Athens and/or nearby islands in July?

[newtocruiseinblue]

Booked on Celebrity 7-day in and out of Athens in July, 2023 and not looking forward to the heat. Our schedule is restricted bc of my teen daughter’s school schedule and my husband’s work schedule. This year we did Italy/Greece/Croatia; etc in late June and yes, we were melting. The only thing that saved us was shore excursions with a lot of water activities-boat rides, blue caves, beaches; etc.

For next year - what nearby islands or beaches are somewhat easy to get to and worth it to stay before or after the trip? Thinking of doing 2 nights in athens and 3 someplace else that would allow us to enjoy greece on the water…thank you in advance! 

[marazul]

Hydra is the closest island to Athens. Take the ferry. 

You can also take short flights to other islands. Santorini and Mykonos are 30-40 minutes away.  Rhodes 1 hour. Lots of choices - Paros, Naxos, Mylos, etc.  Go to aegeanair.com.  They also have package deals.

 

I prefer to fly to Athens and take an afternoon flight to the island.  Then fly back to Athens a couple of days before the cruise. Or else, go after the cruise, but it may require an overnight stay if you have a morning flight back home. 

Edited July 27, 2022 by marazul

[pdmlynek]

On 7/27/2022 at 4:38 AM, newtocruiseinblue said:

...

For next year - what nearby islands or beaches are somewhat easy to get to and worth it to stay before or after the trip? Thinking of doing 2 nights in athens and 3 someplace else that would allow us to enjoy greece on the water…thank you in advance! 

I think that 2 nights in Athens is just way too short.  That is just one, maybe one & half days devoted to Athens. You may consider just staying in Athens for the entire 5 days to see Athens well.

 

This won't keep you cool, but you'd make most of your time.

[pdmlynek]

On 7/27/2022 at 4:38 AM, newtocruiseinblue said:

...

For next year - what nearby islands or beaches are somewhat easy to get to and worth it to stay before or after the trip? Thinking of doing 2 nights in athens and 3 someplace else that would allow us to enjoy greece on the water…thank you in advance! 

Alternatively, you may also rent a car for those 3 days, and head out west.  Here is an itinerary that might suit you:

Day 1: Fly in, rent a car at the ATH airport, drive to Nafplion (2 hrs from ATH), spend time on the beach, overnight in Nafplion.

Day 2: see the Mycenae archeological sight early in the morning, before it gets hot and overrun by tourists; optionally, Tiryns or Epidavros; drive to Olympia during the afternoon heat; overnight in Olympia.

Day 3: see the Olympia archeological sight early in the morning, before it gets hot and overrun by tourists; drive to Delphi during the afternoon heat, overnight in Delphi.

Day 4: See the Delphi archeological sight early in the morning, before it gets hot and overrun by tourists; drive to Athens during the afternoon heat, return the car; overnight in Athens.

 

We did the above (except that we added an extra day to go to Meteora), and it was wonderful.  We don't care for hot, sticky Greek weather either, but sightseeing early morning was the way to go.

 

Good luck.

[pdmlynek]

On 7/27/2022 at 4:38 AM, newtocruiseinblue said:

Booked on Celebrity 7-day in and out of Athens in July, 2023 and not looking forward to the heat.

...

For next year - what nearby islands or beaches are somewhat easy to get to and worth it to stay before or after the trip? Thinking of doing 2 nights in athens and 3 someplace else that would allow us to enjoy greece on the water…thank you in advance! 

 

If you want to do 3 nights someplace that would allow time on the water in Greece, flying to one of the Greek islands, as @marazul recommended, makes the most sense. 

 

There are about 23 Greek islands that have airports:  

- Crete (HER, CHQ);

- Dodecanese Islands: Kos (KGS) and Rhodes (RHO);

- Ionian Islands: Corfu (CFU), Kefalonia (EFL), Zakynthos (ZTH), Lefkada (PVK); 

- Northern Aegean: Lemnos (LXS), Lesbos (MJT), Samos (SMI), Chios (JKH), Ikaria (JIK);

- South Aegean: Astypalaia (JTY), Kalymnos (JKL), Karpathos (AOK), Milos (MLO), Mykonos (JMK), Naxos (JNX), Paros (PAS), Santorini (JTR), Syros (JSY), Kasos (KSJ), Kastelorizo (KZS), and Leros (LRS).

 

Given that you will likely stop at Mykonos, Rhodes, and Santorini, that narrows the list down to 20.

 

 

Depending on your travel style, you may want to stick to the smaller islands, where you'll get to know pretty much the whole island well, such as, Kos (290 km2, 17th largest Greek island), Paros (196 km2, 20th), Milos (161 km2, 23rd), Kalymnos (135 km2, 25th), Astypalaia (114 km2, 29th), Syros (102 km2, 31st), Leros (74 km2, 38th), Kasos (44, 52nd),Iraklia (18 km2, 66th), or Kastellorizo (12 km2, 73rd).

 

For 3 days, I'd prefer a larger island and explore it with a car, but that is just me.  

 

[pdmlynek]

On 7/27/2022 at 4:38 AM, newtocruiseinblue said:

Booked on Celebrity 7-day in and out of Athens in July, 2023 and not looking forward to the heat.

...

For next year - what nearby islands or beaches are somewhat easy to get to and worth it to stay before or after the trip? Thinking of doing 2 nights in athens and 3 someplace else that would allow us to enjoy greece on the water…thank you in advance! 

To get away from the heat, and be by the water, I'd go to one of the Ionian Islands.  The temperatures are somewhat cooler than in the Aegean islands.

 

Kefalonia was our favorite Greek island.  It has hundreds of beaches, some of which are the best in Greece (Myrtos, Antisamos, Xi), several dozen of which are "organized". The island has many historical ruins and castles (pre-ancient Greek, Venetian), dozens of small villages with great restaurants, etc.  It has tourist infrastructure, so you'll find people who speak English, but it is not a popular tourist destination -- you'll likely not see too many tourists.

