Greek island hopping...Advice?

nellocon

Hey there,
Was wondering if anyone out there have been to any of the greek islands?
i.e kos, ios...
Thinking of goin to crete this summer bt dont really want to stay there too long...Any advice on island hopping (as its so called)???

cheers

daiixi

I was in Crete in July this year and we were going to catch the hydrofoil over to Santorini but the weather turned horrible for about four days and only the large liners up to Athens were running. Don't rely on anything other than the large liners to be running all the time and if you can, fly.

oconn

I did it about 10 years ago now....heard it hasnt changed that much...they are still more or less lumps of rock in the agean sea or whatever...we got a flight to athens and a bus transfer to the port pireuas ( off budget travel actually) on the bus transfer they sell you your first ferry ticket to get you started. we went to ios first as it was furthest away ( about 6-8 hours out ? ) that was just booze for days ... you get accomadation in the port they all come ove rwhen the boat lands with " special price" accomadation , showing you pics etc... or there is a accomadation office too just by the port. we stayed 4 days then went to paros/ naxos/ mykynos/ santorini / ??xos ..went to about 6-7 islands some are only worth a night and move on ..the ferrys are like taxis they come and go every few hours. anyway enough reminissing. its good laught at least it more than 2 weeks in one resort. some of the islands are real small and quaint . I would recommend it .

Hail 2 Da Chimp

Did the same last year, was pretty cool. Mainly stayed in Ios, accomadation was really cheap, most of the hotels will have someone waiting at the port and will take you and your luggage to the hotel.
Ios was great craic, some serious boozing going on in that island. Stayed the night in Santorini and Mykonos but didnt really get to see too much of them.
As stated above the ferries are pretty unreliable if the weather turns bad, we ended up having to pay for another flight home as our ferry was cancelled, also, unless you get the fast ferry expect so spend about 8hours a time on the ferry. Can get pretty boring so bring lots of booze and top trumps
Athens its self was a bit of a crap hole, didnt like it at all, but the majority of the islands were great.

Tazz T

Worth bearing in mind that XL.com are starting charters to Santorini from Dublin this year, so if you're heading to Ios (Irish Over Seas) that's just two hours on the boat, so no long boat trips from Athens. Getting to Athens used to be a battle in itself. Aer Lingus is just starting flights to there this summer. And everyone should see Santorini at least once in their lifetime.

greine

I went to Kefalonia 2 years ago, it was fab! Much quieter than Crete, but beaches were fab and restaurants were great, plenty watersports. It would be worth it just to see Friskardo, a village on the northern tip of the island, gorgeous. Oh, I'm drifting back there.........:)

nellocon

What way would it be to get a job out there????

iregk

I don't mean to put you off but I went to crete a few years ago, personally found it to be a complete kip. I've yet to find someone say a good word about the place.

Was in Zykanthos also which is a beautiful and charming island and island hopped to Kefalonia. I'd say the latter is actually nicer howerver its a lot bigger than Zykanthos so didn't see a lot of it.

Kos is a great island also and worth a visit.

nellocon

well ive been to crete already and i know what u mean wen u say it was a kip...thing is id like to see the other islands aswell which are supposed 2 be so much better...were 4 lads so boozing and sleeping in a rusty shack is prob what we'll end up with..once we hav a craic lik!

Dellas

Ok guys this is the real story!!! Im half Greek !!!!!

The Crete that the Irish and Brits see is the tourist hole!!! Crete is a lovely Island outside of Hersonissos/Malia and Stalis!!! You should go to Chania which is a lovely part and near the famous ancient sites of Knossos!! The areas that the Irish and Brits go to just Santa Ponsa in Greece.

XL is brilliant for doing the direct flights to Skiathos and Thira (Santorini) and more of the traditional Greece. I have seen their brochure and prices are not too bad. If you want a really nice hotel in Skiathos go for the Skiathos Palace!!

Zakynthos is not the real Greece either and some resorts are very Brit lager lout oriantated.

If you get the Aer Lingus flight to Athens then jump onto the bus which is 24/7 and costs around €4 each way and takes 45 mins to Pireaus port. You can just jump on the ferries then to where ever you desire. Go to a few ticket offices which are on the main road near the port to find the cheapest deals.

nellocon

well we were thinkinh of booking with XL and goin to santorini...then head to ios and den maybe mykonos...i recon santorini will be quiet..ios will be the party island...not sure bout mykonos though

tech

anyone done this recently?

kmmh58

I would like info on this too, I was just trying to looking up internal flights and ferries today

melimelo

iregk wrote: »

I don't mean to put you off but I went to crete a few years ago, personally found it to be a complete kip. I've yet to find someone say a good word about the place.

Was in Zykanthos also which is a beautiful and charming island and island hopped to Kefalonia. I'd say the latter is actually nicer howerver its a lot bigger than Zykanthos so didn't see a lot of it.

Kos is a great island also and worth a visit.

I can only rave about Crete! And quite frankly all the people I know [not that few really, given that I've been going to Crete every year since '98] absolutely love it. I think the problem with Crete and possibly Rhodes too is the fact that a lot of people go on package holidays where they are being taken to a specific place - e.g Hersonissos in Crete - which is kind of like a small ghetto of hotels, organised beaches, pubs, bars, restaurants, mainly north/western Europeans [hardly any locals there ever] that don't get to see anything out of this amazing island.

Crete can cater for all tastes and whatever type of holidays you're looking. Depending on the days you have available you'll need to do some research as it is a big island [something like 350 klm from one north side to the other on a straight line]. First choice would be Chania and then in order of beauty other major cities would be Agios Nikolaos, Rethymno and last Heraklio. In Heraklio it is worth visiting the Knossos achaeological site and then you can just as well leave that city and go south for nice beaches - eg. Agios Pavlos -, east for Agios Nikolaos, or west for Rethymno and Chania.

If you're looking for nice beaches mainly then South Crete won't disappoint you. From one side to the other, you'll find dozens of great places, most pretty quiet.

Some highlights would be Preveli, Foinikodasos tou Vai, Kedrodasos, Elafonisi, Mpalos, Falasarna, Loutro, Rodakino, Agios Pavlos, Elounda. Just to name a few!

Going to Crete you won't need any island hoping. It's endless in itself. If you still want to get the feel of going to an island you could go to Gaidouronisi [Chrissi] or Gavdos, on the south of Crete, which are tiny and not organised neither popular for tourists.

melimelo

Dellas wrote: »

Ok guys this is the real story!!! Im half Greek !!!!!

The Crete that the Irish and Brits see is the tourist hole!!! Crete is a lovely Island outside of Hersonissos/Malia and Stalis!!! You should go to Chania which is a lovely part and near the famous ancient sites of Knossos!! The areas that the Irish and Brits go to just Santa Ponsa in Greece.

XL is brilliant for doing the direct flights to Skiathos and Thira (Santorini) and more of the traditional Greece. I have seen their brochure and prices are not too bad. If you want a really nice hotel in Skiathos go for the Skiathos Palace!!

Zakynthos is not the real Greece either and some resorts are very Brit lager lout oriantated.

If you get the Aer Lingus flight to Athens then jump onto the bus which is 24/7 and costs around €4 each way and takes 45 mins to Pireaus port. You can just jump on the ferries then to where ever you desire. Go to a few ticket offices which are on the main road near the port to find the cheapest deals.

Even better, Δέλλα, if people catch the metro or Ilektriko-HSAP, i.e. the overground or suburban rail that leaves arrivals in Athens international airport and terminates in Piraias. Much smoother, easier, faster ride to the port than the bus which be dependable on traffic. Not to mention costs about the same, around 6 euros.