My 22-yr-old daughter and I will be flying into Athens arriving Sunday afternoon, 6/28. We'd like to spend the afternoon/evening in Athens; head to Delphi and the Meteora on Monday (overnight) and Tuesday, then we'd have to return to Athens Tuesday night to catch a ferry or plane to Santorini Wednesday morning. We'd stay in Santorini through Friday, and on Saturday morning come back on a ferry or by air to Athens, spending the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday in Athens, and flying out again early Monday morning July 6.

Questions:

Has anyone taken the High Speed Hellenic Seaways ferry from Pireaus to Santorini? (Or is there another line to take?) What is the Economy class like (non-smoking), and can you table me what the difference is between a table seat and a seat? Does it make that much difference? Are the cabins very cramped? Is the ride fairly smooth (as in, not much change of seasickness)?

Athens to Santorini and Santorini to Athens: Ferry versus plane? Ferry from Athens; plane from Santorini? (Don't want to get stranded in case of bad weather) Comments?

Getting to the Meteora: Anyone have any experience with driving there (are signs bilingual or should we just forget it?). This is our first trip to Greece, and we do NOT know the language. Has anyone gone by train? Is it manageable or difficult? We would consider a bus tour (Fantasy? CHAT? other), but don't want to book in advance in case of bad weather, change of plans, etc. Are there many tours like that available at the last minute?

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated.

Excited, but nervous mom

I can only address some of your questions.

We flew between Athens and Santorini on Aegean. Flight takes about 20 min; service was excellent. Tickets were 39E each. Your less likely to have weather problems when you're going, but we sure thought flying was easy and a great time saver.

Our daughter lived in Athens for 4 months and twice took the train from Athens up to Meteora and the area. It was not particularly enjoyable. Greek trains aren't the best and are slow. On one trip they had to sit on their bags in the aisle for 6 hrs. On the other hand, she and we found the busses to be excellent. Took the bus to visit Nafplio area. Very clean, efficient, etc. You might check their schedules.

Have heard good things about CHAT. I'd think you could make a reservation and then cancel if needed, but just call or email and ask.

Hope this helps.

I can address your Meteora question. We didn't do it in quite the same order: we drove straight up to the Meteora from the airport, which is about 4 hours if you quickly acclimate to the Greek drivers' speeds(!). We spent a full day in Meteora, then headed back to Athens the next day, stopping in Delphi on our way down.

For big tourist sites like these, you won't have trouble driving as most signs to these places will be in English. You must also have a good map and pay attention! But if you get off a main road, then no, not all the signs are in English. However, it is totally doable, and I would drive it again rather than take a bus.

(I have to say, I was not a fan of the bus tours in Meteora. In my opinion, the better monasteries were the ones without the bus crowds: Holy Trinity, St. Nicolas Anapausus.)

Enjoy your trip!