Camping/Sleeping in the Open

Actually, I'd be surprised if many campsites are still open in late October, although there may be a few. Rates will be low in those hotels/rooms that are open on the islands, so you should be able to travel on a budget and sleep comfortably indoors. You will be able to find accommodation either from people waiting at the port, or by checking in nearby shops and tavernas. To give you an idea of weather during the period of your travel, here are actual stats for Naxos from Weather Underground over the last several years in the 19-29 Oct period.

Whoops, the page shows Mykonos, but weather will be the same.

Thank you Thrym. I guess the indoor option seems like an okay idea. But I'm a bit apprehensive after hearing about 60 Euro a day type rates! Also, just how good an idea is it to go with the people waiting at the port?

The way things stand, I have a return ticket from Barcelona - Athens - Barcelona leaving Barcelona in about 10 days time and no idea what I'm going to be doing in Greece. (19th October to 29th October).

I've come up with a few other questions:

1) Is the weather in issue in visiting the Cyclades islands in the second half of October? By problem I mean ferries getting canceled due to bad weather/storms

2) I'm a student, but not interested in doing the 'party' scene or hitting the nightclubs. I'm looking to enjoy natural beauty and the Greece that is not touristy.

3) I am from India (with the current exchange of 1 Euro = 55 Indian Rupees). I'm really traveling budget. Which means not more than 20 Euros a night for accommodation and preferably take overnight cruises (where possible) to save a night's accommodation.

4) I'm 26, male and will be able to comfortably carry all my luggage on my bagpack. So hopefully, arriving at odd times (say 4 am) at a port which is 3 km from civilisation should not be too much of a bother.

Given my constraints, I was thinking of sticking to the Cyclades. Perhaps the much traveled Athens - Milos-Sifnos - Santorini - Athens.

Would appreciate anything that you might have to say!

You shouldn't have to worry about €60 per night rates in October, even on Santorini, which is one of the more expensive islands. To give you an idea of what to expect, I paid €20/night at Hotel Argo on Naxos, and that was mid-June this year. The most I paid on that trip was €45 on Santorini for a budget hotel with caldera views in Oia. There is also a hostel in Oia, which brotherleelove can tell you more about if he sees this post.

As for relying on people waiting at the port, they are mostly owners of small hotels/rooms, and can usually be trusted. Just make sure of where the rooms are located before agreeing to stay, or you could end up somewhere outside of town. For late October you will probably want to be somewhere central, where most of the hotels and restaurants still open will be located.

I think the Cyclades is a good idea for your trip, because ferry journeys are short, and there are good connections between most islands even that time of year. You won't find daily ferry connections between Sifnos/Milos and Santorini in October, though, so maybe the Paros/Naxos/Santorini route would be a safer alternative. Ferry cancellations are rare, but always a possibility, so plan to be back on the mainland two or three days before your flight back to Barcelona.

You may even want to consider spending most of your time on the mainland, where everything is still open in October, and there is much to see. For the mainland, though, someone else will have to offer suggestions - that's out of my area.

On Santorini the Youth Hostel Oia is inexpensive and very nice. Also, in the main village of Fira on Santorini is "Santorini Camping." You can look them up online as well. Cheap rooms are available all over the island in October. To begin with check Villa Fotini, Villa Manos, Casa Francesca.

Thrym and Brotherleelove: Thank you very much for the replies. :-)

It seems that my travel plans have changed. Am not going to the cyclades anymore. I've already seen what could possibly be amongst the best beaches in the world (in the Andaman islands) so I thought I was better off exploring 'ancient' Greece, rather than 'beautiful' Greece.

The plan now is:
Day 1(Thu): Arrive in Athens at 02:30. Spend the day walking in the city and book tickets to go to Kalampaka. Stay overnight at Kalampaka.
Day 2(Fri): See the monasteries of Meteora. Get back to Athens. Spend night in Athens.
Day 3(Sat): Take the early morning bus to Diakofto. Take the mini train to Kalavrita. Trek down to the small village of Zachlorou. Stay overnight at Zachlorou.
Day 4(Sun): Reach Nafpilo. See the The Palamidi Fortress. Stay overnight at Nafplio
Day 5(Mon): See Mycenae and Argos. Get to Sparta and spend night in Sparta
Day 6(Tue): See Mystras(if time permits) and Monemavsia. Take bus from Monemavsia to Athens. Take overnight ferry to Crete (Hania)
Day 7(Wed): Take bus to Omalos and walk down the Samarra gorge. Take bus back to Hania and spend night in Hania.
Day 8,9(Thu, Fri): Take bus to Sitia. See Palekastro, Zakros, Vai
Day 10(Sat): Take the ferry from Sitia to Piraeus that goes via Santorini, Ios, Sikinos, Folegandros, Milos and Sifnos. Sleep at Athens
Day 11(Sun): See Acropolis and leave in the night

Would very much like to have your thoughts on how doable this is? Any advice on places to stay would be very welcome. Also, any inputs on which days the ferry from Sitia that goes via Santorini leaves would be very welcome.

I like your idea of concentrating on mainland rather than Cyclades for your late October trip. I'm not really qualified to comment on a mainland itinerary, but it seems to me you are trying to pack too much into a short trip. Perhaps you would enjoy it more by omitting Crete, and spending those four days seeing Delphi, maybe Mt Olympus if you like trekking, and more of Athens and the Peloponnese.

hmm...thanks for the reply!
My initial thoughts are that I'll have to drop crete. Will try to rework a schedule and repost a new schedule :-(
I just got back from 3 days of no internet so will take me a bit to digest all this.

I have no car. it was going to be buses all the way