THE GREEK ISLANDS AND ATHENS

For some years we wanted to go to the Greek Islands but in the end, for logistical issues we had decided for other destinations.

In addition to the Greek Islands, we wanted to visit Athens too. For all this we had about twelve days available. For Athens we needed two days, so with 10 days available we could visit up to three islands. We wanted to spend three nights on each island to stay at least two days in each island.Santorini, being very different from all others, was without any doubt one of them.

Sunset in Santorini

Rhodes was another island we wanted to visit but combinations of flights and ferries did not convince us.

Another option was Crete, where there are the beach of Balos, possibly the most beautiful beach in Greece, the palace of Knossos and some beautiful villages. In addition, there was a direct flight from Barcelona (although we landed in Crete at 3am) and good combination ferry to Santorini. For everything we chose Crete, where we decided to spend four nights: two in Chania to go to Balos and two in Heraklio to visit the Palace of Knossos.

Balos lagoon in Crete

Finally we needed a third island. We decided to go to Mykonos for visiting Delos Island, for seeing whether it was true what it is said about it concerning night life and its beaches and for the good combination of ferries.

Paradise beach in Mykonos

Therefore for convenience of flights, ferries and take advantage of the early days of september to see the islands (it was September and the summer was almost over) the final route was: Crete - Santorini - Mykonos - Athens.

Maybe I would have preferred Rhodes - Crete - Santorini - Athens, but the logistics would have been more complex and less flexible concerning cancellations.

So this was our trip route from Crete to Athens:

Day 1 - Crete: Chania

• Beach of Agios Apostoli
• Venetian Port
• Splantzia (Turquish Quarter)
• Jewish Quarter

Day 2 - Crete

• Gramvoussa
• Balos Lagoon

Day 3 - Crete: Rethymnon and Heraklion

• Venetian Port in Rethymnon
• Loggia, Rimondi fountain and streets of the old town of Rethymnon
• Fortress of Rethymnon

• Venetian Port of Heraklion

Day 4 - Crete

• Palace of Knossos
• Agios Nikolaos

Day 5 - Santorini

• Hellenic Seaways ferry from Heraklion to Santorini
• Sunset in Oia

Day 6 - Santorini

• Fira
• Excursion to Nea Kameni and Volcano
• Beach of Perissa (black beach)
• Sunset in Firostefani

Day 7 - Santorini

• Red Beach, White Beach and Black Beach
• Sunset in Fira

Day 8 - Mykonos

• Hellenic Seaways ferry from Santorini to Mykonos
• Mykonos Town
• Windmills and Little Venice

Day 9 - Mykonos

• Delos Island
• Paraportiani Church in Mykonos Town
• Beach of Agios Ioannis
• Little Venice

Day 10 - Mykonos

• Beach of Platys Gialos
• Super Paradise beach
• Paradise Beach

Day 11 - Mykonos Town

• Mykonos Town
• Blue Star ferry to Athens

Day 12 - Athens

• Acropolis
• Ancient Agora
• Hadrian's Library
• Temple of Olympian Zeus
• Panathenaic Stadium
• Monastiraki District

Day 13 - Athens

• Roman Agora
• Plaka District

Day 1 - Crete

Chania

Agios Apostoli beach near Chania in Crete. The small white chapel in the top right of the image gives its name to this beach

Lighthouse and Mosque beside the Venetian Port of Chania in Crete

Day 2 Crete

Gramvoussa

Wonderful beach from the Venetian fortress of Gramvoussa near Balos Lagoon

Balos Lagoon

The beach of Balos is probably the most beautiful beach not only in Crete but also in the Greek Islands

Gramvoussa from Balos Lagoon

Day 3 - Crete

Rethymnon

Venetian Port of Rethymnon in Crete

Heraklio

Koules fortress in Crete, the largest island of Greece

Day 4 - Crete

Palace of Knossos

Palace of Knossos near Heraklio in Crete

Agios Nikolaos

Agios Nikolaos in Crete

Day 5 - Santorini

Oia

Fira and Firostefani from Oia in Santorini

Sunset from Oia in Santorini

Day 6 - Santorini

Nea Kameni

Walking to the volcano crater in Nea Kameni with Santorini on the horizon

Perissa Beach

Perissa Beach in Santorini

Day 7 - Santorini

Red Beach

Red beach in Santorini

White Beach

White beach in Santorini

Fira

Fira in the evening

Sunset from Fira in Santorini

Day 8 - Mykonos

Mykonos Town

Boats and white houses in Mykonos town

Restaurant in Little Venice, one of the most popular places in Mykonos

Day 9 - Mykonos and Delos Island

Delos Island

Terrace of the Lions in Delos Island

Beach of Agios Ioannis

Delos Island from Agios Ioannis beach in Mykonos

Day 10- Mykonos

Platys Gialos Beach

Platys Gialos beach in Mykonos

Paradise Beach

Paradise beach in Mykonos

Superparadise Beach

Superparadise beach is the one I liked the most in Mykonos

Day 11 - Mykonos

Mykonos Town

Street in Mykonos Town

Day 12 - Athens

Acropolis

Parthenon in the Acropolis of Athens

Monastiraki

Monastiraki Square in Athens

Day 13 - Athens

Plaka District

Plaka district in Athens

In summer it is completely feasible to perform this route with public transport, as we did, basically with ferry and bus. The main destinations have daily combinations, often several times a day. In our case, almost all the ferries and buses were comfortable and punctual.

We bought the tickets of the ferries by Internet before our departure to The Greek Islands and picked up them in Heraklio.

These are the means of transport we use during our route through The Greek Islands and Athens:

• Heraklio - Santorini: Hellenic Seaways Ferry (2h 55€)
• Santorini - Mykonos: Hellenic Seaways Ferry (2h30 55€)
• Mykonos - Athens (Piraeus): BlueStar Ferry (5h 34€)

and these are our accomodations during this trip:

• Chania (Crete): Arkadi Hotel
• Heraklio (Crete): Irini Hotel
• Santorini: Afrodete Hotel
• Mykonos: Andriani's Guest House
• Athens: The Stanley Hotel

We found the information we needed to plan our route in the following websites:

- What to visit in Greek Islands, advices etc:

• www.greeka.com
• www.memarchoasantorini.com
• www.memarchoamykonos.com
• www.memarchoacreta.com

- Accomodation

• http://wwww.booking.com/

- Ferries and buses

• Hellenic Seaways: www.hellenicseaways.gr
• BlueStar Ferries: www.bluestarferries.com
• Bus in Santorini: ktel-Santorini.gr
• Bus in Mykonos: mykonosbus.com
• Bus in Crete: bus-service-crete.com

Other countries and cities I have already visited are:

• Barcelona

• Berlin
• Saint Petersburg
• New York and Washington
• London
• Paris

• Dublin in Ireland

• Istanbul and Cappadocia

• Rome and The Vatican
• Florence in Tuscany
• Venice

• Lisboa in Portugal

• Dubrovnik, beaches and coast of Croatia
• Neum, Pocitelj and Mostar in Bosnia Herzegovina

• Bruges, Ghent and Brussels in Belgium

• Madrid

• Gibraltar
• Andorra

• Helsinki and Lapland in Finland

• Tallinn in Estonia

• Tortuguero, Caribe, Arenal, Monteverde and San José in Costa Rica

• Marrakech in Morocco