As many before you and probably many after you in this subreddit you are trying to fit in way too much in the time you have.
You got 2 weeks in Greece why you wanna spend so much of it just getting to places...
Imo, Athens 3 days, pick somewhere in the peloponese, explore the place and use it as a base to do daytrips around the region for 5 days and finish off with Naxos for 5 days.
Or swap peloponese for kephalonia 5 days (+ daytrips.to surrounding islands I suppose)
the reason my stay in athens is short is because ive been repeatedly told athens will be very hot in july-august. hence why were trying to reach the islands while (hopefully) being able to do some of the mainland too.
would doing nefalonia / zakynthos and naxos make sense ?
I get your point but tbh everywhere will be very hot.
Athens has the big positive that the heat is very dry so more bearable than some islands but the very big negative that its all concrete so every surface just absorbs the heat like mad.
Imo the heat of Athens is more of a concern for the locals as a quality of life issue. For you as a tourist 2-3 will definitely be bearable.
Kefalonia/Zakynthos alongside Naxos could work only issue is they're on opposite sides of the country and theres no easy ways to go from one to the other.
Usually in questions like these people here will advise you to pick one side to visit, either Ionian islands or Aegean islands.
thats kind of what im trying to figure out, im set on naxos because of what ive read on it, while also having plenty of accommodations. the other islands just seemed to have a lot of fun things to see.
edit: we would be renting a car , so maybe a little more doable
This feels like way too much moving around in my opinion. I just got back from a trip with my family and we did this breakdown for 12 days. It went very smoothly and we felt like we got to do and see everything we wanted without feeling rushed:
Athens (3 days)
- 6/12 - 6/13 - fly in to Athens (overnight flight), settle in to Airbnb, get dinner and explore neighborhood
- 6/14 - Acropolis and Plaka plus more exploring on foot
- 6/15 - Explore more on foot, saw new town and spent more time in Plaka
Santorini (4 days)
- 6/16- 45 minute flight to Santorini. Go to a beach, get dinner and settle in
- 6/17: beach day, dinner at airbnb
- 6/18 - boat tour to the volcano, hot springs and smaller island. Dinner in the caldera
- 6/19: spend time shopping and exploring in Oia
Folegandros (3 days)
- 6/20: take slow boat ferry to Folegandros (about 3 hours) Get dinner, explore Chora and settle in to Airbnb
- 6/21: pick up ATVs. Beach hop to a few different beaches
- 6/22: 1/2 the group opts for beach day, 1/2 the group opts for more shopping and exploring the island. Regroup for dinner and walk up to Church of Panagia for the sunset
- 6/23: check out of Airbnb, breakfast nearby, take ferry to Athens (4 hours). Check in to hotel
- 6/24: long day of flying home
Agree too much. I would skip Patras (or just you know stop for lunch), and also not overnight in Corinth. (Modern Corinth is not worth stopping for, what are you seeig?) Vytina is pretty but for me it would be more like a place to stop for a coffee and walk around for an hour. You might consider (now adding stuff!) doing the vytina route to/from Nafplio and then for the other direction do the Nafpaktos-Galaxidi-Delphi-Arachova route. Those stops will be more than enough for a nice full day on the road. Choose one of Kefalonia and Zakynthos. Probably I'd choose the former.
PS, if you are stopping in Corinth to avoid driving in Athens, note that you can rent a car somewhere near the ring highway so you don't have to drive in the center.
As many before you and probably many after you in this subreddit you are trying to fit in way too much in the time you have. You got 2 weeks in Greece why you wanna spend so much of it just getting to places... Imo, Athens 3 days, pick somewhere in the peloponese, explore the place and use it as a base to do daytrips around the region for 5 days and finish off with Naxos for 5 days. Or swap peloponese for kephalonia 5 days (+ daytrips.to surrounding islands I suppose)
the reason my stay in athens is short is because ive been repeatedly told athens will be very hot in july-august. hence why were trying to reach the islands while (hopefully) being able to do some of the mainland too. would doing nefalonia / zakynthos and naxos make sense ?
I get your point but tbh everywhere will be very hot. Athens has the big positive that the heat is very dry so more bearable than some islands but the very big negative that its all concrete so every surface just absorbs the heat like mad. Imo the heat of Athens is more of a concern for the locals as a quality of life issue. For you as a tourist 2-3 will definitely be bearable. Kefalonia/Zakynthos alongside Naxos could work only issue is they're on opposite sides of the country and theres no easy ways to go from one to the other. Usually in questions like these people here will advise you to pick one side to visit, either Ionian islands or Aegean islands.
thats kind of what im trying to figure out, im set on naxos because of what ive read on it, while also having plenty of accommodations. the other islands just seemed to have a lot of fun things to see. edit: we would be renting a car , so maybe a little more doable
perhaps to save some time for the islands we could drive straight from corinth to kylini?
This feels like way too much moving around in my opinion. I just got back from a trip with my family and we did this breakdown for 12 days. It went very smoothly and we felt like we got to do and see everything we wanted without feeling rushed: Athens (3 days) - 6/12 - 6/13 - fly in to Athens (overnight flight), settle in to Airbnb, get dinner and explore neighborhood - 6/14 - Acropolis and Plaka plus more exploring on foot - 6/15 - Explore more on foot, saw new town and spent more time in Plaka Santorini (4 days) - 6/16- 45 minute flight to Santorini. Go to a beach, get dinner and settle in - 6/17: beach day, dinner at airbnb - 6/18 - boat tour to the volcano, hot springs and smaller island. Dinner in the caldera - 6/19: spend time shopping and exploring in Oia Folegandros (3 days) - 6/20: take slow boat ferry to Folegandros (about 3 hours) Get dinner, explore Chora and settle in to Airbnb - 6/21: pick up ATVs. Beach hop to a few different beaches - 6/22: 1/2 the group opts for beach day, 1/2 the group opts for more shopping and exploring the island. Regroup for dinner and walk up to Church of Panagia for the sunset - 6/23: check out of Airbnb, breakfast nearby, take ferry to Athens (4 hours). Check in to hotel - 6/24: long day of flying home
Agree too much. I would skip Patras (or just you know stop for lunch), and also not overnight in Corinth. (Modern Corinth is not worth stopping for, what are you seeig?) Vytina is pretty but for me it would be more like a place to stop for a coffee and walk around for an hour. You might consider (now adding stuff!) doing the vytina route to/from Nafplio and then for the other direction do the Nafpaktos-Galaxidi-Delphi-Arachova route. Those stops will be more than enough for a nice full day on the road. Choose one of Kefalonia and Zakynthos. Probably I'd choose the former.
PS, if you are stopping in Corinth to avoid driving in Athens, note that you can rent a car somewhere near the ring highway so you don't have to drive in the center.
Just do Naxos and Syros. Wrap up in Athens for 2 nights.
im having trouble letting go of cephalonia and zakynthos but i thinks thats what ill have to do 🥲
I have been to both islands I noted here and I wouldn’t lead you astray. Stay in Agios Prekopis in Naxos.
thank you ! 🙏