My boyfriend and I are planning a three-month trip to Greece from September - November and would really appreciate some advice on where to base ourselves for the month of September. My boyfriend will be working remotely for the duration of our time away and we would like to spend our weekends exploring local beaches/historical sites/parks and visiting nearby islands. We are planning on basing ourselves in Chania from October - November; we felt there would be more to do there in the off season, better weather than the other islands and a good base to visit islands such as Santorini, Mykonos and Rhodes. We have also holidayed in Rethymnon Town before and loved Crete!
We are unsure whether to base ourselves in Chania/Crete for the full three months or spend September on an Ionian island (or elsewhere - open to all suggestions!) I have been doing some research into Corfu and Kefalonia but am finding it hard to get a sense of where a good base for us would be. What we loved about Rethymnon and Chania was the beautiful architecture, great traditional tavernas and markets, proximity to the beach and the fact that there were as many locals as tourists.
So I guess to summarise (I tend to go on..!)
- Any recommendations for where to base ourselves in the Ionian for the month of September, preferably a town with a good choice of tavernas, beaches, food markets/shops (we will be cooking for ourselves a lot) and not too overly touristy (a bit touristy is fine).
- Would it be realistic to spend a weekend in Santorini and another in Mykonos in October or is this too late in the season?
- Would we be better off basing ourselves in Crete for the three months and make the most of Crete itself and the nearby Cyclades/Dodecanese islands and sacrifice the Ionian.
Any thoughts and suggestions would be so appreciated!