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14 full days in Greece

Posted by on

Hello everyone,
Thanks in advance for any help!
so I have 14 full days (so 16 total with arrival/departure days) but will not rent a car. This is for September 18 to October 3 so pretty last minute. I did not book any lodging but typically stay in hostels if possible and usually there are open beds available. I read Greece doesn't have the rail network so I will have to depend on buses (and ferries). From research, I think i want to go to Santorini, Naxos, Athens, Nafplio, Meteora, Delphi, Hydra... i'm not sure where else. Olympia sounds interesting but i think it's too far from Athens for a day trip.

Here are some questions
1. are nafplio, meteora, delphi and hydra all day trips from Athens? Should i try to stay a night in each? Is it easy to do on my own through public transportation?
2. speaking of buses, I read that each region has it's own bus system and there is no one website to buy tickets to all. I assume that's still accurate? Does this make it complicated to organize travel? I'm used to great train systems.
3. Is there any place I haven't listed that I should really look into going to?

Right now i have something like this
day 1 - arrive in Santorini (i read it's better to start with the islands)
day 2 - Santorini
day 3 - Santorini
day 4 - Santorini to Naxos
day 5 - Naxos to Athens
day 6 - Athens
day 7 - Athens day trip to temple of poseiden (worth it?)
day 8 - Athens day trip to meteora (should i spend a night?)
day 9 - Athens day trip to Delphi
day 10 - Athens day trip to Hydra
day 11 - ??
day 12 - ??
day 13 - ??
day 14 - ??
day 15 - ??
day 16 - flight out

Overall, it's the transportation and reliance on buses that worries me the most. Any help is appreciated!

Posted by
1807 posts

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

Posted by
130 posts

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?

Posted by
1334 posts

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.

Posted by
783 posts

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.

Posted by
3220 posts

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.

Posted by
130 posts

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

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