HelenG

I hope you have a wonderful experience on your first visit to Greece. Sorry we will not be at Ammos Hotel at the same time. It would be nice to meet another Fodorite. I'll also look into the hotels you mentioned in Heraklion. All I have to do now is get my husband into shape to do the Samaria Gorge with me....

debbie7370

I too am going to Greece (May 24 - June 11th) and also am staying at the Hotel Grande Bretagne for 4 nights. Plans are 4 days Athens, 3 days Rhodes, 3 days Crete and 3 days Mykonos. Your itinerary is identical to ours. The time you are spending in Athens is just right. Everything is close by and within walking distance to the hotel. I definitely would cut out some days in Crete - six is way to many. In Santorini, I stayed at Santorini Palace and it was great. While in Santorini take a drive to Oia and watch the sun go down - it's breathtaking. Don't worry about the kids, they are still in school which is why I go this time of year.

debbie7370

Lorib1:

As an alternative to Delta, check Olympic Airlines - I purchased my tickets (JFK to ATH) yesterday and it was $970 (call them)- internet price was higher by $75.

oceankayaker7

Stay away from Olympic airlines. Read the negative posts on here. I plan on using Delta non stop B/class from JFK to ATH for my honeymoon in May.

AP6380

I didn't read all of the posts, so excuse me if I missed something. Crete is a huge island, why would you only go for 3 days? I'm going in June for 10 days and know I will still have much more to see in future trips.

lorib1

For the air - we are going to use Delta instead of Olympic for the same reasons as indicated by oceankayaker7, despite the slightly higher cost on Delta. Peace of mind is worth it to us.

In regards to our 4-5 days on Crete - we will be in Chania for 3 nights and Iraklion for 1 night. This is our first trip to Greece, and we want to see various parts of the country and the isles, so we decided on 3-4 night stays in each place.

debbie7370

I have been hearing the same news about Olympic Airways for years and I am not worried. I went to Greece in 2000 and 2002 and the same stories were going on then. However, I did buy trip insurance as I always do when travelling international. I am using Aegean Airlines for the domestic flights. As for length of time in Crete, I cram everything in - one day Heraklion, 1 day Agios Nikolas, 1 day Chania. I'll get my relaxation in when I visit the family at the end.

lorib1

Just as an FYI - the Aegean flights are selling out quickly. Just bought our tix for Athens-Chania and then Santorini-Athens & had to take slightly later flights (both by just an hour) than originally planned.

docdan

Just an observation, having lived in Greece for a year: Lorib1, your itinerary is excellent, and I wouldn't change anything, but I noticed in your posting that you said you wanted to "See various parts of the country and the Isles" when in fact your itinerary is for "Athens and the Isles." People tend to think that "Greece" means "Aegean islands" and forget that there is a whole lot of Greek mainland that is fascinating, but not near Athens. But you can't do everything! A trip needs to be planned to see _Athens and the islands_ or _Athens, Thrace, & Macedonia_ (for instance) - trying to do all is a bit too ambitious. I'd agree that day trips to Cape Sounion and/or Corinth from Athens should be considered strongly, with the same disclaimer that you can't do it all, and if you follow my logic, you may want to consider one day less on Santorini, and one day more in Athens for one of these day trips. Also, the decision to do 3 days on W. Crete with one night in Herakleon, I feel, you'll find will be a good one. But, I repeat, your intinerary as it stands is fine and will be enjoyable as it stands. Bon Voyage!

debbie7370

lorib1 -

Thanks for the tip on Aegean flights - will book now. Also, I contacted Uli by phone today and she is going to help me with ferry tickets and tours. I hate not knowing how I'm getting from one place to another since the ferry schedule isn't published until April/May. She's also helping me with a taxi to Sparti so we can visit the family. Have fun in Greece. Debbie

lorib1

My apologies - I know that Greece is more than Athens and the isles. The country is way too big to cover in a 2 week trip, so I am sure that we will be back again for another visit to areas of the mainland sometime in the coming years.

I booked our air to Athens today too. With the change (as noted above - flight is 1hr later now) in the flight from Santorini to Athens on Aegean, we will have about 2 hrs between arrival in Athens and the Athens/Paris departure on the way home, so I think we are ok.

Am still waiting to just confirm my hotel res. at Katikies and give them my credit card number.

Debbie - I'm going to use Uli for the ferry tix and any other tours within the country, once the schedules are available, but the bulk of the planning is done.

thanks to everyone again!

- Lori