Itinerary question: Athens and Islands

Islands first is a good plan.

You should keep going to an island--Santorini in your itinerary. It is an easy introduction to Greece and a good way to get over jet lag. I also would recommend doing Naxos instead of Mykonos as Mykonos is similar to Santorini in being highly touristed and expensive. We flew directly to Santorini this past May and then took a ferry to Naxos. We then flew back to Athens from Naxos and went to Nafplio. You can do the same and then go to Meteora. My son drove there from the airport but did say that there are considerable tolls and some crazy driving. There are other ways to get there by train and bus but I am not familiar with them. He was only one who went to Meteora--he traded time in Athens for Meteora.

We did Athens at the end of our trip which worked out well.

Beth

We fly from the west coast so have an additional 5 hours of jet lag compared to you. We always fly out to our first island to get over jet lag. Athens is too busy hot dusty and different to make it a good place to get over jet lag.
With a 7 am arrival you just need a 2 hour window to make a connecting flight. Head to Naxos or Santorini immediately. Frankly Mykonos has nothing superior to Naxos other than a deliberate decision to market itself as a high level destination along with high prices. You will not regret adding days to Naxos, Do Athens and Meteora at the end of the trip before your return flight.

In early Sept. there is availability about every day on a 10:40 NAXOS flight (€120) lands 11:20... with advance request most small hotels on St George beach (directly adjacent to Naxos town) will arrange airport pick-up... some even provide free. With any luck, by 12:15 you can be in the water for a dip. Same period of time, the daily 10:10 flights to Santorini are €196 ... and on West side of island with the famous VIew from cliff-edge to the caldera, there is no beach, so for a swim or dip you'd need a hotel with a pool.

For that reason, I'd suggest Naxos first, for unwinding & acclimating for 5 days, then take a Blue Star 1 pm ferry to Santorini. Unless you want to explore every nook & cranny of Santorini (it's only 12 miles long), I frankly think it's mainly about the View (and a good little museum ), so if you have just 14 days total, 48 hours in Santorini is enough but that's just me. When you return to Athens, consider the train excursion to Meteora -- i think there's a 2-day besides a 1-day ... then really enjoy Athens at the end.

I just realized I forgot to post images of Naxos.
You will see there is lots to do on Naxos.
Naxos Mountains and Villages http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/sets/72157632110674306/
Naxos Town http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/sets/72157632094558042/
Trip around Naxos http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/sets/72157634605629689/

Thank you all for your feedback. Wow!!! Hard to get consensus on anything these days, but each of you recommend: “Islands first”, so....yeah! ISLANDS IT IS!! 🌴😁🍷 We’ve actually revised our itinerary; we are flying to Crete (4 nights), then working our way to Imerovigli, Santorini (2 nights), Náxos (4 nights), then Athens & Meteora (4 nights). Hoping that this will give us the balance between R&R and sight seeing we are anticipating!

Thanks again; I will be posting more & more as we get closer to leaving, because I’ve found that this forum is a WEALTH OF knowledge and experience.

Looks like a goood plan.... but you may find that Meteora at the end, if you D-I-Y, is a lot. If you simply MUST see those monasteries balancing on pillars, there is a 1-day train trip. Or you can get a really good video of Meteora, including aerial views, at the library, and have an extra day to enjoy Athens at a reasonable pace.

A PS on your itinerary.... your flight at the start should be to CHANIA (in the west of Crete), then you make your way to HERAKLION in time for the ferry to Santorini. Saves wasted time in back-tracking. But I DO hope you have already done this -- "early September" is only days away!!! And is there any reason you do not share the day of your arrival??? --- There seems to be a 9:55 fllight most days, but you'll have to check, these flights usually fill up with the arriving AM planes (AA and Delta as well as AirCAn)... so do not dither -- or u can find yourself wasting a precious day at an airport, ugh.

Here's a good online map of Crete to look at for planning: http://www.explorecrete.com/crete-maps/images/Crete-eot.png

Well that’s funny, Janet. We were thinking the same thing ( fly to Chania, ferry to Santorini from Heraklion) but the flight options thru Aegean & Olympic were 7:55 departure (less than an hour after we’re scheduled to arrive!!😬😱) , then not until 17:00!! So we booked a flight to Heraklion (or, Iraklia,....which one is more common?) that leaves at 9:55. We will be staying in a cliff-side apartment (not beachside, but a balcony with a jacuzzi, and a view that we’ll remember for a lifetime). It’s in Rodakinou, not far from South coast. Our reason for choosing it was: it’s close to Moni Preveli, Previli beach, etc, which we wanted to see. It’s not far to get back to Rethymno, which we wanted to see.

