Itinerary for 2022

There is no way that we can choose for you, without knowing something about you & your travel companion(s). Age? (20s,40s, or 70s?) Interests? (water sports, beaches, nightlife, and/or hiking, ancient ruins, museums, landscapes, shopping, "fine dining" ) travel style (local transit vs rental cars, small pensions vs upscale "spa" hotels, villages vs. "resort" ambience). Crete can be v. different depending on which end - West/East? Tell us more, so we're not just throwing ideas against a wall to see what sticks!

You have chosen good destinations.
Good call to fly to Santorini on day of arrival. There are late flights to Santorini. All you need is a w8indow of at least 2 hours to make connections.

While Naxos and Paros are both good choices I think that you might want to consider dropping one and use those 7 days in one. Each island hop eats up close to half a day so cutting one hop gives you a richer experience and an opportunity to fully explore your chosen island.
We almost always include Crete in our Greek travels. However it is so large that you need a couple of weeks to even begin to explore the island
If you choose to just stay in one place and concentrate there you will have a good time but you really do not have sufficient time. Save Crete for your next Greek experience. You will want to come back.

You could use one of your Athens days and add that to your Island. Athen highlights can be done in 3 days

If you choose Naxos

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

If you choose Crete
Theotokopouluo Street https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157632118491316
Chania 2018 https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157674446812148

Chania 2016 https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157671465596275
Chania https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157632117917828

Stan,

We are planning to go to go back to Greece next year (we were there in 2018) and want to spend 11 nights in Crete. Haven’t figured much else out yet. But was wondering is Theorikopoula street in Chania? Is that the area you like to stay in?

Thanks.

We are in the 50's - travelling with our son (age 16) - we love beaches, good food, history, landscapes, some shopping - plan is to rent a car...nice hotels (not to be confused with upscale break the bank)...hope that helps

Hi Beth I remember when you were planning your trip. You have been very generous with your contributions to the forum since your return.
We have stayed at Theotokopoulou street several times. It is quiet at night but has lots of shops mini markets and hotels. It is just a 2 minute stroll to the main harbour. Perfect for quiet night for sleeping. We always stayed at Natalies rooms/pension Nora but she sold the property and I understand a lady from the UK purchased it but we have not been back since all that happened. There is a pension right across the alley called Jason. We visited it and it was a clean tourist class place. modest but quite well priced.

Thanks Stan. The feedback I got from this forum made a huge difference in the success of our trip.

I looked at Jason's and it looks nice but only nonrefundable rooms. I will not do that, although I understand why a very small place like that would have the policy. I found the street on a map on booking.com and there are some other refundable places available there. Is the entire street quiet? I really want to be in the old town but was turned off by some people's descriptions of noise.

On your second one including Crete, I would spend more time in Crete and less time in Athens. We are at early stages of planning a trip there (second trip to Greece, first to Crete) and are allocating 11 days and I am having trouble figuring out what to see because of the abundance of choices. Athens has a lot to see too but I would think that you would find more variety in Crete. There are beaches, and mountains with hiking in addition to historical sites. You said you had a teenager. I certainly think a teenager would prefer more time on Crete. i would do Santorini (3 days), Crete (8 days), Athens (3 days).

In 2018, we went with our young adult children and went to Santorini (3 days), Naxos (4 days), Nafplio (4 days) and Athens (3 days). I would prefer that to your first option. Nafplio is more different from Naxos than Paros is and that is important to me. Nafplio, however, is not an island but a town on the Peloponnese so that may not be what you want.

hi Beth - thank you for responding - only reason I kept Athens as 4 days or 5 days was to do day trips to Meteora and Delphi...never considered Napflio - will look into that.....I understand maybe Crete will have to be done the next time around...any suggestions on where to stay in Paros?....Naxos I was looking at Hotel Grotta..

We used a travel agent in Athens and went his recommendation for Greek family owned hotels. On Paros, we preferred staying in Naoussa. We stayed at Kanale’s which was fine. Their breakfasts, however, were the best we had during our month in Greece. We liked that we could easily walk into the town center too. We love Paros, a treat after mobbed Santorini.

