Heimdall

Skyros has an airport, too. Currently served by Sky Express, but that may change for next summer.

billbarr

Syros? Did someone mention Syros? 8-)

travelerjan

Thanx Heimdall for all the aerofacts; alas, you may have mistook me for a rich American, but I am one of the other kind, like u. On each trip to stay on my 65-70€ per day budget (for everything) I can just allot 1 domestic flight per trip, at most... last year, none. Lots of busses. But at that, I'm lucky in that my passion is Greece. Many countries you can hardly travel at all without extensive car rental. So am not whining.

Heimdall

No Jan, I didn't mistake you for a rich American, and I didn't think for a minute that you really wanted to visit all those places - I wouldn't. But you challenged me with some far-flung islands as examples of those that "are not as accessible, at least to people who must come from afar", and I showed that all, save Thassos, are only about an hour from Athens by air - quicker than getting to Naxos by ferry. If you really want to visit them, you could tackle them one at a time on different trips, perhaps tying them in with visits to even lesser known nearby islands.

To me, getting to know Greece isn't about ticking off as many islands on the list as possible, but finding one island you really love, and going back there for 2-3 weeks or more at a time. That saves a lot of money on transport costs, too.

travelerjan

As usual, Heimdall, you are right ... my "beaten path" through the Cyclades has been in part dictated by the wishes of the people I take along as 'travel pals." But in 2011, I'm already thinking about the Sporades ... perhaps I can find some "Mama Mia" lovers who would be interested in doing that loop.

johnkathy

Thanks for all the advice. I think we will likely got with Naxos. Due to some time limitations and the fact my wife doesn't travel well, is flying from Athens to Naxos a viable option, rather than the ferry ? Olympic used to have service but I can't pull up any flights on their website. If air is not an option, any opnions about regular versus high speed ferry ?

brotherleelove2004

It's yet to be decided who will serve Naxos, but considering the fact that Olympic Air and Aegean are supposedly about to merge under the Olympic banner I think once they figure out the schedules that'll be the website to check for flights.

travelerjan

JOhnkathy, you probably are trying to use the OLD Olympic Airlines Website, which is no longer operative ... the screw-up n the change-over is mystifying many people. However there WILL be service to Naxos, and probably the same as in years past. One flight per day each way, not a big plane. Until this new owner, the flight was always sometime around 12:30 to 1:30pm. RIght now it's at 10 am, which is handy to nobody! The contract for serving Naxos will not be official until March 1, so they are not posting any flight schedule past Feb 28.

Here is the NEW link for the NEW Olympic AIR (not AirLINE, get it?) http://www.olympicair.com/Home.aspx?a_id=549 if you put in Athens & Naxos one-way for Sat. Feb 27, the schedule will come up. And if you can wait a few days, probably future schedules will come up shortly.

I'm guessing you're not going until June or later... however, you never did say exactlly WHEN in the summer you're coming. For future reference John it's always helpful if in your initial posting you can give the month you are traveling or even better, the exact dates. It can make a big difference in the advice! For example, there are 2 big holiday weekends that can affect travel, but we don't know if they coincide with your dates, do we?

travelerjan

Oh, almost forgot to say, if the flight thing doesn't work out, about ferries ... your wife might do better with the regular vs. high-speed. The regular ferries are VERY large - 1400+ passengers plus cars/trucks, 4 decks... very stable -- I often forget we are even moving --and lots of deck space to sit out in the breeze. The high-speed are smaller (450 pass) and totally enclosed, no sitting on deck.

brotherleelove2004

If the seas are choppy the passenger-only highspeed ferries bob in the water like corks. The larger highspeed ferries that are capable of carrying vehicles as well as passengers are not quite so susceptible to rough water but the conventional ferries are by far the better choice if seasickness is an issue.

As an example, the Hellenic Seaways "Highspeed4" carries just over 1000 passengers and 188 cars. I may be mistaken but it's my impression that the highspeed ferry travelling between Piraeus and Naxos is one that carries both cars and passengers.

Summer Schedules for the Hellenic Seaways fleet will be out sometime by the end of March.

johnkathy

Thanks for all the replies. We are traveling in June. We will likely go with the regular ferry given both our timing of arrival in Athens and the advice that the regular speed ferries are stable and should be tolerable for the family. Thanks