Planning ahead for September 2013, 6 of us are going for almost three weeks. Looks like Athens: 2 nights, Mykonos: 3 nights, Santorini 3 nights, Crete, 4 nights, 2 nights in Rethymno and 2 nights in Chania and then 2 or 3 nights in Rhodes and last 3 nights in Istanbul. Would you stay 2 or 3 nights in Rhodes? How is the weather late September? Has anyone heard of the following two Greek tourist companies: TrueGreece and Fantasy Travel both have given us god pckages with TrueGreece being more expensive and higher class hotels. Let me know any imput,
Dean
Posted by
Camarillo, California
3132 posts
Fantasy Travel is one of the most widely-used Greek travel agencies for visitors to Greece. They have an excellent reputation. I don't know the other one. Does your proposed itinerary include your travel time? You didn't mention how you plan to travel between your island destinations, but I'm assuming you plan to use the ferries, is this correct? Are you aware of the time it takes to move between islands? For example, it takes 13 hours to get from Crete to Rhodes, and it's an 8am departure from Heraklion, so if you're staying in Crete you should probably spend the night before in Heraklion, meaning you'll only have one full day in Chania. This travel will also waste one full day on Rhodes. Coming from Santorini to Crete means arriving at Heraklion in the evening, then you have to take a bus or a rental car to Chania, which takes a minimum of 2.5 hours. Also, your plans pre-suppose that there will be a ferry on the day you need it, but for September there are no listings yet for that ferry from Heraklion to Rhodes, and the listings I do see are only for Wednesdays and Saturdays until May 30, 2012, so you can't really even make plans for September 2012, let alone September 2013, until you know the ferry departure dates, which won't be available until sometime in the summer of 2013. No travel agency will be able to make these bookings for you so far in advance. They have to wait for the official schedules too.
Posted by
OP
York, Pa, USA
49 posts
Thanks for your , to further clarify transportation, both agencies are using high speed ferries to the first leg of the trip and air from Crete to Rhodes, Rhodes to Athens and flight on to Istanbul. One agency supplies transfers in Crete while the other suggests a car.
Posted by
Camarillo, California
3132 posts
This makes it a bit easier to move around. But I'm not convinced it's to your advantage to fly back to Athens from Rhodes to fly on to Istanbul. Why not take the ferry across to Bodrum, Turkey and fly from there? It might save you some time as well as money, since domestic flights in Turkey are quite reasonably-priced. It's worth asking, anyway. I wonder if the Greek travel agents are even able to make this connection for you with a Turkish airlines and ferry company.