We know that we are limited in options, because of Crete’s size and many sights. We plan to spend part of a day in Chania, and then at EITHER Balus, OR Elafonisi beach.

Does anyone have an opinion: would we be cheating ourselves by going to Balus and no farther, due to time? Or is Elofonisi a MUST DO?

Similarly, along Crete’s south shore, if we can go to one beach, should we choose: Preveli, Triopetra, Plakias, Galini, or another?? We are thinking Preveli, because we want to see the monastery, and possibly take a short hike around too.

Also Janet, you mentioned doing Meteora might be rushing us in Athens. I was wondering that too. Here’s what we are thinking; can you tell me if it seems plausible? (We haven’t locked into 4 nights in Náxos yet, so we can leave a day earlier, to allow an extra day on mainland, if needed).
Thursday: ferry from Naxos to Athens. Thursday evening, some Athens strolling, taverns, etc
Friday: head to Meteora (either thru a tour, or rent a car). Stay overnight in Meteora area.
Saturday: tour of Meteora and monasteries. Return to Athens.
Sunday: self-guided Athens sight-seeing. Monday: fly back to Toronto (2 pm)

FRankly I would not try to do Meteora & leave Naxos time as is... too much travelling in 2 weeks otherwise. YOu keep trying to pour a quart into a pint bottle. Cool your jets and rent a DVD on Meteora from the library.

Just a couple of thoughts. How are you planning to get to your first hotel? I hope you are not planning on driving jet lagged after a transatlantic flight. Some of the roads are pretty narrow mountainous and windy as you cross the white mountains. Driving in Crete is hard enough without being jet lagged.

If you want to see Prevalli monastery then Prevalli beach makes sense. ( don't miss old Prevali Monestary which was just reopened last year.) It's on the road to Prevalli. I actually like the old Monastery way more than the new one.

The thing about Prevalli beach is from the parking lot you have to climb way down the cliff side to get to Prevalli beach. It s not a hard path but the steps are dressed rock and somewhat irregular. Its even harder coming back up. It was 90 degrees the day we did that climb. So as an alternative I would recommend the beach at Plakias. Its a blue flag beach and is great.

Images of the old monastery are at the beginning of the is album The beach images are not Prevalli beach.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157686959148362

Images of the new Monastery and Previlli beach are in this album based on the area around Plakias. Each image has a caption on the bottom left hand side so you know what you are seeing. Images of Plakias beach are here too.
Plakias Crete https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157665045541263

You will regret only spending a half day in Chania. There is nothing like Chania old town and Venetian harbour in Toronto. I urge you to just spend a night in the old town.
Chania http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/sets/72157632117917828/

For a day I would choose Chania over Balos and Elafonissi. Elafonissi is probably way too far to do but you could manage Balos. You will invalidate your car insurance if you drive to Balos so you have to take the day excursion from Kissamos harbour. I think it departs between 9:30 and 10 and returns around 5 so that should be OK provided you get out in early that morning. Expect about a 2 hour drive. That would give you the evening in Chania..

I do see an opportunity to change up your plan to make Meteora more manageable. You are planning to ferry from Naxos to Athens and spend a half day wandering around. Why not fly from Naxos. There is an early morning flight that will have you at Athens airport before 9am. Rent the car from the airport and head out to Meteora. From the airport its basically 4 lane big highway most of the way. Toll road though. I do advise that you need a paper map to double check where the GPS is taking you. Who knew that there are 7 places in the mainland called Meteora. Long story.

Arrive Meteora and find the village of Kastraki. Get a hotel and rest up for a while and plan to drive up to the mountains before sunset. By then all the tour buses will have departed and you will have the whole place to yourselves. Take pictures from the great vantage points and take advantage of the sunset. Next morning get up to the Monasteries and start your visits. By 10 the place will be swarmed by tour buses and you will be happy you went up the night before. We counted 30 buses in the parking lot of just 1 monastery. You will probably be ready to leave by Noon then drive back to the airport drop off the car and head into Athens for your time there,

Olympia Delphi Meteora https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/sets/72157645469717811/