Last minute change in itinerary

I think doing Athens all at once makes sense as it a bit of a journey into the city. We did Athens at the end which I am glad about but you could stay near airport for last night.

Beth

That seems like a lot of moving around. Don't forget every time you go from Point A to Point B eats up time, not only getting to your transportation departure point but getting there in enough time to make connections.

If it was me I'd do Nafplio and Crete, stay in Chania, much nicer than Heraklion with an outstanding archeological site of Aptera nearby. Nafplio is worthy of more time and a great place to base yourself to explore other world class archeological sites nearby.

Both Nafplio & Chania are lovely towns and deserving of more time to fully experience.

Spend the extra time in Nafplio & Chania and any remaining time in Athens. If possible at the end of your trip.

It would be easy to go straight to Nafplio from Athens Airport if you rent a car or get to the Athens bus station for a 2 hour bus ride to Nafplio.

You may want to consider a flight to Chania rather than a 9 hour ferry ride. It's less than a 1 hour flight to Chania.

I see a lot of fatigue with the long bus ride to Chania then a night of "sleep" on the ferry. Consider cutting some of the one night stops and stay in a few places longer. An extra night in Nafplio would be nice since you have a day trip to Mycenae as part of that right now.

Sightseeing in Athens all at once might make more sense, but I would recommend you plan an early flight back to the city on Friday just in case you have any delays/cancellations, etc. You can always relax and enjoy dinner with a view of the Acropolis on your last night before heading home.

Do not take away from Chania, one of the two most beautiful cities/towns in Greece) to add to Heraklion! Visit Knossos and museum and get out of town.

Yes, I agree with Suki. If you arrive in Heraklion by ferry in the morning, assuming that you've slept enough, you could see Knossos and the archeological museum in one day, spend that night in the city, then head to Chania. In other words, one night in Heraklion instead of two.

I also agree about Nafplion. Your day trip to Mycenae will take most of that day, and Nafplion itself is worth a day. Not to mention Epidavrus, which maybe you could combine with Mycenae if you want. So I'd recommend shaving one night off Heraklion and giving it to Nafplion, if you can still make those changes.

Probably right also to go in and out of Athens just once instead of splitting your time there. So, instead of two full days and then one full day at the end, try three full days at the beginning or the end.

Glad you're going ahead with this trip. If all this advice is making your head spin, just stick with your original plan. Sometimes it's a mistake to overthink things! ;-)

Arrive at Athens Airport the last Sunday of the month, 9:15am. Buses from the airport to Nafplio.
Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights in Nafplio. Bus day trip to Mycenae on Monday or Tuesday.
Wednesday night: sleep on the ferry (Bus to Pireus. Ferry to Heraklion. Ferry leaves at 9:00pm. Intending to arrive at Pireus by 7 or 7:30pm).
Thursday: arrive in Heraklion. Archaeology museum. If time, bus trip to Knossos on one of these days.
Saturday night: ferry back to Pireus.
Sunday: Commuter or subway train, and local bus, to Σταθμοσ Αττικησ, Bus to Delphi; first and second buses leave at 7:30am and 10:30am. View Delphi museum and/or the outdoor site. Sunday night in the town of Delphi
Monday: See the rest of Delphi. Long distance bus, and local transportation, to hostel in Athens. Last 2 buses leave Delphi at 4pm and 6:45pm
Monday, Tuesday, Wed, Thurs, and Fri nights: sleep in Athens

Alternative itinerary starting from the first Thursday:
Arrive in Heraklion Thursday morning. Bus trip to Knossos. Archaeological museum if time. Thursday night: sleep in Heraklion.
Friday: Archaeology museum if not seen yet, and/or the rest of the Archaeology museum, and/or Castello del Molo (Koules)
Friday night: Ferry back to Pireus.
Saturday: Commuter or subway train, and local bus, to Σταθμοσ Αττικησ, Bus to Delphi; first and second buses leave at 7:30am and 10:30am. View Delphi museum and/or the outdoor site. Saturday night: sleep in the town of Delphi
Sunday: See the rest of Delphi. Long distance bus, and local transportation, to hostel in Athens. Last 2 buses leave Delphi at 4pm and 6:45pm
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wed, Thurs, and Fri nights: sleep in Athens. If I run out of things to do, Bus day trip to cape Sounion.

Are you sure there is enough time to see both the Archaeology museum, find a grocery store, and see the archaeology museum, in one day?

I probably will go against recommendations and skip Chania.

If I had almost 3 days in Heraklion, suppose I took a part day trip to the palace of Malia near the north coast, east of Heraklion? Or I could have 5 whole days in Athens and see one or more additional less popular museums, and so on.

Hi Mike — I think your latest itinerary is much better (leaving all of Athens for the end). But you have some exhausting travel days.

I can’t imagine taking a long overnight ferry ride to Crete (and back) with just one night’s sleep in between. And then a long bus ride to Delphi?

Crete deserves at least two nights. Give yourself some time to breathe & to just enjoy being in Greece.

