Greece Itinerary for Sept

16 days is a good amount to be able to spend time in different areas of Greece.

3-4 days in Athens is good. That should get you what most people go to the Athens for and extra time for the non-touristy Athens.

Lots to see, do and experience in the city beside the usual tourist "stuff"

Bear in mind Crete is Greece's largest island and could take weeks to fully experience.

Also you can get to Santorini from Crete but you can't get to Hydra from Santorini so that means going back to Piraeus for the ferry to Hydra.

If it was me I would spend my entire time on Crete as it's filled with wonders going all the way back to the Minoan Civilization!

If you have your heart set on Santorini then drop Hydra to avoid back tracking.

I am far from an expert since I leave tomorrow for my first visit to Greece. However things that will make it easier to plan include counting the number of nights instead of days (2 nights equals one full day). So, for example, do you have 2 days in Santorini (3 nights) or 2 nights (1 day)?

And, if you are flying round trip Athens, plan to head on to your next destination as soon as possible (depends on your arrival time). There is a wealth of advice on the board already in the Greece portion and it might help to go back through that.

Lots of people talk about how much there is to see in Crete, so you might want to add time there. But again, I haven’t been there yet. And you need to account for a day of travel between location (except Hydra and Athens).

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I realize the one main issue in my proposed itinerary is the Santorini-Hydra portion (which will no doubt make for a tiring travel day, whether heading back to Piraeus by ferry or plane), hence why I am considering just skipping Santorini and saving the Cyclades for (hopefully) another time. I would have no issue spending another couple of days on Crete. Or even using the extra days to explore near Hydra (eg Spetses).

I would drop Santorini - my least favourite Greek island by some margin - and add the time to Crete.

And on Crete, spend most of your time in western Crete in Chania, a gem. If you are looking for another island visit Paros or Naxos. Napflion on the Peloponnesean peninsula is another waterfront historic gem surrounded by antiquities.

Haven't looked into this fully, but is Napflion reachable by ferry?

Just a comment about Hydra -- always promoted by R Steves organization because its tours do almost NO islands, and they sometimes tack Hydra on at the end of a tour, because it's closer to Pireaus than the better-known Cyclades island group -- and then the RS tour-goer can say, I've been to an island.

That being said, Hydra does not have a wealth of easily-accessible beaches, its all about the pretty harbor, many of the better sights & views are inland a way... and I just saw a disturbing report on Trip Advisor, which was confirmed by one of TA's Athenian experts, a person I know well. The report was that a visitor saw raw sewage being pumped directly into the ocean. the Athenian expert confirmed that this is public knowledge, Hydra has no treatment plant -- not as much of an issue back in the day when it was thinly populated but a serious issue now. They've been promising a sewage treatment facility for some year, but the expert said it's not likel to be a reality for several years (maybe more, due to the disruptions of the pandemic to the economy. This can be confirmed by news sources... NOT a rumour.

Frankly I would not want to swim off hydra .... why not spend 3-4 days on NAXOS, which has Gorgeous golden beaches easilty accessble by ftequent bus, and which are all "Blue Flag" beaches (the EU award given to the beaches with cleanest waters).

Hi Janet,

Funny you mention that. I just read that TripAdvisor post myself very recently. There was some dispute regarding the actual situation. Regardless, I can say it is not my intention to swim off Hydra at all. I think Hydra is absolutely beautiful, hence why I want to go. But thanks for the heads up!

In September 2019, we had 3 weeks, all on Crete. Agios Nikolaos seemed to be completely jammed with beachgoers in September, full of pedestrians loaded down with inflatable pool toys and towels, umbrellas, etc. We flew in to Iraklio and flew out of Hania, and had a rental car in between, but passed through Agios Nikolaos. East of there was a much nicer (for us) Sitia. Are you planning on just using ferries to get places? I see that ferries connect Sitia with Iraklio. Their archaeological museum is a wonderful accompaniment to the one in Iraklio. A couple days/nights on Sitia would let you see some of eastern Crete, and the Lasithi region offers some contrast to parts further west.

On a trip in 2018, we took a ferry from Athens to Hydra, then a shorter ferry to Ermioni, where we picked up our car from Pop’s Car Rentals. That allowed us to reach Napflio, and to see many sights in the area. We returned the dar at the Athens airport, then headed into Athens for the last several days of that trip.