We are looking at a trip to Greece this coming August. I do not have exact dates of travel yet, but it will be mid-August, and we could end up with about 10 days in Greece (including day of arrival by plane from USA, excluding departure date to fly home. It will be 2 adults and 2 kids ages 10 and 15 who have done a number of trips to Europe and are experienced with jet lag, public transport, museums, ruins, castles, sights, new food, small towns, big cities etc.
We basically want to focus on the main sights in Athens and then slow down and enjoy Naxos for as long as possible. We are looking at hotel options near Agios Prokopios beach. I am leaning toward renting a car for the duration of the visit to the island, even though there may be days that we don’t go further than the hotel and the nearby beach. But the island sounds like it has so many places on the interior, and beaches scattered around that would be fun to explore - likely on half day trips in the mornings + lunch, then return to hotel for the afternoon. Or morning at the hotel and an afternoon and dinner somewhere on the island (open to all suggestions for either scenario).
I am trying to determine the best length of time to stay on the island. I don’t want to rush. I feel like 4 full days excluding travel days might be too short, and thinking of 5 or MAYBE 6 depending on our flights and when we need to be back in the USA.
I assume we won’t be bored no matter how many days we opt for. It seems we could even day trip to nearby Paros or Mykonos -which would be good incentive to maximize our days staying on Naxos.
For Athens, I don’t think we need too much time there, I don’t like the idea of trying to come off an international flight and then try to catch a short island hopper flight that same day. It could involve hours sitting around the airport after the overnight flight which I think the wife and kids would hate.
Thinking on arrival we check into hotel in Athens (Plaka district ideally) and have the afternoon and evening to relax, wander and find dinner. On the first full day we would start early at Acropolis, followed by the museum and maybe agora. Plus lunch and a siesta/shower at hotel before dinner. Then on the 2nd full day after landing, we get a ferry to Naxos.
After Naxos, we could just overnight in Athens and then fly home….or we could try to add one extra day in Athens if the forum here agrees and has ideas for what to do.
Open to any and all ideas, I know the family will love everything about Greece…the history, sights, sea, beaches, and especially the FOOD.