Hotel grotto I recall is located high in town with beautiful views but far from the beach. We considered it but stayed at Kymata in st george beach. It is adjacent to Naxos and easy walking distance. We really liked the location and there are two rooms with roof terraces that would be worth looking at since you are traveling with your son. We stayed in one of them which had a room off main bedroom with two twin beds, own tv, and a door which our one son stayed in. We had a gorgeous roof top deck that we ate take out on several times.

Delphi can be done as a day trip from Athens but not Meteora. My one son rented a car and drove there and spent one night there while the rest of us enjoyed another day in Athens. He came back with gorgeous pictures.

We plan to spend one night in Delphi and two in Meteora as well as 11 nights in Crete on our trip next summer.

There is always more than you can do. Just pick wisely and tell yourself you will return.

Just to second Beths advice. You could do Delphi and Meteora in two days but that's going to take so long to do the drive that you will have very little time or energy to actually enjoy the sites. Its a 5 hour drive to Meteora. By the time you get there all the tour bus crowds will already be there and you will be lucky to see one Monastery before you will have to do the 5 hour drive back . Meteora needs two days. Delphi is much closer and if you get away early you can probably beat the tour bus crowds and be high up in the site way ahead of the crowds.

I too would suggest you look at Nafplio it is beautiful and has a wonderful old town area. Anopther option would be to visit Corinth its half way to Nafplio so a much shorter drive. You can visit the canal there is a little known path all the way beside the canal on the west side. There is an abandoned rail line, what looks like a WW2 machine gun nest and a section of rock on the path where you can see the ruts made by the keels of ancient boats which were transported on land. There is Ancient Corinth and right next door the amazing fortress of Acrocorinth. Nearby is Ancient Nemia. It has sister games to Olympia and the stadium is still there.

Here are some images
Nafplio https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157632094108982
Delphi and Meteora https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157698930270992
Corinth Area. https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157711755443483

Beth Theo street is very low key and not loud at all. It does have some shops and tavernas but all very laid back It is a 2 minute walk to the harbour but it is quiet

Beth there are 2 other budget/moderate places on Theotokopolou street to consider ... they are THE absolute closest to the seafront, they face each other across the lane at the very end, just before the ramp you walk down, to the parking lots & waters edge.

One is called "hotel Hera Studios " on the RH side facing seaward... it really has 3 units. It doesn't have its own website any more, but here's the link on Booking.com, with good photos of the views from its balconies .... interesting, isn't it, when a place does NOT have good views, they always have lots of photos of the bathroom towels & bed pillows! This place can show views from all 3 units. One has a kitchenette, I think the others have (besides fridge) coffeepot & electric hotplates & sink .... the basics for breakfast. I've sent several people here who were happy with it.

The other is Casa di Pietra... a "townhouse" with Ithink, 5 rooms. http://www.casadipietra.gr -- The front room has 3 singles... 2 single beds together & one on the side. Big French door/windows to the front... there's also a double big windows facing rear. As website shows (which hasn't changed for years), it has no "decor" but probably since I stayed there it's added an amenity like an electric coffeepot. It's owned by a great guy named Josef. His desk is in the back of lobby and he has a little cask of wine on top of it -- he owns vineyards & offered us sips of the latest. I recommended the place to others, then 2 yrs later I came with 2 other people but stayed across the way at Palazzo Hotel. We were on our way to stay at Falassarna and I stopped by just to say HI, and Josef insisted on giving me a bottle of his wine to drink at sunset... and we had such a memorabl sip & sunset, such a nice man! You would book it by going direct to him... and he'll respond with details. I don't think he does booking.com or other such.

Thanks Janet. Will look at.

While Naxos and Paros are both good choices I think that you might
want to consider dropping one and use those 7 days in one. Each island
hop eats up close to half a day so cutting one hop gives you a richer
experience and an opportunity to fully explore your chosen island.

Save Crete for your next Greek experience.

I totally second this advice in both points. If I were to say that Paros and Naxos are somewhat similar I'd probably get a storm of protest, so I won't do that, but really, I think they are too similar to waste half a day on traveling and getting settled in a new hotel.

You say you love history. In Greece, there is history wherever you dig into the dirt, but I assume that you will focus on history during your stay in Athens especially. You might also consider a day trip to the island of Delos. On Santorini, visit the archaeological sites of Akrotiri and Ancient Thera.