 

I'd be a happy man if I could spend several weeks or months on Kefalonia.

 

[pdmlynek]

On 7/27/2022 at 4:38 AM, newtocruiseinblue said:

Booked on Celebrity 7-day in and out of Athens in July, 2023 and not looking forward to the heat. ... The only thing that saved us was shore excursions with a lot of water activities-boat rides, blue caves, beaches; etc.

...

For next year - what nearby islands or beaches are somewhat easy to get to and worth it to stay before or after the trip? Thinking of doing 2 nights in athens and 3 someplace else that would allow us to enjoy greece on the water…thank you in advance! 

To get away from the heat, and be by the water, I'd go to one of the Ionian Islands.  The temperatures are somewhat cooler than in the Aegean islands.

 

We also liked Corfu, another Ionian Island.  It is slightly smaller than Kefalonia (611 km2 vs 771 km2), has more people (102K vs 36K), is better known to tourists, and is a bit more developed.  It also has some of the top beaches in Greece, as well as castles, ruins, great food, etc.

 

During our cruise stop at Corfu, we drove out from Corfu Town to Palaiokastritsa, a beach town about 30 min west on the opposite coast.  We rented two speedboats and explored a few of the 17 close-by beaches and a dozen sea caves around Palaiokastritsa.  I highly recommend spending a day on the Adriatic. Bring watershoes and snorkeling gear.  (No boating license needed for boats under about 6 people; we are not boaters, and we had no issues).

 

Good luck!

[marazul]

49 minutes ago, pdmlynek said:

 

If you want to do 3 nights someplace that would allow time on the water in Greece, flying to one of the Greek islands, as @marazul recommended, makes the most sense. 

 

There are about 23 Greek islands that have airports:  

- Crete (HER, CHQ);

- Dodecanese Islands: Kos (KGS) and Rhodes (RHO);

- Ionian Islands: Corfu (CFU), Kefalonia (EFL), Zakynthos (ZTH), Lefkada (PVK); 

- Northern Aegean: Lemnos (LXS), Lesbos (MJT), Samos (SMI), Chios (JKH), Ikaria (JIK);

- South Aegean: Astypalaia (JTY), Kalymnos (JKL), Karpathos (AOK), Milos (MLO), Mykonos (JMK), Naxos (JNX), Paros (PAS), Santorini (JTR), Syros (JSY), Kasos (KSJ), Kastelorizo (KZS), and Leros (LRS).

 

Given that you will likely stop at Mykonos, Rhodes, and Santorini, that narrows the list down to 20.

 

 

Depending on your travel style, you may want to stick to the smaller islands, where you'll get to know pretty much the whole island well, such as, Kos (290 km2, 17th largest Greek island), Paros (196 km2, 20th), Milos (161 km2, 23rd), Kalymnos (135 km2, 25th), Astypalaia (114 km2, 29th), Syros (102 km2, 31st), Leros (74 km2, 38th), Kasos (44, 52nd),Iraklia (18 km2, 66th), or Kastellorizo (12 km2, 73rd).

 

For 3 days, I'd prefer a larger island and explore it with a car, but that is just me.  

 

Correction  - Leros and Kalimnos are in the Dodecannese, between Kos and Patmos.  

From Leros you can take a short boat ride to Lipsi and its beautiful beaches.  

 

 

 

[newtocruiseinblue]

5 hours ago, pdmlynek said:

To get away from the heat, and be by the water, I'd go to one of the Ionian Islands.  The temperatures are somewhat cooler than in the Aegean islands.

 

We also liked Corfu, another Ionian Island.  It is slightly smaller than Kefalonia (611 km2 vs 771 km2), has more people (102K vs 36K), is better known to tourists, and is a bit more developed.  It also has some of the top beaches in Greece, as well as castles, ruins, great food, etc.

 

During our cruise stop at Corfu, we drove out from Corfu Town to Palaiokastritsa, a beach town about 30 min west on the opposite coast.  We rented two speedboats and explored a few of the 17 close-by beaches and a dozen sea caves around Palaiokastritsa.  I highly recommend spending a day on the Adriatic. Bring watershoes and snorkeling gear.  (No boating license needed for boats under about 6 people; we are not boaters, and we had no issues).

 

Good luck!

We LOVED Corfu!!!! We did Olympia and Corfu this summer!! Thank you so much for the wonderful information this definitely gives me a starting place and I’m so excited!! I can’t thank you enough!!

[pdmlynek]

11 hours ago, marazul said:

Correction  - Leros and Kalimnos are in the Dodecannese, between Kos and Patmos.  

From Leros you can take a short boat ride to Lipsi and its beautiful beaches.  

 

 

 

You are right, of course.  Thanks for the correction.

 

Back in 1989 we were backpacking through the Greek islands, taking ferries, sleeping in hostels and on the beaches, etc.  We were planning on getting off at Patmos, but by the time we got to the door to get off the ferry, the ferry already left Patmos -- ferry stops are just a few minutes long.  The crew were incredulous at our insistence to visit Patmos.  "Meh, don't worry about it, just get off at the next island, they are pretty much all the same."  Hence, we visited Leros, even though we did not plan on it.  🙂  

[marazul]

We love Leros even if it is not an "iconic" Greek island.  No picture perfect beaches.  No ancient ruins. Just a small Templar castle and a few cute churches. And Mussolini era Italian buildings in Lakki.  But it is the real Greece. Lovely people. Great tavernas on the beaches. Just nice and laid back. 

 

For first time travelers, I would really recommend islands that meet the iconic expectations, like Naxos, Milos, Zakinthos, etc.