Better island weather at the end of trip?

I haven't been to Greece, but when we went to Spain we went to Mallorca first and then on to the mainland.

It was nice to have some time to relax after jet lag and just rest a bit before jumping into full sightseeing mode in the larger cities.

Happy Traveler, it's good that you read the posts, but you also have to follow up with some of your own research. You cannot do a flight to Naxos on arrival day because the only flight of the day leaves before you land 3/29, and there is NO flight 3/30 (this is very off-season you know). You have 11 days and usually you should not try to do more than 4 destinations in that time frame ... and I do think that it would be hard to do Naxos if you also want Meteora (I confess I've never been besotted with the idea of priests atop pinnacles, but that's just me). Also, there won't be much if any difference in weather between 3/29 and 4/6.

Also, H-T, when you provide key details that can affect our advice it is thoughtful to do so. For instance, If you're from East coast, and take a nonstop, that's 10-11 hours, so you'd be reasonably chipper and ready to move on. But if you are from the West Coast, your trip will be MUCH longer and you'll be much more tired & less equipped to travel farther right away. But you don't tell us which --- you need to share more, or we'll give inappropriate suggestions. Please share more!

Some thoughts --
March 29 - Arriving at 3 pm, you may just wish to get to a central Athens hotel and crash... light supper and beddy-bye.

March 30 - Up & at 'em! by 8 or 8:30 on Acropolis ... take a tour, or if u have smartphones, download R Steves FREE step-by-step guide to Acropolis... wonderful!! Acropolis Museum for lunch & to see, then Ancient AGORA with STeves FREE download guide.

March 31 & April 1 -- Drive to Delphi? o'night then to Meteora??? I've driven to Delphi & also taken KTEL bus there, cannot advise on Meteora. Remember, Mondays are closed for many museums - and the Monasteries have a schedule of what's open.
ANY DAY in your TRIP - Do Natl ARch Museum. Again, . R Steves has FREE audio download to the 10 MOST important things to see... so, you see, you CAN have dear Rick by your side.

ONE OPTION to LOOK AT -- to see Nafplio & its famous nearby landmarks, in small group, no driving...
APRIL 2 -- is the FIRST day of the year when the ONLY bus tour I ever recommend, is being offered -- the CHAT Tour Company Tour #2 -- an over night tour to NAFPLIO (+ Mycenae + Epidaurus) -- http://www.chatours.gr/tours.php?exc=8&exccat=1 Read the description. What I love about this tour is that it takes you to THREE great places with a licensed guide, but also provides almost 50% of the time as FREE time -- the afternoon & evening of day 1 and the morning & lunch of day 2 ... so you can wander, explore, cafe-sit etc. NOTE: the O'nite is offered at "tourisT" hotel & 1st class. Pick the "tourist" its v. ok hotel and right near Nafplio central square, while "1st class" is outside town. NOTE #2 - if you hve to leave Athens hotel for a tour then return -- these hotels totally used to this. They'll save your big bags in their luggage room & on return put u back into your room or equivalent ... u just need to inform them of plans when you first book.

-- the Chat Tour is on Tues-Wed, and that would leave you with a week... you could do the Delphi-Meteora thing at that time.

This doesn't have Naxos in there ... if you want it, you'd really need to fly both ways -- this website will show you what is available & what it will cost: https://en.aegeanair.com/plan/book-a-flight/ just put in your 1-way flight and check "+/- 7 days" and it will show u the flights for a whole week. I see that you could fly on for instance Saturday, and back on Tuesday April 9. The moderate-price AVRA hotel 25 mins from Airport (Hotel AVRA)does a free 24/7 shuttle to/from airport (IF you request at tme of booking); very handy since u must be in line 7 AM for homebound flight. You might do this either after an island OR after a driving trip where u drop car @ airport.
A mixed-bag of options here... I can't sort it all out but maybe it will jump-start your organizing.

Will it make any difference going to Naxos 4/5 vs. directly there on 3/29?

How much different will the weather be at your home on those days?

You look 'spread thin' to the point of transparency.
Naxos or Meteora , one has to go.

A 'tour' works at a higher pace because it has a dedicated bus and guide who knows where everything is, how to get there, and someone else has to find parking etc.

My $0.02

Thank you very much, Janet and Rizell, for responding. You've given me a lot of good information to consider.
I somehow missed the flight to Naxos timing issue. That does change things.
We are flying from Salt Lake City, so almost west coast. Our total flight time will be nearly 18 hours.
I will spend a lot more time working through your suggestions. Maybe we will skip Meteora. I think we would like more time in Nafplio than the 2 day tour would provide, but as I get more information, I will keep that option in mind. For now I will head in this direction (with the actual day count being just guesses at this point):
Days 1-3 Athens
Days 4-7 Drive to Nafplio and surrounding sites, with a possible diversion to
Delphi on the way to Nafplio or back to Athens, like Janet suggested in another response
Days 8-11 Fly to Naxos (9:25 am flight. Could we make it from Nafplio, or should we stay by the airport
on night 7?)
Day 12 - Fly to Athens (thanks for the airport hotel recommendation. We will do that!)
Day 13 - Return home
Thanks again.

Oh, and thanks Joe! Yours came in while I was writing my response!

Fly to Naxos (9:25 am flight. Could we make it from Nafplio, or should we stay by the airport
on night 7?)

google's always ( overly )optimistic estimate is 2 hrs from Nafplio to ATH. Allowing time to gas up, drop off car , get to terminal, get through security, I figure you would be getting up not much past 4 AM to have a not on the verge of a heart attack trip to the airport for your flight.

Have dinner in Nafplio and head for airport to get there after the Athens 'rush hour' and not sweat bullets would be my plan.

You don't have to go back to Athens with the tour. Of course, on that tour, you would miss Epidaurus if you did this. The tour we took did Nafplio on the 2nd day and we just stayed there instead of going back to Athens. Just make sure they make your hotel reservation in Nafplio for the extra days. You could have Fantasy Tour agency in Athens arrange for the tour and additional hotel nights.

From past experience, I wouldn’t visit any Greek island until the third week of April, as the weather is often dreadful and at that time of year, many places are still closed for the winter. Things improve around Easter time.

There is plenty to see on the mainland.