-3-4 -- Enjoy the Classic Greek- island pictures of your mind; sandy beaches, white cube house, blue shutters etc.

DAY 5 - take 1 PM Blue Star ferry to Santorini, enjoy sunset, famous caldera vew etc.

DAY 6 -- More Santorini, then at 12:45 AM Day 7 board BLUE STAR I overnight ferry to Rhodes Town, (get cabin) arrive 7 - 8 am. Day 7NOTE!!! You will have to PLAN this carefully, looking at ferry schedules... because this convenient route, linking the Cyclades with the Dodecanese, only goes 3x per week. If you want an itinerary like this, you have to START with the desired Santorini-Rhodes sail-date, and work back from there.

DAY 7 - 9 -- Sightseeing in Rhodes. You can then take a ferry to Marmaris on Turkey Mainland, and fly to Istanbul.. or whatever you want.

Hi Travelerjan - I have to ask - what part of Philly - I lived there 30 years (Mt. Airy and North Wales, and my husband was born and raised in Olney) but on to Greece, you are all clearly the right folks to ask - wow.

we have 3 weeks (June1-22), with vague idea of 1 week Athens and other mainland sites -1 week give or take islands and 1 week Turkey - if anything I would expand the islands and cut a day or two off the other ends so to speak. I was avoiding Santorini because of the crowds - am I being overly cautious there?

what would folks think of 4 nights Crete, 4 nights Naxos 2 nights Samos - and then ferry to Kusadasi, Turkey?

With so much ground to cover in 3 weeks, I know you don't believe it, but every hour counts. It sounds as if you have already purchased your tickets. Do you mean you Arrive ATH and depart IStanbul?? And is June 1 your arrival date or your departure date from West Coast?? And what date/time of day do you arrive in Athens?

I would suggest you not try to build your itinerary solely from what you get on travel forums and the novels you have read... you have at least 6 months to plan before you even make any reservations. How about you run over to the public library and lug home 5-6 guidebooks. My FAVORITE allpurpose is ROUGH GUIDE to GREECE (you can buy it used from Amazon, and carefully pull out sections -- "Cyclades" "Athens" etc -- use silver duct tape to bind and Presto! you have a handful of pocket-size guide-ettes.
Other guides to browse include EYEWITNESS: Athens & the Greek Isles (for he quic VISUAL overview), GREEK ISLAND HOPPING (because it shows what isles realistically link together), and then fill in with FODORS, FROMMERS ,etc.

Of course I'm not the right person to ask about Turkey because I feel you could spend all 3 weeks so profitably in Greece and also, I've read too much history (I know more than I want to, about the centuries of Turkish conquest/oppression of Greece). However, if you already have the tickee, my advice would be to spend 2.5 weeks in Greece, then get over to Turkey & take a flight to Istanbul to spend 3 days.

I would not avoid Santorini, it's a must-see for first-timers, and Brotherleelove would of course say spend 2 weeks there, but I would say, 36 hours. Stay on caldera, enjoy view etc., move on.

If you want to do Crete, I think you have to skip Rhodes. Crete really deserves a minimum of 4 days.

You'll be coming from west coast USA (this is info you should share when asking advice; it governs what u can do on day 1. I don't want to waste my time and yours by working up some detailed scenario. I could suggest a sequence & allocation of time:
DAY 1 -- recoup from Jet-lag
DAY 2-3 Intensive sightseeing ATHENS
DAY 4-5-6 - rent car; NAFPLIO and 2-3 other ARGOLID sights nearby
DAY 7 - Fly to first Island (NAXOS? Day 8 - 9 - 10
Day 11 or 12 - Ferry to SANTORINI
Day 13 or 14 - Ferry to ??? (CRETE or RHODES)
Day 18 - TURKEY

There ARE some flights from Crete to Turkey I think... you'd have to check. From Rhodes you'd just ferry 40 mins to mainland & nearest airport.

As for Philly: I'm a recent emigre (10 yrs) after most of my career in NYC; I'm in Fairmount, 500 yards from the Museum; perfectly marvelous location except we have races & concerts constantly in our neighborhood and now we're all trying to get out of town in late Sept, because of the new spectacle/invasion -- "Pope-Nado."

Ah love Fairmont - ritual visit to Rembrandts whenever we went to the art museum - and of course now you have the Barnes. and yes, my mother-in-law is over the moon about Pope Francis coming, but I can imagine the nightmare it will be for those who live there.

I've been immersing myself in the Fodors guide books to both Turkey and Greece - your proposed itinerary sounds fairly close to what we were thinking. I will definitely get some other guide books for perspective (I like the eyewitness and TDK ones) - and the island hopping guide sounds like a great idea.

We leave Albuquerque on 5/31 and arrive in Athens on June 1st and I totally imagine leaving the first day for jet lag - then two fully operational I hope days in Athens, maybe 2 days for Delphi and Meteora, or perhaps the Peloponnese and then on to some islands. thanks for the good direction

Travelerjan,
Do you have any favorite hotels or apartments in Naxos?
Do you rent a car while there?

Laura I would totally skip Meteora if you have all that other traveling in mind (unless you are a hermit or Greek Orthodox -- it's a long drive, get a really good video instead). You could do delphi by afternoon drive up, see museum before it closes at 8, then see ruins in AM before tour busses, then hit the road for Nafplio arrive by afternoon, spend 2 days around there. I would 10 times rather see Nafplio (and its ancient sites around) than Meteora.

Sassafrass -

I suggest you post your own query, so you can get suggestions not just from me, but from all the Naxophiles, who might miss your question down at the tail end of another persons query. NOTE: When you ask for recommends, you need to HELP us to give appropriate advice, and that means putting it in context. What I would recommend would depend on (1) what month you are visiting (2) your status -- couple, solo, parents w. preschool kid, older couple, etc, and (3) your preferred budget range per night (in Euros) and (4) how many days you'd plan to spend in Naxos. All these would affect what lodgings I'd recommend, what location, and car rental.

Oh, thanks, Travelerjan. Sorry. I asked you on the spur of the moment, thinking it would be just a quick reply. You seem to be an expert on Naxos, and it looks like a perfect island, but I made the same mistake many newbies make, not giving enough information for a reasonable answer. Will do as you suggest.