Itinerary feedback - Athens, Delphi, Nafplio, Santorini in June

It looks very good for most of your time until you go to overtouristed, crowded Santorini. Go to Naxos or Paros if you want to experience a Greek island. We hated our four nights on Santorini! We could not wait to leave there. We love Greece with the exception of Santorini.

Yes, there are definitely less crowded islands than Santorini. But we have travelled to Santorini twice with teenagers, and it has been one of their favorite places. We stayed in a beautiful place in Oia with a pool overlooking the caldera, so could escape the crowds by staying on the property during mid-day. We also did an early morning hike from Fira to Oia, and explored the town early morning or evening, after the cruisers had left. We had amazing food, took a small boat tour of the island (another great way to escape crowds), visited a winery (adults!) and just relaxed. So while I agree that if you want to visit a beautiful island that's much less touristy, there are many other amazing islands. Yet Santorini is stunning, and will take your breath away the first time visiting.

As it is, you have two full days in Athens, which IMO only gives you enough time to scratch the surface. With that in mind, I would drop Delphi. We toured Delphi first thing in the morning, and by 10 a.m. it was mobbed with the tour buses. We loved Santorini, and my recommendation would be to keep it in your itinerary. We found Oia to be crowded with tourists from the cruises, but check the docking schedules, because it appears that the Friday you are there may have minimal cruise ships in port. We opted to stay in Firostefani which was terrific. Dinner at Aktaion was excellent. it is small, so reservations are advised. You might consider a catamaran cruise of the caldera that includes snorkeling and lunch. Enjoy your trip!

On Delphi, if you decide to go, I would go later in the day. We were there at 5 I think and there were no crowds. The museum is one of my favorites so make sure you plan for it too. Everything is from Delphi and there are some amazing photos showing its excavation.

Mycenae and Epidavros are totally different from each other. I would visit both. We visited Mycenae and Nemea the same day and Epidavros a different day. Nemea was one of the four sites for the athletic games (one of the other was Olympia). It is really worthwhile. And the museum there is great too (I like small museums focused on one place). At Nemea, there is even a track where you can still pretend to run a race (my whole family did this).

I will say that Mycanae was the least favorite of my young adult children. There is less there to see even though it is the most important historically. They liked Nemea and Epidavros much more.

Thanks everyone for all of the recommendations. We’ll plan to go to Delphi later in the afternoon, and keep both Mycenae and Epidavros in our itinerary. I know Santorini is going to be crowded, but I like the suggestions of how to avoid the peak crowds that you made and we’ll keep that in mind in our planning.

Thanks again!

Your trip sounds do-able, I just think of a few tweaks (based on trips w Greece newcomers)
- ATHENS - DELPHI - That AM, check out/stow luggage & taxi to Nat Arch Museum (use their free #8 audio guide or R Steve's ditto, to see highlights in 2 hrs or less. also taxi or Welcome Pickups to Airport for rental & drive to Delphi for late-afternoon ruins & museum.
• EN ROUTE to NAFPLIO - After breakfast, backtrack highway to junction leading to Corinth. Exit at Isthmus, walk out on Old Bridge to gasp, take pix, then back on highway 10 miles, exit at ANCIENT NEMEA. Swell columns, skip museum, enjoy super stadium (buy sandwiches @Delphi bakery & you can picnic amid ruins). Heading South: Mycenae is big & complex, huge bus crowds, takes hours; I love secret gem, TIRYNS, right on Nafplio road. Also Iliad-era fortress, giant boulders, heights with fab view , NO crowds, enjoy in an hour - http://www.odysseyadventures.ca/articles/mycenae/article_mycenae03-tiryns.html You'll arrive in Nafplio mid-afternoon. Enough time to check into lodgings, maybe even swim before sunset & dinner -- check out http://www.visitnafplio.com/ for handiest access to sea -- the cute Town beach Arvanitia or the little-known Banieres, right at foot of cliffs.
• A FULL DAY in NAFPLIO! - SO much to see, especially w. late-rising teens! Check out amazing small arch. museum in square, Find the elevator IN cliffside to reach Acronafplia ramparts For Palamidi, DRIVE up back road, 3 can walk DOWN the 999 steps, 1 parent drives back, waits in cafe at staircase end. After lunch drive to EPIDAURUS. Coming back & needing a swim, avoid crowdy Tolo beach, find little KAstraki, a cove across the way... with one lovely taverna for a fish dinner afterward. Enjoy!
-- this will also allow you to leave Nafplio after breakfast with plenty of time for your noon flight to Santorini.

