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Itinerary for 8 days in Mid March 2022

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Planning a short Spring Break trip this March with our daughter who is studying abroad in Italy. We will be flying in and out of Athens and I'm notorious for packing too much into too short of a trip. We are thinking Naxos OR Paros, no more than 2 nights in Santorini, then Crete before heading back to Athens for our flight home. I've read lots of things about renting a car, which we would be willing to do and are more into walking, hiking and exploring cultural/food/architecture than heavy on museums.

I'd love any and all advice you can give me! Thank you!

Posted by
2948 posts

How many nights will you be in GR? Paros and Naxos are north of Santorini and Crete is south so pick Paros / Naxos or Crete.
Last Jul I took a day trip from Santorini to Naxos Town and did not like it. I understand the real draw there are the beaches outside of Naxos Town.

Posted by
4375 posts

Chania is on Crete. I would visit no more than two islands for that time frame, and you may need to be in Athens the last night depending on flight time.

Posted by
1814 posts

How do you plan to get to Santorini from Athens?
Ferry or flight?

It's unrealistic to want to go to Santorini then Naxos or Paros and then Crete in such a short time.
You won't visit anything and will spend the time moving from place to place.
About Crete, you could spend 15 days there and only see half of it.

If you choose Naxos or Paros and if the ferry schedules remain the same as those of 2022, in March the Santorini-Naxos-Paros route is provided every day by the "Blue Star Delos" ferry
(about 2 hours to reach Naxos, 3h30 to Paros).
Both islands will have opportunities for walking, hiking, exploring, etc.
However note that in March the buses on the islands are not as frequent as in summer and that the schedules / route of these buses can strongly limit your "exploring choices" especially with regard to the short duration that you will spend on one of these islands.

Do not hesitate to rent a car from a local rental company. It costs around 30€/day.

Plan to return to Athens at least the day before your return flight home.

Posted by
1372 posts

Since you will be travelling in the off season ferry hops are going to be pretty minimal so you are likely to have difficulties getting connections to islands. I think you might want to consider just going to Crete.

If it were me I would fly to Chania Crete. It is a city so there will be infrastructure open for the locals. It has an old town and Venetian harbour where you should be looking for hotels.

Another alternative would be to fly to Heraklion. Its not as attractive as Chania but it does have a harbour and a fortress. It is also more central to Archaeological sites like Knossos, perhaps Malia and Phastos all Minoen sites. The archaeological museum is really worth a visit as well.

Perhaps take a day trip to Rethymnon. It too has a small harbour and old town area plus the massive Fortera which is amazingly well preserved.

Here are some images.
Chania https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157632117917828
Castello Heraklion https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157686964935102
Heraklion https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157655935354556
Rethymnon https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157654700502270

Just a last thought, you might want to consider staying on the mainland and get to Nafplio. Its about 2 hours from Athens and many Athenians use it as a weekend get away. Better yet you will not have to be concerned with bad weather and getting back to Athens from an island.
It feels like an island town because it is right on the water. It too has a lovely old town area guarded by another Venetian era fortress. There are several antiquities in the area as well.
Nafplio https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157632094108982

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