Kind of last minute decided to go to Greece - itinerary sanity check

On Santorini, I would look in Fira if Firastefani is booked. Without a car, Fira is most convenient. Akrotiri is really out of your way. There is not much there either.

We went to Naxos because of the beautiful beaches but only spent part of one afternoon there because we were so busy doing other things.

We stayed on a a St George Beach in Naxos which blends right into Naxos town. But in town itself is good too.

Being outside on a ferry depends on what type of ferry you plan to take. There are large ones with open decks you can stand or sit on and high speed ones where passengers are all inside, no decks or views.
You are wise to save Rhodes for another trip as it is an entirely different island group, the Dodecanese and needs more time.
Without a car, try to stay near the caldera on Santorini. .
Delos is definitely worth a trip.
We bought ferry tickets a day ahead at most.
In Athens, go up to Lycabettus Hill, tram to top from midway point up the hill to see all of Athens all the way to the waterfront.
Don’t miss the Acropolis Museum, Cycladic Museum, Archeological Museum.
Delphi Hotel- book a room with a view of olive groves that go all the way out to the sea.

Are you going to do a tour to Mycenae and Epidaurus? I think you can do it as a day tour from Athens.

I like the measured approach you are taking to this trip. I don’t have many answers, but for Santorini, at this point, you should book what is available in your price range. Busses run but Akrotiri would be iffy.

Beth, good to hear about Naxos, thank you. I'm looking at some places on St George now. I think I found one that is in my price range and is reviewed highly.

For Santorini, what about Imerovigli? I managed to find a location that fits my budget and has good reviews. Near Skaros Rock.

Cala, I would certainly love to visit Mycenae and Epidaurus and I did see there are day trip tour options from Athens. However, I haven't really planned out my days yet, and I am not sure if I will have the time to basically drop a day from Athens to do this type of tour? I don't know, what do you think? I've seen many people say 2 full days is more than enough in Athens, but I am going on the advice of people here to give it some more time (also so I am not rushing around like a chicken without a head!).

Also as an side, many of the places I'm looking at on Booking.com for accommodation seem to be more "apartment" type lodgings than traditional hotels. I look for ones that have a decent number of reviews and are reviewed highly so I figure it should be fine, just thought it was a little odd. I usually book more traditional hotel type accommodations I guess. Anyone else make heavy use of apartments when visiting Greece?

I haven't been to Imerovigli but did walk by it hiking from Oia to Fira. My impression is it is fairly isolated and might not be the best without a car. Fira is really the center of the island in terms of buses. You can walk to Fira from Firostefani so that would be good too.

OK, thanks! I managed to find a villa in Firostefani. About 5-minute walk up the road from Villa Fotini which I see get mentioned a lot on here as a recommendation.

After spending basically all day yesterday looking at accommodations and researching my various options, I managed to get everything booked! This is definitely the fastest I've ever thrown together a trip and I'm exhausted LOL. I wish I was on a Greek island right now.

James, Booking.com in the ATHENS section can be a bit puzzlling in recent times.... it's because the last 2-3 years for the first time, they have branched out and allow individual apt. owners to advertise their places for short stays. This was not pemitted before on booking.com... and as a result, sometimes apartments -- lets say LR (w double sofabed), BR & Kitchenette -- are shown available in Very convenient streets near to major landmarks, for lower rate than 2 BR at hotels near that locality. There are advantages to getting a room /rooms this way on Booking.com vs using AirBnb or VRBO, namely because sometimes those agencies (1) rquire longer stays (2) or require bank-transfer advance deposits vs supplying credit cards, and/or (3) do not have cancel/w.o. penalty and/or (4) have v. irregular check-in/check-out provisions. Thus, people who once would only consider hotels now are lookng at these privately-owned accommodations, due to security of the Booking.com guarantees. This development does not appear to be widespread in Greece.

Janet, thanks for that info. I was unaware of that change. Seems like a win for us travelers then. We get more choices along with the backing of Booking to keep our reservations safe.

Funnily enough though, in the end I have had to change and stick mostly with traditional hotels. I did all my initial looking on Booking, but my plan was to use my Chase points to pay for my lodging. Well, I don't know if you've ever had the misfortune of having to book through the Chase Travel Portal, but let me just say it is horrible! Much fewer options compared to Booking. I couldn't find any of the apartments I was looking at on Booking. It is mostly just hotels available through the portal. So if I wanted a free stay, my choices were even more limited.

In the end, it has all worked out. I managed to find what look like good hotels in Athens, Delphi, and Kalambaka and I didn't have to pay a dime! The only places I had to pay out of pocket ended up being the villa in Santorini (went with Smarula Villa in Firostefani) and my Naxos lodging (went with Ormos Holiday Studios by St. George Beach).

Have a fabulous time! There is something special about quickly planning and going. I planned a trip for seven to Italy in six weeks last summer and there was only one snafu that I would say was due to limited time spent planning. There were others, of course, but not due to short time frame for planning.

lucky you James. As budgeteering retirees, a lot of us don't have points built up via business travel (paid by a company) with which to get free flights & lodgings. We're happy when people are relieved that it works out (what makes us "pointless people" weary are the other sort -- those who whine when they can't get exactlly precisely what they want, for free). You're not in that category.