Visiting Greece during October 2019 and Seeking Suggestions and Advice

I haven't been to Greece in ages so cannot help with the specifics. However, I wouldn't assume wind will not be an issue. Greece is full of islands, and a lot of tourist destinations are near the coast. When the sun goes down, the breeze can be quite chilly if you're waiting outdoors for a ferry, etc.

Crete is a large, fascinating island. I wouldn't go there for a super-short visit.

At a glance, your target list appears too long for 3 weeks. There are no express trains in Greece--few trains of any type. You'll be on buses and ferries with possibly an occasional flight. It simply takes longer to move around in Greece than it does in countries farther west.

To get a good view of Mt. Olympus, I recommend that you take the hike to the staging area for climbers who plan to peak. This will give you the views of the mountain that you will remember. Lithohoro is a good night-before spot geographically. Dion has some amazing ruins to tour through, so I would not compare the two places as they are different.

While you mention visiting Pella (both the ruins and the museum are majestic and worthwhile), you should also consider a visit to the museum in Vergina, which has Philip's tomb among many other treasures. The museum is built underground so that you enter as if you are heading into the underworld. Not to miss experience.

You may want to visit islands first, as ferries, and I assume flights, start to have less frequent schedules after Oct. 15.

I’m already greeting great advice. Okay on hitting the islands the first half of the month. Thank you Team Rick. I will be following your tour book and audios. I have another book for the mainland.

Some areas will be a quick stop, and my pace is very fast. I’ll do 2 days in Crete. 3 days in Rhodes. I usually go to the ruins as opposed to museums. I’ll see two museums in Rome.

Please keep giving me tips. Information is power!! Thanks!

Steph, thanks for the tip on Phillips tomb.

I just finished planning my 18-day trip, leaving on Oct. 6. This is my second trip. My first was 2 years ago (facepalm on Day 2 in Athens - why in the world did it take me so many years to get to Greece). I spent 4 days solo, then joined the RS Athens and Peloponnese 14 day tour. This time I'm spending it all on Crete (Heraklion and Chania), Santorini and Naxos.

I am also a (mostly) solo traveler and, have been to many European countries. I am budget-conscious - have my minimum standards for rooms and will indulge myself with better without regret. Unlike you, I like a slower pace, less moving around, more time at sights, especially museums, wandering through back lanes, lingering over an afternoon drink in a scenic or interesting place, and spending time getting lots of photos. I also like to have my ducks in a row . . . all my hotels and flights are booked in advance. So much for background.

Crete - Chania is for R&R. Friends I trust for travel advice have all assured me that the only things spend time on in Heraklion are a day trip to Knossos and the archaeology museum

Santorini R&R, scenic easy hikes. I've been informed by a number of RS folks that the main towns of Oia and Fira are inundated (even in October) with day trippers off cruise ships and to avoid them except in early morning and late afternoon/evening. I'm staying in Firostefani which has been highly recommended.

Naxos Yep, more time enjoying the sea and exploring the town. I'm hoping to get a day trip to Delos and Mykonos by ferry. There's still one company that does them in October from Naxos, spends about 3 hours (no guide) at Delos and another 3 in Mykonos. From all the research I've done as well as advice on the forum, Mykonos is party central, even in October, so I have no desire to stay there.

Athens 6-7 days sounds like a lot for a first trip. You will want several hours at the National Archaeology Museum (NAM). I went on my own, then again on the RS tour and it's the only sight in Athens that I plan to return to this time, with 3.5 days in the city. I went up to the Acropolis on my own, then again on the tour and once would have been enough. I didn't use a HOHO bus. The RS self-guided walks are very good. In fact the entire section on Athens in the RS guidebook is very good. I didn't feel the need for a guided anything in Athens. I went to the Benaki Museum, not nearly as good as the state-run ones. It was not as well organized and important info on most of the individual pieces (like dates!) was missing. Kerameikos is outside the city center but worth it. The Ancient Agora is excellent, the main Roman sights I only saw from the outside per the RS guide and that was sufficient. The RS tour's farewell dinner was at ManiMani. For a splurge go there for dinner. The Acropolis Museum has a rooftop cafe with an open terrace that affords great views. It's open for lunch and dinner and access does not require a museum ticket. The prices for lunch were reasonable.

Transportation I am flying open-jaw Heraklion-Athens and using ferries twice, to Santorini and Naxos, then flying to Athens. Prices for flights and ferries were about the same and the flight takes less time, even factoring in lead time and travel time to Athens center. Use [this site][1] to find ferry schedules and prices. I ended up booking one ferry before I was told several times (or maybe just didn't pay attention) that it was unnecessary. I believe it's a good idea to get a ticket the day before departure so you avoid some wait time. As far as the scenic merits, you might have good overhead views of the islands from a plane and while the last few minutes arriving in port may be scenic, it also means you could be stuck in line to get off the ferry for quite a while and hours on a ferry in open water isn't particularly special.

Do not underestimate the time it takes to travel by bus. Most of the bus days on the RS tour meant fairly long rides and that was on a private bus without stops, other than the obligatory 15 minute rest stop on a trip that was more than 2.5 hours, and we went door-to-door to hotels and sights. It really sounds like you are trying to do way too much in way too little time. October is and isn't "sort of" slow season. When I began looking for hotels, some of my choices were nearly or completely booked in Crete and Athens. As I said above, it looks like there are still plenty of cruise ships plying the more popular islands. OTOH, some day tours on the islands end in September.

2002leonard, thanks for the critical tip on Oct 15.

