Please sign in to post.

Itinerary and hotel help!! Paros, milos, Santorini, Athens

Planning a 30th anniversary trip for Sept. (approx. dates 9/6-9/22)
Itinerary so far:

Land in Athens from US- fly same day to Milos
Milos 4 nights- ferry to Paros
Paros (4-5 nights) - ferry to santorini
Santorini (4 nights) (Absolute Bliss - Imerovigli)- fly to Athens
Athens (3 nights) - planning to book Electra Metropolis

In Milos - considering White Coast Suites- it looks stunning and has stellar reviews. We hope to have a car and they have a shuttle. Is anyone familiar with it??

In Paros Lilly REsidences was recommended but it is ridiculously expensive for a “free” cancellation room, even with the points I’m using. So I’m considering Paros Cove and/or splitting my 5 days between Paros Cove, which looks nice and is walkable to Naoussa and Calme Suites in Drios …Any thoughts ? Suggestions?

With this itinerary - the ferry to Paros is 7+ hrs on Hellenic. If I start off in PAros and then Milos - i can take a 5+ hr ferry, but will probably have to do the Seajet to Santorini from Milos (which Ive heard is not that reliable if windy and not great for sea sickness). Are there any pros/cons to doing Milos or paros first or going to either earlier in the month?

Finally, what is the best way to get a rental car with automatic transmission that will fit a 6’4” driver (my husband lol) for 1-3 days in Paros and Milos.

Posted by
272 posts

In the fall 2018 we stayed 2 nights at pension-sofia.gr on Paros. Nice room & friendly owners. Lovely garden. Breakfast was extra and so-so - we went into town to the bakery. The pension was a short walk from the harbor and in a very quiet area. At that time the island was seriously lacking in tourists and delightful to walk around, occasionally chatting with locals. We came by ferry from Santorini and left by ferry to Naxos. Flew to Athens from Naxos, so don't know about Paros airport. Next Greece trip we intend to stay longer there & Naxos; skip Santorini.

Posted by
3396 posts

I hope you have not locked into "Absolute Bliss" with no possibility of changing the dates ... currently you are twisting your itinerary like a pretzel just because you didn't solve the logistics first. If you can tweak y our dates, the ferry problem is solved. The easy sequence is Milos - Santorini - Paros - Fly to athens. the ferry Milos- Santorini is only about 2 hrs nonstop.. Santo - Paros, is an enjoyable 3 hours on large Modern BLUE STAR Ferry... sit out on deck, enjoy wake (NOTE: there IS sort of a crowd-rush for hte first-come-first-served economy seats on top 2 rear decks... but if you buy business class seats, no rush at all, plent of deck seating).

I would do Milos first since it has an earlier "close-down" thing as a small island, and Paros with large permanent population is buzzy all thru Fall, especially in Parikia.