Appreciate any help! Trying to plan a 2 week trip to Greece in February. This would be our first time to Greece. I know that the weather will be colder and perhaps rainy. Less crowds makes it more appealing to us. Because of the time of year, we were planning to do mostly mainland Greece. We are a couple in our early 60's and pretty active. We enjoy historical sites, museums, strolling around smaller towns, hiking, and good food. Flying into and back from Athens seems to be our best option. Part of my issue is that we don't plan to rent a car, so depending on bus/train/tour for transportation. My husband really doesn't want us to drive. Thinking of taking some tours from Athens.

Here is a basic plan :
Tuesday Feb 10th - Day 1 : Arrive Athens
Wednesday 11th - Day 2 : Athens
Thursday 12th - Day 3: Athens
Friday 13th - Day 4 : Tour to Delphi ? and or tour with overnight in Meteora (Kalambaka)
Saturday 14th - Day 5: Athens (back from tour?)
Sunday 15th - Day 6: ?? This where it gets tricky - not sure - thinking of flying to Santorini from Athens
Monday 16th - Day 7 : Santorini
Monday 17th - Day 8: Santoria (hiking)
Tuesday 18th - Day 9: fly to Athens, go to Nafplio by bus
Wednesday 19th - Day 10: Nafplio
Thursday 20th - Day 11: Nafplio (possible day tour day)
Friday 21st - Day 12: Nafplio (ferry to Aegina for the day)
Saturday 22nd - Day 13: back to Athens by bus
Sunday 23rd - Day 14: Athens
Monday 24th - Day 15: fly home

Am I spending too many nights in Athens? Possibly take one night off Athens and it on to one of the other cities. I saw a tour the went to Delphi and Meteora with an overnight in Kalambaka. But in February it is only on Wednesdays. The museum is Delphi looked interesting but I don't think the tour includes the museum. We could just take a day tour to Delphi. But I did notice the sites in Delphi close at 3 or 3:30. I liked the idea of staying overnight in Kalambaka and seeing the monasteries. The tour from Athens only visits 2 monasteries. I saw that day trips from Kalambaka usually take more time and visit 3.
Any ideas on other places than Santorini? Don't really want to go further north to Thessaloniki. Patras has the carnival going on and would probably be busy. Also wanted to go Nafplio first before Santorini but there must be something in town on Feb 15 to the 17th because the hotel I was looking at is completely sold out those days.

Appreciate any comments on my itinerary so far. I am finding transportation to be more difficult due to not renting a car and the time of year.
Thanks so much for any help!
Sandy

It should be great no matter what you choose!

I fully understand that you don’t want to drive, but rather than taking tours, you might consider public transportation. You can start exploring your options using rome2rio.com – just be sure to click through to the underlying links to make sure the actual options work for the days you will be there.

Personally, I was glad to have a night in Delphi – the museum there is, truly, awesome. And I was glad to have a night in Meteora. Those monasteries are amazing.

I don’t think you have too much time in Athens, but it really depends on what you want to see and experience. I would explore ways to put all of your time in that fascinating city at the end of your trip just to save one change of hotels, and since you will likely fly out of Athens, I assume you would want to be there the night before your flight. (I sure would!) For example, if you are committed to Santorini, consider going there first.

With an interest in historical sites, you might consider adding time to Nafplio.

You might find some useful information in my trip report. It’s long, but you can skim (or search it) for, in order, Santorini, Nafplio, Delphi, Meteora, and Athens. With Gratitude for a Glorious Solo Month in Greece

I hope that helps!

Thanks kja.
I looked into flying to Santorini first. If I book it on 1 ticket then it says it will take me 30 hours to get there. It is giving a layover in Athens of 8 to 10 hours. If I don't book the flights on the same ticket, I would need to make sure that I had enough time to make the Santorini flight. With air travel these days, I am a little hesitant to book flights close together.
I understand your point, we usually like to stay in one place for more days rather than changing hotels all the time.
I will consider changing the schedule to 1 night in Athens then Santorini, Nafpoli, Kalambaka/Delphi, and then back to Athens.
I am glad that you loved the Delphi museum. It looks really wonderful. I am going to make that a high priority on my list.
Thanks

I'm suspect that travelerjan will chime in with recommendations about the flights. If not, search this board for her comments -- she has some great info about them!

Instead of one night in Athens, then flight to Santorini next day, I'd book an onward flight, on the day you arrive. Even if you have 3 or 4 hours to kill at the airport, you still get to the island that day. A ticket where you can change to an earlier flight, if possible, would be ideal but obviously more expensive.

