Originally Posted by
KLouis
I have lived in Crete for the last... 40 years, so take it from somebody who knows the island (almost) like his pants' right pocket. Therefore here are a few comments, after saying that I 100% agree with what david55 wrote.
* "Heraklion doesn't look interesting" is the inderstatement of the year, considering the #3 museum of Greece and the most ancient archeological ruins in Europe (Knossos).
* "...but we are more into being in a larger town". Well the city has a population of more than 200K, while Chania is about half that. Although the latter is really cute, it is so overcrowded by tourists that it gets on one's nerves.
* West vs East: No way I can agree on which part has more interesting things to see or do, both are great, with the possible exception of the northern shore from Heraklion till Mallia, which is packed with bearch hotels, bars and mediocre restaurants.
* Elounda used to be nice, it's now overcrowded in the summer and completely empty during the off-season. By the way, tourists stop coming in masses to the island between the beginning of October and November. By the way, ferries between Heraklion and Santorini completely stop running around the end of September. The chances of getting directly from Crete to the Cyclades in October by boat or plane (i.e. not having to go through Athens/Piraeus) are very small. Thus, you'll have to re-evaluate your entire plan.
* A day trip from Santorini to Mykonos is a waste of time (and money). What makes the latter island different from the other islands are 1) the ratio of bars/people; 2) the exorbitant price of restaurants; 3) the number of tourinsts aimlessly, that makes the previously mentioned Chania and Elounda look... empty and 4) last but not least, the noise generated by numerous loudspeakers spreading all kinds of music at the same time, essentially producing cacophony.
Overall I would suggest to concentrate on just Crete (great nature, lots of culture and good food) and Santorini (overcrowded but unique nature, excellent wine and the ancient site of Akrotiri). Paros is fine but does not provide you with anything that you can't get on other Cycladic islands. If you simply want to add islands to your "collection", I would suggest Athens, followed by Crete, take the ferry from Kasteli to Kythira for a 2-3 days (a completely "different" island with some fantastic small beaches, completely empty in October), then the ferry to Neapolis (nothing to see/do there) and take the bus to Athens. Finally, at the end of your stay in Greece fly to Santorini for 3 days and take the flight home from there.
Thanks all for the info, appreciated. While Kythira does look interesting the idea of a ferry ride(few hours) to Neopolis, then 5 hours by bus/car to Athens, then a flight to Santorini does not sound appealing. For me I'd just stay on Crete the 9 days then off to Santorini but my wife feels it's too much on Crete and wants to see another island.
I had no idea the ferries would be an issue, I'd looked at the Crete to Paros route and the Paros to Santorini route and Seajets at least showed these routes available in Oct for the dates we'd be taking them. I haven't looked at other ferries yet, just looked them up to make sure it was a viable route on at least one ferry company. So do they just not update the schedule to reflect when they shut down? How do people get off the islands, like Paros for example, when there isn't a proper airport(or is there one-doesn't seem there's commercial service anyway).
While it would certainly be better direct Crete to Santorini, a layover in Athens is not a big deal and seems to be the only way, that is if we cut out Paros.