Chani, thank you for the tons of good info. As I revise my travel plan and calendar, I will take all your suggestions into account. Perhaps I am trying for too much even for my pace. I may decide to skip Mykonos/Delos and Santorini this trip. I know I will be back to Greece in the near future having a good friend in Rhodes. That is why Rhodes is a must and Crete may be enough for me. From what I read in RS, Mykonos is an expensive Mediterranean hotspot for partiers, but I liked what I read about Delos. My nightlife ends at 10:00PM. Ha! I appreciate that the flights and ferries are the same approx. price. That is good news for me. I plan on seeing the Acropolis Museum and the NAM (Nat. Arch. Museum) in Athens. I will take my time in each location. From Athens, I was hoping to take short excursions to Mykonos and Santorini. If I drop that I will cut a few days off Athens. One good piece of advise was for Mt. Olympus was to visit the starting locations for the hike and observe the mountain from that strategic point. That will likely be Litochoro for now. Unless someone tells me Dion is much better. I will only do one or the other. I also got some good info on Philips tomb near Pella. I might see that as well. Try the HOHO buses. I walk a lot and I walk fast when there are no sites near me, but the advantage of sitting up high and actually riding through the streets in a major city reveals a lot about the local neighborhoods, shops, cafes, and the people. It gives you a different perspective from looking at maps. Even the good ones. In most cases, the tour guides have some interesting things to say. I will be doing the RS Athens City Walk for sure. I will also use his download for other sites. They are great.

Acraven, thank you for your advice. I was under the impression that it would be buses vs. trains. I happen to prefer buses over trains and I enjoy the short stops. Gives me a chance to observe more. I do not always get that same experience on trains.

Lee, when the ho-ho busses began in Athens, I took one for research purposes and was NOT pleased. Don't get me wrong - Ho-Ho busses elsewhere, e.g. London are very useful -- given long distances between landmarks, i.e. Buck Palace, W. Abbey and Tower of London. However Athens is different; just look at a good map! http://www.orangesmile.com/destinations/img/athens-map-big.jpg (click & it gets huuuge). Most major landmark sites clustered close together, and streets around are no-car lanes (on map, see checkered streets). Thus the hop-on-off bus is limited to the multi-lane major avenues which are traffic-choked; you spend a lot of time just sitting at stoplights looking up at office buildings. By contrast, there IS a very worthwhile hop on/off rde that's a ton-o-fun -- the Happy Train!! http://www.athenshappytrain.com -- open-air "cars" pulled by a "locomotive" (on a jeep chassis) ... it's allowed to go on those pedestrianized lanes. It starts at Syntagma Square, covers all major sites in 40 minutes costs about €6 -- you can hop off at entry to Acropolis, at Ancient Agora, Olympic Stadium etc, and next Happy Train will be along in 40 mins or less, depending on time of day. I totally recommend this option.

About the intercity (KTEL Network) busses ... I have used them on mainland & on Crete. They're modern, a/c, reserved upholstered comfy seats with footrests used by whole spectrum of Greek population, because of almost total lack of Train network. They work well for trips from Athens to destination (Ath-Delphi, Ath-Nafplio etc) and back. when you start doing complicated itineraries in the hinterland, you may encounter long layovers, and infrequent connections. For example you seem to want to go to Delphi, then over to Pella, then back to Olympia?? thento Meteora?? You could spend WEEKS, sitting for hours in a bus station to connect. I once took a bus to Olympia from Athens (5 hrs + 1) and that was OK, but then wanted get down West coast of Pelopponnese to Pylos area ... a nightmare. Each prefecture (county? township?) has its own KTEL operation, own timetable, often not on internet, or in greek only ... you can only find schedules posted on wall of a station when y ou arrive. I got from Pyrgos halfway down the coast on 2 busses, then ran out of busses, nothing until next day... had to hire taxi for €€€ to Gialova near Pylos. I highly recommed you go to website Rome2Rio https://www.rome2rio.com and plug in your various wish-list destinations, and see what's possible. I think you will find in some cases its like the old joke - "you can't get there from here." Some of your plan sounds more like daydreaming than planning. Not that I'm against daydreaming, I'm all for it!! But test it against the realities before you lock in an itinerary.

Same goes for Crete. You CAN get from Rhodes to Crete via Ferry, but it can take forever, especially outside high season. A ferry may get you to Sitia on the easternmost part of island, but to Heraklion far longer... may do better to get off & take bus there. Also, figure out WHAT you want to see in Crete & then study the bus networks. You can only go fro N. Shore of Crete to South shore (LYbian Sea) at about 3 places... because these are the only valleys between mountains. ANd you cannot go East - west on South shore because there is No Road... you must do ferry hops, which are slim pickin's after High Season. here's a map of crete, click & its huge - http://www.explorecrete.com/crete-maps/images/Crete-eot.png ... clearly shows how terrain limits routes. You need to do a lot more research to do all that mainland travel PLUS Rhodes PLUS Crete PLUS Athens, in only 3 weeks. Whew! Good luck!

Janet, the Happy Train sounds like a good idea. I understand that taxis are not expensive in Greece. Either locally in cities like Athens or between villages. Any comments? I also hear Uber’s are becoming more popular. When I was in Italy someone put me in touch with a guy who drove me along the coast for 4 hours. Round trip. He stopped where I wanted and we took pictures and had lunch. He only wanted $50 and had. Worth every penny. Have you heard of anything about Ubers or private riders?

If you like ancient Greece do not just stick to what is well know. Watch an Ancient drama performance of 2.500 years old scripts. Oedipus Rex by Sophocles is a very good performance and if you go to Athinais theater is also with English overtitles (Fimonoi team) . A unique experience of you want to meet ancient Greece culture and not just monuments.

Regarding transportation try bus or metro by airport and all center is easy to walk. Avoid Plaka for food... toomucb touristic... and try Gazi area or Agia Eirini in City center