Athens, Greek Islands.

Vinnycos

Flying into Athens on a Thursday in mid August then flying out again 10 days later. With my girlfriend. Any tips? What would you do? Fast ferry to Santorini then work back through the islands to Athens? Any B&B in Santorini you liked? Any tips for Athens itself, nice area of town to stay in? Thinking more along the lines of a quiet beachy holiday. Thanks.

Apip99

There are 2 must do things in Athens! Go and see the acropolis. It will blow you away. The second thing you have to do, is leave Athens as soon as you can. We were there (all be it a few years ago) on a trip during our Honeymoon. What a hole, never in my life thought it would be so dirty and crowded. And that is not me being a snob. I have yet to speak to anyone who liked the place. The child beggars were everywhere, the traditional markets were selling knock of ManU T-shirts. I could go on and on.

Greece has some amazing palaces. I would recommend Zakynthos. We were there for most of our holiday and it was a great place. Busy, pubs clubs etc. But not too busy. Clean beach, stunning waters. And hire a jeep and tour the Island, There some hidden jems around the island.

Enjoy,

Phil

Vinnycos

Thanks Phil, that is great advice. Hope to get out of dodge quickly alright. Vinny.

LiamMc

Piraeus is the port for Athens. I would give the same advice as Apip99.
You could visit some places on the mainland Mt. Olympus, Pelopponese penisula but at this time of year I would find that very hot and head for the Islands.

The group of Island directly south of Piraeus are the Cyclades, including Paros, Ios and Santorini.
http://www.greeka.com/cyclades/cyclades-maps.htm

Further east are the Dodacanese, including Kos and Rhodes.
http://www.greeka.com/dodecanese/dodecanese-maps.htm

Ferry companies in Greece.
http://www.ferries.gr/

Keep in mind you may be able to pick up an internal flight from one of the distant islands to connect with your flight home. Generous connection time, maybe eve of departure of your big flight home.

amc156

Was there with 2 other female friends about 2 years ago in August, what a fab country, lucky you! We stayed near the Acropolis in Athens, seemed to be safe enough area, but one night was definately enough, you can do Athens in a day.

From Piraeus we went to Paros 1st - really really beautiful place, good food, lovely beaches but quiet enough nightlife - good for couples I would think but would highly recommend; Mykonos next, much more exclusive but also really nice, better nightlife than Paros but more expensive for eating and drinking. Ios was our next stop, not as pretty as other Islands but crazy nightlife which was great, also quite cheap to eat and drink there. We finished in Santorini, nice enough, but was expecting more after hearing all the hype, would recommend staying in Fira as we stayed in Parissa Beach which is supposed to be really close to the action but is actually a fair bus ride (~15/20 mins) out of the centre. Santorini is quite expensive but on the plus side there are a lot more day trips etc. to do there than are on the other Islands which makes a nice change from sitting on the beach all day.

In terms of accomodation we just haggled with the B&B guys waiting on the ferry port in Paros, Mykonos and Ios, it was no problem and we got really cheap rooms this way. We booked ahead in Santorini as we were afraid it would be busy there and there were definately less B&B owners on the port touting for business when we got there.

Hope this helps and you have a great holiday!