Greece Visit - Recommendations

My wife and I are planning a visit to Greece at the end of next May.
We are planning 2 days in Athens to visit the ruins and other
historical sites and will have about 6 days to visit the Islands. I'm
sure this question has been asked on here numerous times, but does
anyone have recommendations on what Islands to visit? With 6 days,
would we want to divide this time up between 2 different islands or
just completely explore 1 island?

Any opinions on Crete or Rhodes? Would it be possible or advisable to
do both in a single 6 day trip?

Regarding accomodations, is it better to book a standard hotel during
our stay or an apartment rental?

Does one need a rental car for exploring the islands?

Thanks,
Dave

I think your plan of spending 2 days in Athens and 6 days in the islands is a
good one. 6 days is enough time to see two islands without being very rushed,
assuming you go to the right islands. Crete is so big that you should probably
save that for a trip when you can devote your entire time there. Last summer I
spent 6 nights in the islands, split evenly between Santorini and Naxos. The
trip was wonderful and I'd recommend those two islands to anyone. Frankly I'd
list Santorini as a must-see because it is absolutely stunning. You can read
more about my trip on the following sites:

http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/71f79/65ca8/

http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/71f79/669bd/

Feel free to drop me a line if you have any specific questions. Enjoy your
trip! I'm jealous!

I think your plan of spending 2 days in Athens and 6 days in the islands is a
good one. 6 days is enough time to see two islands without being very rushed,
assuming you go to the right islands. Crete is so big that you should probably
save that for a trip when you can devote your entire time there. Last summer I
spent 6 nights in the islands, split evenly between Santorini and Naxos. The
trip was wonderful and I'd recommend those two islands to anyone. Frankly I'd
list Santorini as a must-see because it is absolutely stunning. You can read
more about my trip on the following sites:

http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/71f79/65ca8/

http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/71f79/669bd/

Feel free to drop me a line if you have any specific questions. Enjoy your
trip! I'm jealous!

"Dave.US" wrote in message
...
My wife and I are planning a visit to Greece at the end of next May.
We are planning 2 days in Athens to visit the ruins and other
historical sites and will have about 6 days to visit the Islands. I'm
sure this question has been asked on here numerous times, but does
anyone have recommendations on what Islands to visit? With 6 days,
would we want to divide this time up between 2 different islands or
just completely explore 1 island?

Any opinions on Crete or Rhodes? Would it be possible or advisable to
do both in a single 6 day trip?

Regarding accomodations, is it better to book a standard hotel during
our stay or an apartment rental?

Does one need a rental car for exploring the islands?

Thanks,
Dave

2 days in Athens won't let you see much. If its 2 full days, I would do the
trip to Delphi on one day and the Plaka, Parthenon and museums around the
PArthenon on the other.

You can't do Crete justice in 6 days. There is that much to see. My wife and
I spent a week there and did most of the central and eastern part of the
island. Never even drove to the western part. You might get away with 6 days
in Rhodes. You can get day trips to several sites.

You need a car on Crete. On Rhodes, it would help for part of your stay but
you wouldn't need it all the time.

Another poster mentioned Santorini and Naxos. I haven't been to either but
have heard good things about Santorini. A lot depends on what you want to
see. There is a tremendous amount of historical/archeological sites and
that's what we like to see. So my comments are biased that way.

And by the way, assuming you're from the US, that is one long trip to spend
only 8 days. We spend 17-18 days when we do Greece. The last time we went
(2002), we did 1 week on Crete, another week on Rhodes and then finished off
with 3-4 days in Athens. We once did a trip in just 10 days and felt that
was too short for all the traveling. We always do 1 week in Rhodes because
that's where we have a timeshare.

Good luck on your trip.

"Dave.US" wrote in message
...
My wife and I are planning a visit to Greece at the end of next May.
We are planning 2 days in Athens to visit the ruins and other
historical sites and will have about 6 days to visit the Islands. I'm
sure this question has been asked on here numerous times, but does
anyone have recommendations on what Islands to visit? With 6 days,
would we want to divide this time up between 2 different islands or
just completely explore 1 island?

