14 full days in Greece

Have you left yourself enough time to see anything in Naxos? One overnight only sandwiched between with travel on successive days?

thanks so much for the reply. My thinking was that I would arrive as early as possible on day 1 and leave as late as possible on day 2... is that a bad idea?

Take away at least one day, maybe two, from Santorini and add them to Naxos.Santorini is the most over touristed and crowded of the islands. We couldn’t wait to leave there. The other islands are lovely.

It's a waste of time and a full day if you are just doing a "drive by" trip to Naxos. Why even go for just a short time plus have you considered the time wasted to get to Naxos from Santorini then to Athens.

Day trips to the places you mentioned other than Hydra aren't really worth the effort as you'll spend more time on a bus than at the sites.

All ???? days aren't much help for advice as you really didn't tell us what your interests are, what you want to see, etc. Plus we aren't travel agents so you need to figure out where you can go, how to get there and there may not be hostels everywhere you want to travel.

Buses may not run at convenient times and schedules may be more geared to school and work hours rather than just hoping on a bus and getting somewhere. Taking a tour by bus which can be pricey still involves long time on a bus.

You need to do a lot more research on travel to Greece and what's involved in getting from Point A to Point B and avoid 1 day stays almost anywhere.

Meteora and Delphi are not day trips from Athens but Hydra is.

Meteora is not a day trip, You will need two nights minimum. Also Delphi is on the way to Meteora. So plan to travel to Delphi, stay the night, see the site in the AM, Drive to Meteora, stay the night, spend one whole day seeing the sites, stay the night, Drive back the next day to ????

It is NOT easy to do Delphi or meteora by public transportation. You will need to rent a car or go with a tour group.

I would add an additional day in Athens for sightseeing.

I agree with others that pointless to go to Naxos for a day trip. You should spend at least 3-4 nights there. We spent four and wish we had stayed longer.

There is a bus that goes to Delphi from Athens. It is possible to do a day trip, although it makes for a long day.

It is also possible to do a day trip to Meteora with a tour group. Here is a link to a company we used for tours in Meteora. We had a car and stayed two nights but everything we did with them was excellent.

https://visitmeteora.travel/top-rated-meteora-tours/#daytrips

Nafplio is well connected to Athens by bus and might be a place worth considering. We spent four nights there.

it seems like i need to acquaint myself with the bus schedules to see what i can pull off on my own. The best website is ktelbus.com? Or oasa.gr?

so it seems like i should add some time to naxos... and I will add naflplio. thanks so much

Hello!
I will add a few more thoughts to the other ideas and advice:
*I don’t see any days for just exploring Athens-the archeological sites and museums etc. I suggest you dedicate 2-3 days so you have time to explore and not feel rushed.
*You don’t specify how you will get to Santorini and return from Naxos. Flight or ferry? Others with more experience can weigh in on the ferry schedules. You definitely want to factor either ferry or flights into the island portion of your itinerary.
*have a you purchased a Rick Steves or other travel guide? The RS guidebook has some solid itineraries that might be helpful for you to see distances and orient you to where things are, how to get there etc. Also you can use the search tool in this forum to look up similar questions and information/advice about specific sites.
*If you are considering Nafpio, you should consider visiting Mycenae and Epidavros, which are relatively close distance-wise.

Good luck! And hope you have fun planning!

I wouldn’t take time away from Santorini. If you don’t go at the busiest time or stay in the busiest areas, it’s lovely with beautiful sunsets and a fun hike to Oia, renting a boat for the day, etc. Why not add several nights in Naxos since it seems like you have a lot of time on the mainland at the end.

How about this?
Day 1 On to Santorini
Day 2 Santorini
Day 3 Santorini to Naxos
Day 4 Naxos
Day 5 Naxos to Athens
Day 6 Athens
Day 7 Athens
Day 8 Athens to Delphi - see Delphi
Day 9 Delphi to Meteora
Day 10 Meteora
Day 11 Meteora to Athens, afternoon bus to Nafplio
Day 12 Nafplio
Day 13 Nafplio
Day 14 Nafplio to Athens

Day 15 Add a day to any of the above after you delve more into which you like.

I left off Hydra, because you will have spent time on Santorini and Naxos. If you decide you want to see the Temple of Poseidon, then add a day in Athens for it.
Day 16 Fly

All the above is based on ferry and bus schedules, which I haven’t checked. Busses are very nice and reliable. You just have to see if there’s a schedule that works for you. If they won’t work for Delphi and Meteora, you could look at a tour for those days.

It’s a fast-paced trip but doable timewise.

texastravelmom, you are so sweet for giving me an itinerary to use as a guideline. I am very grateful. I need to spend a couple of hours looking into a bus schedules to figure things out. I hope Greece has flixbus. From what you wrote though, is it a lot of time for nafplio? Online itineraries typically give less time. I think I will basically do what you wrote. Rick Steves has Hydra in red (meaning it's a must see) for his suggested itinerary but he doesn't include islands so maybe that's why.

