Accessibility in Athens & Santorini

We returned from three countries in May with my wife in a wheelchair. I personally handled her, her rolling bag and my backpack suitcase without any assistance in any place including train stations and airports.
I would think you can deal with a 6 year old quite well in most locations. Just make sure hotels have elevators.

My wife has since had a knee replacement and recovered fully. She's ready to take on Europe on foot again beginning May, 2019.

In ATHENS - , the KEY thing is to be close to your hotel ... who knows when it will be necessary to return. IF you are able to book into my favorite budget GEM, Hotel PHAEDRA, you will be well- situated. It has an elevator, 4 floors, 21 rooms (not large, but I think has several that could fit in a folding cot for your child)... all with balconies, and blessedly close to major sites. What's more it has a wonderful roof terrace, open to all with tables & canopies (tho you would hve to carry him up a short flight of steps to access).... So peaceful for breakfasts, picnics, snacks etc. If you look at this map -- http://www.orangesmile.com/destinations/img/athens-map-big.jpg -- (Click & it gets huuuuge) look to the RIGHT of the Acropolis area & sea the red boxed number 79. That's the church right next to Phaedra. As this map shows, you are only Yards away from everything --- and especially those green cross-hatched streets/lanes. That means they are flagstoned lanes with NO cars -- a blessing for peolpe with Wheelchairs. Especaill note the loooong one on south side of Acropolis area... it is a very Wide no-cars promenade (used to be a major street) and is great for rolling a companion along. At dusk, Greek families come out to take their "volta" (pre-dinner walk) with baby carrriages, tots on tricycles, balloon men, ice=cream carts ... like a postcard!

SANTORINI -- cannot give you much encouragement! It is the WORST place for someone with limited mobility... all stairstep streets and VERY bumpy cobblestones -- a few flat flag-stone lanes but not enough... and crowds crowds crowds. Every weekday 3-4 cruise ships dock and thousands of passengers flock ashore and cram-jam every narrow street... it would make a chair-push an ordeal. ALTERNATIVE -- You say that you are "planning a trip" which makes me think you haven't locked in your exact island destinations. In that case, I would Urge you to consider NAXOS instead, and find a 1st floor apartment in Ag. Giorgios (St. George) beach, directly adjacent to the Port Town. If you do this, all the lanes & pathways are level ... and you can push your child in a chair all along the seafront to the port town. If you insist on attempting Santorini, it can be done as a DAY TRIP from NAXOS on a large excursion vessel (MV Alexander) that goes there 2x a week. The good part for a limited-mobility family is that with this trip, the group is met at the dock by a bus that takes them all the way to the far town, OIA, leaves them there for 2 hours, Then picks them up and returns them to the main town, FIRA, again all free time, and at 4pm or so, the bus again takes them (down a steeep hill) to the large excursion vessel at the pier. It won't make Santorini "easy" but at least do-able. For an island Stay, Naxos would be far easier.

Ameet, when you ask for help on a challenging matter like this, it is very thoughtful if you can give more details, so that we won't waste our time on inappropriate or irrelevant suggestions. By this i mean, don't just say "summer" give the exact time you hope to go, and also how many days (not counting arrival day unless before 10 am, and not departure day at all). NOTE: If you can manage to go in June, it's MUCH better experience than July-August, because of heat, vast crowds and prices.

Also, if you want ideas on where to stay, it's thoughtful to give your budget range, in Euros. Good luck in your planning, and I hope you come back to RS forum with more of these helpful specifics.

Thanks for your prompt responses. Here are some more details:
Trip status: Not booked yet.
Trip dates: Leaving Seattle June 26th for Athens and coming back on July 6th.
For personal reasons, we are really keen on Santorini. I will look into Naxos too.
people travelling: 4 adults and our 6 yr old kid in a stroller.
Budget in Santorini: Not to exceed USD 350/night.
The preliminary thinking is to fly into Athens, stay there for couple of nights --> take the ferry to Santorini, stay there for 4 nights and then come back to Athens and fly back home.
Since there are 5 of us, we need at least 2 beds and 2 baths.
Thanks for your help,
Ameet.

