Hello everyone, and thank you for taking the time to read. We are planning a trip to Greece and Turkey for 12 days or so. April 13 - 25th (flexible) WE are very excited to be there for Easter!! We would like to go to Athens, Santorini, Mykonos, (possibly Crete ?) and then Turkey for 2 or 3 nights. Please help with possible itineraries ..... we want this to be relaxing so we really don't want to jump too much from place to place .... is there something we should pass on? ALSO, recommendations for hotels ~ I am a nurse and a patient today was telling me how crazy expensive it is there ...... should we be planning on staying in "not so great" places to save a little, or can you find decent places for a decent price? Thanks ~ any info is so so appreciated!! gina
Posted by
Camarillo, California
3149 posts
Gina, you say you "really don't want to jump too much from place to place" but that's exactly what you will do if you try to fit Athens, 2-3 islands AND Turkey into 12 days of travel. Pick 2 islands and Athens and you'll have a much better, more relaxing time. Save Athens (2-3 days is good) for the end of your trip so you don't have to stress about getting back to the mainland for the flight home. Santorini and Mykonos are too redundant to provide you with a well-rounded experience. Choose either one and either Naxos or Paros. They're very good second choices and you can take a daytrip to Delos from either of them which includes a stop on Mykonos for a quick look around Mykonos Town. If you choose Paros you can also take the local shuttle boat across to Antiparos.
As for hotel suggestions, first you need to finalize your island choices and state your maximum daily room budget in dollars or euro for the best recommendations. Saying "decent price" is no help. For example, rooms on Santorini go for anwhere from 25-1600 euro/night. 500 euro/night is "decent" for some travellers.
Tripadvisor.com has experts for each island (I'm one for Santorini) and lots of hotel reviews.
Pass on Crete and Turkey this time. It takes at least a week to cover Crete, but 2 weeks with a rental car would be better. It's huge. You'll need at least 2-4 weeks for Turkey.
Be advised that Greek Easter weekend is the busiest weekend of the year for Greeks returning home for the festivities. BE SURE you have confirmed reservations for all ferries, hotels, car rentals and domestic flights as soon as possible or you'll be taking a chance on not being able to get out to the islands at all.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
8126 posts
I had to check, but many make the mistake of assuming that Easter in Greece is the same date as Western Churches, but Orthodox Easter is the 19th. I agree with Lee, skip Crete for now, or do it instead of other islands. In late April, things will be picking up and the Islands starting to wake up from winter, But I would still stick to the larger islands. Definitely book ahead (transportation and lodging) for the time around Easter. While Greece can be expensive, I have always found it to be very budget friendly, especially in the off season.