Hello - Our family is taking a 10 day trip from the US to Greece in September. We hope to be able to spend time in Santorini, Mykonos, Athens, and a day or so on Skopelos so we can walk to the Mama Mia church. I'm not sure if we're trying to do too much in 10 days. I'd love some advice on an itinerary. My inital thoughts are to fly to Santorini, ferry to Mykonos, and then go to Athens. From there we can fly to Skiathos to catch a ferry to Skopelos. Haven't figured out the best way to do all of this in 10 days. Your help is very much appreciated.
Posted by
4341 posts
Though technically you could probably do it, that would be too much travel for me. I would not try to include Skopelos, or I'd make it a different trip and skip the islands. The peninsula off Skopelos, Pelion, looks gorgeous and I have a trip planned there I hope to make eventually.
Posted by
Camarillo, California
3120 posts
I think you are trying to fit too much into 10 days. You can easily fly from Athens to Skiathos on a morning flight, in time to catch a ferry across to Skopelos. But according to the Ferryhopper website you'd have to spend a night on Skiathos on the day before you plan to fly back to Athens. You could make a bus/ferry combo work as well, but you'd lose most of a day in the process. You're going to fall in love with Greece. Save Skopelos for another visit. Also, fly out to either Mykonos or Santorini when you first arrive at the Athens Airport. Save all your time in Athens for the end of your trip so you aren't having to scramble back to the mainland at the last minute for your flight home. This way you avoid the stress of worrying about making that flight. Sometimes an unforeseen delay or cancellation can occur.
Posted by
6 posts
Ya su, Juruso2!
GREECE IS WONDERFUL! I spent 22 days there in August with my husband for our honeymoon. I'm a compulsive planner/researcher, so I buried myself in homework before the trip. I will say, my husband and I are 31 with no kiddos. So, take that in mind with my feedback.
We did almost all of mainland Greece + Hydra and Mykonos. We were REALLY disappointed in Mykonos... it was our last stop and was NOT Greece AT ALL. The beaches are gorgeous, but downtown is dirty (trash EVERYWHERE), the food was not authentic (lots of Brits, Americans, and French tourists seem to influence the food), and everything was extremely overpriced.
If I were you, I'd remove Mykonos. Also, the in-country flights between Santorini/Mykonos and Athens are only about $50-$70 more a ticket than ferry tickets. We chose to fly because it saved us 6+ hours in travel time and sea sickness (I grew up on boats my whole life, but for whatever reason, I had my first experience with some sea sickness on the choppy Aegean sea going between Athens & Hydra and again between Hydra & Ermioni).
Posted by
washington state
93 posts
audreelynne, did you travel mostly for sightseeing or also for a beach stop? We want to do something like that in October and we'd like to try one or more islands.
Posted by
Chico, CA USA
207 posts
With respect, hear me when I say this. Develop a facility with using Google Maps.
All the answers are there.
Flying to Santorini is fine and getting to Mykonos (which is not a requirement, by the way, there are a hundred other equally-fantastic islands) or another nearby island, shouldn't be very hard. But, connecting Mykonos to Athens and then Athens to Skopelos and back takes a ton of time.
If you are arriving in Athens by ferry, you'll want for it to be at the end of your trip, meaning arrive via ferry in Athens, visit Athens and then depart from airport. If you are thinking of arriving in Athens by plane, then you are better off that your trip be ending from there and just flying home instead of going into the city and then back out to the airport later on.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you so much for your helpful comments. Based on this, I'm going to do some re-thinking. We may just do a day trip to Mykonos (from Santorini), and then head up to Skopelos. I'm hoping we can fly to save time.
Posted by
France Southwest
1804 posts
If you want to make a day trip to Mykonos from Santorini and return to Santorini the same day, you will not be able to do it with the ferries whose schedules are not adapted.
You will have to do it with an organized tour (not even sure it exists)
And in my opinion it will be a waste of energy, time and money.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Good to know. Is Mykonos not worth the trip?
Posted by
France Southwest
1804 posts
Is Mykonos not worth the trip?
It all depends on what you consider "worth the trip".
Mykonos is well known for its party atmosphere, its movie stars, showbiz celebrities, rap singers who come to show off.
And of course the exorbitant prices that go with it.
For example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C9Mr1NW_NM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Jk_l-JL818
These are extreme examples but it is to give you an idea.
Now, if you've only seen travel agency flyers, a few photos from Instagrammers showing windmills and white and blue houses with comments saying "ammaaaazing!!!!" , and if that's what you consider worth the trip, you'll find them on all the Cyclades islands with a quieter vibe (and much cheaper)..