I'm planning to meet my significant other at the Athens airport the last sunday in August. We will both be leaving out of Athens early the following friday, so we have four nights and five days to spend in the greek islands. Having never been to Greece, I don't have a clue as to what we should do. I've hear Santorini is one of the most beautiful. Does anyone have suggestions on which island(s) to visit? Hotel/travel suggestions? Should we pick one island or try a couple? We're really looking for a relaxing time in a beautiful setting with good food/drink/sun/sea.

"We're really looking for a relaxing time in a beautiful setting with good food/drink/sun/sea."

Then perhaps skip the more "tourist" oriented islands,(where incidentally you can't go too far wrong, IMHO) which will be quite hot in summer [last trip 128 degrees in Rhodes], and head up farther north to Thessalonike and Lake Presba, near the Albanian border. Gorgeous scenery and great feta as well as the ubiquitous Retsina!


Have a great trip! I love Greece

I love Greece too. It will be hot and crowded in August and you'll also have the meltemi, a strong hot wind that doesn't exactly cool things down.

That said ... Santorini is gorgeous. It's about a 12-hour ferry ride from Athens, so for only four days you'd probably want to save time by flying. Santorini has beaches, great cliff-side hotels with infinity pools and the archaeological site at Acrotiri, which we found really fascinating. If you get bored there, you can also take the ferry over to Ios, the party island, for the day. Lots of beaches, lots of nightclubs, lots of backpackers.

Some of my favorites that don't get nearly as many tourists as the ferry doesn't go as often and the large cruise ships don't put in, are Folegandros and Serifos. Serifos is about 6 hours by ferry; Folegandros 11. Both islands are relatively quiet with beaches, comfortable cafes and drinking spots and picturesque views. Both these have small towns and no fancy hotels, but they are wonderful places to just relax as there really isn't much else to do there.

Sorry, I've only chartered sailboats there so I don't have hotel recommendations.

Have fun.

[This message has been edited by letiole (edited 07-03-2000).]

Pick one of Santorini's cliff-side hotels with a patio where you can sit and enjoy the view of the caldera and if "comfort and scenic beauty" is your thing, you'll consider yourelf well treated.

We enjoy travel and are antique enough to have done quite a bit of it. We got to Santorini for the first time last year and were really captivated by the place. I like craggy mountains and snow-covered pines best, but there was something about that caldera with its lazy-seeming to-and-fro'ing of boats that really grabbed me. We were there the first week in September, and will be back again this year (27 Aug - 2 Sept - look us up if you decide to go there). We stayed at a place called Homeric Poems and are there again, although I think they're rethinking the name and it's Homeric Studios now. It's in Immeroviglia, far enough from Fira to be quiet, close enough to easily walk.

Aside, if you decide to connect to a domestic flight at ATH, be advised that the OA terminal is on the other side of the runway from everyone else. If you arrive on OA, stay on OA. Anyone else, use Aegean.

John

We love Greece also and own a timeshare in Rhodes and have been several times. Have always taken plenty of time to tour Crete and other groups of islands on every trip (Cyclades & Dodecanese.)
Agree with the others it is going to be hot & crowded in August.(but not 128 degreees - the highest temp ever recorded for Europe is 122 degrees 4 aug 1881 Seville Spain)
Santorini is beautiful and the time that it is the most beautiful is sunset. Recommend you save monies on not getting a cliffside hotel (JohnAx recommendation) and use it to get restaurant reservations on the cliffside at sunset. Everyone stops for several minutes (patrons & personnel) to just watch. Also in reference to other comments about the temperature and the hot wind - generally the north side of an island will be several degrees cooler.
If you only have 4 nites do not go island hopping pick one and relax.
Have been to smaller islands where the only way to get there is on the little fishermen boats or private boats but don't feel that you will go wrong with Santorini. We have included it in most of our trips.
nb: make a choice soon since it is August - make reservations hotel and intra-greece travel - and whether flying OA or Aegean reconfirm, reconfirm, reconfirm or a great amount of your time may be spent in the Athens airport.

[This message has been edited by magic111 (edited 07-04-2000).]

[This message has been edited by magic111 (edited 07-04-2000).]

Just came back from Greece two weeks ago. I enjoyed a one day 3 island tour. I thought it was interesting to go from island to island. Make sure you negotiate on everything, including your tours! These people will come down on their prices.

I agree that for a 5 day visit, if you want to relax, choose only one island and take time to explore. I have been to many islands, Naxos (my FT name) is my favorite, but may not be right for the first timer. Sanotrini has dramatic scenery and archeological sites and manytourists. If the meltemi is blowing, the ferry ride will not be pleasant. Consider flying so you do not have to spnd 2 precious vacation days on ferry boats. Paros and Naxos are lovely islands in the Cyclades- larger islands with many beautiful long beaches and tavernas and lots of variety. They are closer to Athens than Santorini. Naoussa, a fishing town on Paros is a delightful place to stay- if used as a home base you can travel by caique (small boat) to other beach areas or rent a moped or take a bus to ther parts of the island. You could even take the ferry to NAxos- several a day for a 1 hour trip. Naxos is larger still, with a lovely Old Town area. A basic, but clean hotel, Anixis is located in the old town, pedestrians only- the quintessential Greek postcard perfect picture white wahshed flower bedecked setting. From the port area you can take busses or boats to the beaches and return in the evening for dinner and promenading along the quayside (paralia) as the Greeks and the tourists alike do each evening. The island has many beaches, each with its own character- some windy for windsurfers , others for lazing on the beach- lots of beach tavernas. Naxos is a large island and may not strike one as the most picturesque from the harbor, but it has lots of variety and extraordinary scenery- a tour of the island is essentail to capture the beauty of this place. Amorgos and Folegandros are smaller cycladic islands, but you have a short time and ferry service to the smaller isladns is less frequent and if the Meltemi is blowing, ferry service can be temporaritly suspended. I would recommend a place to which you can fly. I have spent lots of time in Greece over the past 30 years- so if I can help let me know.

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My favorite is Crete, which I believe is the 2nd largest island in the Med. So even though there will be lots of tourists, you'll still have plenty of elbow room. You can rent a car and drive for days all over the island. Go to the mountain where Zeuss was born and visit the ancient uncovered Sumerian city.

since this is his first time, why no one recommended him Mykonnos?
that is one of my favourite isles, with santorini my most favourite, of course...

And watch out for november 17!!! I read an article recently that Greece is getting quite a bit of flack from other countries in Europe for its lax security.

At least nine people were reported dead and hundreds hospitalized as a heat-wave continued to scorch southeastern Europe Friday.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/inter...l-weather.html

November 17?

I must agree with Magic111 and Stimpy; Crete is not to be missed. My visit was with the USAF, so I can't offer any tips on how to get there. The natural beauty of this island is stunning. The people and the food are wonderful.

The mythological aspect has already been mentioned.

Also, Crete is mentioned in the Bible as a place visited by Paul.

One of my favorite stops on the Planet!

Torrential rain also hit Rome and the Sardinian capital Cagliari, where temperatures had touched 122 degrees Fahrenheit last week.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/inter...l-weather.html


BTW, JustinT- Nov 17 is a "terrorist" group and the Greeks have a reputation worldwide as being "soft" on terrorists!

According to http://www.wunderground.com/ the highest temperature recorded so far this month for Cagliari was 100.4 on July 4 between the hours of 13:20 and 16:50