Trip to Greece

[Doug Scarola]

We have been fortunate to have been gifted a week in Santorini. Just hotel but a week free is a week free!!
We plan on taking 2 weeks in 2027 April or May to go to Greece using the second week of our trip to decompress on Santorini
Our question is we want to see Athens and some of the other sights the first week of the trip.
What’s the best way to do it?
Small cruise? Island hop ourselves?
Best way to plan it??
First time to Greece so I’m clueless
Thanks for the help!!

 

[daphnik]

Glad you'll visit Greece for that long and such a nice period! If you arrive in Athens I would say stay there for 3 nights (ideal time for me to get an idea of how the capital is, while at the same time leaving time to do other things). Depending on what you like to do in general, when in Athens you can invest 2 days walking around the center, visiting the archeological sites and exploring the city. Another day you could take the boat for a one-day trip to Aegina or Poros (small islands very close to Athens and ideal for 1-day trips). Then you could take the ferry to go to one of the cyclades islands close to Santorini (like Naxos, or Amorgos, you can choose the one that suits you best, again depending on what you like). And then finally cross by ferry again to Santorini, and spend this well-deserved one week there! Some useful apps you can use during the trip are ath.ena card (for the public transportation in athens), athinorama (to see all the cultural events that are happening in Athens), ferryhopper (to get many ideas for everything that has to do with greek islands, prepare your trajectory etc) and ideally a translation app (like deepl or google translate) to be able to translate everything (written or oral) in english quickly! I hope that helps and I can gladly answer more questions if needed!

 

[hohobus]

For your first-time Greece trip before your Santorini week, would recommend spending 2-3 days in Athens to explore d Acropolis & historic sites, then island-hop to 1-2 islands for d remaining days. Rather than a cruise (which offers limited time at each stop), arrange your own ferry transportation using the Ferryhopper app to islands like Naxos, Milos, or Hydra.

This approach gives u flexibility to experience authentic Greek culture at your own pace. April/May offers perfect weather also fewer crowds, making it ideal for exploring ruins, beaches, and charming villages before unwinding in Santorini.

 

[Doug Phillips]

Trip Reports on our visits to Greece. I'll try to provide answers to any queries you may have.

Travellers on Crete – 2013, 2017
Rambles in the Peloponnese - Sept. 19 - Oct 4, 2018

 

[DGal]

We flew into Athens, rented a car and drove to Delphi, and spent a night (which was a highlight of the trip). We then spent 3 nights in Athens to see the sights. We then flew to Santorini, where our accomodation picked us up and brought us to the hotel/apartment. We stayed in Santorini for a week in the Fira area and then did day trips to the beaches and Oia- all by bus. For us, it worked out to be a great amount of time for each of the places. Have a great trip!