Well, I had a car for my mainland Greek travels, except in northern Greece where I used a combo of car and bus. But that means I don’t know about bus or ferry schedules.

I think you will have to spend some time getting specific with what you want to see ( and whether it possible to reach without a car or a tour). Then you know how long to spend in one place. There is a lot to see and do in the area around Nafplio - but you have to get there and back.

Yes, KTEL is where to look for schedules.

ok, so i actually have 16 full days in greece. That's a long time so I added Olympia. I'm worried though that with temple of poseiden and olympia and delphi, it might be too many ruins. After a while they seem kind of similar, don't they?

I'm trying to fit in Monemvasia but it seems difficult without a car. Please let me know if anyone has any ideas. I think I'd prefer it since it's not ruins and different from all the other places listed.

Any advice is appreciated!

day 1 - arrive in Santorini (i read it's better to start with the islands)

day 2 - Santorini

day 3 - Santorini to naxos (3:45 to 5:45 ferry)

day 4 - Naxos

day 5 - Naxos to Athens (early or late ferry?)

day 6 - Athens

day 7 - Athens day trip to temple of poseiden

day 8 - Athens to delphi - 8:30 AM - 10:48 AM

day 9 - delphi to meteora - 6:30 AM - 11:50 AM

day 10 - meteora

day 11 - meteora to athens to olympia?

day 12 - olympia

day 13 - olympia to nafplio

day 14 - nafplio (mycenae)

day 15 - nafplio

day 16 - nafplio to athens (early bus 6:30 AM to 8:30 AM or something similar)

day 17 - athens or day trip to hydra

day 18 - flight out

It seems day 5 is Sept. 23. Using https://www.ferries.gr/en/ for ferry schedules, there are multiple ferries that day, Naxos to Piraeus. About 4 hours by fast ferries at up to 70€. And 6 hours by slow ferries for as low as 52.50€. A slow ferry is 6 hours to Rafina for 43€.

You can also fly Naxos to Athens for about the same cost. Both the airport and Piraeus are just under an hour by bus or Metro to Athens.

Rafina does not have the rapid transit. I've only used a taxi between there and Athens at less than an hour ride. I'm sure there are regular busses from Rafina to the airport as they are close.

Buy your ferry ticket the day or 2 before at any travel agency. That way you get the best information about sailings, weather, and strikes.

thanks so much Leonard, that was such a helpful post! I appreciate it!

Here is an itinerary with Monemvasia included. Is it too crazy? I don't mind the long bus rides...

day 1 – arrive in Santorini (i read it's better to start with the islands)

day 2 - Santorini

day 3 - Santorini to naxos (3:45 to 5:45 ferry)

day 4 – Naxos

day 5 – Naxos to Athens (early – 4 hour ferry) – half day to poseiden temple?

day 6 – Athens

day 7 – Athens day trip to temple of poseiden and hydra in one day?

day 8 – Athens to delphi - 8:30 AM - 10:48 AM

day 9 – delphi to meteora - 6:30 AM - 11:50 AM

day 10 – meteora

day 11 – meteora to athens to olympia?

day 12 – Olympia – and to nafplio late? see bus schedules

day 13 – nafplio 1

day 14 – nafplio 2

day 15 – nafplio to athens (early bus 6:30 AM to 8:30 AM or something similar)

day 16 – Athens to monemvasia (8:15 AM to 4 PM)

day 17 – monemvasia to Athens (either 2:15 PM to 8:15 PM or 5:15 PM to 11 PM)

day 18 – flight out

Check the weather forecast for Santorini and Naxos in the coming days. Strong winds (7 Beaufort - Gusts: 80 km/h) are forecast for September 19th and 20th, which could delay ferries, especially the fast Seajets catamarans. If the winds don't reach 8 Beaufort or higher, you'll be fine; otherwise, there's a possibility of ferry cancellations, which could disrupt your very busy schedule where you'll be spending most of your time in transports.

Is there any place I haven't listed that I should really look into
going to?

As you've already been warned, you'll spend your time moving from point A to point B as if there's nothing else to do and see in between. This is probably your way of traveling, but it reminds me of those tourists who visit Europe in 2 weeks on an organized trip.

JoLui,
thanks for letting me know about the ferry winds, i'll keep them in mind.

Personally, I would remove Olympia altogether. It's out of the way and your travel day from Meteora to Olympia would be long and exhausting. There are sites closer to Nafplio that could scratch that itch (Mycenae, Tiryns, Epidavros, Nemea etc),

Why on earth would you skip Naxos ???
I’m actually quite surprised .
I’d do 2 days in Santorini ( actually I wouldn’t ) then 4/5 days in Naxos then 3/4 days Paros , then 4/5 days in syros .

Nafplio, Corinth (canal and city ruins), Temple of Sounion SE of Athens, Delphi, a three island cruise from Piraeus (one day ).