From y our most recent post, I gather you have dropped your (Bad) idea of Athens all at the front. What is NOT good is to ignore all the advice that has been thoughtfully offered by people who have visited your destinations many many times and just say -- I've decided to drop CHANIA. What's the use o spending time trying to give you a really good experience, when you should suddenly decide, from your VAST experience (not!), that you want to cut out the most beautiful town in Crete to spend time in the Ugliest one??? I would say cut one day off from Athens, and add it to Crete... Do NOT hang around ugly Heraklion, stay there for Knossos & museum & then SCRAM. After CHANIA take the ferry back from on SUNDAY night, not Saturday... and don't tell me you cannot change reservations. Mike at this time of year there are plenty of cabins available.

I would say, go with your CURRENT # 2 plan with tweaks as follows:

THURSDAY - you'll arrive in Heraklion at CRACK o DAWN, believe me. Bus to Heraklion, leave bags at hotel. Go to Museum by 10am -- you''lb be able to see it in 2 hours. Bus (1/2 hour) to KNOSSOS at 2pm -- crowds will be leaving... spend 2 hours there. Bus back to Heraklion ... go to hotel & they will direct you to nearest grocery so y ou don't hve to eat scarey restaurant food.
FRIDAY AM -- Earliest bus to CHANIA... check into a hotel. Go to central Market & get all your food needs. Enjoy the most BEautiful town in greece... don't miss the Nautical Museum, War museum etc tc.
SATURDAY -- Possible day trip via coach to beaches or elsewhere?? As y our hotelier about it.
SUNDAY -- more time in Chania.. you coud take bus to Retymnon & back. Take OVVERNITE FERRY from CHANA (Souda bay). THis required taking a local bus from Old town to Souda Bay. Y our hotelier can tell you exactly how to do it.

MONDAY -- TRip to Delphi., say overnight
TUESDAY -- return to ATHENS... y ou will still have 3.5 days in Athens, PLENTY of time.. you don't need trip to Cape Sounion ... after the sites y ou've already visited, it will be a letdown.

I know you wont listen to sense or experience, but I couldnt help making one last try. Im done.

If I go to Chania, my itinerary would look like this:

The last Sunday of the month, 9:15am: Plane arrives in Athens. Buses from the airport to Nafplio.
Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights in Nafplio. Bus day trip to Mycenae on Monday or Tuesday.
Wednesday: Bus to Pireus.
Wednesday night: sleep on the ferry.
Thursday morning: Arrive in Heraklion. Bus to Knossos. If time, archaeology museum. Thursday night: sleep in Heraklion.
Friday: Archaeology museum if not seem yet. If time, walk past various landmarks. Bus to Chania: leaves every hour, half past the hour, takes ~ 3 to 3 hours 10 minutes.
Friday night: Sleep in Chania.
Saturday: Archaeology museum, possibly another museum, walk past various landmarks. Ferry leaves just before midnight. Arrive by 10:30pm.
Saturday night: sleep on the ferry
Sunday morning: Taxi; or Commuter/ subway train and local bus, to Σταθμοσ Αττικησ, Bus to Delphi; first and second buses leave at 7:30am and 10:30am. Delphi museum and/or the outdoor site.
Sunday night: sleep in the town of Delphi.
Monday: See the rest of Delphi. Long distance bus, and local transportation, to hostel in Athens. Last 2 buses leave Delphi at 4pm and 6:45pm.
Monday, Tuesday, Wed, Thurs, and Fri nights: sleep in Athens. 4 whole days in Athens.

If I skipped Chania, I would have 5 whole days in Athens. I wonder whether this itinerary is too rushed, but it may feel unrushed if prioritize, fit in only what seems to me like the most important museums and landmarks, and acquiesce to skipping certain smaller or less popular museums. I plan to take a more detailed itinerary with me, listing what I hope to do each day but I won't try listing or predicting the times of the day I expect to enter museums or walk past monuments. The only times of the day I have to list are the times I need to be at the ferries, and the times various long-distances buses leave. As for food, I reverted back to eating certain cooked foods, although I am still extremely careful about what I eat and my great-grandfather with my same last name had a heart attack and dropped dead when he was 39, and a grandfather died when he was 36. I am not a foodie and I have no excuse to eat in fancy restaurants with table service when I am alone. As for not renting a car, I do have a Michigan drivers license but it is cheaper, possibly safer, and more appealing to just skip driving in Greece if public transportation will work for me.

You do not need 5 whole days in Athens -- 4 days is plenty. Allow 1 day for Acropolis, Ancient Agora and Acropolis Museum. Allow 1 morning for Nat. Arch. Museum. For the afternoon of that day --- Hadrian's ARch and Temple of Zeus and Hadrian's Library can be appreciated as "walk-by". Same goes for Roman Agora, tho if y ou want to go in, 20 minutes will do it. (Skip the Kerameikos Museum -- it's very out of the way, and of interest mainly to people deeply immersed in classical studies). That accounts for 2 days altogether. If you want to, the Cycladic Museum is of interest.... and on the way, you can look at the Presidential palace in Syntagma Square and watch the soldiers in Skirts march back & forth. So you have loads of time.... try to relax mike... Chania is a good place to do that, better than athens.

We had two days and an evening in Athens and would have enjoyed another day. So I would think 4 days would be more than enough time. The other thing to think about is if you ever come back to Greece, you will come back to Athens but not necessarily Crete.

I would spend the time in Chania. It is on my bucket list. And when I go to Crete (I have not yet), I will visit Athens again!

Beth

Beth