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Feedback on rough itinerary for first time in Greece, June 2022?

Posted by (Montreal, QC) on

Hello all --

A friend and I are planning to go to Greece (first time for both of us) this June. We've got three weeks... we had to cut some destinations that were too far-flung as we'll be dependent on transit. Here's what we're thinking and where we're having trouble deciding.

  • Fly into Athens, then onto Chania in Crete
  • 5-6 days in Crete, roughly half in Chania, half based out of Heraklion with day trips further east
  • Ferry to Santorini - 2 nights
  • Trying to decide between Folegandros, Serifos, Syros, and Naxos (or to pick two of the four) for 5 nights... we're big on cultural experiences -- beautiful churches and monasteries, museums, art -- and hiking, like quiet towns. We're not party animals, so Mykonos doesn't have much appeal, and we'd want to avoid noisy areas. Not on a shoestring budget but not nearly wealthy (hence only two nights on Santorini)... what to pick?
  • Back to Athens - three full days in Athens + day trips to Delphi (or an overnight? not sure) and Corinth or another site (Sounion? not sure)

I had really wanted to go to Nafplio, which looks lovely, but that might be too much moving around. Meteora looks amazing but much too far for a short trip to Greece.

What else might be relevant? I'm a photographer, but beautiful sights hardly seem in short supply.

Thanks for any feedback!
Eliza

Posted by
7995 posts

Regarding noise at night:

2019 Crete Trip, we had a lovely B&B hotel room in Hania, overlooking the old harbor. Balcony, gorgeous views, outstanding location for access to sights, market, ride pick-up, and restaurants couldn’t have been better. But at the east end of the small harbor was a disco that thumped loud bass all night long. Maybe somebody was having a good time, enjoying the music. Those of us trying to sleep did not. Maybe don’t stay at that old harbor.

Greece trip the previous year, we reserved 2 nights in Delphi. It’s a pretty small town, so the loud, partying young people up and down the “Vasileon Pavlou & Friderikis” street - at least in April 2018 - also made it tough to get to sleep. We checked out that morning and relocated a few miles west in Galaxidi for the second night - much, much, better.

Posted by
2396 posts

Hello,
Your program is quite well balanced. If you can connect to Chania on the day of your arrival, that's even better. That shouldn't be a problem, there are about 8 daily flights to Chania with Aegean/Olympic or Sky Express.

Keeping the Heraklion area for the second part of your stay in Crete is also preferable because the majority of the ferries to Santorini depart from the port of Heraklion.

The rest of the program becomes more complicated.
You will find small typical villages, churches and monasteries, hiking trails, small local museums, etc. in all the islands.
If you are looking for calm, at the beginning of June you will have it almost everywhere (not including Santorini and maybe Ios).

In your possible choice of islands: Folegandros, Serifos, Syros, and Naxos. I would eliminate Syros which is the least accessible from Santorini and not necessarily the most typical in the "white and blue houses" style.

It can be interesting for you to take the ferry "Dionisios Solomos" from Zante Ferries which leaves Santorini about every 2 days and which serves the following islands: Ios, Sikinos, Folegandros, Milos, (sometimes Kimolos), Sifnos, Serifos, Khytnos, and ends in Piraeus.
Dionisios Solomos Time table:
https://zanteferries.gr/en/timetables-from-piraeus-to-western-cyclades/

Among these islands Ios and Milos will be the most "active" Ios because it attracts a lot of young people who come to party and Milos because it is quite touristy (but still quite calm in June)
Folegandros, Kimolos, Sikinos, Kythnos are mostly loved by travelers who like authenticity and calm and do not want to spend their days on crowded beaches. Compared to these three islands Sifnos is less "confidential" but it retains many assets, it brings together quite beautiful beaches, villages, churches, monasteries as seen in the photos, and a very good network of hiking trails.

The other option from Santorini would be to head to Naxos. There are strong supporters of Naxos here, so I'll let them talk about it.
Know that if you choose to go to Naxos, you can first stop in Amorgos, (the island of the movie The Big Blue), which might also interest you.

For Amorgos/Naxos there are daily fast ferries (Seajets) and traditional ferries (Blue Star Ferries)
On Sunday there could be the "Skopetilis" from the Small Cyclades Lines if you are not in a hurry.

I'll stop there because too much information will complicate things.

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