One week in Greece/Islands. Whats the highlights?

I think two days in Athens will be fine. We loved going to Milos. It is a small island and very inexpensive. We took a morning ferry there. Five days later we took the overnight ferry to Crete.
This next year we will spend one night in Athens and fly our to Crete by Olympian Air. We have timeshares so will use two of them while there. We will then ferry to Milos for 5 days and Sifnos for three.
With limited time you might want to just fly both ways to Crete. When you decide, let me know and I will give some places that I stayed.
I loved the boat trip around Milos. It took all day and stopped several times for swimming and once for lunch.
We didn't get in the water as it was too cold for us. That was in May.
Good luck,
Mary Joe

Arrange your itinerary so that you are in Athens at the end of your trip. That way you won't be stressing about getting back to the mainland at the last minute for your flight home. Sometimes there are unpredictable cancellations due to high winds or mechanical breakdowns. Try to pick an arrival time in Athens so you can hop a flight or ferry to your first island.

http://www.aegeanair.com/

http://www.openseas.gr/OPENSEAS/index_en.vm

When searching for ferries use 'Piraeus' for Athens, that's the name of the ferry port. If you want to go to Mykonos you can also search for departures from 'Rafina'.

For planning, figure at the most, two islands, and they should be along the same ferry route or have good air connections. For example, you mentioned Lesvos in another post, well it would be difficult to include Santorini and Lesvos in one short trip without most of your days on ferries or flying repeatedly through Athens. Chios however, is right on the way and would not require additional travel, as are other islands in the group.

Lee must be lots younger than me. I have to have a day in Athens to change time zones. It was 24 hours for us from our front door to Athens. I have never been able to sleep on a plane. Wish I could. This year the time will be shorter as we will use a different airline. On second thought, I first flew to Europe in 1969 to live there. Time change was a problem way back then!

I'm 61. I live in Oregon, USA. It takes me between 24-30 hours to reach my favorite island, Santorini, depending on the flight connections I have to make. I can't sleep on the plane either, but I just tough it out and fly directly out from Athens as soon after my arrival as possible so as to maximize my time on the islands. If the timing is right the layover is short and for me it's worth the extra effort.

But my main reason for always suggesting to others to save Athens until the end of the trip is so there will be extra time to get back to the mainland in case of unforseen delays out on the island. This makes for a less-stressful transition back to 'reality'. Nothing can ruin a beautiful vacation faster than getting stranded and missing the flight home.

Thanks for all you tips. Just to clarify my trip, I will already be in France, then I want to go to Greece for at least a week, then on to Turkey for at least a week. So please help with any info on any of these countries.
Thanks for the responses.

If you go to Bodrum be sure to explore the Crusader's Castle. There's a lovely little fishing village about 1/2 hour from Bodrum in So. Turkey, Gumusluk, where I recommend you stay for awhile if you can. Also, Ephesus is a 'must-see' without question. I also enjoyed going to see Ancient Troy (Truva) near Canakkale. Until I did I had no idea that the legendary Homeric Troy was not the original Troy, but was built on the ruins of several much older villages that came and went in the centuries before.

You'll probably get some bargain flight to Athens, stay 2 days, then move to an Island, then to TUrkey. SUggest you try to get a bargain Aegean Air flight to an Island where you can easily move on to Turkey. THREE such flite options:

SAMOS -- Fascinating in itself: sandy beaches and walks thru traditional villages in the West part (rent scooter or car to explore)... Vathy Town is on a beautiful bay, has stunning small museum. Samos also is a "springboard" to Chios, Patmos, Ephesus in Turkey. Or......

CHIOS, you can fly Aegean direct -- FINE beach Karfas, just north of port town, friends loved Sideratos Apts there http://www.karfas.com/ -- if u rent car, this island has stunning pebble beaches in SW, "mastic towns" totally unique, medieval, so much. Then ferry to Samos & take a 45 minute ferry to Ephesus, Turkey.

RHODES -- again, seek out Aegean Bargain flite from Athens; stay in Old Town, check out Lindos, rent a car for a day, and see South & west, no tourists there, serene villages. Then Take ferry to Marmaris (Turkey) & make yr way up to Istanbul via bus/plane.

NOTE -- these 3 beautiful islands do not have the travel-poster "blue and white" architecture of the Cyclades. If u want this, you will have to fly to Santorini, and then fly (via Sky Express) to Rhodes to see 2 islands in your cruelly short 7 days.

Janet thanks for the comments and suggestions. Cruelly short? Okay how about 10 days in Greece and 10 days in Turkey?
Thanks,

Yes, 10 days in Greece would be a lot better. What people do not always absorb is that 10 days in an island nation involves a lot of transport time & logistics. In travel, you have to spend at least ONE kind of resource --- MOney or Time.

If you are a kid with a whole summer, you can meander around, getting a ferry when you find it. If you are an adult professional with a short time span, You CAN do it, if you have the money to shortcut the process by flying, as I advised.

I've been to 20+ isles & mainland sites including all those mentioned, some as many as 4-5 times --- AND on a shoestring (60E per day total!). I'm now retired so I save up all year, and go for 25-30 days. Of course, this is the ONLY travel I do all year. LIke you I am addicted to being near water, on Islands. IIf you want to discuss options in detail, e-mail me: [email protected]. And if you want to see how I've managed to travel, check out my web page
http://www.techforecast.com/Janet.htm
-- wasn't able to go in 2008,but hopeful for May-June 2009. May-June or September are THE best times to visit Greece/Turkey.