Thanks all - slowly unwinding the trip. Will revisit this thread (and the trip) in 2021 (hopefully)
Weāre ābookedā for Greece in May 2021, fingers crossed for all.
My daughter has expressed an interest in Greece for her graduation trip. Just started doing some preliminary poking around. Looked at a few smaller islands as this appeals to me. So any suggestions other than say Santorini would be most welcome. I appreciate the heads up about Athens as i would have thought that would take a bit longer than the 2 days suggested above.
Folegandros is a good choice for a smaller island. The Chora is really charming. Pedestrian only. It sits about 1000 feet up from the sea with a stunning church sitting just above it. There are a series of squares filled with outdoor restaurants. The island itself is easily manageable with a rental car or scooter and it has great beaches and walking paths everywhere. Very low key and very chill.
It also has one of my favorite restaurants anywhere: Papalagi. Itās a 30 minute hike or a short boat ride from the nearest parking, and sits right above a justly famous beach. Everything is brought in fresh that day. Seafood and the typical Greek meze dishes. Food is simple and delicious and the setting is magical, especially after day at the beach.
Thanks for info. Weāre looking to stay in a house and may be traveling with some friends so as many as 10 or 11 people total. Since we live on the coast, we all like to boat and hang out on the water. Any suggestions in that regard? Maybe something where we could take a boat to other islands etc.
I was in GR last in 2005 so take this with a grain of salt:
I loved Naxos, and was there for about 5 days. I had no agenda so I spent most days walking or biking the coast, swimming and drinking white wine on the beach during sunset. At the time (and probably still), it was not a densely developed or touristed island but still had enough to enjoy a slow paced vacation.
I also loved Crete and found that there was several days worth of diversions there.
Hi everyone - bumping my own 2 year old thread as I hope the 3rd time is a charm and we are going to Greece this year (rescheduled from 2020 and 2021 because of COVID). We are hopefully going in June, so a bit before the really busy season.
Our plans did change a bit:
- 5 nights in Santorini at Mystique (we donāt get in until about 3-4pm local time so the first day is really a wash)
- 4 nights in Naxos at Nissaki Beach Club
- 2 nights at the Crowne Plaza in Athens
Anyone go to Greece in 2021 and have any recent suggestions of what may still be open, what is worthwhile to go see, etc? Athens will be tight with really just 1 full day so I am guessing the Acropolis and anyone have 1-2 other suggestions?
When is a good time to start looking at ferries from Santorini > Naxos and then Naxos > Athens? I hear these schedules change all the time, even the day of departure.
Santorini:
Best Wines: Gaia
Prettiest Winery: Vassaltis
Favorite low-key restaurant: Captain Dimitris. Catch the sunset at the Akrotiri Lighthouse.
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thank you! very helpful
Hi Maire - I reached out to Roussos today and they gave me a few options so thanks for the recommendation. 5 hours to visit 3 wineries or 6 hours to visit 1 winery + Oia + black beaches + red beaches + Akrotiri. The second plan isnāt really needed as we are staying in Oia and can see those sites on our own. I was leaning towards likely the 3 wineries and maybe adding in the Red or Black Beach like you wound up doing and just creating our own tour.
Did you, or anyone else, visit Akrotiri? The photos on line leave something to be desired and several Trip Advisor reviews mention lack of signs so you just walk around looking at ruins but really do not have much context as to what you are looking at, etcā¦
I thought Aktrotiri was fascinatingā¦and had plenty of English signage.
Shamelessly bumping my own thread - under 2 months to go. Any other restaurant or sight seeing recommendations for Santorini or Naxos would be great. I am only in Athens a short time, would like to go to a few āniceā restaurant but not really interested in packing a jacket/dress shoes for 1 or 2 meals, so trying to find places in Santorini and Athens that have quality food but we I can get away with a collared shirt, loafers, etc vs bringing a set of ādressā clothing.
I found this article helpful when planning my last trip to Athens (pre-pandemic)
Slight hijack-looking for assistance.
We (wife and I) are looking to go Greece in 2023. Figure we are going for a week or so.
Is Athens a must visit ? Iām indifferent . Will do what she wants here .
How many islands ? Iām thinking 2. Which ones ?
We want to go when warm, so thinking early September (avoid summer )?
TIA .
My general experience is that you will not need formal dress clothes anywhere in Athens or Santorini. You will be able to eat quite well in both places with the clothing you described . I will try and dig out where we went on Santorini. We really enjoyed the places we went to.
Friends of mine did Santorini last year for their 25th anniversary. They did this photography thing with a big dress standing precariously on top of buildings to get these incredible shots. flyingdress.photo
He was a bit scared of the heights. But the pictures were fantastic.
Thanks all for the advice - Maybe Iāll make 1 reservation per city and just keep a small list and keep the other nights flexible. since we are going mid June I am hoping it is before the rush and we should be able to get into most places without a hassle
Bdklein - Iāll provide you some feedback when we return but after speaking to several friends/neighbors who have experience they all said Athens is āehā and 24-36 hours is sufficient. We picked 5 nights in Santorini because we are using Marriott points so the 5th night is free after paying with points for the first 4 nights, plus with the flight schedules we do not even get into Santorini until like 3pm. so by the time we land, get to the hotel, etc its kind of a lost day, and the final day we are taking an early ferry out to Naxos, so really its 4 full days. Then we are spending 4 nights in Naxos then off to Athens for 2 nights. If only a week it may be very condensed but you could likely do 2 islands + 24 hours in athens. Iād just suggest doing what we did - book our flights into Santorini and out of Athens (2 1 way tickets) versus say round trip in and out of Athens so you can save a little on back tracking one leg of the trip.
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Hey Bdklein - so given my recent trip out thereā¦A week is sufficient. Athens is fine for 36 hours unless you are a big museum person as they have a bunch. But you can do the Acropolis + Acropolis Museum within 3-4 hours leaving a half day to see the changing of the guard, walk around Plaka area, get a decent meal, etc.
I say 36 hours as most people will use Athens to fly in/out so it could vary. We flew into Santorini and out of Athens, so we got to Athens Friday night and left Sunday late afternoon, it was more than enough time.
As far as the islands, amazingly our ferries were only 20-40 minutes delayed (the two we took) so I consider that a win from what Iāve read.
so yeah, depending on where you are flying from and how you are going to position yourself to Greece I think you could do the 1 day in athens + 2 islands and be fine. We 2 islands + Athens and did it over 11 nights and could have condensed it easily to 7-8 nights.
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We are in Naxos and thoroughly enjoying it. I would call it the original farm to table. We are also enjoying the strong dollar right now. Everything is extremely reasonable. Everybody in Greece has been extremely friendly and just about everyone speaks excellent English.
Enjoy! We were just there this past week Monday > Friday and stayed at Nissaki Beach. We enjoyed To Ellenkio and Nostimon Hellas. And one of the better gyros I got was at To Souvlaki tou Maki. We did some cheese tasting right near the old town and did a nice day hike around some of the smaller villages.
And yeah, not only is the USD to Euro strong, but the prices in general just in Euro seem reasonable compared to other places. We had some really nice meals and I laughed, for my wife and I go to for lunch at our usual places for 2 burgers or a chicken wrap or something cost more than a appetizer/2 main dishes/dessert with 1-2 glasses of wine in Greece. This also included our time in Santorini and Athens minus 1 splurge that was kind of over rated especially at the price.