Firstly, is a week (8/26- 9/3)enough time to do athens, mykonos, santorini and corfu? Next, flight or ferry? I know the faster ferries are more expensive but I've also heard they can make you violently ill if you're succeptible to motion sickness. Additionally how reliable are the ferries. Should I bother reserving hostels or just find places once I get there? We didn't plan on doing a lot of sightseeing, the plan was to spend the morning wandering around town and the afternoon at the beaches. Is this a waste of time/money/opportunity?
Posted by
Chicago, IL, USA
473 posts
That's too many places for one week. I would suggest only 2 locations for a one-week trip. Travelling from one island to another takes up quite a bit of a day. In general, the ferries are reliable. But if the weather kicks up, then they can be delayed or even cancelled.
Posted by
Nottingham, UK
658 posts
The real joy of Island Hopping is not having any plans at all. OK you need to book for your first leg ( say Pireus to Paros - book two nights in Paros ) after that do whatever comes into your head. Arriving on a new island without accommodation is never a problem, there are usually plenty of little old ladies waiting with pictures of their accommodation and prices ( all strictly cash in the hand - the Greek Islanders HATE the taxman and you don't have to pay until you leave ). If you arrive at the accommodation and you don't like it you are free to leave ( this has never happened to us - we've never had bad accommodation ever - we've had cheap and basic, but never bad ). The trick is to travel light and travel fast and travel on an instant. Listen to fellow 'hoppers' and find out what is happening on other islands and swap accommodation addresses. Don't even think about flying between the islands, the ferries are where the fun is. Travel fast or travel slow - it's your choice.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
7549 posts
Well, for a week, you can help your itinerary a lot by dropping Corfu, it is way on the other side of the Mainland, between Greece and Italy, maybe you could fly. While pushing it, If you arrive Athens on 8/26, Ferry to Mykonos on the 27th, stay 3 nights, ferry to Santorini on the 30th, and fly back to Athens (Aegean Air) on the 1st or 2nd, you could do it. If you are after a party and like mykonos when you get there, stay another night or so. One warning, that weekend of the 1st and 2nd, everybody in Europe will be trying to get back to Athens at the end of holiday. Definitely book those tickets ahead. Maybe also consider delaying your trip even just to start a week later, weather will be great, the crowds much, much less.
Posted by
OP
atlanta, ga
4 posts
after greece we're headed to italy, hence the stop in corfu. We're arriving at 10am in Athens on the 28th. We were hoping to spend the day and night in athens, day trip to Delphi the 29th, then head out to mykonos the 30th. We had planned to spend about 2 days per island since the main attractions we're interested in are beaches. Are the superfast ferries worth the extra expense? Will we be able to plan our island excursions/ferry rides once we're there or should it be done a head of time? Are there any hostels in any of the places that are amazing? We've heard good things about Stelios Place on Santorini and Sun-somethingorother on Corfu.
Posted by
Nottingham, UK
658 posts
If you are determined to only spend two nights on each island then the Flying Dolphin fast sea catamarans are worth the extra money. Book your tickets 24 hours before you want to depart One word of warning - do not stay in Corfu old town. It has open drains running across the town, very quaint but the smell is something you will never forget. BTW at the north of Corfu is a lovely town called Rhoda. There's a place there called 'Voula's Travels' - if you wash up in Rhoda I can't recommend Voula too highly. Her and her husband ( Spiro ) are wonderful, if you see her, tell her I said 'Hi'.