Two Week Island Itinerary with Teens

Pollonia or Adamantas?

After 2 days in Pollonia I think you will probably be bored. The beach is small, there are few shops and the entire waterfront is just a series of tourist restaurants. Unless you are going to spend a day in Kimolos by taking the Osia Methodia (30 minutes crossing for around €2 from the port of Pollonia).

You will have more possibilities for activities and travel by staying towards Adamantas. It also depends on whether you will have a rental car. The bus network in Milos is not great and Pollonia is located in the far north of the island (taxis are expensive and there aren't many).

That being said, if you wanted to avoid the crowds, you have failed :)), you have chosen and mentioned the 5 Cycladic islands most invaded by tourists. Namely Santorini, Naxos, Milos, Paros and Mykonos.

I’d suggest skipping Milos and spending more time on Naxos. Your current plan has you spending a lot of time on ferries. The trip from Milos to Naxos is about 4 hours, and then you’re planning 2 more day trips by ferry from Naxos, so that’s 5 ferry trips in 3 days. And only one full uninterrupted day on Naxos.

With the day trips you’ve planned, there’s plenty to do on Naxos to keep everyone happy for a week. The teens might enjoy Flisvos Sports club, at the far end of St George Beach, where they can rent windsurfers & other beach toys. There are also tiny islands between Naxos & Amorgos you can explore on day trips by boat.

I would consider Charlenes suggestions. You are indeed making too many ferry hops. When we took our teens to Greece we flew to Santorini same day we arrived in Athens. We spent 3 nights in Santorini then took the ferry to Naxos, for a week and just a 2 hour ferry hop. If you choose one of the fast ferries you can be in Naxos by noon on the transfer day.

While Naxos is indeed a very popular Island by choosing to stay at Plaka beach you can manage the crowds more efficiently than you can at Naxos town. Honestly Naxos needs a week, 10 days is better.

When you take the day trip from Naxos you can take an excursion that includes a stop in Delos an important island in antiquity and then continue the excursion to Mykonos and return to Naxos later in the day.

Athens honestly needs 3 days to take in all the important antiquities.

Some images to whet your appetite.
Plaka Beach Naxos https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157655106193251
Naxos 2022. https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72177720299940917/

Trip around Naxos https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157634605629689
Naxos sunsets https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157700728046481

Thanks for the helpful information! Looks like I will nix Milos and add some days to Naxos.

Here are two links showing the ships scheduled each day in Santorini in July 2024 for planning purposes .

https://www.cruisetimetables.com/santorinigreeceschedule-01jul2024.html. Shows daily. For example July 1st there will be 4 large ships totalling over 10,000 and it's a little island with small streets.

https://cruisedig.com/ports/santorini-greece/arrivals. Shows a running list

Mykonos didn't offer much but high prices and commercialism for us. We loved our 4 days each in Paros (Kolympithres Beach is in a great setting and has gorgeous crystral clear warm water) and Naxos (I think they will especially enjoy and Naxos Town is fun to explore. We have two daughters

Love Greece

Stay away from Santori when cruise ships are in!!!!!