Want to start in athens then thinking naxos, paros, then santorini. Then back to athens to fly home. We planned flights, have 11 nights. Would welcome ideas or suggestions how to break up days/ modify perhaps. We are active late 50’s. Ok with a given “touristy” spots as we want to see the “must see” spots , but always like feeling we see something more authentic and anytime less crowds is always preferable.
Then back to Athens to fly home
Presumably the 'back to Athens' is the day before 'fly home'?
Quite commonly suggested is to finish in Athens, to preclude the hazards of a 'day of' flight from an island to get the homeward flight.
Yes, we would fly back to Athens day before, using that 1/2 day for last site seeing, then leave next morning for flight home. I have been reading about doing Athens last but we tend to do more activities at beginning of trip/ more leisure at end so Athens seems more appropriate at beginning of itinerary for us.
I did a similar itinerary in 2023. We flew into Santorini (4 nights), took the ferry to Naxos (4 nights) and then flew back to Athens for a 3 night stay. Its was very easy. To do Athens before going to the islands, I think depends on your flights from the US. Are you having to make several connections to get to Athens? Are you stopping somewhere else in Europe first? I think you will want to eliminate as much back and forth to Athens airport as possible with only an 11 day window.
Appreciate the feedback. We will think about the athens suggestions. Was there enough to do in naxos for 4 nights? Did you do the short ferry to paros? Where did you stay on Santorini, i am hoping in early May the crowds will not be awful. My wife favors staying in Oai as its “ our one chance there”. I am hoping that is not too mobbed that time of year.
Experienced travellers often recommend that you get out to your first island the day you arrive in Athens. It is way easier to get over jet lag on an island than in Athens. If you have 2 hours between flights you will have no problem making a connection.
On one of our trips our flight from Naxos to Athens was delayed for 4 hours. There were French, English, Germans, South Africans and Americans that missed their return home flights. We were fine we stayed in Athens that last night before our transatlantic flight home.
4 days in Naxos is the minimum time to get settled in. If you can arrange it try to squeak out a week.
Every ferry hop eats up half a day. Even the short one hour hop from Naxos to Paros will have you out of your Naxos hotel by 9 and into your Paros hotel by mid afternoon. Thats a lot of time to spend when you could be exploring ancient Mountain villages and sand beaches in Naxos.
This is what I am talking about
Naxos 2022. https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72177720299940917/
Naxos town 2022 https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72177720299959098
Naxos town 2024 https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72177720318203165/
Trip around Naxos https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157634605629689
If this were my trip I would fly to Santorini immediately on landing in Athens. Spend 3 nights there. Oia is going to be crowded however if you do stay there it is quiet to explore until 10AM before the tour busses arrive. It will be crowded until after sunset. Personally I would look for a hotel in firostephani. Its a short walk along the headland into Fira. It has great views of the Caldera but cruise ship crowds do to go that far so its peaceful. You can catch an early KTEL bus to Oia from there and beat the crowds. You can also take the KTEL bus back to Oia after sunset it will be quiet after the crowds get back on the tour buses.
Do your last couple of nights exploring the ancient sites in Athens.
Kappy, I hope you will research beyond YouTube "eye candy" because you need more info to make best decisions... and you need to listen to what others have learned.. for example:
• Do ATHENS last! many reasons -- you waste precious time going into city twice; you'll gain a half-day in your too-short Greece stay by flying immediately on your arrival (allow 2-hrs layover) to your farthest destination, then work your way back. Also, Athens sightseeing when tired on arrival will be a blur & and also, you don't know enough to appreciate -- it's much easier to get over jet-lag on a slower-paced island. DOnt base actions on past trips.
• NAXOS - Enough to do for 4 days?!?! You need to learn more.. biggest of Cycladic islands - great beaches, dramatic landscapes, history, ruins, fascinating port town. Everyone says, wish I'd had more days there. IF you are after "authentic," Santorini is not the place,.. Naxos, up in hill vlllages and trails, more like it -- Naxos still had much agriculture... sheep & goat flocks might block the back roads in early May.,
• SEQUENCE - mpauly has right idea,,. fly to island #1, ferry to Island #2, fly back to Athens (then take flat-fee taxi or car service to central Athens hotel for minium 2 FULL days for world-famoius landmarks & museum treasures. Whether Naxos or Santorini is first, depends on strategy, which depends on dates you omitted., YOu will also have to see what flights are available on yr arrival day -- Santorini has more flights & larget planes daily, so more choice
• SANTORINI - Even in Early May Crowds are awful... isle is so over-touristed & cruise-crammed that a law now limits Total cruise pop. landing to 10K per day (!) & add to that the large package-tours coming by plane & ferry. Your best avoidance strategy is to visit from Friday noon - Monday, because fewer ships on weekends; look at yr trip dates & flight availabilities to see what your options are. Do not dither! Its already late to get seats on best flights, if you're coming in on most popular days (Friday & Sat).
• WHERE to STAY - Even if you pay top €€€ for Luxe OIA rooms -- that village is crammed Daily from 10 am - 3pm, and again 6:30 - 9:30 pm! Your best bet to enjoy its beauty is to stay elsewhere -- and book taxi to arrive OIA at 8 am ,,, then you can stroll its lanes, take photos, enjoy views before the armies invade. There are other places on Caldera rim (great views, more serenity for sunsets) - I favor FIrostefani, away from hubbub of Fira town, but easy stroll on rim path to its attractions; others like Imervogli views (but more isolated, require car/taxi/hiking). For more serene sunsets, wine-tastings are offered at several wineries with wonderful views.
Oops! Again, I cross-posted with Stan the Man... and he has the best pictures!
We visited Oia/Santorini in June and were underwhelmed. One imagines Santorini to be a seaside village with scores of whitewashed buildings with blue domes. In reality, there seemed to be probably 3-4 with blue domes, and when we visited Oia there were many Chinese couples in line to take engagement photos with the blue domes in the background, starting at 7 am! Things got super crowded later in the day everywhere. If any of our friends ask us about Greece and Santorini, we tell them to avoid Santorini and instead visit Nafplio.
I realize that there are people on this forum who may have had a different experience on Santorini than we did, but thought I would also share this article: https://travellemming.com/skip-santorini-overpriced-overcrowded-overrated/
I really enjoyed Santorini and I am glad I went. In fact, I am heading back to Santorini this September. We stayed in Fira (Pantelia Suites) and it was a perfect spot to walk into town. Wonderful views. I was somewhat disappointed with Oia. It was so crowded and glad we did not stay there. Thanks to the information given by Stanbr and Janet, my vacation to Greece was one of the best trips ever. My initial plan had been to also tag on Paros, but decided to just do Naxos. Too many islands, too much time spent on transferring from one place to another.