My friend and I are planning a two-week trip to Rhodes, Crete and probably Naxos in mid-June of 2025. We both live in the Pacific Northwest so we are trying to find direct flights to our destinations and hook these three islands together in the best way possible. It looks like going to London for a few days, and then flying from there to Rhodes (on Easy Jet) might be our best bet. But Rhodes may be the high point of this trip, since this is her family's ancestral homeland. Can anyone tell us how to put this together in the best way? Or should we skip Naxos? We went to Greece and Turkey together in 2023, and can't wait to go back, but we will never be able to see all the islands we want to see. Your advice?
Posted by
Nanaimo, BC, Canada
1441 posts
You can easily spend your whole time in Crete and not see it all. Since every ferry hop uses up about half a day dropping Naxos makes sense.
Posted by
France Southwest
2318 posts
Rhodes is in the Dodecanese Islands, Naxos in the Cyclades Islands and Crete is also in another area of the Aegean Sea.
Traveling between two groups of islands is not always easy and often very time-consuming
And since it's mainly Rhodes that interests you why do you want to go so far to Crete and Naxos ?
You can visit other Dodecanese Islands nearby.
From Rhodes there are regular and direct ferry connections with other nearby islands such as Simi, Chalki, Karpathos, Tilos.
Moreover it is possible that these other islands also have a particular interest for the family reasons that motivate you.
See ferry routes here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bWrX6yKaqvMx7MC1oi-9HNS7TuVagDz9/view?usp=sharing
About Dodecanese Islands on th official Greek tourism website:
Posted by
Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico
1924 posts
I've been to Crete and Naxos, but no other Greek islands, so I can't say Naxos is the best or anything remotely along those lines. But I loved it (more than Crete even) and would definitely encourage you to figure out a way to see it. I took private tours by eBike and by car. (I was there during low season, so no group tours were available, and I didn't want to rent a car as a solo traveler because I don't like driving and navigating, but in June you'll have no trouble getting group tours if you decide not to rent a car.)
Sorry I can't advise you on how to string them all together.
Posted by
4956 posts
I'd also skip Naxos and start by building the trip around Rhodes, include Crete if you can (as you'll have options for flights back to London or another European city).
Start by doing all of the searches you can possibly muster--I'd try Turkish Air too because they usually have pretty good fares.
Posted by
26 posts
I just returned from Naxos, Crete, and Rhodes. I enjoyed all three. Because of time restraints, I chose to fly using Sky Express and Aegean between the islands rather than ferry. I live in the LA area, flew from LAX-ATH and then connected directly to Naxos. It's a mellow island and a great way to get over jet lag. I spent 5 days there. I then flew to Chania, Crete (connecting in Athens). I spent three days in Chania, and then took the bus to Heraklion (about a two and a half hour bus ride from Chania). From Heraklion, there is a direct flight to Rhodes where I spent five days. (You could bypass Chania and go straight to Heraklion). It is doable.