Hello! I'm arranging a trip for someone who will have a total of 4 nights in Greece after their cruise. They will be in Athens after the cruise, and if not too difficult could leave the same day to go to an island, spend 2-3 nights there, and then go back to Athens. Or should they do two islands, and two nights in different hotels on those islands? They've never been to Greece and we know they'll want a day in Athens before they leave, but that means that we potentially have 3 other nights to play with. What do you think? What are the must-see islands for someone with little time, but who may never get back to Greece? This will be in mid-July, just FYI...

Which Islands do you visit with you cruise boat and what are you interested in?
People interested in History and Archeolofgy can easily spend 4 nights in Athens and the immediate surroundings like Cape Sounion, Kaiseriani, Daphni, etc.
In summer nights you can attend to folkloric danse performances in the Dora Stratou open air theatre and to antique Greek theatre pieces in the theatre of Herodes Atticus.

Four nights generally means 3 days -- not enough for Athens itself, IMO. It would seem to me that if you are going to plan a trip for someone else (your boss again?), you really need to know much more about what that other person or persons want. JMO. Good luck!

Thank you! They think that 4 nights is too much in Athens if there's a chance they'll never return to Greece, so I told them I'd look up options. I personally liked the idea of day-trips from Athens, but I know they were interested in Santorini so we might have to fly them there for a couple nights unless there's something closer we should do. They will of course visit whatever sites are nearby, but they're not specifically going for any reason other than beautiful scenery/towns and good food and a great experience. They won't have a rental car so that also might limit things. Right now we're at the very very beginning stage of planning this, so are mostly information-gathering so they can decide between a handful of options.

Thank you and yes, it's for my boss again. I know what they like and what they've loved in past trips, of course, but they are open to a lot and are just looking for any and all suggestions from people who've been there, so they can take everything into consideration when narrowing things down. Because it's so general, I'm just asking a general question. If they only wanted to hit up museums, for instance, it would be much easier, but they are more looking for a "Greek overview" experience because they have so little time.

I'm not sure there is such a thing as a "Greek overview" experience -- the country is large and has many diverse areas. Just as an example, some people think of Greek islands. For me, the Parthenon and Delphi were the driving iconic images. For a few people, the monasteries of Meteora are the call.

FWIW -- very little, I'm sure -- Santorini is IMO vastly overrated and is overrun with tourists.

Thank you. And yes, Delphi is definitely on my list - and that's great to know about Santorini! Thank you!

Once again: ae you sure that your cruise will not include Santorini?

"they're not specifically going for any reason other than beautiful scenery/towns and good food"
In this case it might be a good idea not to help to congest archeological sites like Acropolis or the Greek National Museum.
People really interested in these places would be thankful for thatr, indeed.

Their cruise goes to Croatia and a few other places, but no greek islands. Right now I'm just trying to figure out if the best approach is stay in Athens all 4 nights and do day trips to close islands (like Hydra) or if it's better to pack up and switch hotels and maybe even deal with an airport just for one or two nights some place like Santorini, or maybe just pack up but go some place close (like Hydra) for a couple nights. (Side note, the Acropolis is for sure on their list, and I was thinking about Delphi as well, but after that they're open to a broad array of experiences)

They could go to Hydra, Spetses or Poros!

Thank you! Do you think it's best to spend a night or two on one of them or do day trips from Athens?

Another option is Napflio, a very charming port town about 2 hours from Athens (easy highway drive from Athen airport). Lots of great ruins in the area, some with little or no crowds. Also beaches, and the town itself is delightful.

I agree with MFNYC! Forget the islands, go to Nafplio directly from the cruise port and stay 3 nights. Nafplio is charming and has all the advantages of the islands with some of the best Greek sites nearby. 3 nights there will be wonderful and they can easily return to Athens for the last night. They can even skip Athens and stay in Nafplio all 4 nights. It’s a wonderful small city.

I agree with MFNYC and progol. I’m not a cruiser, but the last thing I would want to do after a cruise is go to an island. I loved my visit to Delphi, and Nafplio is on the sea with beautiful views. The Argolis region, where Nafplio is situated, has many historic sites, far more than any island.

http://www.visitnafplio.com/

It depends on the type of people - you can do Hydra in a day, or you can stay for one night and experience the sunset at bars or restaurants by the water. They have a nice restaurant and bar scene as the sun sets.

Spetses as well you can see the main town and old harbour in a day if you only have a day but if you want to see the museum, the beaches, experience the harbour by night then you could easily stay 1-2 days.

You could also consider Syros as another option it’s 2 hours from Athens but a very buzzing island with lots to see and do all year round. And that way it’s only one stop for 2x nights perhaps.