How does this itinerary look?

Posted by vintagelove on 07/10/22 04:35 PM

I am wondering if I did a good job planning out the following itinerary...
9-18 Fly from Washington State, land in Athens on 9-19 at 11:30 am then grab a plane to Santorini a couple hours later
9-20 & 9-21 Santorini
9-22 Go from Santorini to Naxos by ferry
9-23 & 9-24 Naxos
9-25 Fly back to Athens and stay the night
9-26 Meet up with family flying in, rent a car (or a driver) and go to Napflio
9-27 to 9-30 Do Napflio and surrounding areas
10-1 Return to Athens
10-2 & 10-3 Athens
10-4 Fly home

The island part of our trip is myself and my 15 year old son. The second half of the trip includes 3 more adults. We love doing almost anything but not super into anything strenuous, art is not at the top of our list and although we want to see the beach, we are not lay around on the beach people. Would love any/all suggestions that you might have :) Thank you in advance!

Posted by BethFL

07/10/22 04:57 PM

2498 posts

I was counting nights.

Santorini 3 nights
Naxos 3 nights
Athens 1 night
Nafplio 5 nights
Athens 3 nights

I would consider flying back to Athens same day as you are meeting family at airport. There is an early morning flight and one later in morning as I recall. Athens is an hour from airport so seems to me going in a day early, it is a wasted day. That would give you 4 nights in Naxos.

You could also shift one night from Nafplio to Athens but perhaps you prefer 5 days with some members of your party jet lagged. But we spent four nights in Nafplio and felt like it was enough, even with day trips and three nights in Athens and felt we could have used one more.

Posted by stanbr

Nanaimo, BC, Canada

07/10/22 05:28 PM

1373 posts

Great suggestion from Beth. Take that early flight from Naxos to Athens and meet your family at the airport. You will certainly enjoy one more night in Naxos rather than an evening likely near Athens airport.

Other than that your plan looks good. You might want to plan a bit of time in Corinth. It has some great sites but most people just drive right by. Acrocorinth is right beside Ancient Corinth and it is a fortress with 360 degree views over the countryside.
You might also be interested in Ancient Nemia. Its close to Corinth and had sister games to Olympia. The stadium is still there.

Here are some images of your trip.
Around Naxos town 2022 https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72177720299959098
Back to Naxos 2022 https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72177720299940917

Nafplio https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157632094108982

Corinth Area. https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157711755443483

Posted by vintagelove OP

07/11/22 04:18 AM

33 posts

Okay, thank you both. I think I will take both your suggestions, flying in from Naxos the next day and also coming back to Athens a day early. Really appreciate your help!!!

Posted by kmkwoo

Massachusetts, USA

07/11/22 12:57 PM

1603 posts

We spent 5 nights in May in Nafplio, and felt that was a perfect amount of nights. We did visit Mystras, the Byzantine ruins, from Nafplio. It's about a one hour and 45 minute drive from Nafplio, but well worth it, IMO. In fact, Mystras is our favorite of all the ruins we visited. If you don't plan on visiting Mystras, then I think 4 nights is perfect in Nafplio.

This was our itinerary, for comparison purposes:
Santorini - 3 nights
Naxos - 4 nights
Nafplio - 5 nights
Athens - 4 nights