Too late to plan for July 2022?

People here on the forum plan international trips weeks or months or years in advance based on personal situation or obligations. What is too late for some is not for others. It all starts with some kind of guide online or book format (the have these free to check out at most libraries) or videos Rick Steves made a Greece video that you could watch to get ideas and a little online guide:
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/greece

No, it is not too late as long as you have some flexibility in your schedule and budget. I’d get started.

Thank you. Ok yes it is hard to get family together and I hate to miss this opportunity but need some guidance. For Greece, I understand to make it to an island first and to not stay in Athens in the beginning.
Is Naxos for 3 nights a good start? Santorini in order to be close to the ferries? We are active and can handle about one day on the beach relaxing before we need to go discover more and do more. We would be more likely to fish, or take a boat out to explore with a guide.
Thank you for any suggestions.

Not too late- I’d grab the RS guidebook, and here on website dig in to the Greece section to start if you haven’t already. He has recommended itineraries and resources on the site - whole family can help plan!

https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/greece

I don't know where you are getting your information but some is ridiculous.

Who said to do the islands before Athens? You can do it either way.

Who said stay near the ferry on Santorini? I'm in Santorini now and can tell you there is nothing near the ferry.

Get a good guidebook and start from there. Then come back here and ask questions.

Are we nuts to try to plan this now?

No! It's spontaneous and exciting. Go for it!

Actually, I prefer to plan 2-3 months out so go for it. It is only when going on a tour that I planned further in advance. Although when I have a sense of a possible destination I might start watching airfares earlier to learn the average price.

Ofc not, just go for it!

It's not too late but don't wait too long.

You have chosen to go to the most touristic islands of the Cyclades, and moreover in July.
You can still take a flight and come without any accommodation reservations, but the days of accommodation owners coming to the port to offer rooms to newcomers are over.

I don't think you are nuts and I would go for it. I planned a trip to Italy last year for seven people in six weeks and we had a wonderful time. We are going for the second time to Greece this year and I have been planning since last fall. You have to be a bit more flexible with a short window in terms of accommodations as you do not have as many choices. I reserved exactly what I wanted for the upcoming trip which wasn't the case last year with a short window (and more people).

My suggestions would be:

1. It is more efficient to go straight to an island upon arrival rather than doing Athens first. Otherwise, you need to return to Athens the day before your flight and stay near the airport. If you plan to go to Santorini, I would go there first as it has the more flights than Naxos and thus logistically easier to coordinate with an international flight.

2. I would go no more than three places with 10 nights--maybe Santorini (3), Naxos (4) and Athens (3). That is what we did in 2018 and it worked out well (plus one more stop but we had 14 nights). You can fly from Naxos to Athens which is what I would do with such a short time.

3. Go on booking.com and/or VRBO/airbnb and look to see what is available to get a sense of whether you can be happy with the options.
   
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Fly straight out to Santorini when you first arrive. It may be too late for you to catch a flight to Naxos in July, as the planes are small and the flights not all that frequent, meaning they might already be sold out. There will be frequent ferries from there to Naxos. Save your time in Athens for the end so you have those extra days to return to the mainland in case there's some kind of delay such as mechanical breakdown, high winds or strike that could cause you to miss your flight home. The Meltemi Winds are very strong in July and they have shut down flights before.

Thank you. Sounds like ideal to head to Santorini first then to Naxos by plane or ferry and then to finish in Athens.
Particular airline to check for flights from Athens to Santorini? Thanks again.

Flights connecting Santorini to Naxos... there are none.

The ferry.....you will have to take..

However.. pleasant will be the trip

No it is not too late.From Athens you can easily go to Corfu and Paxos and from Corfu through Ryanair it is easy to go then to Santorini or Crete.So you can spend one week at the Ionian and one week at the Aegean Sea.

Definitely not too late. I’m planning for August and there’s till plenty of hotel options available. I just booked air to Athens and hotels in Santorini and Athens and need to book at one more island. Make sure you book your flights to Athens soon and book hotels quickly. It will busy, hot, and expensive and some will say not to go. But, it’s the only time we can go, so we’re going. Next, book flights to/from islands and ferry in between, which is my next step. Good luck!

No way is it too late.

We decided to go on our first month-long trip to Greece about three weeks out and had a great time. Learned some tricks and things to avoid, which made the next four month-long itineraries over the years easier.

Just did it last summer. Bought a ticket on like Jun 5th and flew on the 17th for, yep, a month.

All I had planned before we left was our first night's hotel. Happy to help if you want specific itinerary help. Smart kids.