Thank you, Janet, for the care that you took in your response. I feel like each detail is a gem of a recommendation. I copied it straight into my itinerary notes.
On a separate note, my mom’s name was Janet, and she was a huge inspiration for this trip to Greece that I’ve wanted to take forever. After she passed last year, I felt like life’s too short, and now is the time to take that trip. She got her MA in archaeology from Penn, so when I got a response from Janet in Philadelphia, it felt like a nod from my mom. ❤️

It's more than a nod -- it's meant to be! Since moving to Philadelphia n retirement 20 years ago, I've taken many many U Penn courses in Classics & archeology including thrilling backroom visit at its Museum to see priceless Minoan jewelry). I hope your mom had a chance to see Greece -- It was my lifelong dream, & when I finally made it, I liked it so much i've been back 12 more times... often with newcomer companions like you. She'll be there with you, in spirit.

As part of "the Janet team," here are some add-ons; DO have all 4 study the Visit Nafplio website -- i know the creator, her advice is Gold. In Nafplio, my fave tavernas are both on Olgas St... Aiolos, and To Omorfo. They've been "discovered" so stop by to reserve good outdoor tables. In Santorini, I hope hope you are not spending much time in jampacked cruise-crush OIA... to enjoy OIA, taxi there by 8 am, then leave when tour mobs invade at 10. Your teens will love climbing up high high bluff of Ancient Thira... see entire isle! And for crowd-free sunset dinners w great views, sane prices, I send friends to Remvi Cafe in Firostephani, or the 3rd floor terrace of Stani Taverna in Fira .(your hotel can show locations on map) A final tip: avoid souvenirs in Santorini, better stuff in Nafplio. Have a wonderful trip!

Thank you, Janet!! I will definitely check out the visitnafplio site, and the favorites that you mentioned there. In Santorini, we are staying in Fira, and we’ll only plan to go into Oia on Friday, which looks to be a cruise-ship free day. Thank you for all of your great recommendations! And my mom did get to go to Greece, pre-kids, right after grad school. I love that you were able to study and learn in that same beautiful museum she always spoke of! I would have loved for this trip to have been with her, but I know she will be there with us.

Janet-

I just wanted to reach back out and say thank you for all of your recommendations!

We loved: Napflio, Olgas St. tavernas, Arvanita Beach, the amazing view at Corinth, and we had a wonderful meal and gorgeous sunset at Stani Taverna our 2nd night in Santorini after an overpriced, underwhelming caldera-view dinner our first night.

Many, many other wonderful highlights - we loved our first trip to Greece and hope for more in the future!!

I visited Delphi in 1985 and don't remember seeing a town nearby the site that was large enough to find lodging. Not sure about now.
On your way to Nafplio, stop at Corinth and check out the ruins as well as the canal.

Ariel - thanks so much for Coming Back & reporting -- it helps others! And am glad that many of my tips worked out, both dining & dips ... you learned that pricey often doesn't mean yummy, and enjoyed one of my favorite swims. I hope this inspires you to return someday, both Janets wish this.

Ariel, do you mind sharing which restaurant was overpriced and overwhelming please?

We have three nights in Santorini coming up and luckily our hotel room has a terrace with a sunset view and hot tub, so that's where we'll be watching.

We do like a nice view at a restaurant though and are happy to pay a "little" more for it. We certainly don't want to be ripped off, so would like to know where you don't recommend.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Deb-
Barolo/1500BC was the restaurant that we thought was overpriced and crowded with people trying to be Instagram Influencers. The service was slow and the portions were small. The sunset was beautiful from there - but we found many other places to enjoy the view. We had great experiences at Stani Taverna (thanks to Janet’s recommendation) and we did the Mamma Mia singalong and dinner at Volkan on the Rocks. Stani is a little farther back, but still had gorgeous sunset views, great food, and we experienced great service. Volkan had gorgeous views (especially if you get a caldera view table, or just walk to the railing for pictures) and we were pleasantly surprised by how good the food and drinks were after reading mixed reviews. The service was impacted (they had to balance the pre-movie dinner crew and many folks just there for drinks), but we were enjoying the view, the drinks, and the pre-show vibe - and really enjoyed the experience overall. One more recommendation: Solo Gelato in Fira - the gelato was great, but the best part was the self-serve frozen Greek yogurt at the back with the most amazing toppings selection. We went each night of our trip and loved it!!!