Much of Athens is hilly, some is steep, some is not. The good news is that the metro is new and modern - escalators and elevators from street level to train platforms, though sometimes you have to look to find the elevators.

Parts of Santorini are fine for wheelchairs. The two main beach areas, Kamari and Perissa, are perfectly flat with lots of shops and restaurants and plenty of hotels to choose from. The best part of the most beautiful village of Oia is laid out along a flat, pedestrian-only promenade with lots of shops and restaurants. It's true that it can get really crowded there. Family-friendly hotels with easy access: Aethrio Hotel, Laokasti Villas and Anemomlos Hotel.

Ameet, It sounds as if you are planning a trip of only 7 days, or even less, if you r counting the arrival day (you cannot count departure day at all as "time in greece"). You are coming from seattle, and even if your flight is nonstop from US east coast (11-12 hours) it will take more than 17 hours flight & connection time = 26+ hours clocktime (from W coast = 10 hrs time-change) ... is it really worthwhile to do this for just 6+ days on the ground?? This is something to discuss.

This is particularly relevant when you say "ferry to Santorini." The ferry to Santorini will take 8 - 9 hours, are you sure that you want to devote an entire DAY to transit?? It is not like a cruise, where you can have entertainment en route, or a train, viewing landscape: it's just water to see. Furthermore, by putting Athens first, you waste a lot of time that a 7-day visitor cannot afford. That's because you need to be in Athens the night before your departure, or in a hotel near the airport. Going in to central Athens 2x requires HOURS --- at least 1 hour (and 2 taxis; they only take 4 psgrs max) to get to a central hotel, then there's the check-in/check-out timing. You need to have a strategy to minimize the time just spent in transit. If you arrive in late afternoon, there is a moderate-price hotel 25 minutes from the airport, HOtel AVRA, right on a beach, which has a free shuttle to/from. U might consider going there for the night, some of your party could have a swim, do early-to-bed, then rise to get an early AM (bargain) flight to Santorini; 50 mins vs. 8-9 HOURS ... a 6 am flight ticket would be €66 ... not that much more than the €45 for a basic reserved seat on a ferry -- and you would save an entire day.

Another consideration in seeing Santorini on arrival is hotel price. HIGH Season kicks in on July 1 (even tho crowds on Santorini are bad beforehand)... all hotel prices automatically rise. BTW, do u realize that the beach areas of santorini do not have soft golden sand, they are black, gritty pebbles (volcanic), and too hot to walk on; shoes required. And if you stay there for the level ground, to see the "famous view" you'll have to take 30=40 minute trip on crowded busses then walk steeeeply uphill from bus-yard in Fira Town? Lee is correct that several hotels in OIA are on level ground and at least the ANemomilos one I believe has a pool (vital in the hot season u are travellng). However, i wonder if you will be able to book there for the price-limit you cite ($350 = €300). Have you done any hunting yet, on booking.com or other online agency sites? Also, be aware that in Greek hotels/apts you cannot "double up" to save; rooms only allow occupancy of official listings, i.e. a room for 2 cannot accommodate a 3rd unless there's provision for bringing in a folding cot. That is one reason I suggested looking at Naxos --since lodging prices there are 30-40% lower than on Santorini. You also may have concentrated on looking at the "beauty shots" of Santorini, and not the realities of the immense crowds -- this link shows visitors photos of the "people-jams" in Oia in high season http://tinyurl.com/lnquk6h

I do wish you well in having a good experience in Greece, because I love it so much I keep going back ... but have learned that timing matters -- early June is MUCH better, crowd-wise and $$ wise if you can be flexible. Otherwise, one pays the price. And as my wise old mom used to say, you can't have champagne tastes on a beer pocketbook. More research on your part will help you make the best choices.

Santorini..the Caldera side villages are cliffside not great with a young child.
Hotels cling to sides of cliffs and have LOTS of stairs. There are a few hotels on top, in flat areas, so be very carefull when choosing one.