Hello! We are in the beginning stages of planning a trip for two couples in possibly either early October or late October/early November 2010. If this is a bad time to go we would consider postponing until the spring. We'll have 8-9 days available, not including travel to and from the states-we have nothing booked yet so can be very flexible. So far we are thinking Athens - Santorini - Cairo, although not necessarily in that order. Can anyone give us any suggestions on a preferred/easier order in which to visit these places, how long to spend at each place, etc? Is it even realistic to think we can do all three places in 8-9 days? My husband wants to see the pyramids and the Acropolis, I'm interested in the beautiful scenery of Santorini and experiencing Islamic Cairo, and my girlfriend and her husband are interested in seeing it all but want a mix of relaxation and activity as they are recovering from a very stressful year. We don't have plane tickets yet, so could fly into either Cairo or Athens to start - we're hoping to fly open jaw. We are not beach people so don't need to go during good beach weather - we actually prefer touring when days are nice enough to sit outside at a cafe or taverna for lunch 9even if a sweater is needed) but not too hot (for me too hot is over 85 F:) We realize that we are going to get just a taste of each place but figure a short trip is better than no trip! I hope this is enough info - please let me know if I left out anything crucial. We have traveled in Europe before but this will be our first trip to Greece/Egypt - we are open to suggestions if anyone has suggestions for a better itinerary.
Posted by
victoria, bc, canada
6 posts
Great trip! We too are in the throws of planning a trip but for this summer. Athens, Cairo and Santorini are also on our must see list. When looking for flights we found better prices flying first to Cairo then Athens. We just looked up tickets from Athens to Paros (which is just a ferry ride away from Santorini) and the flight costs are around $116.00 per person. Try getting some itinerary samples from www.kayak.com. This will at least give you flight options and help find your best priced route.
Hope this helps.
Posted by
OP
Piedmont Triad, NC
176 posts
Thanks Meadow! I'm having trouble finding airlines that will fly into Cairo and then out of Athens - Egypt air goes into Cairo from the USA but does not fly from Athens to USA - are you doing an open jaw flight and with which airlines did you have the best luck?
Posted by
Camarillo, California
3149 posts
Aegean Airlines flies from Athens to Cairo and has a codeshare agreement with U.S. Airways.
Posted by
OP
Piedmont Triad, NC
176 posts
Thanks Lee! After talking with our friends, we have decided to wait until spring and take two full weeks - would we have enough time to add another stop and what stops would you recommend we add to our itinerary?
Posted by
Camarillo, California
3149 posts
I can't answer that for you. It depends on the sort of vacation you want, what your expectations are, how you like to spend your time, and of course your budget. Subtracting travel time from 14 days you really only have around 4 days for each destination. You can cut Athens to 3 days but I think Santorini and Cairo both deserve as much time as possible. Maybe include a short Nile cruise or a stop in Sharm Al Sheikh?
Posted by
OP
Piedmont Triad, NC
176 posts
Thanks again Lee...We will do some more reserach and talk with our friends - they had mentioned a Nile river cruise so we'll look into that option. I appreciate the help - thanks for your replies:)
Posted by
Seattle, WA, usa
44 posts
Hi Deana,
First - I think postponing until you have 2 weeks was a good idea. Travel this far in less and you may feel like you missed out.
I would go shorter on Athens. We were there for 3 nights and honestly, it was too long. I wished we would have only spent 2 nights/3 days.
Santorini on the other hand...I could have stayed 2 weeks there and just daytripped!!! I call it heaven on earth. We traveled with two teens and the entire family loved every minute. I wanted to do a few day cruises but no one else wanted to leave. We were there 3 nights/4 days (with ferry travel in/out). We then traveled to Turkey by ferry (Ephesus and Istanbul) to complete that trip.
Cairo was spectacular and another city that I could have stayed longer in. We were there 3 nights as well, which really gives you a good amount of time to enjoy. PM me if you want a great Egyptologist and tour guide (Debbi is originally from the states and Sherif (Egyptologist) was fantastic for the history. We saw and did many things that a good friend of mine missed on her trip last year (we were there 2 years ago). We added the Red Sea to our itinerary for another 4 days so if you want to add "relaxation time" this could be a good alternative on a 2 week trip. Flights within the area were very reasonable. The area we didn't see was Valley of the Kings, which without kids, I would have chosen - but they wanted beach time. All in all...a great vacation!