Itinerary advice for honeymoon in Greece - Athens/Nafplio/Paros/Mykonos

If you are not looking for touristy places, I would skip Mykonos. It is super touristy. Do not underestimate how long it takes to get from one island to another, whether you fly or ferry, count on a least half a day to check out of your hotel, get to the port or airport, travel and get to your new accommodations. You're itinerary has too much of your precious time moving from place to place IMHO. Here's how I would do this trip-if you arrive in Athens early enough, take a flight to Paros or Naxos that day, an island is a great place to relax and get over your jet lag. After you get back to the mainland, visit Nafplio for 2 nights and finish in Athens. Athens gets a bad "rap" but we liked it and wished we had spent a bit more time there on our trip. This would give you 3 locations: city, island and a taste of the peninsula. Congrats on your wedding1

Hi JB, Mykonos is a party town with old fashioned windmills that’ll be touristy and crowded, especially during the day when the cruise passengers arrive in bunches. You’ll be walking shoulder to shoulder with tourists (the same with Santorini). Still, most people prefer Santorini over Mykonos.
I would focus on Rhodes and explore the island. Rhodes is the place that Greek locals recommend. I would also skip Paros and take a day trip to Symi Island from Rhodes. Make sure you buy natural sponges that’ll last a lifetime if you buy the natural shades and not the ones that have been dyed. Symi is where they are made.

Athens/Nafplio at the end vs the beginning

That should make the logistics work much better.

Go directly to whatever island(s) you choose and when you return to the mainland go to Nafplio and end in Athens

I think you are going in too many directions. Either skip Nafplio and visit two of the Aegean islands like Paros and Naxos, or skip Paros and Mykonos and visit the Saronic islands like Hydra and Spetses along with Nafplio.

Take some time to figure out how you are getting from place to place. Two years ago we arrived in Athens airport and took a taxi to Piraeus then the ferry to Hydra. Two nights in beautiful romantic Hydra getting over jet lag. Then the ferry to Spetses for two nights and the ferry to Porto Cheli where we had arranged to pick up a rental car. We drove to Nafplio, staying for three nights, and had the car to visit ancient sites.

We went on to other Peloponnesus towns for a week, but eventually returned the car to Porto Cheli, and took the ferry straight back to Piraeus. Two nights in Athens finished our trip.

I would concur with others who advise to visit Nafplio and Athens at the end of your trip. That said we spent 10 nights in the Cyclades following the RS Greece Tour. We chose Santorini (4 N) and Naxos (6 N). We took the ferry to Santorini and Naxos. In Santorini we stayed in Firostefani. It was less “touristy.” We preferred Naxos for similar things you are looking for: some beach time, quaint/pretty towns, taverna culture, plus a true Greek experience. They have great public transportation to visit sites. If we had more time we would have included Paros before returning to Athens. Our total trip was 3.5 weeks. We visited the month of Sept.

Congrats!
I just echo the general drift--why include Mykonos if you want to avoid crowds (at least with Santorini you get the wow factor), too much moving, and get to island first and work your way back for Athens last.
As much as I enjoyed the Peloponnese and recommend it to everyone over the islands, I would choose either islands or mainland for this trip. look closely at the ferry times and flight options when you are fine tuning. My main goal is always to maximize my time.
Stay somewhere four nights--you will not regret it!

Have you considered the Saronic Islands such as Aegina and Idra rather than the Cyclades? Much closer to Athens and also reachable from Nafplio.

You have received good information from the previous posters.
Do get out to your first island as soon as you can after arrival in Athens.

Greece is best done with a minimal number of changes of location. The slower you go the greater the experience. You only have 9 days don't waist preciousl time them hopping around.

It would be helpful for us to know when your flight will arrive in Athens airport.

If I were to do this trip I might consider flying to Santorini immediately after arrival in Athens airport. While Santorini is expensive and crowded it is a great place to see. Three nights is the max my wallet can tolerate. From there take a direct ferry to Naxos or Paros and spend 5 nights. Fly back to Athens for at least two perhaps three nights.

As I re read your post you have not indicated an interest in Santorini. So I would fly to Naxos immediately on arrival in Athens. Or Paros and spend a week. We have been to Naxos 14 times for a minimum of a week and as much as 2 weeks at a time and we are still finding new things to do and see.

By the way Mykonos while very nice has chosen to market itself as a high end destination with Santorini like prices but other than shopping it offers nothing better than Naxos or Paros which are at least half the price for accommodation and lodging.

Let me tempt you.

Naxos town https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157632094558042
Trip around Naxos https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157634605629689
Naxos sunsets https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157700728046481
Naxos 2019 https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157711294807761

As usual, stanbr has beat me to it, solving your problems with his usual good sense. I will just add one hint to his itinerary advice... it has to do with connecting to an Island flight. (Note it so helpful if you can give arrival times). Unless u are on one of the nonstops from N. America, you won't arrive in time to get a Naxos flight connections - most of flights with a transfer in Europe don't arrive til late afternoon. IF you plan Santorini as a first stop, there ARE flights there until early evening. However, if you arrive at 5-6, probably exhausted, there's a good option. A beachside hotel 25 mins ride away (Hotel AVA) offers free 24/7 shuttle from/to airport. You could get there, eat at their cafe or close-by tavernas, crash for an early night, then get early AM shuttle back to airport. The 7 or 8 am flights to either island are usually lower-price as well, & you'll be on island #1 in 45-50 minutes.

Santorini is a must-see for a honeymoon. I loved Mykonos, but would pick Santorini over Mykonos if you could only visit one. It is a gorgeous island, and a fantastic place to watch the sun setting from the top of the island. highly, highly recommend finding a way to get Santorini added to your trip