first time to greece

First, you need to let us know which village you've chosen for your accomodations. If you want a cavehouse-type room your choices are Fira, Firostefani, Imerovigli and Oia. Fira has all the nightlife and Oia is the most beautiful and romantic with lots of restaurants, shops and galleries, but nightlife is limited to a few mellow bars and cafes. Imerovigli is the quietest with the best overall caldera/sunset views about 1.5 miles uphill from Fira. Firostefani is quiet but is only 15 minutes' stroll to the center of Fira. Second, what is your maximum daily room budget in Euro, not dollars? If you act quickly you can take advantage of Olympic Air's deeply-discounted May/June airfare sale, which was announced yesterday. They have a website.

Kimi
I would recommend flying directly to Santorini when you arrive in the Athens airport, rather than staying in Athens your first day. See if you can arrange a transfer through your hotel from the Santorini airport to your hotel. Then you can just relax and enjoy this beautiful island. Save Athens for the end of your trip, as you will want to get back to Athens at least one full day before your flight home.

kimi, First of all, congratulations! You may find it helpful to have a look at This Website as there's an enormous amount of information on travelling in Greece. I don't know of any "cave inns", but I quite enjoyed staying in Fira. There are lots of nice restaurants and hotels, and it's in about the centre of the island so convenient to Oia and other areas. How long will you be there, and are you planning to explore the island? You may want to rent a car, as the local transportation is a bit limited. If you decide to rent a car, you'll need an International Driver's Permit (used in conjunction with your regular D.L.) and I'd suggest choosing the best CDW package. I agree with a previous suggestion to head directly to Santorini from Athens (if you can manage that in a jet-lagged state). Leaving Athens for the end of the trip would be more efficient. Happy travels!

Thankyou so much for the suggestions everybody. We are planning to stay in Greece for 8 days total so maybe 6 days in Santorini. I was kinda of interested in Oia but Lee's suggestion, Imerovigli, also sounds really nice. Our budget is in the middle (60-90 euros per night). If we had to decide between those two towns for 6 days which would be the best option?
Thankyou

To throw my two cents worth in, I ,at this point, will not confuse things by tossing in other islands, Santorini is as spectacular as any other island, and Lee's suggestions are spot on. The mention of Matt Barrett's website is OK, good for general advice, but do not take away from the site that you must use a travel agent in Greece or suffer dire consequences. For you, the choice is book a flight either directly to Santorini and back from Athens, or round trip to Athens. If the difference is a couple hundred per person, do round trip to Athens and either Aegean or Olympia round trip to Santorini from Athens. If you do the latter, then you must allow plenty of time from scheduled arrival into Athens to flight to Santorini, even overnight, and the same thing on return. That would at worst give you a night in Athens the first and last nights, not a bad idea, like you already suggested.. Ferries are another option, but to be honest, to get to Santorini (a long 8 hour ferry ride) flying is better. Hotel arrangements are best made direct online or by phone, rather than using an online booking form, find a direct email to the hotel and let them know how many nights, what you would like and ask them to make an offer. Very likely their offer will be less than advertised rate or an upgraded room, which you should expect for May and especially if you are staying four or more nights. You may even be able to expect an airport pickup. Lee knows Santorini better than anyone on here, he may have a few more tips.

About Imerovigli: Yes, it's the quietest village, but that also means there are very few shops or restaurants there. Walking uphill 1.5 miles (or more, depending) after a night out in Fira is not my idea of a good time. You do also have the option of taking a bus or taxi or renting a vehicle. If renting is a possibility be sure to go to your local AAA office to pick up an International Driving Permit, no test or membership required. €60-90/night is not 'in the middle', it's down on the very low end if you want a cavehouse with a caldera view. I suggest you do a search on www.booking.com using their filter system to see what you can find that's affordable and in the village you prefer. Once you've found something you like find their website to compare pricing with the booking site. Check the websites for Gizis Apartments, Sunset Hotel, Hotel Mylos, Villa Maria Damigou, Blue Dolphins Apartments, Thea Studios (Oia), Casa Sofia, Oia Waves, Stelios Rooms and Aspa Villas.

Hi Kimi.......Santorini is a wonderful place for a honeymoon but, I agree that the logistics are great. To begin, try to nail down your flight arrangements. Most likely you will arrive Athens around noon or early afternoon. The airport is some distance from the city so if you possibly can, continue directly on to Santorini. Although difficult, this plan will save both time and money. Time to rest when you actually arrive on Santorini. Also, if your timing is flexible remember that midweek flights are often less expenisve. Once you have your tentative air arrangements, return here for more details. Be sure to check out Lee's leads for lodging. He knows Santorini well. You can cross check with tripadvisor.com.

Wow thank you so much for the help everybody. Now I have a sense of how and where to go now. I think we will fly directly to santorini from Athens instead of staying there and going to look into Oia more since that seems like the right fit for us. Thanks and double thanks to Lee for the hotel recommendations.

Oia iis an excellent choice. You're only going to spend one honeymoon in Greece and Oia should make it very, very memorable. Check out Delfini in Oia. We stayed there in in Sept 11 and thought the rates were quite reasonable. Also, I believe they offer cave rooms. Enjoy. Santorini is unforgetable.

Thankyou everyone for your suggestions and guidence. I've actually pushed back my trip to September and we booked a hotel in Imerovigl for 5 nightsi. We are really excited and it seems like a good fit for us. Now I'm looking into things to do. I think we are doing a sailing tour but I'm deciding whether to get a rental car or not. It seems like they have more manual shift than auto, problem since we don't know how to drive manually but I'm pretty sure they provide automatic. But is it worth renting a car, where we can drive around the island or just pay 1 or 2 tour guides for $30-$40 and do the remainder by walking/hiking to nearby towns? Thankyou and hope to hear your opinions
Kimi

Having a car at your disposal is the best way to explore the island, and since you've chosen Imerovigli you'll be glad you have it. You'll be able to get off the main road and see things those who use the bus system never do. With advance warning just about every major car rental agency can provide you with a car that has an automatic transmission. http://www.santonet.gr/rentals

I would recommend renting a car as well. We used Tony's Rent a Car in Fira and were able to get an automatic. Be sure to take an international drivers permit. If you are looking for suggestions on things to do, I have a few recommendations. If you are into wine, check out Gaia Winery. According to their website they will be open through October. Their winery is in an old tomato processing factory and it is on the black sand beach. The wine was fantastic and woman helping us was extremely knowledgeable. If you are into antiquities, check out Akrotiri. The site was closed for several years but recently reopened. I would bring your guidebook though, because the site isn't signposted very well. We went to see the sunset in Oia and had the best seafood OF MY LIFE at a taverna called Petros in Oia. Happy planning and have a fantastic honeymoon!

Thank you guys for the suggestion,
It seems that renting a car is unanimous so we have decided to rent. Thank you Katie for your suggestion for Tony's rent a car, I've emailed and waiting for a reply from them but for now, the rental company I am looking at is Santorini holiday car rental. They provide GPS navigation and do you think it is necessary or the maps given sufficient enough to drive around the island?

Road signs (in English) on Santorini are at every main intersection so you won't get lost. This is the best island map I know: http://www.santorini-web.com/map.pdf