Hello,

I am working my butt off saving for my first trip, well, anywhere. As such, I am really trying to plan well so we are not overwhelmed.

We are going to Greece in the worst possible month Aug 1-Sept 10. It cant be avoided. Like most, we want a mix of major sites and the road less traveled so....here it goes:

A. Fly into Athens and catch ferry to Chios.
(I plan to save Athens for the end of the trip)
B. Five days in Chios.
C. 1 Travel day to Patmos.
D. Four days in Patmos.
E. 1 Travel day to Rhodes.
F. 3 days in Rhodes.
G. 1 Travel day to Santorini.
H. 4-5 days in Santorini.
I. Travel to Naxos and stay 4 days on the last day see Delos and head back to Piraeus from there (if possible).

Then I want 2 and a half lazy wandering weeks for southern Peloponnese. From Nafpilo to Methoni. I would love to have extra days so if we like a place we can stay an extra day and so forth.

I saved mainland till the end because I don't want to worry about ferry connections when getting back to Athens to fly home. Also I am hoping some of the crowds will lessen at the major ruins at the very end of August and beginning of September.

Total time alotted 6 weeks.
We are budget travelers. I am setting aside $8000-9000 for 6 weeks in Greece (plus 2 weeks in France) including airfare. This is just for me not my traveling companion. Is this too tight? We will hostel where possible.

Anybody have any suggestions. Do you feel I have planned too many islands? Is Patmos worth a 4 day stop? I am very worried about ferries - especially infrequent ferries between Chios-Patmos and Patmos-Rhodes. I found a ferry from Rhodes to Santorini but just one - does anyone know if these are hard to come by?

Sorry for the lengthy email - there is so much I want to ask!

Thanks for any info you can impart.

Murphy.

Oh, I should mention - thats 8000-9000 Canadian dollars.

Thanks

Murphy

Murphy -- I've been to Greece in 2003, and found prices rising quickly as they were recently converting to the Euro.

A budget traveller can usually get away with $100 per day per person for hotel and food, and not a lot of extras, and not a lot of moving around. So 6 weeks for two people would be about $9,000 not including airfare and big transfers (boats, planes, trains).

If you hostel not just "where you can" but more often -- you could probably pull it off, but that is a LONG time to be there, and it's the peak season for the Greeks and French to be on vacation as well, so prices will be at their premium.

I found that booking my hotels in advanced helped me plan my budget better as well, then I knew what I'd be paying.

On many islands in Greece, you will find families/individuals who will meet you at the dock and ask if you need a place to stay. I've heard of people offering about $10-$15 Euro for a night's stay in a family home, and that it's been a very pleasant experience.
Our hotel on Samos island was inexpensive, but it was the off-season...we had no reservations and were met at the dock by Stellios, who we ended up being quite friendly with by the end of our couple of days on Samos.

Hope that helps. 6 weeks -- I'm pea-green with ENVY!

ENJOY!

Jules

I don't think you'll have any trouble with your budget although prices will be higher in Peak Season. Be sure to have confirmed reservations for then.

Have you done the necessary research to verify if you can get to Patmos from Chios? I just tried using www.gtp.gr for November and couldn't get a timetable. Also, just in case you don't know, Delos isn't near Naxos, it's near Mykonos. You can take a high speed ferry from Naxos or Santorini to Mykonos daily at that time of year.

Delos isn't all that far from Naxos. There are day tours from there. Perhaps you could find a tour operator, who'd let you leave from Naxos, visit Delos, and then catch a boat to nearby Mykonos -- then return to Piraeus from there.

It is a longer and less frequent trip from Naxos, but it's do-able.

You guys are great! Thanks so much for the info. Your comments give me lots to consider.

I found a website that mentinoed a ferry from Chios to Patmos - but we are prepared to have to get there via Samos if its a no go. I was hoping to avoid Samos as I understand it is very touristy and block booked by package tour groups.

On the web and in my Lonely Planet travel guide, I haven't seen very many hostels listed for Greece. Good idea about people's home though - that might be a viable alternative.

Thanks Again,

Murphy