We are starting from Thessaloniki for a wedding and making our way to Athens where we depart. How many days are needed per location? We are going in July... yes in the middle of tourist season.
We would like to see Meteora, Santorini, Naxos, Firo, Athens. Not necessarily in that order so I'll take suggestions, ferries, when to rent a car?
Hotels that won't break the bank but has great service.
Lost from Houston,
Kelly
IMO, you need at least 2 weeks to cover all of that, just for transportation and getting situated, takes time let alone seeing stuff. Ten years ago we did Thess/Chaldiki in four days, Athens three days and Naxos four days. Travel took a fair bit of time within those days.
In Thess, where there are several museums worth a visit, and it's lovely to walk around the center, sip a cold beverage at any number of cafes, you could jam it in a day but if it's your first stop and you're jet lagged, you may want to do 2-3 so that you have one entire full day there. It will be very hot so may be challenging to do outdoor stuff in the afternoons. If it were me, I wouldn't drive in the city, but not impossible.
I took the train from Thess to Athens but of course, that doesn't help with stops at Meteora and Delphi. It took 4 hours on the train.
I'm currently renting a car from Athens as I was in the Peloponnese and now on Kefalonia. While the car wasn't super expensive, be prepared for $9-11 / gallon of fuel (when converted from liters/euros). Tolls are also adding up. I spent about €18 one way. Ferry was €110 for just me and a compact car.
Look at Matt Barrett's Greece website for lots of extremely helpful info. Click on links on his stie so that he gets a little commission.
An example in very accelerated mode:
(When you tell where you went on vacation you will be asked: "did you see that?" and you will answer "no I didn't have time")
BTW what is "Firo?"
Day 1 :Thessaloniki to Meteora
Day 2 Meteora visit
Day 3 Travel Meteora to Athens + Flight Athens to Santorini (if lucky)
Day 4 Santorini
Day 5 Ferry Santorini to Naxos
Day 6 Naxos
Day 7 Naxos
Day 8 Naxos to Athens
Day 9 Athens.and end of the race :))
For Meteora I would suggest at least two nights so you’ll have a full day to enjoy it and two chances to see the absolutely wonderful sunset at Sunset Rock. We slept at an Airbnb.
Thessaloniki is a vibrant city with lots of young people. We loved to sit outside at the Kitchen Bar and just enjoy the view. For dinner we liked the neighborhood of Ladadiki.
Thank you for advice! Are there flights from Thessaloniki to Athens? Or take a train? I would like to see Naxos
I arrive in ThessalonikiJuky 9-11 > wedding 40 minutes away
plan to take transfer back to Thessaloniki. 7/11-13 Should we catch flight to Athens or take train?
I want to see Naxos . Do we take feeet to Naxos stay 1 night?
currently I booked. 6/13-16 for Santorini
I was planning to return to Athens and make day trips? From 7/16-19
Any advice is greatly appreciated
We just returned from Greece. We spent two nights at Meteora and one night in Delphi which was about right. You can make a very long day trip from Athens to Delphi but Meteora is too far.
On a previous trip we spent three nights in Santorini which was sufficient and four nights in Naxos. We finished with three nights in Athens. We wished we had one more night for Naxos but we saw a lot in the time we had. Realize how much time you lose moving.
It is 3 hours I think from Thessaloniki to Meteora. So you drive from there to Meteora, then to Delphi, go to the airport, fly to Santorini, ferry to Naxos, and fly or ferry back to Athens.
