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Greek Islands

Hi, I'm signed up for Rick's 2-week Peloponnese tour. It ends on Sunday, April 8th, Easter Day (our Easter). My flight home isn't until Tues, Apr 17th, so I have time to explore some islands. I am trying to decide on which island group to visit after the tour is over. 1. I am interested in the Sporades group, Cyclades & Crete. I'm not sure if Santorini is worth the trip
without Akrotiri being open. -Any thoughts on island suggestions? Especially Evia- you don't hear much about it. 2. Will I have trouble finding accomodations & tours/activities for the week leading up to Easter as well as Easter Day (Sun. Apr 15 ) Thank you for your time and suggestions!

Posted by
3115 posts

FYI-Greek Easter Sunday is April 15. Any travel in Greece the weekend before should be easy but be sure you have confirmed reservations for everything from April 12-April 18. Crete takes a minimum of a week with a rental car just to scratch the surface. It's a huge island. Santorini is beautiful and there is plenty to see and do regardless of the status of Akrotiri. If you check with Aegean Airlines you may be able to catch their 'saver' fare discounts, which would make flying to an island very inexpensive as well as saving you a lot of lost time on a ferry.

Posted by
68 posts

Thank you for the information, Lee. -Will I have a hard time finding places to stay & activities/tours on the days leading up to & including Easter? Just looking for some advice on weather I should pick the Sporades, OR Cyclades (especially considering a few days on Patmos for their religious celebrations), OR Crete to be my choice for after the tour. If the Sporades, I'd be looking at Skopelos, Evia, & Skyros. If the Cyclades: Sifnos, Naxos, Santorini, Patmos. Crete: Minoan sites, museums, landscaping &
Cretan food I'd appreciate any experiences anyone would like to share rearding my situation or suggestions. Thank you, Carly

Posted by
3115 posts

The difficulty will be in securing reservations for that weekend during the dates I've already mentioned. You really need to start now sending out inquiries. That may help you decide which island group to visit. By the way, Patmos is not a Cyclades island. It's in the Dodecanese and means going to Rhodes or Samos first. Since you'll be on Evia it makes sense to go to Skyros since you can get there without having to connect via a different island.

Posted by
68 posts

Oh, that's embarrassing.
Scratch Patmos, that's too far out of the way.

Posted by
32173 posts

Carly, I travelled a similar route in Fall 2010, beginning with the RS Pelopponese tour (it was fantastic, BTW). After the tour ended, I travelled to Naxos and Santorini on my own, which was also fantastic. I chose those two islands partly due to ease of transportation. I visited Santorini last, as there's an airport there which made it easier to get to my next destination. I agree with Lee that it would probably be better to leave Crete for a future visit, when you have more time. Do you know yet who your Guide will be? You might find it very helpful to have a look at This Website as it has an enormous amount of information on travelling in Greece, including descriptions on each of the islands. Regarding accommodations and travel arrangements, I decided to try one of the Greek Travel Agencies mentioned on the website. It was a bit of work to get everything set-up, but they did an excellent job! They provided a choice of several Hotels in each location, and these were all very comfortable. The Travel Agency arranged all Ferry tickets, transfers and Hotels, while I booked the flight on Aegean myself (that's a really nice airline). It was great to disembark from the Ferries in Naxos and Santorini, and have a Driver waiting to take me to the Hotel. Happy travels!