Am wondering about Santorini in February. Have you checked what will be open? We were in Chania, Crete, and Hydra once in early to mid October, weather was lovely, but a lot of shops and restaurants had closed for the season. There was enough open for us but February on Santorini might be deserted. I don't know, but would like to hear what you find.

If you want to cluster your time in Athens you could take the bus(es) on arrival to Nafplio, and end your holiday in Athens.

I don’t think that a day trip to Aegina from Nafplio is realistic.

If you go to Santorini I would take the ferry at least one way as it’s an amazing sight arriving on an open deck ferry.

If you go to Delphi or Kalambaka, I would want at least a night at each and preferably more. I’ve never visited in February but you may find snow in the mountains (we had snow in early April once, many years ago, but climate has changed).

No matter your plans, I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time.

"I am finding transportation to be more difficult due to not renting a car and the time of year"
Bus travel in Greece is very easy, for the places you plan to visit all the year round.
Only Delphi - Meteora can get a bit tricky, as there is only 1 direct bus (except Saturday and Sunday), leaving Delphi at 6.30am.
Buses from Athens to Delphi leave Athens at 8.30, 10.30, 15.00, 18.00 (3 hrs journey)
Buses from Athens to Nauplia run 11 times daily
Aegina is best reached by catamaran from Pireaeus (about every hr)
The second half of February is usually a kind of spring, much greener and more blooming than June.
The mildest and warmest weather can usually be found at Rhodos, a entirely walled medieval city inhabited all the year round (with tons of archeological and other sites in the surroundings).

since you will have limited time at Meteora, keep in mind the opening and hours of the monasteries. If you only have time for one, it should be Varlaam, which is closed Thursdays and Fridays in the winter.

It would be great to do a short layover and then proceed straight to Santorini. I just have some concerns about being delayed getting into Athens. We live in Iowa so our flight would be Chicago - Frankfurt or Munich probably - Athens. Weather in Iowa in February can be variable now. We could have snow or ice then on the other hand it could be 65F like it was 2 years ago. If I try to combine the tickets into 1 then I am getting an 8 to 10 hour layover. I did see that Aegean Air does have a cheap flex ticket with unlimited changes so assuming the flights wouldn't be full in the middle of the week in February then that might be possible. So much planning!

Yes, I have the concerns that everything would be closed. I have read that some of the restaurants are open and I have looked at some the hotels that are open. Really don't need the shopping. If anyone knows restaurants that are open, please let me know. I was also concerned about getting a tour around the island or bus service since we won't be driving. It looks like there are tours on Get Your Guide for February so that's good. The lack of crowds is really appealing.

That's true, we could go to Nafplio by bus first. That would solve my layover issue getting to Santorini and the issue of hotels being full in Nafplio from the 15th through 17th. Curious why you don't think a day trip to Aegina is realistic? Looked like the ferry was running. Would it take too long for a day trip? I like the idea of spending the night in Kalambak or Delphi or both. Do you think 2 nights in each?

I didn't realize that the monasteries might be closed certain days in the winter. I will have to look at the hours that they are open. Thanks for the recommendation of seeing Varlaam.

Thanks for all the help from everyone! I am trying to see if it makes more sense to book a flex flight to Santorini on the day that we arrive or take the bus Nafplio. Also great advice on transportation iand where to spend more time. I need to make to check the hours of places we want to see and make sure they will be open the day that we are there.

I'll second dreamon's suggestion to go to Nafplio first.

I thought 2 nights (1 full day) worked well for both Delphi and Meteora, but be sure to check the opening times for anything that is a priority for you before committing. Same for the many wonderful ruins within easy reach of Nafplio.

"Curious why you don't think a day trip to Aegina is realistic?"
May be you read my üpost 8.
Or do you confound Agina with Hydra?

Where did you see a ferry from Nafplio to Aegina? Even if you drive south from Nafplio to the ferry ports on the coast I’m not sure that there are too many options, especially at that time of year, but could be wrong. Aegina is normally reached from Piraeus.

Delphi is at the foot of Mount Parnassos. Don’t be surprised when you see cars with skis on their roof racks. It’s off season in most of the country, especially the islands, but Mount Parnassos is the largest ski centre in Greece, and it might be busy in restaurants and accommodation in the area.

https://onparnassos.gr/en/parnassos-...os-ski-center/

Based on recommendations, thinking of changing original plan. Forgetting about Santorini aand instead flying directly to Crete. From Crete, we would go to the Greece mainland. In February, would Chania or Heraklion be a better choice?

From my perspective, whether Chania or Heraklion would be better depends entirely on why you want to go to Crete. For climate data, consult weatherspark.com