Greece Itinerary

I think you're going to hear this a lot, but here's my. 2 cents. First of all, I would never count on making a connecting flight with just an hour and a half layover, unless the flights are on one ticket. Since I have made all the arrangements for our upcoming trip to Greece, I presume the Athens/Crete leg is on Aegean; and, therefore, separate from your U.S./Athens flight.

Crete is really big, with lots to see. We've allotted it 12 days. You're planning on spending a lot of time on ferries for single day visits. Even though ferries don't entail all the security rigamarole that planes do, you still have to check out of your lodgings, get to the harbor and be there a bit before departure. On the other end, you need to get to your lodgings and check in. On some of the islands (Santorini is what I'm remembering), the port is some distance from the nearest town. Several hours shot.
I suggest you review your chosen islands and delete one that has the least of what appeals to you. Add the time to Crete or Santorini.

There's a good chance you won't make that 5:35 flight but there are later departures, and you have a choice of landing in Chania or Heraklion. http://tinyurl.com/lym2xhw Crete is huge and it takes a minimum of a week with a rental car just to barely scratch the surface. I recommend you skip Crete altogether and add those days to Santorini and Naxos. Fly straight out to Santorini, take the ferry to Naxos, then either fly or ferry back to Athens for your ferry to Hydra.

There is no ferry that will take you from Naxos, or from any other island in the Aegean, to Hydra. You have to return to Athens first, but there are some evening ferries still available to Hydra after you've arrived from Naxos. www.gtp.gr

Skip Hydra, if you are at all interested in beaches ... it is mainly a pretty harbor with donkeys and people selling pistachios. Hydra is promoted heavily by RS and RS tours, because the RS tours don't really cover islands, and Hydra is a feasible day trip. Naxos Town is just as lovely a port (more so) with a lot more ancient history involved....PLUS golden-sand beaches, either walkable from port, or 15 minutes on a bus... it really deserves 2-3 days minimum. If you want to go to Hydra, to convince me you need to say why, beyond, "I saw it on the list."

I would also propose to skip Hydra. In fact in order to go from Naxos to Hydra, you should return to Piraeus. And this return is like losing 1 day of vacations... I propose that you take another day in Naxos and enjoy beaches or even go to Koufonissia, that are really close. There are also day-trip to there. For your ferry connections, I would say to have a look at www.ferryhopper.com, as they show 2-leg routes from an island to the other. And this can turn funnier and maybe cheaper!

You are trying to do/see too much in the time frame you have. Don't forget that it takes time to get from Point A to Point B and time is valuable when traveling.

Crete is a large and lovely island and deserves days if not a couple of weeks to explore.

Santorini is one of Greece's most popular and heavily touristed islands and even though June won't quite be High Season will still have crowds.

Naxos is one of Greece's loveliest islands with a wonderful combinatin of Old and New World Greece.

Hydra is a picture-perfect island but is more of a day trip and can take up valuable time going to and from wherever you are staying.

I would eliminate Crete and Hydra.

Spend the extra time on Naxos and you won't be disappointed.

One thing I have learned from travel is that quality is more important than quantity and any time you have to get from one place to another takes up valuable time.

Concentrate on a few areas rather than trying to spread yourself to thing.