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The Question
Public Question Asked by nufligher32 about Athens
Planning to explore Greece for 12 days. Would like your idea for a good itinerary.
We want to see a different place each day and stay close to the place we visit. It can be a different hotel each day,we are planning to travel light. Which route starting from Athens should we take?
Answers (8)
The Best Answer
Answered by Jonathan Norton , Ayia Evfimia, Greece
The first thing to remember is that Greece is a big place. And spread out. For me, a holiday is not so much about going to as many different places as possible, but rather enjoying those I do go to, with the people I am traveling with. For ME Greece has a number of great things to offer. The summer climate, the warm Mediterranean, the coast lines, the stark beauty of many of the places, the history of just about everywhere and the people.
By giving yourselves just one day to get somewhere and stay there and move on, I believe you will miss out on most pf the really good things as well as spending nearly all your time on the move.
I am going to recommend that you consider making your trip a trip of 3 to 4 stops, with a few days in each place.
Athens requires at least 2 days to see most things. Now the real decisions come in, which direction ? I would not leave out Crete if at all possible, nor would I want to leave out the coast from Prevaza to Parga (West Coast), nor Corfu. Then what about Kefalonia (my favorite). Then there is Rhodos, and ooops, we are out of time about a month ago.
Greece is really a wonderful place to come and visit, but I think a better idea about what you may like to do will yield a more suitable answer, from a variety of people, all with different tastes and ideas.
Jonathan
Answered by Patricia , Heraklion, Greece
What time of year are you thinking of coming? You can enjoy Crete mostly any time, but most places are shut from end Oct to early May, so not so good. Do you want activities? Quiet or wild? You can also catch a boat from Crete to Santorini, which is beautiful. Ferry operates from Athens daily to Crete and you can do the overnight one and arrive around 6 am to start your day. Let me know if you need further info as I live in Crete.
Answered by a Localyte , Poros, Greece
Time of year you're planning to come? will you rent a car?
in that case, from Athens, drive North to Delphi, back through to Patras to explore the Peloponnese - Olympia, Corinth Canal, Mycenae, Nafplion, Epidavros, to Galatas and across to Poros Island, from there boat to Aegina and Hydra Islands.
Then back to Athens and fly to Santorini for the last 2 nights. That way you have a great variety of landscapes, mainland and island life, as well as ancient sites. And then the next time you come, you'll know where to stay for a while and relax!
Answered by AGNI MORAITIDI , Athens, Greece
Well if you would like to do it my way,it would be to get
to Athens, see that first and then from Piraeus take the
ferry for the Cyclades islands. You can hop from the one
island to the other by ferryboat and stay for as long as
you want on each and return whenever you want to Athens so
you can depart for home again. The Cyclades are a group of
Islands which start close to Athens. This would be a great
12day tour if you are coming spring or summer. If you are
coming in winter then it would be best to travel around
Athens to places like Corinth, Epidavros,Patra,Rio and across to Nafpaktos and then Delphi,Arakovha and back to
Athens.
Answered by Christina Papantoniou , Athens, Greece
It all depends if you are into driving or island hopping.
A good tour is the Archaelogical tour of Greece would be:
Day one: Athens ( Acropolis and the city center)
Day two: Athens ( Cape Sounion)
Day three: Athens - Aegina Island and back
Day four: Nafplion ( Mycenae)
Day five: Olympia ( Ancient olympia - though a bit depressive after last year's fires)
Day six: Back to Athens and take the boat to Heraklion,Crete ( woah, get some rest!!!)
Day seven: Visit Knossos Archaelogical site
Day eight: Drive to Rethymno or Chania // maybe take a walk in Samaria canyon if you are into walking in nature
Day nine: Take the boat to Santorini
Day ten: Relax in Santorini and visit the Kammeni Island ( Kammeni = Burned, it is the ancient volcano that plunged half the island and destroyed the civilisation you saw in Knossos, Crete)
If it is summer, stay there and enjoy the sea and the view.
If you want more, go back to Athens, fly to Salonica and visit the Vergina Archaelogical site.
Anyway, tell me what is it that you seek in holidays and i ll give you some more options!
Answered by Georgios Nado Kalantzis , Athens, Greece
hi,12 days are not enough to explore greece but you could do a very nice island hoping.you can take catamaran from lavrio or pireaus and change islands eveyday.or else you can start from athens,go to delphi,the next day,nafpaktos,day three pylos,day four gythio,day five hania,crete,day six hersonissos...but you would be already exhausted nd this is not a vacation.just relax and go with the flow.enjoy.
Answered by Dimosthenis Kiritsis , Athens, Greece
You can start from Athens...then you can go to Meteora, central greece....absolutely to visit mykonos or santorini....
Answered by dimitris bouzounierakis , Chania, Greece
well the first day you can stay in Athens ,there very nice places like Acropolis and plaka or Kifisia for shopping, then you can visit Pelopponise that is very closed to Athens,there are beautyfull citis like Nauplion and Xilokastro. then you can go to ancient Olymbia and then to continue for Zakinthos island for 2 days! Then i recoment to go back to Athens and to visit Delfous ,its an amazing place and to continue to Volos.Volos is a nice place with Pilion mountain that the are a lot of nice villages and beatches around for swimming.From Volos you can go by boat to Skiathos island and the to return by boat to Thessaloniki, the second biggest city in Greece.After 2 days staying in Thessaloniki you can visit Kavala city and then by boat to Thassos island!! OK, after that i think that the 12 days passed!have a nice trip!