Any opinions on Crete or Rhodes? Would it be possible or advisable to
do both in a single 6 day trip?

Regarding accomodations, is it better to book a standard hotel during
our stay or an apartment rental?

Does one need a rental car for exploring the islands?

Thanks,
Dave

2 days in Athens won't let you see much. If its 2 full days, I would do the
trip to Delphi on one day and the Plaka, Parthenon and museums around the
PArthenon on the other.

You can't do Crete justice in 6 days. There is that much to see. My wife and
I spent a week there and did most of the central and eastern part of the
island. Never even drove to the western part. You might get away with 6 days
in Rhodes. You can get day trips to several sites.

You need a car on Crete. On Rhodes, it would help for part of your stay but
you wouldn't need it all the time.

Another poster mentioned Santorini and Naxos. I haven't been to either but
have heard good things about Santorini. A lot depends on what you want to
see. There is a tremendous amount of historical/archeological sites and
that's what we like to see. So my comments are biased that way.

And by the way, assuming you're from the US, that is one long trip to spend
only 8 days. We spend 17-18 days when we do Greece. The last time we went
(2002), we did 1 week on Crete, another week on Rhodes and then finished off
with 3-4 days in Athens. We once did a trip in just 10 days and felt that
was too short for all the traveling. We always do 1 week in Rhodes because
that's where we have a timeshare.

Good luck on your trip.

Naxos, Naxos, Naxos

And if you can drag yourself away from Naxos, also Santorini...but you
may not want to leave once you get to Naxos!

I second that. My wife and I fell in love with Naxos last year. Great beaches,
low prices, not crowded, and simply beautiful.

Just for information. Either during winter or summer there are 2 companies
that Connect Crete with the mainland. They usually leave Piraus(in Athens)
between 21.00 - 22.00 and arrive at 05.00 - 05.30 in Heraklion port or
Chania, or Rethymno. In many days there are also daily connections between
Athens and Heraklion or Chania. The travel time by boat lasts between 6.5 -
9 hours (depends on the boat)

There is also frequent flight connection (but also much more expensive) with
several flights between Athens and Crete each day.

Dont know if i helped with this info.

Kind regards

There is also frequent flight connection (but also much more expensive) with
several flights between Athens and Crete each day.

How much is the ferry? The flight costs less than 100 Euros and only takes
about an hour. If you take the ferry you first have to travel to Piraeus and
then take a long ferry ride to Crete. You also have to figure that you'll eat a
couple meals during that time. In the end, when you consider all the time and
costs, it's hard to believe that a flight costs much more than the ferry.

it depends, if someone does not want to have a cabin (bed to sleep), the
ticket should cost at around 30 - 35 euro one way. If someone wants to have
a cabin, the cost is raised at least 10 euros more depending on what type of
cabin and the company.

This period they make some kind of offers which could be usefull.
http://www.anek.gr/ , http://www.minoan.gr/

check these sites for more information
the quality of the trip is in my opinion good. I have been using both
companies that run Heraklion - Pireaus, and there are some differences but
generally there are both good.

Yet, during these 6.5 - 9 hours someone can probably go to cinema which is
on some of the boats, or be online.
Food is generally ok, but expensive in my opinion.

greetings

Yiannis


the plane tickets cost around 60-70 euro one way . And they take between
35 - 45 minutes from athens airport to reach heraklio.

it depends, if someone does not want to have a cabin (bed to sleep), the
ticket should cost at around 30 - 35 euro one way. If someone wants to have
a cabin, the cost is raised at least 10 euros more depending on what type of
cabin and the company.

This period they make some kind of offers which could be usefull.
http://www.anek.gr/ , http://www.minoan.gr/

check these sites for more information
the quality of the trip is in my opinion good. I have been using both
companies that run Heraklion - Pireaus, and there are some differences but
generally there are both good.

Yet, during these 6.5 - 9 hours someone can probably go to cinema which is
on some of the boats, or be online.
Food is generally ok, but expensive in my opinion.

greetings

Yiannis


the plane tickets cost around 60-70 euro one way . And they take between
35 - 45 minutes from athens airport to reach heraklio.