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Cyclades in 9 days/8 nights - 2 or 3 islands?

Posted by on

My husband and I are taking our FIRST ever 10 day trip without our kids this summer to celebrate my 50th birthday.

We have 9 nights. We fly in to Santorini and out of Athens.

Should we do
Option A: 4 in Santorini, 4 in Mykonos, 1 in Athens
OR
Option B: 3 Santorini, 2 Paros, 3 Mykonos, 1 Athens

We are not looking at Mykonos to party - but love the idea of being pampered at one of the plush hotel/resorts while still being able to explore some of what the island has to offer. And I would also like to see the more of the islands and get a flavor of local life which is why we were looking to Paros.

With ferry rides and checking in and out - I am worried that we are being overly ambitious with Option B.

Since we haven't left the kids (ages 16, 13 and 10) for more than 4 days I want to make the most of this trip!

Thanks for any advice!

Posted by
3148 posts

Choose Santorini or Mykonos, not both. You don't have enough time for 3 islands. There's a lot more to see and do on Santorini and there are plenty of luxury accommodations to pamper you. Paired with Paros and Athens your time will fly by.

Posted by
11569 posts

Keep Paros in the mix, perhaps adding a night, three nights on Santorini is enough. We didn’t see any partying on Mykonos but we went late September. Hands down, Paros was our favorite island. We also loved Crete but it is much larger and needs at least a week.

Posted by
78 posts

I think most people will tell you to do 2 and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. I'm not against 3 islands in that time frame if you pick them in such a way as to minimize ferry time. Pick islands on the same route so you have short rides rather than criss-crossing across the Aegean.

I'm on a Greek trip right now (currently in Athens) where I started my trip by flying into Santorini, then ferry to Folegandros (one hour), then ferry to Milos (about 90 minutes), ferry to Sifnos (about 45 minutes), and then ferry to Piraeus (only longish ferry ride of the trip).

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