Greek island home base

stephen, You may get some good ideas by having a look at This Website. If you're going to explore by Ferry, it would probably be a good idea to choose islands which are all in the same "group" of islands. In the same situation, rather than use one island for a home base, I'd suggest splitting the visits and stay on two or three islands for 2-3 nights each. That will be much easier to accomplish than travelling back and forth to one island. Happy travels!

As mentioned, it's best to island hop instead of backtracking to a home base, especially with only a week to explore. There are several islands between Rhodes and Athens, assuming you're flying out of Athens. Here's what's on that route: http://tinyurl.com/849nx8w Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the animated route map. You did not mention when you plan to travel, and ferry schedules for April and later are not yet available.

The islands around Rhodes would be a great place to explore. Last September we spent 2 weeks island-hopping in that area. We spent a few days each in Rhodes, Kastellorizo, Tilos and Nisyros. Fabulous time. All very different islands. Rhodes is very large with numerous transportation connections. The other three are very small and a little trickier to arrange, but we figured it out and would be happy to share our knowledge with you. Let me know if you'd like more info. We found some great hotels. Another great place for a week or two of exploration is the island of Lesvos. It too is a large island, but off the beaten tourist track, so prices are low and people are very friendly & helpful and it remains a real "Greek" island. One of our best vacations ever was 3 weeks spent on Lesvos, staying in 4 different places ... so it was like island hopping without the ferries. One hotel that we found on that trip was so amazing that we returned a few years later for 10 days, and last September for 2 full weeks. It's called Hotel Votsala. Wonderful place. Look it up on Trip Advisor. You could easily stay here for a week or 10 days, and take day trips around the island by car or bus. The owner arranges optional excursions for guests ... we went with a group of guests to Pergamon in Turkey, and did a boat trip, and did lots of walks. Such fun. Very economical, and they have a fabulous chef who prepared some of the best food we've ever had in Greece. Each morning for breakfast, she cooks two Greek pastry or egg dishes in addition to the regular fruit, yogurt, breads, etc. Twice a week Votsala offers a "barbecue" or dinner for guests; sometimes a cooking class/ouzo party. Not many Americans there, but you'll meet lots of interesting people from all over Europe & Australia. Highly recommended.

Thank you all for your helpful replies. I apologize for the tardiness of my response. I'll try to be more courteous. S