Travelling to Greece in August 2018. Need some advise how to best utilize the time there. My husband and I have been to Santorini and Athens previously, but this time travelling with our 10 and 13 year old and will need to take them to all the attractions.
* August 1st - Planning to fly in to Athens and head to Crete the same day for 2 nights
* August 3rd - Take ferry to Santorini and spend one night there
* August 4th - Fly to Athens and see the sunset at the Temple of Poseidon (planning to stay around Plaka district)
* August 5th - Sightseeing Acropolis/Parthenon, Museum, Olympic Stadium, and Mount Lucabettus

Question: Is it better to skip Crete and spend couple of days in Santorini instead and with the one extra day do a island hopping cruise close to Athens? Any advise on this itinerary is appreciated.

Thank you!

Cannot understand how children can get m;uch out of Crete in 2 nights -- and WHERE in Crete??? It's 160 miles long -- that's like saying 2 nights in California. Is it your plan to fly to Heraklion and march 2 teens thru Knossos in the August sun (100°+F). Would not be my choice.

Save time for Santo & that 1-day Island thing ... and I would turn your trip on its head. You arrive Wed and The WORST time on Santorini is M- Th (Cruise ship hell)- and the WORST time for Islands near Athens is Weekend (cramjammed w Athenians). An alternative scenario (+ would help to know ATH arrival time) might be:

Wed - Aug 1 - arrive, taxi to Pireaus, ferry to Aegina. Here's a great photo album of a day-trip there http://www.flickr.com/photos/3626470...646139/detail/ but here's a nice cafe/hotel on a good beach - La Palma Marathonas A - AEGINAGREECE.com where you can stay overnight & refresh! NOTE - choose "regular" ferry vs. hydrofoil, latter enclosed w. NO view. Regular ferry (1 hr) on open deck u can enjoy wonderful seascape: freighters, cruise ships, ferries, sailboats etc

Thurs Aug 2 - Mid-day Ferry back to Piraeus, taxi to airport - fly to Santorini for that sunset -- with the heat, you may have to pay $$$ for a hotel with a pool ...
Friday - Santorini
Sat AM fly back to ATH - Sunday Aug 4/5 - Athens ... but read more before doin that Sounion Sunset -- friends tell me it can be mobbed with tour busses ... they advise giong early morning (but my own teens would never get up that early!)

That's doing to much in too little time. Athens deserves several days to fully experience and enjoy.

Flying takes up time checking in, security, waiting for the flight and the same for return.

I would go straight to Aegina which Janet mentioned for a couple days. It's a wonderful island often overlooked by tourists but very Greek with one of the best preserved temples in Greece, an abandoned Byzantine Village in the hills, seaside villages, nice main town with a wonderful waterfront market, great food and far easier to get to and far less expensive than Santorini. You can even do a cruise to the nearby island of Angistri, a small and pretty beach island for a few hours there and return in plenty of time for a night out in Aegina. Crete deserves days if not weeks to experience.

Head back to Athens for three days to enjoy one of the best cities in the world with ancient sites, centuries old churches, Central Markets, Anafiotika, Psiri District, Changing of the Guards, great food, people and so much more.

Agree with the two posts above, although I would consider Hydra as a nearby island as well.

thursday I chose Aegina because Hydra is an hour more to get there, and mainly on hydrofoils w. no outside decks... also hydra has no beaches to speak of (you swim off rocks you hve to hike to), so in hothothot August you'd have to find a rental with pool.

Makes sense - I just loved Hydra but I didn't want to swim.

I love Hydra as well; I found plenty of places to swim off the trail. But then again I prefer rocky beaches than sand beaches.

Were it me I would forget Crete & Santorini, and split the time between Athens and Nafplio. There are many “attractions” near Nafplio, including the theatre at Epidaurus where children enjoy whispering to test the acoustics. If you drive you could stop at the Corinth Canal on the way. BTW, there are two small ports near Nafplio (Porto Heli and Ermioni) where you could take a quick day trip to Hydra (the ferry from Ermioni takes only 20 minutes).

Hello,

It is great that you chose to visit Greece! I would definitely skip Crete.
It is a big island and you won't have time to see anything. It is best if you visit Crete another time.
Imagine that you need at least about a week for every main region of Crete!

Since you'll be in Santorini it might be better to see other islands like Paros, Naxos or Ios that are closer than Crete. The best way to do that is Greek Island Hopping. Ask around, there are plenty of daily trips organised by locals sailors or you could simple take the ferry and organise it yourself! However, have in mind that you can find beautiful islands close to Athens as well. So, it might be a good idea to spend more days
n Athens and take some daytrips or even stay on another island like Kythnos, Spetses, Hydra, Andros, Agistri, Poros, Aegina.

"August 5th - Sightseeing Acropolis/Parthenon, Museum, Olympic Stadium, and Mount Lucabettus"

This is terribly ambitious for one day. Our family (2 adults, 1 16 year-old) toured Athens last October, in much cooler weather than you will have in August, and if your Acropolis tour includes everything else on the ticket (Ancient Agora, Hadrian's Library, and so forth), plus the Acropolis Museum, Olympic Stadium and Mount Lycabettus you're going to need more than one day. The Olympic Stadium took 2 hours of our time, including the museum; are you planning only to look at it from the outside, or actually take the (well-done) self-guided audio tour and enjoy the little museum with Olympic torches and posters? Are you planning to sit for any meals and enjoy Athens, or just eat on the run?

"four for travel" makes SO MUCH sense ... you will have to "edit" your Athens list severely, given the short time there, and the Heat. If you check into hotel around Mid-Day, it's much too hot up on The Rock ... I suggest you prepare pre-trip for a DIY visit (Rick Steves website gives a FREE audio download that explains the Acropolis/parthenon step by step) ... then if it's noon-time, go to the Acropolis Museum and go straight to the neat 2nd floor cafe (clear glass, looking up at Parthenon, a/c), good menus, for kids too, and good prices. THEN wander the museum... but maybe go first to TOP floor -- has a super 20-mminute video of ACROPOLIS/Parthenon, partly animated, gives great history, kids will understand SO much more. You can then check out the Ancient Agora (R Steves has free DIY audio download for this too) ... and finally about 4 pm on, Acropolis is uncrowded, tour groups have left. YOur ticket can be JUST for Acropolis or for €10 more, the 5 other main sites... Agora is worthwhile, but Hadrian's library and Temple of Zeus can just be walk-by, and the Keramikos (cemetery) is too far. If you DO attempt on day 2 to go to Nat. Arch. Museum, R. Steves (again) has a print-out or download of the Ten TOp Things to see ... so you don't get lost t here. I always tell people to save souvenir purchases for Last day, because if you see a calendar, or trinket, in an island, these will also be in Athens, and you save carrrying them around for the whole time.

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Thank you everyone for your great advise - reason why I love this forum. We decided to give up the idea of going to Crete. We are going to be in Santorini for couple of nights as a few of our friends decided to visit this island. We will be in Mykonos for one night before heading back to Athens. In Athens we will at least visit Acropolis, Museum and a quick in an out at the Olympic Stadium. Definitely need to come back for another longer Greek vacation.

Thank You!

Yes, it will be great if you could return to make another summer vacation Each Greek island deserves at least 4 days of staying. That's what all my Greek friends have been saying. If you spend 1-2 days on each island, it becomes more tiring than fun. The islands have to be really close to each other like Paros and Naxos to do that one island per day trick... Plus, you don't get to see what you should. I did a day trip to Santorini once, stayed only for 4 hours. Since then I am always thinking of going back. I hope this time comes soon...